2015 RUT 50k

I had a blast at my first running of the Rut over labor day weekend.  I had signed up for wave 2 so at 6:04am, I found myself toeing the line in the chilly crisp air, excited for the day ahead.  One minute later, the elk bugle sounded and the second of four waves of runners surged forward into the darkness. 

Determined to start conservatively and avoid blowing up later in the race, I maintained a comfortable pace for the initial runnable 12ish miles to the second aid station, arriving in 2:11 (in retrospect I should have run this portion faster).  A friendly volunteer filled my bottles, and it took me a couple seconds to realize it was seth swanson, a week removed from his 4^th place finish at UTMB.  I took this as a good sign for my race.  I thanked him before departing, excited for the upcoming headwaters climb. 

As expected, the steeper terrain played to my strengths, as I was able to pass a lot of people during this climb.  I ran headwaters ridge as best I could (read: slowly) with a huge smile on my face, thoroughly enjoying the terrain, setting and perfect weather.  I arrived at the top of swiftcurrent in 4:31, having apparently passed almost 30 people since the last aid.  I fueled up for the big climb up lone peak, which I tackled at a steady pace but tried not to push too hard, wanting to save some reserves for the final 11 miles from the summit.

headwaters (photo: crystal images)

Nearing the top, I thought to myself how brutal the 3000ft descent was going to be, in contrast to the powder-filled descent of the big couloir last time I raced up/down lone peak, at the inaugural shedhorn skimo race back in april.  Sure enough, the initial portion of the descent was slow going for me, but once off the technical talus I picked up the pace and to my surprise, even passed a few people (I normally don’t pass folks on the downhills).  The 5ish miles to the base of the Africa climb felt a lot longer & slower than I expected.  I saw my mom and sister (and heard their cowbells) on the road just before the andesite aid station, which was a nice mental boost. 

nearing andesite aid (photo: dale)

I ran the final 5ish miles hard, despite both distal IT bands being ON FIRE with pain.  I experienced some hamstring and calf cramping on the little 400ft stinger climb at mile 30 but did my best to push through it, crossing the line in 7:51, spent yet content.

relaxing at the finish (photo: dale)

Rose: great course, weather, and race atmosphere

Thorn: IT band/knee pain

Bud: knowing next time I race up lone peak I’ll get to ski down (shedhorn skimo next spring)

Thoughts: my race went well and I was able to move upward in the field throughout the race (140^th at aid 2 and 93^rd at finish), a lot of time could have been saved during the initial 15ish miles but its hard for me as a new racer to know how hard I can push early without blowing up later, I need to work on my technical downhill running skills, if I race the 50k next year sub 7:30 is certainly possible, its amazing how popular the Rut has become in just 3 years, a big thanks to Foote and Wolfe (and everyone else) for putting on such a great event