 |
|
| Zane Grey Highline 50Mi Trail Run page 3hotos from McKey Roughs Natuh 50re Park |
| HALF-WAY : Soon the 25mi aid station was in sight. We arrived to Hells Gate around 10:45am, or 5:45 into the race. Laura also had Boost in her dropbag. She told me that even though the next section was only 8miles , it would take a while to cover. Her split last year had been 2:40. She suggested to stock up on fluid and food. I drank a can of Boost and emptied the second can in a bottle, and grabbed a third bottle from my dropbag to carry. I ate a quarter PB& J from the aid station table, but nothing else look appealing. So looking in my dropbag, I found a Red Bull to drink. I attempted to eat a Cliffbar, but only managed to consume about 80% of it. I could not find the trash, and asked a volunteer where it was. The volunteer simply took the remaining piece of Cliffbar from me and told me she would “ make it disappear”. I thanked her. Just as Laura and I were preparing to leave, the runner who had been sitting on the trail approached the aid station in the distance. I told the volunteer that he had been sitting on the trail earlier and he might need some attention/help. Laura and I then headed out. Hells Gate was located most of the way up the climb from the previous canyon. So up we continued. We were still in the burn section, and the trail was exposed in may spots. We lucked out that the daytime highs only reached into the 70’s. There were only a few times that I felt the temperature was warm, I think because the particular areas might have been protected from any sort of breeze. For the most part, the temperature remained quite comfortable. Laura was not kidding when she said this section was long. She had also helped mark the second half (or last 4mile stretch) between Hells Gate at 25mi and Fish Hatchery at 33mi. We ran most of the non-uphill trail , so that after about an hour I said that we might reach the area she had marked within another 10-15minutes .. maybe the landscape would look familiar to her. After 10-15minutes, we were still in the burn area. She remembered that the area she had marked was in a pine forest and not in the burn area… well, maybe over the next ridge?. But the next ridge came and went and we were still in the burn area. For whatever reason, I lost my appetite to drink the Boost/water mixture and was wishing the bottle had only water in it because I had consumed all the water from my second bottle and half the water from the third bottle. Laura remarked that she did not have a dropbag at the 33mile aid station, but she had one at 44miles. She said she would probably drop at 33. I replied that I had two cans of Boost in my drop bag at the next aid station and she was welcome to have one of them, because I was not planning to pour any into my water bottles. The Boost offer was my best effort to coerce her into continuing beyond the 33mile aid station. Finally , the landscape began to look familiar to Laura. Good News. There was a very large outcrop of red rock in the distance. (too bad the camera was kaput) . Laura said the trail would circle around this large outcrop and then drop into the aid station. About a mile later, there were several lookout volunteers sitting in lawn chairs in some shade along the side of the trail. They had some plastic gallon jugs of water. I asked for some water, and was given about 1/3 of a water bottle’s worth of water. Rations! Some more down hill, and the trail then crossed a big slab of barren rock. Laura gleefully remarked that this was a very good sign – the aid station was very close. We caught up and passed another runner in this section. Arriving into the Fish Hatchery aid station, many people knew Laura and clapped for her and called out her name. It was 1:30pm or 8:30 into the run. The stretch had taken us 2:45, not bad considering everything. I was hoping that the can of Boost and seeing her friends, would encourage Laura to continue. But if she decided to drop I would understand. Robert was also at this aid station when we arrived and Robert was also thinking about dropping. Then Laura and Robert started talking about dropping. I did not want to talk about dropping so I went to my dropbag and pulled out the Boost cans.. one for Laura and one for me. I gave my water bottles to a volunteer to fill with water. Three bottles seemed to be serving me well, so I decided to pass on the Camelbak. I drank a can of Red Bull and more water from the aid station table. A volunteer gave me two quarters of PB&J. Upon finishing my PB&J, I was happy to see that Laura was preparing to continue on to the next aid station. As we left, Robert was still thinking about his decision. Fish Hatchery was one of the three aidstations located at the base of a canyon. The way out was across a stream and then climb,climb, climb. With a stomach full of Boost, Red Bull and PB&J I was happy to walk and let the mixture digest. Laura said that this 11mile section, from Fish Hatchery (33mi) to Christopher Creek (44mi) had also taken her 2:40 last year. I started slowing down on the uphills in this section, and let Laura go ahead if she was behind me every time we reached a long uphill. I felt okay for the downhills though. I ate several packets of Hammergel in this 11mi section to try to boost my energy level. Occasionally, in between canyons, there were places where the trail would meander through tall clumpy grass. In this 11mile stretch, there was one such grassy stretch in which I did not see a hidden rock. My left foot barely caught the rock causing my ankle to roll outward and I fell into the soft grass. As my ankle rolled it made a sound which was quickly followed by a wave of pain. Sitting on the ground, the unpleasant image of hopping on one foot to the next aid station popped into my mind. After about half a minute Laura helped me to stand up. I shifted my weight to see if I could bear weight on the left ankle, and I could. So I walked carefully for about 20 steps . There was some discomfort still, but the ankle was functioning. I tried some gentle running. For the most part the ankle seemed okay, but bothered me on certain uphill grades and uneven surfaces. Thankfully the ankle was fine on the downhills. We continued on. Twice on the course we came upon remnants of bleached white animal bones. Passing by the second set of bones, Laura mentioned she remembered seeing the bones last year. I do not know what type of animal bones they were, but I thought maybe elk since there were many elk in this area. The bones added something to the trail. I am not sure if it was in this section or the previous section, but there was one very large fallen trunk into which someone had recently carved steps . It must have been easier to carve small steps than to entirely remove a 2-4 foot chunk. Laura told me about how the RD and others had hauled heavy chain saws onto the trail to clean up the fallen trees in the weeks before the race. It was obvious that a great deal of work had gone into putting on this race. There were lots of rocks on the trail throughout the 50miles…. as one runner put it “a rock collection” . I thought the rocky trails were fun overall, but there was one climb in this section that had lots of loose rock on top of more rock and was very slow going partly because of my concern for the ankle, partly due to the altitude, but mostly because I was just feeling beat. I had to stop and take a couple 10-15 second breaks enroute to the top. I certainly did not feel like a mountain goat on this climb. Someone had told us that there would be a sign on the trail stating “4miles to the aid station” . I think it was in this stretch, but it could have been in the previous stretch. There were some people sitting near the sign, and Laura said that they looked like the other people we had seen sitting by the trail earlier. I was batting zero for being able to recognize people this particular day, so I did not venture to guess. It was in this area that one of the runners , who had been in the train with me in the first 8miles , caught up and passed Laura and me. He was the runner from Foresthill, and I finally had a chance to associate a person with the voice. We would see him again a little later. This 11mi section seemed to go forever. My watch had passed 2:30pm , then 3:30pm, then 4:30pm and we still weren’t there. We were over 3hours for the split. Finally we hit a downhill stretch, and I said to Laura this may be the start of the descent into Christopher Creek. The downhill felt good. Enjoying some assistance from gravity, I passed the guy in the bright yellow and orange bike jersey-type shirt whose crew person had accompanied him for a short bit out of the previous aid station. Arriving into Christopher Creek, the final aid station, it was 5pm on the nose, exactly 12hrs had elapsed since the race started. . Laura arrived about a minute after me, her legs hurt on the down hills. My cough was getting worse, and each time I coughed my lungs hurt. A volunteer heard me coughing and asked if I was okay. I told her I had a sore throat and was feeling sick , but felt okay to continue. Getting my dropbag, I drank a Boost and part of a Red Bull. I decided to leave one of my water bottles in the dropbag. Only 6miles to the finish line and the temperature was dropping. The volunteer refilled my two bottles and brought me two PB&J quarters. Laura saw me pull out a long sleeve shirt from my dropbag and she said I would need it. I tied the shirt around my waist. It was mandatory to carry a flashlight from this point if a runner arrived after 3:30p. ( Christopher Creek had a 6:30pm cut-off. ) I grabbed my Green LED Handheld flashlight in the dropbag. I asked a man standing at the aid station what time sunset occurred and he replied “ 6:15pm but darkness would hit earlier in the canyons”. 6:15pm sounded too early to me , but I was not from this area so I took his word for it. Laura told me to continue on and not wait for her. I asked her if she was sure, and she said yes. So I walked out of the aid station. Number #79 out of the final aid station and headed to the finish line. At the rate I was moving I would not make it in by darkness. But I still questioned the 6:15 sunset. The sun was still fairly high in the sky at 5:05pm as I departed . HOMESTRETCH: I reminded myself I had only 6miles to go, and I was happy that this was not a 100Km or a 100mi course. Trying to forecast a finish time, it looked like 14something. Unless a major catastrophe occurred I‘d make the 15hr cutoff. Laura had told me there was one more major climb right after the last aid station, then the remainder was some rolling up and down to the finish. My condition was starting to degrade further. As I snailed my way uphill, it was taking more energy to keep a mental focus. Three or four runners passed me on this final climb. I found escape by envisioning a chair waiting especially for me at the end, and I looked forward to sitting in it when I reached the finish line. After completing the last major climb, I tried to run as much as possible including the some of the short up hills . Every step I could run instead of walk meant I would be able to sit down in the chair that much earlier. There was another runner behind me. I would see him now and then, but eventually I stopped seeing him. Where the trail made a distinct 90 degree turn, I came upon a runner throwing up on the side of the trail. I was not sure what to say as I passed by. Another person was with him, so that was good. More minutes pass by. As I approached closer to the finish there were more people walking the trail in opposite direction looking for their runners. One of them was Julie Arter. She asked if I was okay and did I need anything, and I told her I had a sore throat and was not feeling well but just wanted to keep moving forward. She said I was almost there. I had been running frequently enough to make up for the long slow ascent that it seemed I might be able to just barely break 14hours. Doing the math it meant I needed to average a 19minute pace or faster in this final 6miles. It was 6:45pm and still daylight outside. So much for the 6:15p sunset. It seemed I might also reach the finish before darkness set in. I had to be close, within 10-15 minutes of the finish. After another 5minutes or so , I came upon some people saying something about 0.5 mile more. One runner, whom I had not seen before, came blasting by me. Then there were some children at a bend in the trail… then I heard clapping and cheers from ahead. I ran up the final hill and there was the finish line. The clock read 13:54:45 when I crossed . More than good enough for me. And it was still daylight at 6:54pm. I told the volunteers that I did not feel well and wanted to sit down. The chair I had been dreaming of since 5pm suddenly appeared. The chair was the best finisher’s award I could receive. Finally letting go of the mental focus that had gotten me to the finish line, the tidal wave I had been trying to outrun the past few hours finally caught up with me and plowed me under. My body temperature dropped quickly and I was shivering. The volunteers wrapped me in a sleeping bag and put a towel over my head. I looked like Chief Geronimo minus a feather head-dress. My cough was getting worse, and the volunteers said I was very pale . Being pale, though, seems to be common for me whether I feel good or bad after finishing a long run. Laura arrived just a few minutes later. She too was happy to be done. Darkness set in after 7pm. Every few minutes another runner would cross the finish line and there would be lots of clapping and cheering. My legs started shivering and a volunteer brought me my dropbag, and I was able to get my jacket and tights. The jacket and tights added more warmth beneath the sleeping bag and towel. A medic checked my vitals and everything was stable enough and he left the decision up to me whether to seek medical help or return to my hotel. I decided to return to my hotel room and sleep. Laura and I got a ride back to the host hotel in Payson from some friends of hers. I was able to sleep on and off Saturday night, and woke up around 7am Sunday morning feeling a little better. I saw the RD when I went to retrieve my dropbags , and let him know I was feeling better. ( As a side note, I was very happy with the Leona Divide trail shoes. This is the best my feet and toes have ever held up in a 50mi event. No blisters under any of the nails of the small toes. This is a first not to lose any nails.) I don’t regret running Zane Grey, it was worth the effort. I had fun. But in the future, I will probably cancel out of a long run if I get a sore throat shortly beforehand. Lesson learned. It took antibiotics and a week of rest to recover from whatever sort of bug that I caught. I apologize if my condition or decision to continue running scared anyone. I thank RD Bob Redwanc, Laura , Tom O’Connell and others who helped me after I finished. And thanks to Laura for the company and conversation from about 20mi to 44mi. Best of luck to her at Squaw Peak, Baldy and WF100 this summer. I would like to run ZG again under healthier conditions. The ZG course and event epitomize many of the reasons I like ultrarunning. I’m hoping Ohlone will be a less problematic run in two weeks. |
|
| T H E E N D |