There was a fairly large RC contingent out at the BHTR this weekend. I have included my story, but would like to get some other stories from everyone’s experience out in Big Horns.

 Wild & Scenic; I couldn’t have described it any better although I would throw in some other choice words while I was running the 50-mile (actual distance was close to 52 miles) race which was one of the most difficult races I’ve run in my short tenure as an ultramarathoner.

The 50-mile race started at Porcupine Creek and the Medicine Wheel Ranger station nearing 9000ft in elevation. The buses left Scott Park in Dayton (the eventual finish-line) at 4am to make it up the mountain for the 6am start. The first bus missed the turn-off and the other three followed. Thank goodness he didn’t drive off a cliff. Anyway, some minor backtracking led to a late start by only 5-10 minutes.

The first 18 miles were largely downhill to the first drop bag site at the third aid station, Footbridge. I will say that the first 18 miles were pretty slow because my knee was bothering me a little, so I decided to take it easy. Many people passed me and I grew a little distraught not knowing how things would play out later in the race. The other thing that bothered me about the first 18 was the mud – there was a lot of it and I was covered. I managed to trip on several rocks and roots but only landed flat on my face once. Ultras are about the small victories to keep you moving forward.

It was recommended to have a dry pair of shoes and socks in your first drop bag that I thankfully packed and they were ready for me at mile 18. I pulled into the aid station in a little over three hours. Now I really had no idea what kind of pace I would run given the difficulty of the course, distance and the fact that I haven’t really done any long distance running much this year outside of the occasional marathon. I had 12hrs in the back of my mind with maybe pushing for 11hrs if all went well. The first 18 were downhill, so I couldn’t tell much from that, but the next 3.5 were straight uphill. I had made the decision long before reaching this point that the best tactic would be aggressively walking/hiking this section. It worked like a charm. I passed several people and actually felt better than I did the first 18. The next 20 miles were a series of rolling hills on single-track punctuated by short steep ascents and descents all averaging between 7000 and 7500 feet. I distinctly remember two aid stations being on top of one of the aforementioned steep climbs and it seemed like a cruel trick meant to piss me off. People running ultramarathons go through various states of mind which we will touch on later and anger is just one albeit the most popular for some.

The hill that will haunt my memories has to be the Haul. I first saw it from a few miles away and noticed the single track zigzagging up it. “We better not be going up that thing,” I would say to myself. The course started veering left of the monster and I breathed a sigh of relief as I pulled into the Upper Sheep Creek aid station at mile 39. That relief came a moment too soon as one of the aid station workers explained to another racer that they had one more climb then it was all downhill pointing to the behemoth behind us. Some colorful language may have slipped out at this point since my inner-mologue vanished 20 miles ago.

One thing is for certain; “The Haul” did me in for the race although it wasn’t the uphill that did it. It was the descent after that butchered my knees till they felt like they were going to pop with every step. It hurt. The next three miles were steady downhill followed by steep downhill with virtually no flat areas to give the knees a break. The only break one could achieve would be to stop and take a seat in the grass.  I didn’t really take any breaks because I just wanted to get down as quickly as possible as to not prolong the agony although what slowed me down was talk at the next aid station of how hot it would be when we finally go to the Tongue River Road. There was still more downhill after this aid station with just over 2 miles to the Tongue River aid station and the hot gravel road the ensued, so I stopped and sat on a rock for about 2 minutes to hydrated and give the knees much needed rest before pushing on one last time. This was my low point of the race. I was hurting pretty bad, but I just wanted to finish and the prospect of running the last 6 miles in unbearable heat wasn’t attractive.

That brings us back to an ultra runners alter state of mind during a race. You get some weird thoughts permeating your mind when you are beyond fatigued. I remember during Lean Horse wishing a car would hit me on the dirt road so I would have a legitimate reason for stopping. Either that or breaking a leg. At mile 47 in the Big Horns, I had flashbacks. I ran in the middle of the road with the IPod volume high so I wouldn’t hear the car. I saw the “Caution Runners on the Road” sign that I considered kicking over so cars wouldn’t slow down from their normal speeds. There was a guy doing target practice with his bow and arrow, and I thought I could possibly anger him in some way that he would take a shot.

Pretty messed up, I know.

Thank my lucky stars the clouds blocked out the sun for much of the time I was on the gravel road, so it was nearly as hot as I thought it would be so I got a second wind and cruised on down the road everyone loved to hate towards Dayton and the much anticipated finish line.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the 52-mile part. I was running most of the race under the impression that it was a 50-miler as advertised. Well, at the Upper Sheep Creek aid station at mile 39; I also overheard the aid station worker tell the other runner that they only had 13 miles left. Was my GPS off, because I could’ve sworn 50 minus 39 equal 11? No, that wasn’t the case, so I had two extra miles to look forward to.

I pulled through the finish line in 11:42 and could be more pleased with how things went. It felt like I made the right decisions during this race and maybe flooding my race schedule year after year is starting to pay off with valuable experience. A bit unorthodox, but it works for me. My decision to cut my mileage drastically and focus on cross training and spadework has also seemed to pay off. After a rough marathon in March, I figured that I had the endurance piece down, so it was time to work on other aspects of running. Specifically strength and speed. So far I have run three marathons and one ultra all with only three long runs over 15 miles this year.

The course was beautiful - full of wildflowers and alpine scenery. I saw several moose, a few snakes, a marmot, and there was probably more wildlife lurking in the trees that I didn’t see. Would I run it again? Ask me after my legs stop hurting, but given the fact that runners have short-term memory when it comes to pain, I would say yes.

After the DNF in Wyoming, I was nervous about what DMTM had in store for me.  Last year I had trouble around the halfway point, vomited and walked most of the latter half of the marathon with twisting pain in my abdominal area.  Despite all of that, I was determined to finish this race, which is a dangerous state of mind for a runner to be in because you may risk injury to complete a race.

Back to race morning……I woke up at 430 to get stuff ready and started driving to Deadwood around 5am going through some good downpours on the way.  I wasn’t looking forward to running the full marathon in the rain, but luckily the rain ceased by the time the buses left for the start line.

The race started at 8am in Rochford with cloudy skies and temperatures somewhere in the 40’s. The conditions were almost perfect for a marathon. Today I was going to try a new race strategy. I started out running my goal pace and just keep that for as long as I could. This was my 3^rd DMTM so I was overly familiar with the course and location of the hills. The first half is gradual uphill so you don’t really feel it until around mile 20 or so. I was cruising along feeling great and really focusing on my form more than my pace. Another change to my race strategy was eliminating the use of gels and forgoing water stops until I hit the aid station around mile 16. A bit risky, but I was superhydrated at the start and base on my previous GI problems, I didn’t want to risk putting something in that would irritate things.

I was elated crossing the highpoint after Dumont, because it was largely downhill from there. I picked up the pace a little. My pace started to dwindle around miles 19 and 20 with a few rolling hills before the steep downhill around mile 20. I was able to get back into a good pace on the downhill section but I could feel fatigue building, but I love that part of the marathon. The last 6-7 miles are the longest normally and mental toughness is required to make it through. Finally, the course brought runners through Deadwood where my pace seemed to pick up again with more people cheering. I took a quick look at my watch to see that if I pushed myself, I could cross the line in under 3:40 which would be a course PR for me, so I pushed. I crossed the line in 3:39:14. I was more than happy with that given the DNF two weeks prior.

DMTM was my 14 marathon overall and 3^rd this year. Also, I would like to point out that DMTM is the only marathon I’ve run multiple times(3 total).  I think next year I’ll try the half-marathon. Now its time to get ready for the Big Horns in two weeks.