The 2017 RUT was easily the most memorable and enjoyable of
the three years I’ve taken part. And
this was despite being on the tail end of a cold, complete with a hacking cough
and flowing sinuses. Bria and I drove up
Friday morning to check-in and shake out our legs before the 1pm VK. I love how simple in theory yet painful in
execution a vertical kilometer is – find a mountain that is at least 1000m of
elevation gain, and race to the top in the shortest and steepest path. I gave it all I had but didn’t feel as though
my sickness allowed me to get into my “highest gear.” I finished in a disappointing 1:02:24, shy of
my goal of breaking the hour one mark. I
hung out on the summit above the smoke and cheered on other finishers til Bria
arrived – who dispelled her skepticism with a great showing in her first ever
running race.
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| paincave during the vk (crystal images photography) |
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| post-vk smiles |
Saturday was spent cheering on friends and family running
the 28k, including Abby from Chicago and two cousins from Dallas and DC area
who came to get a taste of Montana mountain running. Suffice to say I think it was an experience
they won’t soon forget…
I was up early Sunday morning for my third go at the Rut
50k. Before sunrise it was already warm
and evident we were in for a hot day. I
tried to run the initial 15 “easy” miles to the base of headwaters harder than
prior years but in retrospect I think there is still room for improvement
there. I lost contact with jeffrey at
the first aid station when I had to stop at the porta-potties to address some
GI issues. This happened once more in
another ~30 minutes but then things settled down and were fortunately a
non-issue for the remainder of the race.
I had an absolute blast on the headwaters climb and descent, easily my
favorite part of the course.
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| headwaters (crystal images photography) |
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| approaching swift current aid (bria photo) |
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| top of africa climb (bria photo) |
It was great to see family at swiftcurrent aid and drench my
head with cold water before starting up the bonecrusher climb to the
summit. The ~6mile descent and small
amount of climbing to the base of the Africa climb again felt way longer and
slower than the mileage suggests but I was pleasantly surprised to pass a
number of people on this descent, as it’s rare that I pass people on a
downhill. I was surprised to reel in
Jeffrey on the road coming into andesite aid, who had started hard and was now
suffering a bit. The aid station crew at
andesite did an outstanding job cooling down runners and catering to any and
all needs of those suffering from the heat.
Thanks for your hard work! I was
anxious to finish and get out of the sun so I exited quickly for the final 5ish
miles to the finish. Fiore caught me on
the long winding switchbacks and it was fun to chat with him for a few minutes
before he dropped me, despite having ran both the VK and 28k in prior
days. What a crusher. I would go on to finish a few minutes behind
him, in 7:41.
I was again shy of my race goal (sub 7:30) but given the
heat and less than full health, I couldn’t complain. I ran a smart race and moved up through the
field (79th at moonlight aid#2, up to 49th at finish). All race results here.
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| chocolate milk and an ice bath jacuzzi - post race heaven on a hot day |
Sipping chocolate milk in the ice bath Jacuzzi may very well
be the best immediate post-race activity ever I’ve yet enjoyed (and a stark
contrast to last year – a dash to the hot tub to stave off the shivers). The remainder of the weekend was a great
mix of friends, family and good food. As
usual, a big thanks to Foote and everyone else for all their hard work putting
together another memorable RUT weekend.
Rose: too many to choose from
Thorn: sickness
Bud: I’m ready for a new RUT challenge – 28k next year or
vk/28k/50k triple crown?
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