Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run
Kaysville to Midway, Utah         6 Sep 2008
   The eager participants for the 2008 Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance run all remained a little nervous after the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run in June was canceled due to forest fires.   Another huge problem was the I-15 bridge deck replacement at Lambs Canyon and the Mountain Dell  exit.   But, with a little luck from Mother Nature and a great last day clean-up effort by the Wadsworth Construction Company at Lambs, the run was successfully started at 5 a.m.   The lead male runners left the Bonneville Shoreline trail for the climb up to the first sections high point past Chinscraper.  In the lead pack for the men was Geoff Roes, Andy Jones-Wilkins,  Jack Pilla, Larry O'Neil , and Leland Barker.  Jack Pilla hit Francis Peak (18.8 miles) first in 3 hours and 34 minutes, a pace of about 5 and a quarter miles per hour.  The other men were right behind.  Staying close together Geoff, Andy, Jack, and Larry all  left the Big Mountain (39.4 miles) in 7 hours and 38 minutes with Leland following 10 minutes later.   The temperatures had dropped from the 50's at the start to the 30's on the ridge tops and the lead runners met  a brisk head wind but still kept the early pace at over 5 miles an hour on the rocky trails.  Runners all year had complained about the extra heavy plant growth and had to bull their way through many sections.  It didn't seem to slow anyone down during the race, though.   The dust had also been very bad all summer but a heavy rain five days before the race really made trail conditions superb.  As Wasatch tradition dictates, however, there were plenty of challenges left.
     For the women coming into the first check point at Francis Peak,  Elizabeth Vitalis was first followed by Betsy Nye, Amy Sproston,  Jean Coulter,  and Susan Brozik.  By the time they got to Big Mountain, they had picked the average pace up to 4.6 miles an hour and Elizabeth arrived first in 8 hours and 34 minutes.   Amy was 2 minutes back, Betsy 4 minutes, Susan 17 minutes, and Jean was an hour off the lead.   Temperatures began heating up and the runners who felt so cool and hydrated earlier began to suffer in the heat.   No stranger to winning this race,  Betsy Nye then took over the lead and Susan Brozik took over second  nine minutes behind Betsy  going into Lambs Canyon  (53.1 miles).  Amy dropped at Lambs and Elizabeth  started slowing down until dropping out at Brighton (75.6 miles).   Californian Betsy Nye powered her way from Lambs to her fastest time ever in first place for the women in 25:36:56, and is now a 5 time winner.   Susan Brozik from New Mexico came in second at 26:23:54.  Jean Coulter from Colorado, was third in 29:22:11.  Heidi Bennett was fourth in 29:50:52 and Sarah Evans was fifth with a time of 30:21:04. 
   After Big Mountain the men kept up the torrid pace trail dancing with their nimblest toes dodging boulders, loose rocks, and heavy oak brush.  Three runners, Andy,  Jack, and Geoff, left the next aid station at Alexander Ridge(47.4 miles) one minute apart in that order.   Leland and Larry were only a few minutes back.   At Lambs Andy and Geoff got out first followed three minutes later by Jack.  Larry was fourth out of Lambs 8 minutes after that and Leland got out 11 minutes after Larry.   Geoff  Roes slowly began to take control of the race at this point although Jack and Andy kept up the pressure for many more miles.  Geoff left Millcreek  (61.7 miles) one minute ahead of the arrival of Andy.  Jack  came in 12 minutes after that little event and left 11 minutes ahead of Andy in second place.  Andy took back second place but by Desolation Lake (66.9 miles) he was 12 minutes off the pace Geoff was setting and Jack was 15 minutes further back.  Larry O'Neil was still in fourth place at Desolation Lake.  Leland was 8 minutes behind.   At Brighton Lodge, the first man in was Geoff Roes.  He stayed 7 minutes and started the climb up to Catherine's Pass with Andy Jones-Wilkins 10 minutes behind after taking no rest time at Brighton.  Jack Pilla left 16 minutes after Andy.   Larry O'Neil and Leland Barker left Brighton 50 minutes after Jack.   By Pole Line Pass (83.4 miles), about a half hour seperated first and second place, Geoff and Andy.  Jack continued running strongly in third place 20 minutes back.  Fourth place was being shared by Leland and Larry an hour and a half  back of Geoff.    Alaskan cross-country skier, bicylist, and talented trail runner Geoff Roes, winner of Alaska's Resurrection Pass 100 miler in August of this year,  ran a sparking 5 hours and 15 minute time from Brighton to the finish at Homestead Resort in Midway for first place just barely over 20 hours for the fourth fastest time ever in a time of 20:01:07.   Andy Jones-Wilkins, the 2008 Vermont 100 winner, from Idaho was second in  21:31:51.  50 year old Jack Pilla from Vermont, nailed down 3rd place, also finishing in 3rd place at the Vermont 100 this year,  ran a terrific time of 21:47:53.  Eleven minutes later a fast closing Leland Barker, a previous champion in 1999 and 2001, also 50 years old,  came in fourth in 21:58:17   Larry O'Neil  came in fifth in 22:20:28.   Other runners breaking the Wasatch 24 hour time barrier are Kevin Shilling in 22:53:07, David Hayes in 23:00:56, and David Hunt in 23:48:06. 
    There are four ten year finishers getting their 1,000 miles of Heaven and Hell rings this year:  Leland Barker, John Diroll, Jeffrey Holdaway, and Steve Kissell.   Kudos to the kings of the Wasatch.  That is a lot of miles.  Leland has 9 Crimson Cheetahs now.  Think he has enough buckles to hold up his pants?  Speaking of lots of buckles and miles, Rick Gates garnered another finish.  24 in all.  2,400  miles of Heaven and Hell.   I'd wager Rick has enough buckles to hold up the pants of nearly an entire college football team and that is just with the Wasatch finishes.   Rick also finished Leadville this year.    Kudos to you Rick. 
   The Grand Slammers had a difficult time this year.   First, they had to suffer the loss of Western States to fire and smoke.   Second they lost three of the 27 who signed up at Vermont.  And third, they lost 18 out of the 24 (75% were lost) to the Leadville 100 Miler and which had an overall  41% finish rate.  So, 6 were left for Wasatch and they have all finished the third leg, so good luck at the replacement 100 miler for Western States, the Arkansas Traveler coming up in October.
    Hats off to Jill Bohney and Roger Adams, who got denied in last years lottery.  This year they both got in, go figure, and both finished.   Also, notable was the Sybrowsky bothers, Brandon and Travis, who both finished.   There were lots and lots more stories of trail warriors doing battle and overcoming great adversity to finish.   Too bad we can't tell them all.   Some of these bring a lump to the throat and tear to the eye.  For instance, the Spirit of the Wasatch award went to the race directors volunteer daughters,  Stephanie Killian and Amanda Kearns,  for faithfully taking the runners times down and keeping them straight over the many, many years Wasatch has been going on.   It was great to see them honored for their selfless service. 
     I looked back at the year 2000, and what I said there applies very nicely, in my opinion:  " After the race, when I heard the runners complain of  nausea, I put the puzzle of running a hundred trail miles into this scenario:   Participants were not prepared for cold weather up on the ridges in the first third of the race. This resulted in runners using extra energy (and critical amounts of fluids are needed for this) to keep their core temperature up. The wind was again driving sodium bearing sweat off the skin faster than normal.  Runners feeling cold just do not tank up on fluids and electrolytes like they do in hotter conditions.  The difficult climb up to Chinscraper means extra heavy breathing which expels more moisture. All this added up means the runners had a difficut time keeping up with their fluid and electrolyte balance. Early dehydration set the stage for nausea and susceptibility to altitude even though most runners were well prepared to run at our altitude.    At the finish line I heard more than one runner with a bit of "wheezing" in their speech.  Pulmonary edema at altitude strikes particularly bad when runners get dehydrated early in the race."   It seems to be a difficult balancing act  managing your electrolyte and water comsumption to current conditions yet knowing that if you restrict your intake too early in the race, the second half may find you suffering a huge deficit.    Still, 67% of the starters finished, 162 of the 241 who started, which is pretty good for Wasatch.  Many runners consider it one of the toughest if not the toughest to finish. 

Results can be found at Wasatch Front 100 Mile Endurance Run

Article on Geoff Roes

Blog story by Geoff Roes
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From Phillip Lowry,42,Mapleton, Utah (28:12:02):
"I always write a “journal” entry thingie after big races to try to learn from mistakes and successes, and figured this time I’d just circulate it to let you know how I did.  Little more tedious, but also a little more personal.  Thanks."
Phil L.

Wasatch 2008

This year the strategy was to hold back in the first 50 and save my lungs and legs for the last 50.  It worked, but not perfectly.  My crew saved me 15 minutes of aid station time (thanks to Warren, Richard and Maria).   I did the first 3.6 miles in 38 minutes but with a very low heart rate of 149.  I blew away my split for the next 15 miles.  Dressed a hot spot at Sessions (Mile 24) but made up the time in the next leg.  Weather was windy, sunny, cool, and DRY.  Drank a lot.  Bad fish tank tummy out of Big Mountain (Mile 40) from too much Muscle Milk and Red Bull, but the calories paid off in the next two hours.  No illness—just a little woozy.  Need to work on a softer landing with nutrition.  Gear problems and a potty break cost me six minutes between Miles 40 and 47.  But the first 53 were very good, considering how much I held back.

From Mile 53 to 61 it was hard to get a groove on the 2000 foot climb to Bear Bottom Pass.  I was steady but not so fast.  My downhill through Elbow Fork was distracted by a poorly laced shoe that dug in to my left ankle bone.  I fixed that with a different pair of shoes at the next aid station, but it cost me a couple minutes and a lot of anxiety.  Lungs started to bug me on this stretch, but was feeling draggy enough that I couldn’t stress them too much.  Never have I been up Lamb’s Canyon so early that I was still in the sun!  Climbing Mill Creek on the road was not very runnable for me—just felt SLOW.  I ran, and walked, and ran. 

At Mill Creek (Mile 61) Richard, my law partner, was ready to pace me.   Got my shoes changed, but then couldn’t quite figure out how to execute my change into night clothes.  Ended up overdressing, and had to peel layers five minutes out of aid.  ANOTHER potty break cost me five minutes, but at least this time I had an outhouse.   Chocolate milk from Maria was the ticket for the tummy—gotta remember that one. 

Five minutes from leaving Mill Creek Rich got a real intro to the sport.  First, we see a woman pantless in the bushes with diarrhea issues, her pacer sheepishly smiling and apologizing, and then two minutes later a guy hurling into the bushes.  I told Rich, “Welcome to Wasatch.”  It was an appropriate intro.  I half expected him to turn around.  Good job, Rich. 

Descent down blunder fork was smokin’, but then I slowed into Desolation Lake (Mile 66) as a torrid moon shone above us.  Here my groove got off.  This was the last time I took my amino powder or my electrolytes.  I was too addled, and organizationally I could not sort through the data points my gear presented.  I need to use more pockets, sort better, and checklist up, both in and out of aid.  I need one of those QB wrist checklists.

With all that Rich and I set a PR for the trip from Scott’s Pass (70) to Brighton (75)—1000 feet of descent.   Here there was a gear foul up by my crew (quickly remedied by their attentiveness), and I met my brother Mike, who was eager for a night hike.  I don’t think he realized it would be more like taking a sore badger for a walk, but c’est la vie.   Welcome to ultrarunning.

My shorts were not working with my night pants, so I changed into traditional running shorts with pocketed sweatpants—MUCH better.  It’s amazing how little things like that can jack you up or make you happy.  Like Pete Conrad on the moon.

The 1700 foot climb from Brighton to Sunset Pass (10460’) took a somewhat depressing 1:07, but I still kissed the sign at the summit (good luck) and went down the Klingon babyhead rocks in Alta Dry Fork.  It was an OK split, but then I spent too much time (6 minutes) in the Ant Knolls aid station trying to get energy, and then ANOTHER potty break.  Five minutes, with all the goings on with that.  Still, my time  (1:07) into Pole Line Pass (83) was acceptable, even with the potty time.   I got my Muscle Milk at Pole Line and once again wracked my brain for a bullet to get me MOVING.  I wasn’t sick—just draggy.   Thankfully no nausea or severe hunger pangs. 

Mike was frustrated now that he met the badger.  I enjoyed listening to him, but really couldn’t talk.  Combination of pain, breathlessness, and focus.  Pacing an ultra is not very social, really.  We made it to Rock Spring (88) at 4:47 am, and I knew now that all I was carrying was enough to eat for hours, so I blew through.  The Torture Chamber lived up to its name, and while I feel I pushed it, it was not a good time.  This was partly due to ANOTHER potty break.  20 minutes total for those four (normally I have one).  Need to carbo load next time with more liquids, less solids.

My brother is a forest service official, and when he saw the condition of the torture chamber, with its rocky, loose, and extremely steep downhill grades, he called it a “sin against mankind.”  “We could never get away with this crap in my forest.”   Those trails will be fixed.  Enough.

After our policy discussion in the torture chamber, we got to Mile 93, where I dumped my pack.  I was so addled I forgot to remove my headlamp (addled, addled, addled).  We had 700 feet to climb, which I did my best at, but still got passed by one runner.  I was told I was 25th at Mile 13 and 29th at Mile 79.  I was hoping now to just hold on, since no one had passed us for 15 miles.  And then—wham!—I passed someone.  Now THAT was cool.  Mike told me he was the rabbit and I was the greyhound.  He was tired and his knee hurt, but it was hard to get much above 4 miles an hour.  But when I passed that guy, I turned it on and ran the 2000 feet and 4 miles to the pavement.  Mike started to sing pirate songs—weird pirate songs—and that lifted my spirits.  One more person passed me at Mile 99, but I still finished in 29th place.   My last split was a PR for that section.

Takeaways:

1.            Crew really helps.  I want to use them again, esp now that I have a trained cadre.

2.            Pacers need to know my routine.  That way they can remind me of my plan so I can stick to it.

3.            Checklists, checklists, checklists!  The last 40 miles are like being on Everest.  Very little cognition going on.

4.            Organize my gear better.  I used to be better at this, but have got some gear creep. 
                I need to get back to basics and shed some stuff to avoid info overload.

5.            No blisters!!  Continental Divides are now my shoe of choice (provided they’re laced right ;-))

6.            Trekking poles are out except in extremely technical stuff.

7.            Lighter lighting equipment.  The big stuff is nice for fast training runs, but a couple of LEDs is all
               you need with late race speed (read: slowness).

8.            Rehearse gear changes, dry and wet.  Run with proposed gear.  This is old hat stuff, but sometimes we forget.

9.            My fitness level is up.  I held back in the first 53 miles, kept my heart rate down, and still stomped on previous splits.   I attribute this to altitude training, speedwork required for my Army PT test, strength conditioning (Army again), downhill work, and sticking to my nutrition plan.  My crew saved me 15 minutes of aid station time (thanks to Warren, Richard and Maria).