Sunday - Didn't run at all. When I got home Saturday evening, my lovely wife told me "you're mine tomorrow, we're going out for breakfast then going for a horsey ride. Well, that' exactly what we did, and had a good time. It was a great day for a ride. we ended up going out to the island and moseying around the White Rock loop. I think we were the only ones with horses out there that day. About half a mile from the trailhead, we had a mountain bike come up on us from behind. Spooked the horses since he didn't give any warning. Idiot! Needless to say I had some choice words with him regarding trail manners. At least our horses are used to mountain bikes, so they weren't too spooked. Come on bikers, yield to horses and people on foot. Miles - 0.0
Monday - I did manage to get out for a few miles. Ran from Rainbow north a couple of times, once by myself, once with Breein. Perfect day for a run, warm, but not hot. Miles - 10.1
Tuesday - Went out for a lunch run. Went to the bank as well. Figure I might as well run an errand. didn't go out after work. With the 50K/100K this weekend, I still have a bunch of stuff to do. Miles - 4.8
Wednesday - Didn't do any running. Had plenty to do with getting ready for the race this Saturday so I decided to take the day off. Mile - 0.0
Thursday - Did a lunchtime run. Weather was perfect, high 60's sunny. Really nice. Ended up just kind of taking it easy. Miles - 5.0
Friday - Spent the day out on Antelope Island marking the course and setting up for the 50K/100K. The weather was perfect, winds light to non-existant, temps in the 60's. Way better than last year's howling winds and riving snow. Had Britta and Nick help set up and we were pretty much done, organized and sitting around enjoying the quiet and drinking beer by 4:30. I love it when plan comes together. We all spent the night out there and while I didn't get much sleep, it was a quiet night. The couple of times I got up and went out of the tent, the stars were amazing. It certainly didn't get as cold as it was supposed to, probably into the low 40's. Miles - 0.0
Saturday - Crazy busy. Got up at 3:30am to get coffee going and await the first of the runners showing up to run teh 100K. I only had 17 this year vs. the 50 I had two years ago. With those kind of numbers, I may drop the 100K option next year. I can't quite justify having two dozen volunteers stay on the island until well after dark when I only have a dozen runners. I do think that I lost a fair number of runners this year due to three things. First, Saturday was the St. George marathon. I know I lost a bunch to that race. Second, it was one week after the Bear 100, I know I lost a few because of that race. Third, I lost the Idaho crowd because of the IMTUF 100 the same day. So next year I'm going to put the race off one more week into October and see what happens.
Still, everyone seemed to have a good time. I was certainly cleaned out of beer by the end of the day. Several HUMR's ran the 50K and did well.
The last 100K runner crossed the finish line at 10:25pm, well after the 10pm cutoff, but no big deal. We had everything broken down and off the island by 11pm.
Next up, our Zion traverse next Saturday. Looking forward to it.
Miles for the week - 20.9
Just wanted to let you know that I loved the 100k. It was my first time running the distance, and it was great being able to find a "flatish" 100k close to home (SLC) to start out with. (The climb up to North Sentry certainly didn't feel flatish the second time around!) I also liked the fact that it was a fall run. Established ultrarunners might be able to start out with the ultras early in the spring (such as your Buffalo Run 50 miler), but I felt that I needed the spring and summer to build up to it.
ReplyDeleteI can understand that it might be hard to justify having the volunteers out there with so few runners, but I'd hope that you'll give the 100k option one more shot at a different date, like you're mentioning above. By the way, the volunteers were just great. I mentioned it on Facebook as well, but without the North Sentry aid station I would most likely have given up.
I'm definitely considering coming back next year (and I'm already signed up for the Buffalo Run 50 miler).