"Dear God, when will the hurting stop."
The more I run 50 mile races, the
more I embrace the fact that as
I get older, I am indeed losing my mind.
To admit that I trained and paid and then actually showed up to have
someone "figuratively" beat me with a bat for 9 hours just isn't
something normal people do. But that's
the reality when it's Bill Geist the RD for the Jemez 50 miler holding the bat!
I ran this course two years ago and
remembered bits of it well but this year’s
course would be slightly different because of the fires last year. I didn't really know what to expect coming
into the race. I was cautiously
optimistic based on my previous finish but the course this year would be
difficult and it
looked like there would be a strong field.
The race started at 5am just
outside the Posse Shack in Los Alamos.
Mike Ferris bolted off the line in a sprint start that put him about
200yards ahead of the rest of us from the get go. I held second with a solid pace and
eventually caught up to Mike at about 3 miles.
We chatted and ran together into the Mitchell aid station (AS) at mile 5. Jeremy Duncan had joined us at the point and
we continued to run together as we circumnavigated the northwest side of Los
Alamos. We hit Camp May AS at mile 10.4 and Jeremy passed me for the lead. Camp May AS is at the "bottom" of
the first big climb. Pajarito peak, at
an elevation just shy of 10,500’ would be served up twice during the race. The climb starts out mild but gets very steep
very quick. There’s a quick descent
about 2/3’s of the way up to the bottom of a chair lift and then the climb
begins in earnest. Jeremy and I chatted
and climbed to the top together but he told me to go ahead on the descent so I
did. The descent meandered slightly but was mostly
a straight
shot down the ski slope.
I kept thinking to myself..."I have to do this again in about 4
hours on legs that will really be tired...this is gonna suck!"
I arrived
at the Ski Lodge AS, mile 16.4 and had the lead but as I was leaving Patrick
Garcia ran through like a bat out of hell with a big ole smile on his
face! He was looking really strong and
I felt like I needed to hold back a bit if I was going to make it up the climb
in a few hours.
The 3 miles to Pipeline AS was okay.
As always the descent from Pipeline down into the Caldera was an
adventure! The
run through the Caldera was beautiful.
It's a steady light descent throughout with some rolling hills here and
there. Every so often I checked to see
if anyone was catching me and I didn’t see anyone. At one point I did catch a glimpse of Patrick
out ahead and guessed he'd probably put about 6-8 minutes on me by that
point. At Obsidian AS – mile 26.6 - we
took a hard left to head back to the Valle Grande and all of sudden Jeremy was
right behind me. I wondered if maybe
I'd slowed too
much or if I hadn't seen him come up behind me.
However by the time I had reached the Valle Grande AS at mile 36.7 he was no longer in sight.
The distance from Valle Grande AS to the Ski
Lodge is only 3.5
miles but it was by far the hardest part of the
day. The trail is cross country and is
almost entirely unrunnable because of the wild tufts of grass and rock strewn
throughout the meadow. Once you get
through the meadow it is a straight shot up the side of the ridge to a saddle
and then another steep straight up climb to the peak. I was huffing and puffing the whole way up,
taking 10-15 steps and stopping to breath.
The rest of the race was really a
blur. I made it down the ski area
without falling and came into
the Ski Lodge AS at the 36.7 mile mark, 6 minutes behind
Patrick. I knew that 6 minutes would be
really hard to make up at this point in the race. I was actually more worried about getting
caught from behind by someone coming on strong at the end.
The return trip tops out just past
Pipeline AS and then there's a gradual descent all the way to about mile 48.4 At mile 43, I'd put 3 minutes into
Patrick's lead so I knew something was up and that he must be hurting but I was
too and didn't know if I could catch him.
I actually was more interested in breaking the 9 hour mark which had
been my unspoken pre-race goal. It was
going to be close. At mile 48.4 I was
only 2 minutes back of Patrick but the course starts to climb again to the
finish and my legs were just toast.
I'd started cramping, my breathing was pretty labored and I had entered
that really really dark painful place.
I made up another 30 seconds on Patrick and finished just over the 9
hour mark with a 9:05:31. And
I've never been more proud or
excited to finish a race like this. I
left nothing on the trail, but gave it everything I had. These races teach me a lot about myself. There are times when I want to stop, or rest
and sometimes I don't feel like I have what it takes, but when you finish
running a 50 miler, no matter how long it takes, you know you do and that
you've faced your demons and crushed them underfoot.
There are moments when I question
why I'm doing this to myself but when I consider the incredible beauty of God's
creation, the natural rhythm of running; the feeling of being in tune with
what's around me, the
birds, the sun on my back the smells of the mountains
and of the sage in the meadows, I am at peace
Thank you Lord, for letting me run and for giving me pleasure in it!
