Bighorn Trail 100 Race June 17th-18th 2011

This year, I decided early on that I needed to do more races in order to motivate myself to more adequately train. Toward that goal, I signed up for the Bighorn Trail 100, which was held Friday June 17th and Saturday June 18th. The race started and ended in Dayton, WY, with the registration and award events in nearby (and much larger) Sheridan, WY. A friend of mine (Kari Fraser) graciously rented a gorgeous house in a golf community just south of Sheridan that several of us runners (and pacers/crew) stayed in. Mike Poland, my very good friend and business partner, volunteered to be my crew and pacer, and we made the 6 hour trip from Estes together on Wednesday. We arrived in the late afternoon and were unpacked and settled in quickly. Later we all went out for dinner at Olivia’s Kitchen and had some pretty decent Mexican food.

Our drop bags were due in Sheridan Thursday afternoon, so Thursday morning was a flurry of preparatory activities around the house. Mike and I brought a few gallons of Vi Fuel with us for everyone to try out and use during the race, so lots of flasks were getting filled that morning.

Mike likes it so much he flavored his oatmeal with it!

I took advantage of the oven and cooked up 2 lbs of yummy bacon. It would serve me well the next day during the race.

Mike and I went for a 3 mile run after the bacon was done, and then after lunch we all headed to downtown Sheridan for the medical check and drop bag dropoff. I weighed in at 128 lbs, picked up my race packet, and then dropped off my drop bags. We then made the 20 minute drive out to Dayton to check out the race start/finish area, so I wouldn’t be anxious about how to get there or how long it takes. We then went back to the house, had supper, and spent the evening relaxing and enjoying ourselves with our friends, finally going to bed around 9:30.

It rained nearly all night, with several serious thunderstorms moving through as well. Even more water for an already soggy course! But, when I woke up and took a peek outside just a bit after sunrise, this is the view of the mountains that greeted me.

We then had breakfast and made our last minute preparations like putting on our race clothes and gathering up all the stuff that we needed to start the race out with.

Mike and I headed over to Dayton and the race start, arriving around 7:45. The race starts and ends in Scott Park, which is bordered by the Tongue Fork river. The river was running so high that part of the park had to be closed off due to flooding.

Pretty soon, the runners began showing up in earnest, and the park was abuzz in pre-race energy. I took some time to snap a few pictures as our friends showed up.

We listened to the pre-race briefing at 9, and then hit the john and lined up at the starting line around 9:45, and, at 10 o’clock, we were finally off and running!

 

The first five miles of the course this year is on a gravel road, so we made good time. I was running this section with Kristel Liddle, Victoria Funk, and Catherine Speights. I was feeling a little sluggish, and was glad that they were moving a bit quicker than I would have been left to my own devices. We passed through the Tongue River aid station (5.1 miles) in 46 minutes, and then started the steep climb up to Horse Creek Ridge. Soon Victoria was blasting up the hill ahead of all of us, and I started feeling a bit better and chased after her. Kristel and Catherine were more disciplined than I was and stayed at a more mellow pace.

After cresting Horse Creek Ridge, there was a steep descent into the Sheep Creek drainage and the Upper Sheep aid station (12.5 miles). A quick water refill and then the trail ascended at a more mellow pace until we reached the peak by Camp Creek. It was then an easy descent into the Dry Fork aid station (17.5 miles). I refilled my bottles and quickly headed out to do the 7 mile out-and-back climb up to Twin Buttes. After turning around at Twin Buttes, I had my first high of the day and ran back down to the Dry Fork Aid in ~40 minutes. Once there, I grabbed enough gel to get me to Footbridge and took off down the trail, chasing after Kari who was just a couple of minutes ahead of me. I finally caught up to her about a mile before Cow Camp (30.5 miles) and ran with her for a while before she pulled ahead again.

I finally arrived at Footbridge aid station (41 miles) around 7:30pm and restocked from my drop bag. Mike also met me there, and would pace me for the remainder of the race. I was feeling good when I arrived, and continued to make good time for most of the way to the Spring Marsh Turnaround (50.3 miles), immensely enjoying having someone to talk with after running by myself for so long. I passed Victoria in this section, and said hi to her and her pacer Pete Stevenson. She was having some trouble and unfortunately would end up having to drop from the race later.

I finally arrived at the turnaround suffering from a serious low at around 10 or 10:30pm. I saw Kari and Chris (who was pacing) there and said hi before I sat down by the fire. Big mistake! I sat around for 10 or more minutes before I got up and left the aid station, and found myself going hypothermic within a couple of minutes. I was shaking all over and having trouble breathing but had no more clothes to put on. I started trying to walk faster, and Mike walked behind me for a minute rubbing my back and shoulders, and soon I was warm enough to quit shivering. I had one more high on the way back down and actually passed Kari and Chris briefly before I crashed and they passed me back. I finally arrived back at Footbridge aid and was able to pick up one more layer to try and make it through the night.

Leaving Footbridge, I ran head-on into the lowest point of my race. By 1 or 1:30, my body decided it was time to go to sleep and nothing I did could convince it otherwise. So, from mile 60 to nearly mile 70 I could only walk. I eventually decided to quit fighting it and wait for the sun to come up, which it did a little after 4:00am. At that point, I started feeling really good and put my headphones and starting running! I was even running uphill at times, and was ahead of Mike at least 1/4 mile at one point. This went on for a while, until I started running down the steep decline shortly before Cow Camp. You see, I had been working on a blister on each foot since mile 25 due to the horribly muddy and wet trail conditions (not to mention my pathetic peak of 94 miles/month training). My left foot slid just a bit and put too much pressure on the blister on my left foot, and the pain shut me down completely. I ended up hobbling down to the aid station and ended up having the paramedic there drain the blister on the that foot, and also bandage and tape both feet. This got me by until somewhere around mile 16-17, when I had to stop and completely clean the mud off of my feet, out of my socks, and out of my shoes. I started moving better after that, and actually ran all the way down the steep decline from Horse Creek Ridge down to the Tongue River aid.

I walked a bit after the aid station, trying to rehydrate from the steep, hot descent. After 1/2 mile or so, I tried to run but quickly had to stop due to a tendon in my left ankle. I had been running with bad form from the pain in that foot, and had stressed my ankle and my left hip. I tried in vain to work out the kinks and run, and ended up just power hiking the last 5 miles in at just under 4 miles per hour.

Finally, I arrived at the park and hobbled across the finish line in 29:42:57! I was finisher 54 out of 110. Mike and I made our way over to where Kari, Chris, Eric and some other friends were watching the runners come in. Eric had finished in 26:06:25, Kari in 27:06:35, and Catherine in 28:54:03. Ning came in later at 30:53:26, Chip at 32:09:56, and Kristel at 32:26:26. I took off my shoes to inspect the damage.

We stayed around there for a while, and then headed back to the house to get a shower and supper, as well as some much needed rest. The next morning, we went to the award ceremony.

I picked up my buckle and finisher’s jacket, and watched as many of my friends picked up their awards as well. This race is seriously tough, but has scenery second only to the San Juan Solstice and Hardrock, at least as far as my experience goes. It definitely made it onto my short list of favorite races, and is one I will strongly consider doing again.

Here are some more pictures of friends with their awards.