Renae at the start of the race. The blonde in front of her fell and broke her wrist at mile 2..75 - 3.25.
Roby and Renae before the race.
We got started yesterday morning a little bit latter that what I would have liked but it all turned out good. We carpooled with Roby so headed over to his house at 0650 in the morning. We all got to the Trailhead around 0735 and the race started at 0800. I only got to go to the bathroom twice instead of my standard 5 times, lol. There were probably 75-100 people there. The start and finish of the race was in the parking lot by the restrooms. We all lined up and we were off. Of course Renae and I were at the end and right in front of me were my three targets to beat this race: a 70 something man with a lot of wrinkles and a leg brace and two women who said they were injured. I know that's preying on the old and injured but hey. When we started Renae had quite a bit of difficulty with her technical shirt which she shed and her iPod. But we plugged along and actually until the incident stayed together pretty much. I passed my first target within 1.5 miles or so. Soon we came upon the first aide station this is where I caught back up with Renae, as she got water. My next sight was on the two women who we were closing in on. We soon passed the spot where we turned around for our pre-run and all of a sudden I see one of the two women running back towards us and the other one is sitting on the ground holding her wrist. The first lady said she was running back about 1.5 miles to the first aide station to get help (in the back of my mind I knew the people at that aide station would have left to go back down the hill). We got to the second lady sitting on the ground and she had tripped, fallen and broke her wrist (Renae said it looked like my wrist when I broke it snowboarding). Renae immediately splinted her arm with her running pack which was still full of ice/water. I stopped long enough to make sure Renae had her and told her I would run ahead to the next aide station which conceivably should be within 1 or 2 miles, which it probably was. I started off running not jogging mind you but running, because I knew the search and rescue people from the 1st aide station wouldn't be there (Oh by the way did I mention this was a charity event for Mesa County Search and Rescue so they were the ones staffing the aide stations). I burned up any reserves I had getting to the next aide station as the trail was probably the toughest section of the run between the two aide stations. I got to the aide station in about 15-20 min trying to wave them down before having to run up on hell of an incline, but never got there attention. So I got there out of breath. I told them about the accident and indeed was the only one to reach help, they called in a jeep. Renae said she was there about 30 min before they got the lady loaded into the jeep and on her way out of the trail. I probably stayed at that aide station 7-10 min trying to catch my breath. Man it was hard to get started back jogging at my pace because I was bonked. I had another 4 miles or so to go. But I started plugging away walking more than I would have liked to but needed to because my muscles were cramping. Along the way I wondered if Renae were going to continue along the race or head out with the injured person (apparently she knew her and had coached her daughter in soccer). I ran all the flat or downhill parts and fast walked up the hills. I came to the next aide station and asked if they got the injured out. They said yes. As soon as I knew out safe I was secretly glad I had beaten the three people I set out to for this race (two by default but beggars can't be choosers). The next little section was mostly up hill back up the the backside of the trail and road leading back down to the parking lot. Mostly I was delirious for this next 2-2.5 mile section. For some reason I was thinking the end was a lot closer than it was. I actually got my hopes that I would make my 1hour 46min goal for finish. Each time I rounded a corner or up over a hill I would think the parking lot would be there so I would speed up a bit and it wasn't there. I started thinking that I had to pee ever since we started but now I was running a road that was quite near I-70 with no cover. Then I was thinking my gel bottle was really heavy and I needed to toss it to the side of the road and come get it later. It's interesting what the mind thinks about when it is exhausted. I had already used my gel around 1 1/2 hours in...didn't have another I thought because I didn't plan to be sidelined doing evacuation for 20 min, but I actually had another gel pack in my pack. Soon a couple of the 16 mile racers passed me and I speeded up again thinking they were running fast because they knew the finish was just RIGHT THERE, but it wasn't. So then I'd run 3 or 4 min and then walk a minute. I also found out how seriously off my Nike + was and will need to be recalibrated. Soon I crested a hill and could see the parking lot. This sparked life back into my feet and legs. I kept looking behind me because I could feel Renae was coming. She actually said she saw me on the road when she was running down it. I sped up the last 400 yards and crossed the finish line in 2'12"40. Just 7 min slower than my 10K several weeks ago and this one was almost 2 miles longer. Renae came in less than 4 min behind me. She was booking to make up the time. And Roby finished at 1'32" so quite abit earlier than we did. Overall we were pretty happy with our times knowing that we could have easily come in under two hours. And today I feel so much better than after I did on the Powderhorn race. I was able to ice my legs and feet and take some recovery stuff, plus we ate at Judy's within 1 hour after the race. I don't know about Renae but I was able to run/jog about 6 miles of the run. Next stop Marble Colorado (roughly 9,000 feet of elevation) for the Lead King Loop 12.5 mile run on Sept 20th. Then Oct 24th is the Goblin Valley Run in Green River Utah a 15 mile race (by then I should be able to run at least 10 miles). Today recalibrating my Nike +.
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