2010 Antelope Island Buffalo Run

Well, another Buffalo Run is in the books and a good time was had by all, I think. 583 people signed up this year. The second year that my little race is the largest trail running event in the state of Utah. I might crack the top ten nationwide with the size of the 50K entry list. A little over 100 signed up for the 50 mile, about 210 for the 50K and 270+ signed up for the 25K. many of these people were running their first trail run, their first ultra, there first time on the island even though they've lived in Utah all their lives. Many firsts today.

25K Runners Starting Out

As usual, my volunteers were fantastic. Britta is my new volunteer coordinator and she did a fantastic job of organizing about 50-60 volunteers. Everyone was where they were supposed to be and did their jobs to perfection. I had many, many runners tell me of how helpful and friendly the volunteers were. Just what I like to hear. Many of my volunteers have been coming back every year for all five years now and it's nice to have experienced people manning the aid stations. Julie, Larry Sr., Larry Jr., Meghan, Jeremy, all back for their fourth or fifth year. Awesome!
This year there were about 24 people that were out for their fifth Buffalo Run. Not bad considering that five years ago less than 150 showed up for the first Buffalo Run.
Every year I have the runners bring a can of veggies and I supply the bison stew meat. My lovely wife then makes buffalo stew out of it. Every year it turns out great and with the exception of last year, all of it disappears. 40 gallons worth. We had enough left over cans that we were able to take about 100 cans to the Ogden Rescue Mission. They were very happy to get the cans along with much of the leftover aid station fare.
This year's weather once again cooperated. I must be living right in spite of my best efforts. After a small storm Friday on the island (it was really nasty up against the mountains) that dropped a little rain, snow and some wind, the day dawned partly cloudy and temps around 30. With the temps warming up to around 50 by midday, and the trails in fantastic shape, course records were set to fall. And fall they did. Five of the six course records went down on race day. The 50 mile saw last year's men's record drop by another 12 minutes to 6:31. The women's 50 mile course record dropped by 24 minutes. The men's and women's 50K records dropped by around a minute and the men's 25K record also dropped by around a minute. Fast day indeed.

First Time Trail Runners and Local Veterinarians Matt and Sharon Klar Ready for the 25K

On a disappointing note, I got my first message about cheating. Seems someone observed another person turning around at Elephant head rather than doing the back Split Rock loop, saved themselves about 5.5 miles. Another four people were observed not going down to White Rock and instead just heading back out for their second loop of the 50K, thus cutting about two miles off their run. Not sure how I'm going to handle this but I'm not happy. If I find out who it is, I'm tempted to tell them to just not bother signing up for my race again. If you don't feel like running the entire route, then drop down in distance or man-up and DNF. Don't cheat, that just pisses me off, demoralizes those that see you do it, and cheats yourself.
Had many people tell me this was the best year yet, but there were some minor glitches. There is always room for improvement and I'm always aiming for the perfect race. Maybe some day that'll happen.