Race Report: Bryce Canyon 50 Mile

As usual, this is a bit belated, but I have been on the road for the last few weeks, which seems like a valid excuse (more on that later). A couple weeks ago, I drove my car down to Bryce, UT from Boise to run the Bryce 50 put on by Matt Gunn's Ultra Adventures. That is how I was seeing this run- as an adventure. I have Vermont 100 coming up in about three weeks, so I was wanting to just run a little tune-up to see where I will be since I haven't been training super specifically or diligently for Vermont. Things have been very busy in my world with the semester ending, working, and planning my road trip.

Fire barrel.

Pre-Race: I got down to Bryce two nights before the race and camped out with my friend Zac and his pacer, Bob. I didn't get a ton of sleep, but we had a nice loungy day. We hung out at the campsite for a while and then drove into town to the host hotel and campground so that we could get situated. I pitched my tent there so that I would be closer to the shuttles and not have to worry about transportation as much, even though the campground there was much more expensive- $30/night compared to the $8/night of the state campsites. I had emailed Matt, the RD, several months before the race and volunteered to help at packet pickup and the finish of the 100 mile, so I scooted over to packet pickup early to get situated. This is a pretty big event with several hundred runners between the three distances (50k, 50m, 100m), so it was a pretty busy few hours. A note to runners- be nice to the people that are working packet pickup/ working aid stations/ etc.! I finished up with packet pickup, cooked up some pasta for dinner, and hunkered down in my tent for the night.

Very early in the race- beautiful hoodoos. 

Race Day: I was planning on taking the shuttle over to the start (only about a 10 minute ride), but I was kindly offered a ride over with Zac and his crew. We all huddled around barrels to keep warm at the start, but as I suspected, I was in my tank top and comfortable with the temperature after only a few miles. The first 10-20 miles on the course are just beautiful, and I couldn't do enough to soak up all the scenery.

I had connected with my friend Chris, whom I met at Silver City 100k last year, and he was running the 100, which is an out-and-back of the 50 mile course. He attempted the Bear 100 last year but pulled out of the race at mile 75 with an injury. He was trying to take his time with the first half of the race, so I told him to stick with me for a bit so that my meandering pace would keep him from going out too fast. I spent the first 20ish miles with him and his friend Jim, and I think that we all enjoyed the company. The miles ticked by fast, but I could feel that my body was not loving the altitude. I was concerned about altitude since most of the course is run around 8,000-9,000 feet.

Chris, cruising along in the early miles with that buckle in mind.

Last year at Standhope, I experienced altitude sickness for the first time, and it was pretty miserable. I didn't find myself feeling as sick, but I had a hard time catching my breath and keeping my heart rate down on the climbs, so I was extra meandery. The first aid station was at 10.9 miles, and the second was at 18.8. The time went by quickly between those two aid stations, but it seemed to take forever to reach the aid station at mile 27.7. When you look at the elevation profile, you can see that it is at that point that the race hits 9,000 feet for the first time, so I think that the zone where I need to train to acclimate needs to be in that range, because it seems to be where the elevation gets me.

A runner's favorite view- blue sky at the top of a climb.

I encountered a lot of runners having similar issues, we would move back and forth past each other as we would have the need for momentary breaks in the shade. We would stop for friendly conversation and to commiserate, and by coincidence, I met another runner who lived in Boise. It was nice to run into him, and we kept each other company for about 10 or 15 miles. During that time, I stopped and walked and struggled with a bit of nausea in the higher miles. Finally, at about mile 40, my body started to feel right and I could pick it back up again. I was happy to be running, and my legs felt really fresh from going at such an easy pace.

We had some furry friends out on the trail!
(Note my Lone Peaks- right out of the box on race day.)

I had put a headlamp in a drop bag at mile 40, but I had been saying to myself (and other people) all week that I should only need a headlamp if things went terribly awry. I figured that since my Wild Idaho 50 was under sixteen hours that I should finish this one in less time. Wild Idaho has 16,000 feet of gain as opposed to Bryce's 10,000 feet. However, I had a feeling that it would be a good idea to pick up the headlamp anyway because things were not going as quickly as I had anticipated. The sun was going down as I was approaching and leaving the aid station at mile 45, which made for some amazing views, but left me thinking about the dark a little bit. 

Dozens of times along the trail, you could look out and see views like this. 

Pink Cliffs at the end of the day.

Pink Cliffs, and a trail closer to the edge than I like. 

It did get dark on me. For at least the last mile and a half, I ran along in the dark, being stubborn and keeping my headlamp in my pocket. I figured that if I didn't need it, things must not have gone awry! They really didn't go awry. It was a longer day than I had anticipated and the course was much more challenging that it appeared on paper, but it was a great day. I loved the course, had great chats with people, and saw some amazing views. I got to the end of the race in the dark with another runner with whom I had connected in the last mile or so. In the very anti-climactic fashion of a point-to-point race, the volunteers who were in the dark with their clipboard asked for our numbers and laughed heartily at me when I said to no one in particular, "Well, we're done." They commented that it was the funniest finish to a 50 mile race that they had ever heard. 

My bling.

Shuttles back to the hotel were taking longer than anticipated, so I sat by the fire for a bit and tried to get down some miso and protein shake. I have an issue when I finish a race and don't eat/warm up right away that causes me to feel very nauseated. Even though I did the best that I could, the 45 minute shuttle ride down a dusty, bumpy road did me in. I had to have the driver of the van pull over several times anticipating that I would get sick, and then I finally did get sick when the van pulled up in front of the hotel. It was the first time I have had race-related puking, but again, I blame the shuttle. I had the driver bring me right to the shower house so I could wash off and warm up, and from there I drove myself to the start/finish for the 100. I wanted to help and I wanted to be able to support the 100 mile runners as they finished. The next 18 hours were a whirlwind of driving back and forth, cheering on finishers, and snoozing for brief moments in my car. The major recaps were that my friend Zac won the 100 mile race, and my friend Chris got first 100 mile finish.

I thought that the race was great. The course was incredibly well-marked; I had not a moment of doubth about being on the course (even when I was being a brat running in the dark). Aid station workers were, as usual, wonderful. I wore a pair of Lone Peak 1.5s right out of the box and finished with happy, happy, unblistered feet. The apparel for the event was some of my favorite. I was very happy to get a hoodie instead of another shirt to sit on my shelf. And the finisher medal is one of my favorite finisher items from any race! I have been wearing it as a necklace since it is so beautiful. I would like to give huge props to Matt for his environmental consciousness with the event in trying to have as small of an impact as possible. He also typed up a nice report that can help bring all of us runners a bit greater awareness. If any of them fit into my schedule, I would do any of the other Ultra Adventures runs in future years.