zane grey pacing report

this is a week late, but like lots of things these days, it had to take back seat to a newly mobile thunderclap.  several months ago, one of my bloggers, angie, said that she was going to run the zane grey 50k for her 30th birthday and wanted her trail running friends to show up and run/support with her.  several other folks from the trail running group signed on as well,  so i figured that would be a great excuse to head out to arizona and see my parents and get an event in while there. 

last weekend, we headed out to phoenix and set up camp at my parents place.  early saturday morning, i headed out to payson to meet up with chris and jump into the last half of the race at the washington park aid station.  i showed up a couple hours early and was treated to seeing pinkcorker come through the aid station.  when i saw her new visor i exclaimed, "hey!  you're pinkcorker!  i've read your blog!".  it's such a small world in the ultra running community.  it cracks me up every time i come across someone who i've read but never met.  i also got to meet eliot and his son, asa, while they waited for his wife to come into the aid station.

chris finally showed up and we chatted for a bit while waiting for angie to come through the aid station.  she rolled in just before the noon cut-off for the 50k, so we quickly got her bottles and bladder filled, took care of equipment and then we were off.

my first impressions of the course were those of amazement.  i mean, i've seen the short forests that are around the flagstaff area, but i had yet to actually get INTO them.  the majority of my outdoors experience in arizona has been in the desert, so this was a new treat.  the trail was challenging and quite un-runable at several points.  there were fist to grapefruit size boulders on nearly every inch of this section, along with copious amounts of downed trees.  but it was beautiful.  the views out over the valleys, the towering mesa above us, the smell of pine, the wind blowing through the trees and scrub.  i was in heaven.

we chugged along, yo-yoing with rachel and wound around through washes, climbed over spurs and slowly made our way upward.  angie was great company and made pacing easy.  usually, i do most of the talking while pacing.  telling stories, cracking jokes, being a dorque.  you know.  being normal me.  angie was chatty, though, and that made for fun running.

we rolled into the hell's gate aid station and were greeted by the most enthusiastic and helpful crew.  the aid station was remote and was difficult to get to by 4x4, yet these folks were bubbly, resourceful and observant.  we were provided with first aid, fuel and fluids along with kind words of support and encouragement.  before we knew it, though, we were off again.

the next leg of the course was much more runable, with plenty of climbing, but not quite as steep and with fewer rocks and downed trees.  we continued to cruise along and i began to notice that at no point was angie dropping into that familiar "dark" place that most runners experience while doing endurance events.  she kept chatting along, either telling her own stories or commenting on ones being told. 

time flew by and quicker than expected, we came across one of the race spotters who informed us that the finish was a mere two miles away.  we picked up the pace and flew the remainder of the course.  before much longer, the road was in sight and we could hear voices.  we crested a ridge and down below we could see the finish.  we both started hollering as we dropped down into the valley.  we were done! 

while 17 miles isn't a great distance for me, i did set a pr for the amount of time on my feet.  i did twin peaks in 6:05 last year and bested that time by 16 minutes with a run time of 6:21.  what a great experience, though.  i got to see a part of arizona that i'd only heard of, got to spend the day out in the wild and support friends and athletes in a race!  i enjoyed the course so much, as hard as it was, that i think i may sign up for it next year.  hey, gotta come up with more excuses to get out to arizona to see my folks, right?

Posted by jeff at May 5, 2008 10:32 AM