With 11,800 vert of climbing, Speedgoat is undoubtedly one
of the toughest 50k races in the country (multiple races make this claim). Therefore a number of people thought I was
crazy/stupid/etc. to do it as my first 50k.
Regardless, I did, with it serving as a terminus of sorts of my 9 weeks
in Utah this summer. As my first 50k
(and 2nd running race ever), I went in with moderate expectations:
Ø
despite the inevitable suffering, have fun
Ø
avoid any major blowups or serious falls/crashes
Ø
finish sub 8 hours
After check-in, a HUGE line for the bathroom prevented a
proper warmup and I had to hustle to the starting area at about 6:28am. Two minutes later, hundreds of runners surged
forward across the line and I quickly realized I had positioned myself WAY too
far back in the pack.
 |
| the start (photo: paul nelson photography) |
I scrambled to
pass what felt like a hundred people during the initial climb, since I knew the
course funneled down to singletrack for the first downhill. Once in a better position, I enjoyed the next
three climbs and descents and arrived at hidden peak (mi8.3) at the 2 hour
mark, as I had planned/hoped. I was
feeling good, yet nervous for the impact the big 7mi/3500 descent out to the
pacific mine (mi15.5) would have on my legs.
There was a long (2mi?) stretch of rough, rocky jeep trail/creekbed that
was hell on the quads and resulted in a few stubbed toes but fortunately I
never took a digger.
 |
| running through wildflowers (photo: paul nelson photography) |
I arrived at the pacific mine aid in 3:19, slightly ahead of
schedule, ready for more food/water/wet buff before tackling the 3 big climbs
that comprise the majority of the second half of the course. The first of these climbs was fortunately
shaded and I hiked past about a dozen people and got passed by 2 or 3 strong
uphill runners. The aid at Larry’s Hole
(mi21) was a beautiful sight and I quickly exited, double fisting watermelon
and banana, feeling good, and started up the second to last climb up
Baldy. The course map I viewed/studied
online showed the route up Baldy to be the east ridge (which I had hiked during
my mini-WURL a few weeks ago) so it was a major surprise and much to my dismay that
from the saddle below the E ridge, the course dropped down a few hundred feet
and instead went STRAIGHT up the south face of Baldy. It was basically a bootpack it was so
steep. Although I managed to pass a few
people during this sufferfest, I was starting to hurt.
From the summit of Baldy, I pressed onwards, reaching the
tunnel aid station (mi23.6) in 5:57, slightly ahead of my goal time, where I
snagged a delicious popsicle (amongst other things) before continuing through
the tunnel to the second-to-last downhill.
A few runners passed me (seemed to be a theme on the downhills) but I
reeled them in on the final steep climb up Hidden peak, which was a slow, slow
grind, arriving at the final aid station (mi26.2) in 6:52, leaving myself just
over an hour for the final 6 mile descent to the finish.
Although I was hurting, I thought I could manage and finish
just under 8 hours. However, the course
for the latter portion of the final descent was drastically different than the
course map online (which I had partially ran/previewed coming down from my
mini-WURL), so I spent/wasted precious minutes, stopping and looking around at
every intersection, backtracking a bit on 2 occasions, frustrated, thinking I
was off course and incorrectly following the flags from the morning. After waiting for and chatting with another
runner, we continued down the marked route from the morning, unsure of the
route until near the very end, where the finish became obvious. I crossed the line at 8:11:42 (68th
place of 302 finishers), totally spent and with a major headache but stoked to
have finished my first 50k in reasonably good fashion.
Rose: fulfilling 2 of my 3 race goals (fun & no
blow-ups)
Thorn: the confusion/frustration on the final descent
Bud: carrying forward what I learned from this race to my
training and future races
thanks Jeff!
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