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Squaw Peak 50 Mile Trail Run – UT

June 2, 2007

The Squaw Peak 50 is held in the mountains above Provo, Utah, only about 45 minutes from my home.  The course it tough, and I believe it is one of the top three toughest 50-mile ultras in the country in addition to Zane Grey and San Juan Solstice.  Among the features that make it tough is:  over 10,000 of elevation climb, a likelihood of snow to run through, and a very tough steep climb at the 39-mile point.

Three years ago, before I had run my first ultra, I hiked a portion of the Great Western Trail and noticed some weather-beaten flags hanging from some of the bushes and trees.  I recognized that they probably were marking the course of some sort of race.   As I hiked the very tough trail up to Windy Pass, I just couldn’t believe it possible for a race to be on such a tough trail.   A year later, I was crazy enough to be running the Squaw Peak 50.   In 2005, I finished in 12:42.  In 2006, I finished in 12:06.For 2007, my goal was to break 12 hours for the first time and I felt confident that I could do much better than that.   In 2005, I ran with an injury and in 2006, I didn’t taper at all for the race, running a Grand Canyon double-crossing the weekend before the race.   This year, I decided to spend May preparing for this race.   I concentrated hard on hill training after a long winter of running the flat lands.  This seemed to work out well.  Two weeks before the race I set PRs on two favorite training runs up a mountain behind my house.   Then I tapered for two weeks and looked forward to the race.

Friday night the race briefing and dinner was held at the host hotel.   The place was packed.  I had great fun meeting runners both local and out of town.   I ate dinner with Matt Watts, Dale Perry, and legendary Uli Kamm from  Colorado.   We had a great time telling stories and poking fun at each other.   RD John Bozung gave his usual informative long race briefing.  I was very surprised to see the large number of ultra first-timers.   This is a tough race for your first attempt at a 50-miler.

We were pleased to hear that the course was almost totally free of snow.  There would only be short a few 10-20-foot segments in some ravine crossings.   In 2005, we experienced about ten miles of snow that really slowed us down and sapped our energy.   In 2006 we only had about a mile or so of snow, mostly near Windy Pass.  But this year the issue would be heat.

For drop bags, I kept things very simple.   I just used some gallon zip-locks with a can of Ensure.  At the Little Valley (AS#8) Drop Bag I added an empty water bottle because I planned to carry three bottles from there to the finish.  With this zip-lock approach, I could throw away the bag and not worry about retrieving any bags after the race.

The Course 

The Squaw Peak 50 Course is a giant circle and I approach it as two big segments, a morning run (26.5 miles) and an afternoon run (23.5 miles).   The start/finish is at Vivian Park in Provo Canyon.  The route runs around the circle counter-clockwise.   The first 14 miles makes a grueling 4,000-foot climb through scrub oak, junipers, pines, and aspens.   You are presented with amazing views of the canyons and valleys below.  Once you reach the

Kolob Basin overlook, it is a very long downhill run for the next eight miles.  Next up is an annoying paved road run up Hobble Creek Canyon for about 3.5 miles.  That ends the first major segment.   My goal typically is to arrive there by 10:00 a.m. (five hours).

The afternoon segment is tougher.  First, is a long climb (2,300 feet) to Little Valley (AS#8) at mile 33.  You pass through canyons, open alpine fields, and forests.   Little Valley is a key decision point.  If you continue from there, you are really committed to finish the race.   There are no bail-out points.   You either head back to Little Valley, or continue on to the finish.  The climb from here is tough.  First you climb 1,000 feet up to Wallsburg Ridge and then do a very long traverse run around Bald Knoll.   You can look down and see the location of Big Spring Aid Station (AS#10) which looks so close, but you still have 12 more grueling miles before you get down there.   The real fun is the 1,300-foot climb to the ridge above Windy Pass.  This very tough steep climb is accomplished in about a mile.  After regrouping at the remote

Windy Pass aid station, it is all downhill from there, (down 3,800 feet!).  The last 3.5 miles is another annoying paved road section back to the start/finish at Vivian Park.

My Goals 

This year, I wanted to finally break 12 hours.  I believed breaking 11 hours would be possible for me on a very good day, but I knew with the hot weather, that I should be very content in breaking 12 hours.

I knew that last year I ran the first 25.7 pretty hard, so I would be happy to have a similar pace this year.  Where I could really pick up some time would be during the second half of the race.  I needed to concentrate on fueling better and not getting lazy toward the end.

The Race 

It is so nice to go to a race so close to home.   But even in my own bed, I only slept a couple hours because I was so anxious for the race.  I left home after 3:30 a.m. and arrived at about 4:15 a.m.   As I was driving the last couple miles, I could see the lights of runners, who took the one-hour early start, as they ran down the Provo River Parkway.   I stayed in the car for awhile to keep warm and then went to pavilion to place my drop bags and greet some friends.   With ten minutes to go, I dropped my jacket back in the car and made my way to the start.

About 220 runners started the race.  RD John, told us to go, and away we went for the first couple miles down a paved trail along the Provo

River.   For the first ten miles, I wanted to try to hang with Dave Hunt, who I knew would finish in the top 15 or so.   I stayed close behind and made sure I was right behind him as the course started the climb on the single-track Bonneville Shoreline trail.   I noticed that my training buddy, Brett Rutledge had a similar strategy.   He was setting his sights on me and was close behind.   The initial climb went well.  I successfully kept up with Dave and another local runner.  Our pace created a large gap ahead of the runners behind.   Dawn arrived and we turned out our lights.   As the trail became steeper, I became concerned about my labored respiration.  I could feel a little wheezing in the bottom of my lungs.   It wasn’t a big deal, but enough to tell me to back off a little.   Dave Hunt repassed me.  We talked for a couple minutes and then he wished me well.  I knew that I wouldn’t see him again until the finish.I arrived at Hope Camp Ground (mile 5.3) at 1:04, exactly the pace for last year.   I downed a quick cup of drink, and then continued on.  Several runners passed me on this transition.   I was happy to back off a little and get into a more comfortable pace.   The next section had more ups and downs.   When we hit Squaw Peak Road, I concentrated on keeping a run going.   Very soon, I came upon some runners walking.   I quickly realized that they were some of the early starters.   It took them an hour longer to cover the first seven miles.   I wondered how in the world they would be able to finish in time with that pace.    I passed other early starters.  Seeing these runners walking up the road kept fooling me into thinking that I could walk too, to keep pace with the rest of the pack.   I soon kept leap-frogging with Chad Carson who I recognized from the Antelope Island 50.  He had a fast run up the road, but took more walking spells.  Finally we spent some time walking together and introduced ourselves.   As I approached the next aid station, Jarom Thurston caught up with me and looked like he was running strong.I arrived at the Rock Canyon Aid station AS#3 (mile 10.4) at 2:15.  I was running in 58th place.   I was five minutes behind last year’s pace.  That surprised me.  Just as I was about to leave, Brent arrived.   I hoped he would make a quick stop, but didn’t, so I continued on.   One of the runners I passed along this section had a small dog running free with him.   It was annoying because the little dog kept getting in my way and I almost stepped on it.   Brent caught up with me during a bushwack section that cut off switch-backs on the road.   It was good to run with him for a few miles.   The morning was beautiful.  It was clear and cool high up on the mountains.   The sun was still hidden behind the mountains we were running on and the chill in the air felt wonderful.   We picked up the speed a big on some long dirt road sections that were fairly flat.   We soon arrived at Kolob Basin Overlook (mile 14.8) at 3:06.  I was now in 56th place.  I made a quick transition and waited a few seconds for Brent, but then went ahead and started pounding down the hill.

I really enjoyed the downhill, but I was careful to not pound it too fast and wear myself out.  I caught up with local runners Marc Sanderson (finished 27th)  and Leon Deitlaf (finish 105th) and had some good conversations with them.   I went on ahead.   There are a couple sections that leave the road, making short cuts using single and double-track paths.   If you don’t watch closely, you can miss these turns and end up running much further.   I really enjoyed these sections because they were more technical and a nice change from the dirt road.   I noticed that I was increasing my distance ahead of the runners behind.   As I was coming out of the second cut-off section, rejoining the road, I noticed another runner on the road who didn’t take the cutoff.  I mentioned to him that he missed a turn, but no problem, he just did some extra distance.     Soon Chad Carson caught up to me again.  I was puzzled, I thought he was ahead of me.  He mentioned that he had missed both the cut-offs and probably did an extra mile.   It was nice to run with him because he refused to slow his run down on this long downhill section.   I kept up with him and enjoyed some good conversation.   He asked me what my goal was, and I said it was to break 12 hours.  He said I was doing great and was headed toward 10 hours.  We arrived together at Hobble Creek road (mile 22) at 4:12.  I jumped to 39th place.   That was a good section for me.  I was now five minutes ahead of last year’s pace.  Charlie Vincent was there waiting to pace Eve Davies (she would arrive 15 minutes later).   I was very surprised to see Brent Rutledge arrive just two minutes later.   He mentioned that he was trying hard to keep up with me.  He was doing a great job.  

After a quick two-minute stop, I went on ahead and caught up to Chad as we pushed up the paved road for the next 3.5 miles.   I was getting warm in the sunshine, but not too bad.  I was able to keep a constant run going for the first couple miles, but then backed off and watched Chad go on ahead.  I really wanted to get through this paved section as quickly as possible.   I arrived at the end of the road at 4:58.  I reached my goal of arriving at this point before 5:00.  I was now in 38th place.   I was again surprised to see that Brent arrived just a minute behind me.   He said he had a hard time keeping up on that road.  I said, I just wanted to get it over with fast.   I went on ahead, but within a half mile, Brent caught up.   We ran together for awhile, but then he pushed on ahead.   This section has always been a tough one for me, but I was still feeling pretty strong.  My goal for the next two sections were to do each in under an hour.   The dirt road wound its way up through a canyon.  Small streams flowed nearby.

Soon the peace was broken by the sound of motorcycles and ATVs.  A large group of about ten vehicles cruised past me at a pretty high speed.  They didn’t care at all about the dust they were kicking up.  Clearly they thought they owned the road.   About a half mile later, I caught up to them as they were stopped making some adjustments.   They were parked two-wide across the entire road, giving me no where to go except leaving the road and struggling to get around them.  As I did, I let them know that I wasn’t pleased.  “You are blocking the entire road!”   I hoped that they would move for the next runner and I also hoped that I would reach the next aid station before they passed by again.    As the road became steeper, I finally caught up with Brent.  I looked at my watch and said we should be arriving at the aid station within 4 minutes.   Sure enough we did.  We arrived at Sheep Canyon (mile 29.6) at 5:57, close to my one hour goal since the last aid station.  I fell to 42nd place.

I pushed on ahead as Brent took an extra minute refueling.   The next section left the dirt road and followed a more remote 4WD road that climbed up into Little Valley.   This really is one of the most beautiful parts of the course, but I didn’t enjoy it much.  It was a lot of work and the hills seemed steeper this year.   I pushed on ahead and finally arrived at Little Valley at 6:54 in 44th place.   There was a large group of runners there who were trying to recover and fix their feet.   I was surprised to see Chad still there.  In the past two years I spent way to much time there, 15-20 minutes.   I refused to do that this year.   I only spent four minutes.  I tried to drink, but probably didn’t drink enough.  As I was filling my three bottles, Brent arrived.   I mentioned that I hated that last section.   As I left, I called out Brent’s number instead of mine.   Yes, my brain was turning to mush.I now knew that the next 2.5 hours or so would be the worst.  The two huge climbs.   I forced myself not to think about it and just keep a good pace going.  I would run any of the mild uphills or flats and try hard to keep a good power hike going on the steep stuff.  A group of four young runners (the Dance clan) past me right after RD John came driving down the road.   The climb up the Great Western Trail to the ridge went much better than expected.   It didn’t wear me out and no one passed me.   On the traverse around Bald Knoll, Chad caught up.   He explained that he had been experiencing stomach trouble and took a long stop at Little Valley.   I was glad to see him.  He was very encouraging to me all day.   He pushed on strongly ahead.   I did my best to just keep a good run going on the traverse.  I played leapfrog with a couple other runners.  I was impressed how well the trail had been cleared this year.   I remember last year getting upset over all the branches that extended into the trail hitting me head.  This year it was much easier.

Finally I arrived at the base of the terrible 1-mile 1,300-foot climb.    There was a large group of runners behind.  I took the lead until we reached a nice shady tree before things got really steep.   I stopped to sit down for about four minutes to cool down.  I was getting very hot.  I hoped that Brent would catch up, but there was no sign of him.   Another runner followed my example and also took a nice break in the shade.   Finally at about the 9:00 mark, I picked myself up and started pushing up the steep, hot, exposed mountain.   The trail was almost a bushwhack deer trail.  The scrub brush kept hitting my legs and feet.   It was very tough work.  I looked up the mountain and could see several other runners moving very slow, laboring up the mountain ahead.   I was doing a poor job at fueling.  I tried to eat some more, but it made me thirsty and I had less than a bottle remaining.   Dehydration was started to set in.   I no longer cared about runners passing me, but I still cared about beating 12 hours.  I knew that I must reach Windy Pass before 10:00 to keep my goal in sight.   I looked down the steep slope, expecting to see Brent, but there was no sign of him.

Finally I crested the ridge.   Wow, that was hot and tough.  For the past two years, instead of climbing through scrub brush, we climbed up snow banks.  Climbing the snow seemed much easier and cooler.   After that harsh experience, I thought of all the runners behind who would hit this section in even hotter temperatures.   I arrived at Windy Pass (mile 40.4) at 9:45, 12 minutes faster than last year.  I was now in 50th place.  I was in poor shape, badly dehydrated, and not moving very fast.  Jim Skaggs quickly recognized that I was hammered and ushered me into a chair.   He then kindly did everything for me, filling my water bottles and bringing me cup after cup of cool water.  Life quickly started to return.

After about five minutes, I pulled myself out of the chair, thanked everyone and started heading down.   It was time to run again.  The next few miles of downhill can be fairly technical in spots.  I’ve done several face plants on this trail in the past.  I didn’t want to do that today but tried my best to push the pace.   A few runners past me near the top.   I did some calculations and determined that now was the time to put the pain out of my mind and push the pace harder to reach my sub-12-hour goal.  Thankfully some clouds rolled in and I was amazed how much cooler it felt for about 20 minutes.   I came back to life and again really enjoyed the run.

I arrived at Big Spring (mile 46.3) at 11:02 in 49th place.  The volunteers quickly offered an ice-cold-soaked towel to take.  Wow!  That was just what I needed.  I wrapped it behind my neck.  Next, they filled my bottle with ice-cold drink that tasted so good.  Lastly, I soaked myself in some wonderful cool water spray.   I was all set for the remaining hot paved road to the finish.   I felt confident that I could now break 12 hours and I knew the pace it would take.   I dug down deep and ran as quickly as I could.  I played leapfrog with another runner for a mile and then decided to just really kick it into gear.   I sprinted away very fast but it only last for a few hundred yards.  I just didn’t have enough carbs in my blood to keep it up.  I slowed to periodic walks but made sure that I was at least averaging about 12-minute miles.

As I neared Vivian Park, spectators along the way congratulated me.  As I turned the cornet into the park, the families in the shade cheered and clapped.   I crossed the finish line at 11:40!  49th place (unofficially).  I reached me goal and beat last year’s time by 26 minutes.  About ten other people finished in the ten minutes before me.   My wife, Linda, greeted me and quickly helped me find some cold drinks.  She had bought a hamburger that really hit the spot.  Dave Hunt wondered why I was already back.  “Did you DNF?”   Nope, I finished.  He was impressed and congratulated me on my good time.

Recovery was a little tougher than normal.  Dehydration had taken its toll.  For the stretch to Windy Pass, I really should have taken 4 waterbottles and also should have grabbed snow for my hat as I crossed ravines.  For the next hour I just sat in my chair, slowly drank, washed up a little, and dipped my hot feet in Provo River.  Where was Brent?   He arrived at 12:40.   He had struggled on the section to Windy Pass.

Matt Watts and Dale Perry came in about another hour later.   Matt, Dale, Anita Fromm and I had a good time talking about the crazy day.  As expected, Kevin Schilling won in 7:59.   I understand he’s just one of four to break 8 hours on this course.  Amazing!   I was way back on Wallsburg Ridge when he finished.   When I look at split times, I’m impressed who fast the front runners can get up those hills, but I noticed that their downhill splits are really impressive.  That is an area I think I can improve on.

About 200 runners ended up finishing the race.  The last runner arrived at 11:18 p.m., almost seven hours after I finished.  That is a very long day!

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