This will be a long race report, you have been forewarned.
I ran the Katcina Mosa 100K Mountain Challenge Run on Saturday.
The race starts at 3am at a park up Hobble Creek Canyon. This is a loop course that takes you thru the Wasatch mountains utilizing some of the Squaw Peak 50 Mile course.
My race started at around 3:20am as I was late to the start due to an accident on I-15 near Draper. Once I started, my thought was to catch as many people as I could throughout the day and see where I ended up.
The first 10 miles are a climb from around 5000’ to 8500’. As the climb was on dirt roads, I was able to run almost the entire way. By the time I got to the first aid station at 8.49 miles, I had caught eight people. Total time, 1:50. At least now I wasn’t last. Aid station #2 was at 13.1 miles. My time to this point was just under three hours. Contrast that with my half marathon PR of 1:36 and you can see some of the difficulty with trail running. At AS #2, I dropped off my flashlight, and picked up some Shot Bloks I had in a dropbag there. The next few miles into AS #4 were all downhill and I was able to make some pretty good time. At AS #3 (16.5 miles), runners leave the dirt road and begin the climb to the highest point on the course, the climb to Lightning Ridge Pass. This starts out as a fairly steep trail going up a canyon, but soon opens into a huge bowl. The climb becomes more gradual, but is still difficult to run for the average person due to the elevation. As I was climbing this trail, the sun was beginning to hit the higher peaks. Once I reached the ridgeline, the sun was out and it was a “Sound of Music” moment. Great views of the surrounding mountains, Utah Lake and the cities down below, way down below. Now the trail dropped over 3000’ in the next four miles and brought us to AS #4 (23.49 miles). This section of trail is fairly steep, but I enjoy running that kind of trail and was able to really fly down it. Lots of fun. At AS #4, I shook all the dirt and gravel out of my shoes, grabbed more Shot Bloks out of my drop bag, filled my bottles and hit the trail again. Next stop, AS #5 (29.6 miles) at Windy Pass. The aid station at Windy Pass is one that I work at during the Squaw Peak 50 mile. The hike up there usually involves 30-40 lbs. of supplies on my back and takes 2.5 hours for 5 miles. Now I was running and had no weight on my back and the trip from AS #4 to Windy Pass (6 miles) only took 1:50. The same crew that I work with during Squaw Peak was up there Saturday and were surprised to see me. “Hey look, Jim has a race number on, let’s take a picture”. Once again, I grabbed a little to eat, filled my bottles, and hit the trail. The two biggest climbs on the course were now behind me and only one major climb remained. The section between AS #5 and #6 is a mix of both trail and ATV road. A lot of this section was downhill and I was able to open the pace up whenever I got the chance. Once at AS #6 (38.8 miles), there was a short out and back of 1.3 miles to ensure we received the full 100K experience. Leaving AS #6, I began the last major climb of the race. I don’t climb well, especially at high elevations and it was starting to show now. My legs were getting somewhat tired, but once I reached the top of that climb I started to trot again where I could. The trouble with this section is that the ATV had lost of loose fist sized, or larger, rocks and this made running difficult at best. As I was going along this section, I came across a fellow runner just sitting on the road with a dazed look. I wasked him if he was ok and he mentioned that his stomach was giving him problems. I told him to get up and gave him some Tums from my drug stash. I always carry a small baggy of electrolytes, Tums, and Ibuprofen during a race. It’s saved my race a few times. Anyway, AS #7 (45.8 miles) was just about 150 yards beyond where this runner was sitting, you just couldn’t see it thru the trees.
This aid station is where I spent the most time, around 14 minutes. I grabbed quite a bit to eat, potatoes, melon, a can of ginger ale. I also changed my socks. It felt good to put on some clean socks. I started out on the last climbing on the course, a very gradual climb along a dirt road for about a mile, then downhill into AS #8 (52.5 miles). In and out of AS #8 in two minutes and on to a trail again. This time it was 3.7 miles of downhill, twisty, trail along a dry creek bed. Lots of fun to run this section and I ran it as fast as I could given how many miles I had traveled. Eventually, I pulled into the last aid station, AS #9 (56.3 miles). By now, any hopes of meeting my overly optimistic time projections were way out the window. I just wanted to get the last six miles done with, so down the road I went. This time, it was just under six miles of downhill pavement. Wow, less than a 10K to go. I found out that running six miles of pavement is harder than it looks when you’ve already covered 56 miles. I could only run ¼-1/2 mile at a time before I would have to walk for a bit. I met up with another runner and her pacer and together we managed to run this last section faster than either one of us could have done by ourselves. It was nice to have someone to talk to after being by myself for the entire day. We managed to cross the finish line together with her time being two hours slower due to an early start at 1am. My final time, 16:12. Actual running time due to mt late start was around 15:55.
Atermath – I’m sore. I haven’t been this sore in quite awhile. I had several goals for this race. First, it was to be my last long training run before Where’s Waldo 100K in two weeks. Second, I wanted a 14 hour finish. That was not to be, not because of a lack of training, but due to the toughness of the course. Third, I wanted to push the pace some just to see if I could. I can. Fourth goal, in and out of every aid station in two minutes or less. I accomplished this except for AS #7. Aid station time can be a real killer of times for ultra runners. My total time in aid stations was around 30 minutes. Fifth, I wanted to try fueling with Shot Bloks exclusively. I did until around mile 45, then even those sounded kind of disgusting. I did take additional food when I felt I should. Sixth, stay well hydrated for the entire race. I knew it would be a warm day. I took two 24 oz. bottles and tried to drink them dry between aid stations, then tank up my stomach at the aid stations, fill the bottles and get out. This worked very well.
After the race, I had the usual food craves for spicy, salty food, and lots of it. The hamburgers and hot dogs at the finish line were great.
Sunday was a very stiff and tiring day. I move pretty slow most of the day and couldn’t sit for very long other wise I would stiffen up. Today isn’t too bad. I can go down the stairs frontways instead of backwards. No running until Wed. of this week and only fairly short miles for the rest of the week, a medium long on Sunday, then short miles next week, three days off and run Where’s Waldo.
Here's a ink to the website course map and elevation profile:
http://jbozung.host.elfon.com/100kcrse.htm
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