Logan Peak Trail Race - The Local Favorite

Usually the three weeks between SMUT and Logan Peak Race would be spent with the feet up and the legs resting.  Not this year....
I managed to run 105 miles this year.  Here are some highlights -

Mike and I ran up to High Creek Lake (shown below) and Cherry Peak (shown above)

(all photos courtesy of Cody, not Beth.  She was stuck with the kids...sorry Beth)

Nice View from the Top!

We (Mike, Joe and I) also took a trip to the top of the Wellsvilles

I guess there was some running around but since the pictures don't lie we mostly just stood around posing.

I did manage to spend a few days at scout camp with our troop and freeze to death with them.  It was raining and even snowing most of the time I was there.  10 minutes in the freezing cold lake for a swim check gave me a nasty cold.  By the end of those adventures I was hardly ready for a race.  I figured a few days off could cure me of the 24 hour flu thing I even got.  I was hopeful for the best but all race week I was really weak and lightheaded.  Far from healthy, I toed the line anyways hoping for the best.  

Will I ever learn?  Moderation is not my strength!  

Logan Peak Race is my Favorite Local Race!  OK that and The Bear...

Alright, to be fair.  At the present, those are the only local trail races in Cache Valley.  But they are still my favorite.  Plus after having won last year's edition I couldn't miss the opportunity to try and repeat.

Required picture of the course profile 

Exactly 1 mile into the race I realized I was in for a world of hurt (and disappointment).  I knew I was not healthy enough to run the race I wanted.  I found myself in 10th place and falling back quickly.  I was pushing the redline (heart rate was in the 170's) and I was going way too slow to keep up.  I had no choice but to slow down and just survive this thing the best I could.

I won't lie.  I ran as hard as I possibly could.  The whole time.  Really.  I never gave up.  I knew I wasn't going to win but I tried to finish with the best possible time I could.  I was grunting, wheezing, pushing, praying, stumbling along the best I could.  I even managed to catch up to my local nemesis' Joe and Mike and leave them behind.  They didn't have a great day either sadly.

I am proud of my hard earned 9th place!  I am proud of my 31 min slower than last year time!  Even if I got beat by a girl.  Yep, still ok with it.

I promise to take the next 5 days off to rest and get healthy before heading back into the Mountains... (my mistress..shh don't tell Beth).

Link to my Strava results
Logan Peak Race 2014

Photos of SMUT

That title might earn me a few more hits, and resulting disappointment, than other titles I could have come up with. So I went with it.  I know, really going overboard with the creativity here.

SMUT. Scout Mountain Ultra Trail.

In a quiet little mountain range, just past some nestled little cabins looms this awesome and beautiful course. I failed to fully appreciate it last year, so, I tried harder this go 'round. Despite being; down one kid (the helpful one), hefting a 25lb toddler along with my gear, stopping nearly every 10 minutes for potty breaks and to check our progress, and inhaling our own dust all day,  it was a spectacular day to be outside, to be crew and to witness this feat of a race. I throughly enjoyed myself.

We started off our weekend with a little reconnaissance. 

First, I wanted to get closer to Scout Moutain- the epic climb near the end of the race. We found this one mile trail that goes through the Scout Mountain Aid station- just before the runners climb to the top.

 Cody and our peanut. This trail offers some shade, a nice view of Scout Mountain (below) and a chance to get our own exercise during race day.

The runners scale this pretty piece of rock then proceed to run the ridge and speed on down the gravel-like face before another smaller climb and then the finish. I am most the way up the mountain here.

 My token flower shot for this year. Just a nod to my attempts last year.  (see previous post on the Pocatello 50).

This is an option for lodgings at SMUT.  I think it is brilliant to camp directly on the starting line. Especially with the limited parking and 5 am start time for the 100k. This was taken at about 10pm the night before the race.

Morning of the race at City Creek. Trail marking at SMUT was amazing. No flimsy plastic markers here. They run a legit operation. Everything is recyclable, reusable and very eco friendly.

Cody coming in to City Creek.

 Again, at City Creek. This is one of the easiest spots to spectate this race.

 This is up the trail at the West Fork Aid Station. About 40 miles into Cody's race. Beautiful walk for crew and awesome spot to cheer on the runners. We may have spooked a few, sitting just around a corner as we were. Not to mention my darling girls throwing dandelions at their feet. At this point, the unexpected seemed a whole lot harder for the runners to take. I apologize to any who were traumatized.

This is the Scout Mountain Aid Station. The volunteers were all so darn nice. Especially the one who smuggled us some cookies. Sadly, the girls and I pulled in about 30 minutes AFTER Cody ran through. 

A shot from the road headed back down the mountain to the Big Fir Aid Station.

 This shot is looking north west, towards where the runners have come over the course of the day. Only several ridges is all....Taken from part way up Scout Mountain.

 Cody at the finish. He is impressed with how put together he still looks, considering how he was feeling.

And, the shot of the aftermath. He's had worse.

S.M.U.T. 100K

Scout Mountain Ultra Trail 100K Race Report - 

A.K.A -  (S.M.U.T.) 

Someone's Muscles are Utterly Tired?

Stupid Man Under There!

Sorry Men Under Trained!

SuperMan's Underwear is Tight?

Kind of a weird name for a really hard race.  See elevation profile below.

This race has evolved from the Pocatello 50 mile course that it has been for the past 5 years.  I have run it 3 times previously and with the significant course changes this year the name and distance was changed to reflect the new race that it is.  I was excited to check out the new trails and introduce my friends Joe and Mike to the beauty that this course offers.

My family was nice enough to tag along and crew me (provide assistance at certain aid stations).  Also present were my trusty training buddies Joe and Mike.  They weren't there to crew or pace me on this one, they were there to experience the glory and pain of this awesome race.  As long as they do that behind me....

After camping in the parking lot (we opted for the convenience of the pop-up trailer in the group site rather than at an isolated actual campsite) we arose for an early 5am start.  The family got a bit more sleep once the cowbells at the starting line died down.  

A brisk mile up the paved road led us to some sweet trails.  I found myself setting the pace for Joe and Mike as they opted to tuck in and let me dictate our pace.  We were in the chase group of about 6 folks while the lead pack yo-yo'ed ahead of us by a bit.  We would close the gap at times and then they would shoot ahead again.  I counted roughly 6 guys ahead of us.  

In our chase group was Darcy Africa.  She is the 2012 Grand Slam Champion, 2 time winner of Wasatch 100, 2 time winner of Hardrock 100, among other top finishes.  A real runner she is.  I figured a finish within a half hour of her would be a great result for this race.  She would end up running the first 15 miles with us before slowing down a bit.

My strategy for this race was to run harder and faster than everybody.  It didn't quite work as planned.  I had better rethink that strategy for next time as there are serious flaws with it.

The first 15 miles were spent leap-frogging each other as one would stop for food or a pit stop or just slow down a bit and others would take the lead (in our chase group).  The lead pack was out of sight by now and there wasn't a group in sight behind us.  In-fact by mile 15 my place in the race had been determined.  I neither passed nor was passed the entire remaining 47 miles.  That makes for a pretty boring race report.  Sorry.  Mike would go on to run his own pace and finish in a respectable 12:45 for lucky 13th place.  Joe would pull the plug at mile 46 due to heat exhaustion.  

Quick run-down...

Miles 1-25 - Relatively easy miles.  All runnable terrain.  Body feels great.  Temperature is perfect.  Loving the race.

Miles 26-40 - Much harder miles.  A large hill forced a hike rather than a run.  There was even a 23 minute mile in there. Getting hot.  My body was feeling like it was falling apart slowly.  

Miles 41-62 - Ouch.  The toughest part of the course.  Temperature in the low 80's.  Little shade on the course.  Mostly focused on keeping cool and wet.  I resorted to dunking my head and hat and buff into multiple streams.  The climb over Scout Mountain went well this year.  It was nice knowing what to expect.  The descent was so much fun!  2500 feet in 4 miles.  Sections of it were very rocky.  My specialty.  The race finished with a tough 500 foot climb where everyone questioned their motives as to why they ran the race.  All that was forgotten during the final 3 mile descent to the finish.  

Highlight of the day was mile 8 watching the bright orange sunrise shining through the thin clouds as we ran through buttery singletrack.  I would have given my trusty visor for a camera at that point.  

Lowlight of the day was realizing Beth and the kids had hiked a mile (each way) on a remote trail to see me and missed me because I had passed through only mins earlier.  

I finished out the race in 7th place overall in a time of 11 hours and 23 mins.  I have enjoyed this race (and its former versions) but doubt I will return due to the plethora of options out there.  Chapter on Pocatello 50/SMUT is closed...

Food/Drink 10oz EFS liquid shot, 6 turkey avacodo sliders, 3 packages of fruit snacks, watermelon slices, orange slices, handful of grapes, handful of chips, 3 s-caps, 100oz of ginger ale, 20oz of sprite, 140oz of water

Gear Headsweats visor, buff, St George Running Center shirt, PI shorts, Drymax Lite Socks, Altra Olympus Shoes (no black toenails this year!), Ultimate Direction AK 2.0 Race Vest

Pics by Bethany will surely follow (I know you were all hoping this post had her pictures in it)....She has been busy doing Engagements and Family Portraits and such...

How to Train for an Ultramarathon

The number one question I have been asked is "How do you train for a race like 'that'?"  By 'that' they are generally referring to those crazy long trail races that seem to go on forever.  In other words, an Ultramarathon.  By definition, an Ultramarathon is any race that is longer than a Marathon.  Since a Marathon is just over 26 miles (26 miles and 385 yards), an Ultramarathon must be longer.  Typical race distances are 50K (31 miles), 50 Miles, 100K (62 miles), and 100 Miles.  For this article I will focus on the 50K since that is the most common (and easiest).  

How do I train?

This is a tough answer since it is very specific to how I train.  (Disclaimer...) While this works for me, it is not necessarily the "best" or "easiest".  It is the way I do it to give me the best chance of both making it to the starting line healthy and making it to the finish line in as short of time as possible.  Results may vary.  Author is not liable for damages caused to joints or vital organs if a runner decides to follow my example and hurt themselves.  

STEP 1:  Run a lot.  Duh, of course.  Let me explain...  It is important to get out and do something almost daily.  Consistency is a HUGE factor to having success.  It is also important to train your body to handle the stresses (mental and physical) of running.  The best way to do that is to actually run.  It's hard to learn math by practicing spelling.  Likewise, it is hard to learn how to run by riding a bike.  True, it is better than nothing since it trains your heart and lungs and I guess your legs too, but its not as good as actually running.  So, get out and run.

How much?  

For me (see disclaimer above), this means anywhere from 50 to 90 miles a week to get me ready.  "Whoa, never mind I don't want to do an Ultra" you may be tempted to say.  You should work up to it.  Slowly build up your mileage and your body will adapt.  It takes me about 9 hours to run 60 miles in a week and about 12 hours to run 80 miles a week. 

What does a typical week look like for you Cody?

I will share my last week as an example of a good week for me.  I ran 80 miles.  

Monday - Macey's to Providence Quarry (13 miles).  Mix of road and trails.  This was a hard effort.  It was a steady climb the first half and a fun downhill the second half.  I focused on maintaining a solid effort based on heart rate (150-165).  1 hour and 42 mins

Tuesday - Canal Trail & River Trail (10 miles). Mostly flat trails.  This was an easy effort.  It is important to take easy days.  This usually means easy effort and usually shorter distance as well.  Legs were tired from yesterday's hard effort.  1 hour 22 mins

Wednesday - Easy 6 mile run (48 mins) around the neighborhood in the early morning.  After work, I joined with a friend for a trail run on Jardine Juniper trail.  We ran 12 miles on hilly terrain.  Evening run was a medium effort.  1 hour and 52 mins

Thursday - Providence Roads (9 miles).  Again, easy pace.  Recovery day  1 hour 13 mins

Friday - Canal Trail & River Trail (10 miles).  Just like on tuesday, easy day.  On days like this, its all about time on the feet while tired.  This allowed my body to recover for a big effort on Saturday. 1 hour 20 mins

Saturday - Long Trail Run (20 miles).  This was a big effort both in distance and in pace.  The course I picked had a lot of climbing (some of it was so steep I was hiking it).  This is one of the keys of success for an Ultramarathon, the long run.  I try and make these runs enjoyable and they usually are.  If you do them on the road (at least for me) they are torture.  So, I usually plan way in advance what cool trail I can run and have a blast exploring the mountains usually with some friends (yes, I have friends and some of them even run as much as me).  This outing took 4 hours and 5 mins.

Sunday - Off (rest)

While the details change week to week, I try and get in 3 harder days with 3 easier days.  This will give me the perfect balance of too much and too little.  If I try and go too hard on my easy days I pay for it either with exhaustion or injury.  You must keep your easy days EASY!  Too many people fail to do this.  I will sometimes run 2 mins per mile slower than normal on my easy day.  Don't worry about it.  

The other key point is making sure your long runs are reasonable simulations for race day.  It doesn't have to be the full race distance (and usually shouldn't be that long) but to train for a 50K race you should run 20-25 miles semi-regularly.  Training for a 50 Mile race, you should run a 50K or two in the weeks or months leading up to it.  You get the idea.

STEP 2:  Sleep a lot.  Really, as much as possible.  For me that means 7-ish hours (8 is better) if I want to continue running 80 miles a week without breaking down.  This means going to bed at a reasonable time (early for some) since I have to get up at 5-5:30 to get my run in before work everyday.  That means, by 10pm I had better be in bed (or really close).  Most people cheat in this area.  It is ok to do so once in a while, but a lack of sleep will make you frustrated when you are running because you will feel awful and will not be able to get moving at a decent pace.  GET SOME SLEEP!

STEP 3:  Eat a lot.  Your body is burning LOTS of calories.  This is a huge benefit for most.  Enjoy the finer things in life... like food.  You should focus on eating healthy food, and I usually do.  But I also enjoy a huge bowl of ice-cream or a half dozen cookies when the occasion presents itself.  While this is not really recommended, my body craves those fatty foods and as long as you are keeping things reasonably balanced you can enjoy life.  If you are getting fat I guess you should cut back a bit, but your body is an engine and needs fuel to burn.  Try and keep the fuel tank full.

STEP 4:  Explore new places.  You will receive energy and joy as you find hidden gems as you go running.  I love to climb mountains and find remote places.  I spend some time on Google Earth looking for sweet trails.  I also enjoy Strava.com looking at other runners' training logs and where they like to run.  I have found some sweet trails (and running buddies) by this method.  On the right side of this blog is a link to my Strava training log where you can see exactly where I have been running.  It's ok (I am pretty sure) to spy on other runners and steal training ideas and inspiration for your training.

STEP 5:  Pick a race and train for it!  Nothing motivates more than a deadline and a goal.  I love to look at Ultrasignup.com and look at the popular races and see what's out there.  I would be happy to give recommendations as to good races for a first time Ultramarathon runner or a first time Trailrunner.  There are lots of good choices out there that are not too difficult (relatively).  

There you go!  Are you successfully motivated and coached to get outside and run?  No?  

Fine, I give up, you figure it out yourself.

In a future blog post I will try and teach about HOW TO FINISH YOUR FIRST 50K.  I will share what went wrong for me and how I have learned from my mistakes.  Maybe it will help you or someone you know keep from making the same mistakes.  It's my bedtime now so good night.

Some Pictures I took (not as good as Bethany's but its the best I can do) during that 20 mile run on Saturday.

A Preview in a Review...and lots of side notes. Sorry, I cannot control them.

In this small lull in our Race Schedule (captialization was intentional for around our house the "Race Schedule" is what we set our whole year by. Weekends rise and fall by the "Race Schedule." In fact, I am thinking the "Race Schedule" needs to adopt the quotations now as well, for it is THAT important) I decided to do a little reminiscing. A little walk down memory lane, if you will. So, in honor of the next race on the "Race Schedule" here is a little reviewing preview of the formerly Pocatello 50- now the Scout Mountain Ultra Trail (SMUT for short). There ya go, I linked that site for you. Go there for all the details. Or wait for Cody's review here in a couple of days.

This race has been a hit and miss for Cody (as he will later flesh out in detail) and has been a complete miss for me. This whole, me following my crazy husband around for days in the mountains, has only fully evolved in the past 10 months. My first real attempt at documenting the ultra running experience was last July. Pokie was in June. Oh sad. Prior to me fully plugging in to my husband's hobby, I was pursuing my photography in almost every other possible avenue BUT sportslandscapeography (just made that up. Can you tell?) (I also like parentheses. Bet ya didn't notice that either.) My whole approach to "Crewing" was to show up where he points on the map precisely at the time he tells me and then leave as soon as he runs through. If I snapped a shot here and there, it was usually of flowers or bunnies or something in the complete opposite direction of the race. Case in point. My best efforts from Pocatello 50 2013:

See? Flowers. Not runners.

This is the extent of my course shots. 

 A family hike to "scout" out the trail that Cody had already run several times before. (We were trying to stave off the wild animals those littles become when they reach the deadly level of "boredom". )

 Here is my shot of Cody running in to City Creek. Quite possibly the least scenic location possible, but hey, I did my crew chief duty, nay, my wifely duty to document this moment in his racing history. But that was it.
Don't even ask me for a close up. My camera was for flowers. Or bunnies. 

This was a shot I took of the start/finish. Mostly because I had a fish eye lens on me and wanted to use it. Hence, to wrap things up (since you come here to scroll through pictures and read a runners diary, not a photographer's) I did not do a great job setting up a blog post to preview this race. Ha. I could have told you at the beginning of this post and saved you a lot of reading, right?! Nope. I like the long and painful way.
And now, you can see where I started and give me a little credit for some progress made in fully appreciating this amazing and inspiring past time of ultra trail running.

Zion 100K in Pictures

Here are a few (lot) of pictures to go along with Cody's race report below, for those of us who require visuals to accompany any story. Let the photos commence!

The first batch are shots from the Zion 100k Course.

The mesa in the background is part of the first 10 miles of the course.

The view from the second (Sheepsbridge) aid station.

Cody leaving Virgin River Dam Aid Station.

Crew waiting at the Goosebump Aid Station. The runners come into this aid 3 times total. 

 Another shot at the Goosebump Aid.

 Seen from the course between Goosebump Aid and Grafton Aid Stations.

The course as it climbs up to Goosberry Mesa.

The next bunch of photographs are from inside Zion National Park. We went into the park for a little family hiking the day after the race. We overheard snatches of conversations between other hikers as they discussed the crazy runners that ran a huge race the day before. We smiled to ourselves.

Zion 100K Race Report (April 2014)

Some sand, rocks, indian paintbrush, slickrock, cactus, hawks, etc all seemed to be in abundance during my nearly 11 hours touring the hills around Virgin, UT.  The zion 100 in its third or fourth year is becoming quite the event.  It now has a 100 mile, 100 kilometer, and 50 kilometer option and apparently even some crazy person ran both the 100K on Friday and the 50K on Saturday. 

Didn't they know there was a 100 mile option that would fulfill that desire to kill a few more braincells? 

On tap for me was the 100K distance.  Long enough to justify a few days off work and a sweet family camp but not long enough to take the whole weekend and make me worthless as a husband and father for the rest of the trip.  Ahh, the sweet spot, 100K.  You are done by dark and can still sleep at night like a normal human being.

I recruited Joe and Mike to share in the adventure of racing.  They were seemingly willing participants.  Mike had a bit of a hiccup in his prep after the 50K training run we did on Antelope Island a few weeks before the race.  He would nurse it (knee injury) best he could but it ultimately caused him to drop at mile 40 or so.  Joe ramped up his usual 30 mile weeks to 40-50 mile weeks and proclaimed basically, "good enough lets do it".

I have been trying my hardest to break my routine of getting injured every winter.  I mostly succeeded, the exception was the knee cap pain I felt after too much vert on ice.  I had to eliminate most of the vert for a few weeks and slowly introduce more as I felt better.  Crisis averted, ready to roll.

Race day dawned cold especially for my family in our pop up tent trailer we towed down to zion.  The heater 'broke' sometime in the night and they were shocked into an early cold morning to crew good old dad.  My race plan was to stick to 150 bpm or below.  No more 'run by feel' attitude that causes me to start too fast and struggle to survive later on.  The 100 Mile and 100K races start at the same time and the course is the same for the first 18 miles.  As we began, I watched Karl Meltzer (in the 100K) and Mike Aish (100M) and Jeff Browning (100M) take off.  That was quick.  I counted back about 15 people and found myself, Joe and Mike in our own little group.  It would remain like that for the first 7 miles up the first 2000' climb.  We climbed up the famous Flying Monkey Trail.  While hiking up that beast, I was amazed that people could bike down that thing.  I either need a better bike or better skills or less smarts to do that trail.  No thanks.

Aid 1 came up quick and I did a quick bottle refill, grabbed some fruit and chips and headed out.  Joe lingered a bit since Jenny had made the trek up to the aid.  Mike and I jogged the hardpacked dirt road back down the mountain.  Not as scenic as the way up on the singletrack, but made for quick miles.  We caught up with Jen who told us she just had a baby 6 months ago.  I think she was embarrassed to be running with us instead of Karl's lead pack.  She would go on to win the women's 100K race and go and immediately breast feed her baby.

Before long we were running down off the face of the plateau and suffering through the paved?!! road.  I know, seriously?  At least, I was able to comfortably click off a few fast miles trying not to burn up my quads.  I dropped down a bit quicker than Mike and Joe and hit the aid at Sheep Bridge road.  Pretty quick bottle exchange with my wife and son crewing and I was out of there.
I cruised along the next section of flattish trail as it winded along the virgin river.  I was still clicking off 8:30 miles or so keeping my hr in check and just enjoying the day.  It was shaping up to be a perfect day for running.  Overcast and in the 40's and 50's.  Perfect.  I was having a good time chatting with Joe and San Francisco guy (he's not 'that' kind of San Francisco guy though, I asked).  After meandering all over the place, we finally made it to Virgin River Aid.  I grabbed my bottles and avocado sliders and walked out of there.  Joe took a lot longer than me and never did quite catch up though after a few miles he was within a stone's throw of me.  The next section involved some more gradual climbing and then a big nasty 1500' in a mile climb up to Goosebump aid station.  I started to feel the effects of the 20+ miles under my belt during this section and tried to ignore the tightness in my giddy up.  About a half mile before the climb started in earnest Jeff Browning and Mike Aish caught up to me.  The 100 mile course adds a few miles a bit earlier so I had gotten ahead of them during that time.  They were fun to chat with while they went by.  I tagged along and enjoyed the company until I felt the pace was a bit too brisk.  My HR was about 155-158 while hanging with them.  I watched as they hit the hill much harder than me and left me once again alone to my thoughts.

Goosebump to Gooseberry Point aid is a famous mtn biking trail similar to slickrock in Moab.  Nasty rolling slickrock with millions of twists and turns and bumps and small hills that sap your energy and will to live.  There was a sweet view from the trail though.  It follows the edge of the mesa and provides views of Virgin and the entrance of Zion NP.  Eventually, I made it to the Gooseberry aid station to find it empty of people and supplies.  There was only a sign that says to go the point and back (1 mile round trip) so I did.  Should have brought a camera for that view.  Sweet!  Back at the 'aid station' a person had arrived with a few bottles of soda so I grabbed one and filled my empty bottle.  That was close.  Almost had to go without.  Turns out the 5-6 people in the 100K ahead of me and the 2 in the hundred did go without.  The miles continued to pass without incident.  My energy levels were ok, and I was able to move at an ok pace still.  Roughly halfway done and I felt like I had more I could do.  Perfect.

About a mile before the Goosebump aid (second time) I caught up with Mike Aish who was in a low patch.  He was running this race as a 'training run' and says he wasn't recovered from Tarawara yet.  We chatted and visited until the aid came and he stopped for a while.  Not sure if he dropped here or later, but he did drop eventually.

The section from Goosebump to Grafton Mesa aid was a boring dirt road.  It was my least favorite part of the trail and at times seemed to be going in the wrong direction.  I was afraid I had missed a turn off a time or two but I had not.  The only runner I saw was Karl Meltzer on his way back to Goosebump after already completing the Grafton 5 mile loop.  He was about 6-7 miles ahead of me and looked awesome.  He went on to break the course record and beat me by 1:35.  The grafton loop was a bit confusing.  The aid station guy told me to follow the green then pink flags.  There was also a sign that said 100K - green, 100M - pink.  This became an issue as many of the 100K runners ended up running the 100M course adding on 4 miles and 1000' of vert.  It was here that I suppose I passed a few of the guys in-front of me as they did this.  I never saw a soul though during my loop.
While traveling back to the goosebump aid a third and final time I saw hordes of people heading out the Grafton aid.  In that section, I also saw Joe as he was walking downhill.  I asked him what he was doing.  His response, "I'm tired".  He would go on to bonk pretty hard then recover later on.  I was asked numerous times if I was leading the race.  Hmm, I guess that means that there are not many people ahead of me.  Turns out I was now in third.  I was grateful to finally make it to the aid and be on the final 5 miles to the finish.  I would just have to descend down the 1500' climb then follow atv trails and finally the hwy for a bit back into town.  I got the biggest stomach cramp and sideache ever during the descent and had to go pretty slow to work it out.  Things improved a bit once the trail leveled off and I was able to gut out some 9 min miles.  Sad.  At least I was still able to move at this point.  I pushed it in to the finish best I could until the finish line came into view.  Leaving the last aid, I joked with my family saying I would race them back.  They would have to travel quite a ways to get there and I figured it would be close.  My ultra-competitive daughter pleaded with me to go slow so she would win.  I was able to see them drive into the finish area about 2 mins after I finished.  Ha!  I win.
I hung out at the finish line cheering on the finishers and waiting for joe and mike to finish.  I guessed mike would drop since I did know he was having knee issues earlier but had no idea what joe was up to.  I waited for a few hours chatting with the guys hearing some of the adventures of their bonus miles.  I think Karl had already showered and taken a nap by the time I had finished.  I eventually had to leave to fix the heater and get my family to bed so I headed out to our campsite.  Meanwhile joe had a bounce back and finished strong albeit a few hours slower than hoped.
I am happy with the result and received a cool hand crafted award and a free pair of running sandals (think Born to Run).  My fueling went well with avacodo sliders, EFS, honey stinger, sprite, mtn dew, gatoraide, fruit snacks, and some random food at the aid stations.  I gambled and ran on a brand new pair of shoes never tested (you really shouldn't do that) and loved them.  I wore the Hoka Rapa Nui 2.  It is a great shoe, even on slickrock and uneven terrain.  I had a few sore toes but no blisters.  

The highlight of the trip was taking the kids on the Angels Landing hike (along with a few hundred other strangers on the trail).  My 9 year old made it no problem the whole way with my 7 year old making it to the scout lookout and my 2 year old strapped to me and my wife (took turns).  They have caught the hiking bug and are looking forward to the next camping adventure.  

(All photos courtesy of Bethany)