This Weekend I ran The BEAR 100 In Logan Utah. a Mountain Race With Over 22000 Ft Of climbing and reaching as High as 9300 feet of Elevation ( for Jersey That’s High…).
Rather go into a race report ( felt good Felt bad..Felt good again…) I’m just going to jot down my experiences with Race.. What I liked and What went well; What I didn’t like and Things that didn’t go well and finally..The FUBAR,Things that just shouldn't happen.
The Good
1, Logan..Great little city..make everything easy to get to…
2, Dinner with the DFL CREW..Just don’t be late or Scott won’t get his and he will become HANGRY..
3. OLD school feel..Show up in a park the night before..show up in a park the next morning..go
4.. The Canyons...Just beautiful during the day and on a Moonlight nIght are other worldly
5. Climbing. This was the Thing I was really worried about..It was actually my strength in the race..I found out I can hang with a lot of people..
6. Trekking Poles.. Used for the first time in a race, tough Maneuvering them around brush and Tight Conga lines was tough..but saved my legs
7. No Music. I usually have to listen to music during a long race..this one had me focused on something the whole time.
8. The View ..took time stop and look around...enjoy the Journey.
9. Never quit..use all the Time. When things got rough I easily switched from time goal to finish goal..saved me
10.Aide station # 3..Was the First time in a race that when I asked for a place to line down,, aide station captain Said “ let me found you spot..you got time…”
11. Hydration pack..I’m a bottle guy..I still prefer Bottles..but as an add-on a hot day..proved invaluable..and found out how much when I didn’t use it.
12, Elevation.I was really afraid of this..It wasn't too bad. I’m won’t be as fearful of it at another race,,but need to learn to Respect it.
13, NAPS.. This was part of my strategy from the Start..If I was falling asleep standing up..I need to take 10 -15 minutes to Nap..took several ..I have 36 hours to complete the race..and The First Posted Cutoff is at 6 am at 51 miles...
14, Running through the nIght.. been awhile since I’ve gone through the night..without sleeping for 5 hours..
15, Other Runners and the aid Volunteers..enough said awesome and AWESOME
The Bad.
1., Technical Rocky Downhill….Yeap..I still Suck at them..and there are a lot Them..and my toes are reminding me still how much I suck at them,,,need Much practise..
.2, 4 mile conga line at the start...Now this really is a good thing,,because it forces you to be slower going up the first climb..but it would have been nice to be stretched out more .
3. Too much Ensure. Tried to suck down 2 bottles of ensure at an aide staion was pucking for an hour..
4, Not carrying enough water,, Miles 23 to 31 were a disaster. i.was throwing up because of Poor nutrition choices..and decided to just use bottles,.in the heat, on an exposed trail..was dead on my feet..was asking other runners for water..may have had some elevation sickness..barely crawled to 31...but got much better after hydration..Bladder never empty after that.
5. COWPOOP...OMG, it was everywhere.. at night you couldn’t tell the difference between the rocks and the cowpoop..and the flies.don’t even go there..
6,Course marking at night. during the day..generally fabulous ( though I did add a mile of road after missing a turn..My bad). and one person definition of good night time course markings is different than another,, they could have used a lot more reflectors and glow sticks at night,,but I’m night blind..what do I know
7. Night time on the Trails..I have a hard time seeing at night,period.and My main headlamp didn’t seem to be throwing out as much light as I needed ( Bad..left my second headlamp back at aide ..should have kept it with me..kept a hand held for emergence ,,but tough to use with poles..My BAD) So I had a really hard time seeing at night..So many weird shapes in the Canyons at night,,especially when you keep falling asleep.
8. The SLEEP MONSTER,,Here it comes again..I start going out on feet,,but I snap out and keep moving,,I take a couple of short naps..underneath a full moon and stars,,Because this is a 36 hour Race and I’m 3 to 4 hours ahead of the cutoffs..My goal is to simply get to the end,,and No..I did not sleep in a ditch..
The FUBAR,,
1, The aide stations are closing 4 hours earlier than posted. Cutoffs are the prerogative of the race. Tight, generous..Whatever the race officials say they are..they are,but if you post one thing on your website..and have another that the aide stations are using..That is ..FUBAR. I roll into mile 61 to find the aide station closed and the drop bags have been taken . I find out from a ham radio operator, who just happens be there cleaning up, that they closed the aise station at 5 and had planned to do that all along,,he shows me the closing schedule and tells me the next aide station is closing in two hours and 15 minutes.. I would have to go 10 tough miles..and they may not be open when I get there..The rational side of me kicks in...I feel like I can get there..but the possible of being stuck again,..My race is over.
2, I was out on the course..and nobody checked to see if I was ok before closing the aide station.
FUBAR,,FUBAR FUBAR,,I didn’t even see the ramifications of this till later. I could have been lost,,broken a leg..had a medical issue..one thought to check..I was definitely taking my time between aid stations,,I thought I had it. but Runners safety should be the Paramount concern of the race..If the last runner from a the previous aide station hasn’t gotten there someone needs to check.. a sweeper..someone..No one did anything..as a matter of fact..I’m still considered out on the course according to live tracking portal...Mistakes happen..but this should never.
I need to thanks the Ham Radio operator Angel..who drove me back to start of the race. I later had a conversation with the Race director about my issues. I hope they address some of Simple and some the Big ones in the future. Will I be Back? not saying No yet ..I learned a lot,,saw some beauty,,found out there is room for improvement..and maybe that's all I was meant to get from this race,,
