Bighorn

I feel bad for posting this now. Lots of great stories of suffering and pushing limits from Western States, whereas my Bighorn mantra for almost 30 hours was "if it feels like a physical effort of any kind, slow down." Of course, most of the Western crew aren't staring at Hardrock in a few days...

Great trip to northern Wyoming. Katie and I rolled out Wednesday after work and crashed at a rest stop in Chugwater, WY. Left early the next morning and we were at Sheridan in no time. Checked out the Mint Bar, picked up the race packet, placed drop bags, then met up with John C and Pete back at the Mint Bar. Made my biggest mistake of race weekend at the Mint: listened and believed John's description of the race. He made the course and conditions out to be a little harder than they really were. Hit up the pasta dinner with those guys before heading out to our campsite in Dayton. A few more beers at the Crazy Woman Saloon and soon it was off to bed.

Race morning was uneventful. Grabbed a huge breakfast at a delicious diner in Dayton. Then just chilled out until the 11AM start.

Finally the gun went off and the race was on. I settled into a slow jog, blending in with the back of the pack. The first few miles were on a dirt road along the Tongue River. I was feeling good, but didn't want to start too fast. We soon hit the Tongue River trailhead and started the first climb of the day. I was behind a lot of people and did a lot of slow walking up this hill.

At the top of the first climb we hit a dirt road and begin a steep descent, aka The Haul. I somehow managed to miss a very well marked turn onto a singletrack trail and got lost for the first time of the day. Only went about a quarter of a mile, and was very lucky to catch a runner on the other side of a creek out of the corner of my eye, or who knew how much extra credit distance I would have run.

Through the Sheep Creek aid station feeling good, I started picking up the pace just a bit. Nice run through the Wyoming wilderness, wildflowers all over the place, to Dry Fork (mile 13-ish). Reached the DF aid station in 3:08:11, in 50th place.

Had my best section of the race between Dry Fork and Footbridge (mile 30). It's slightly downhill, until you reach The Wall where it gets pretty steep. I ran this entire section, stopping only at the Cow Camp aid station to eat some bacon. Never approached a race effort here but I was definitely moving a bit faster than I was the first three hours of the race.

The 18 mile section from Footbridge to Porcupine Ranger Station went well. I hiked all of the uphill but I was moving forward with a purpose and I was well under the cutoffs. There's a minor climb out of Footbridge which was dry, but things soon began to get wet and muddy. I trudged on, getting lost for half a mile or so near Duncan Creek Crossing, but soon enough I was headed down the big hill to Porcupine (mile 48 and the psychological half way point). Passed Pete shortly before this aid station, he was having some GI issues and wasn't looking too well at this point.

I hit porcupine in12:17:58, in 30th place. The aid station went well for me. Katie was waiting there with my first King's Chef bacon cheeseburger of the day. Also downed a few bottles of ensure and finished a snickers. I threw on some old Army camo pants, a sweatshirt, and my Boston jacket. John had told me it would get colder than the North Pole in the canyons at night, and I didn't want to suffer like that. Picked up my pacer, Sean K, here. Sean had never faced a run this far or ran through the night before, but he's getting ready for Leadville and needed the work. I assured him I'd slow down to whatever pace it took for him to make it.

Left Porcupine and I was sweating my balls off before we got halfway up the climb out. Took off some clothes and continued to walk so I could digest all those calories. Made horrible time between Porcupine and Footbridge, getting passed by lots and lots of runners.

Hit Footbridge shortly after dawn. I saw my buddy Boulder Bob there, his day was over due to some foot issues. Tried to talk him into returning but he wasn't having it. Changed shoes at Footbridge for the first time of the day and got prepared for the biggest climb of the race, The Wall. John had made The Wall out to be some Everest-meets-the-Incline impossible hill. I started slow and got slower, but before I knew it the climb was done and I was kinda sad about how lame it was. Colorado has really spoiled me as far as taking on epic climbs in other states.

From the top of The Wall it was mostly hiking all the way over to Dry Fork, with an extra long break at Cow Camp for more bacon. I was very sleepy at DF, having gone through the night, but for covering 70+ miles I was in very good shape. I was well under the cutoff and I knew I could walk it in and finish, and that was my plan. Checked in at DF in 24:07:29, 51st place. For as slow as I was going, and for all the long breaks I was taking along the way, I had only lost one place since I had been at DF some 21 hours earlier. Katie was once again waiting here with a bacon cheeseburger, and I drank my first PBR in a long time.

Even more hiking between Dry Fork and Upper Sheep Creek. Lots of 50 milers and 50Kers passing me here. This section was nice, I was feeling good and just out on a hike in a beautiful part of the country I had never seen before. Sean was starting to zonk here, this was by far the farthest he had ever run, but he was faking some enthusiasm and doing a terriffic job as a pacer. As we came into Upper Sheep Creek I told him I wanted a 20 minute break, and for the first time all day he stopped trying to get me to move my ass faster.

After taking the longest break of the day I looked at my watch and some competitive gene deep down kicked in and said I should at least put forth an effort to break 30 hours. So I picked up the pace considerably as we climbed The Haul, beginning to pass lots of folks from the shorter races. We got to the top and I started bombing down the other side. After such a minimal effort all day I had a lot left, and I hammered the final downhill as hard as I could. Ended up catching Pete, who had somehow passed me, and mentioned going hard so we could hit the Crazy Woman Saloon and still break 30 hours. He tagged along as we continued down. Soon enough we hit the Tongue River trailhead where the course flattens out for the final four miles. I was done at this point and started to walk, telling Pete and Sean that I had done my part to guarantee a sub 30 hour finish and I was now going to walk the rest of the way. I think Pete and Sean were glad to be finished.

The final few miles were spent hiking and goofing off, only running when someone was about to take our picture. The grape popsicle at the final aid station was awesome, and before I knew it we were back in Dayton. Katie saw us coming and ran into the Crazy Woman, on the course at mile 99.75, and got me and Pete a can of Busch and Sean a shot of tequila. We spent about 15 minutes in the bar before Pete and I went and crossed the finish line.

I ended up finishing 44th overall, in 29:24:07. 95 finishers, with 42 DNF's.

Had a blast at the race. Beautiful course. Lots of fun, and the very little effort I was able to put forth and get a finish bodes well for my Rocky Mountain Slam goals. Some day I'd like to go back and take a shot at a sub 24 hour run. I'm not convinced this course is as hard as everyone says, and I certainly don't think it's as hard as Leadville. I feel that if I gave the same effort at Pb as I did at Bighorn, I'd get pulled around Fish Hatchery for not meeting the cutoff.

Big thanks to Katie and Sean, they were a terrific crew. And great to see so many old and new friends out there!

Lived to run another day, which was my goal for the race. Bring on Hardrock!