Moab 100 Mile Endurance Running Race Report

Took me a while to spit this one out. Between Kate giving me shit about "blogging" a race (apparently I'm not the blogging type) and the emotions of not completing the 100 miles have delayed this, but here it is!

My first challenge of 2011 was to complete the Moab 100 and unfortunately I was not able to. Since the beginning of the year I've been wanting to run a 100 mile race and also attempt to run 3 100 mile races for this year. Gemini Adventures hosts three 24 hour events, which include 100 mile races. They are hosted in Moab, Laramie and Boulder. I ran the 12 hour event last year and thought they put on a very well organized event, so I thought it would make sense for my first 100 to sign up for their events. All races are done with reasonable sized 5 to 8 miles laps, so you're always close to your gear and they provide plenty of drinks and snacks throughout the race. Another attraction is they have the triple crown event by completing all 3 100 mile events, which nobody has done so far. Well I failed the first one, so now I have a mind set of just being able to complete 100 mile race.

After explaining to Kate (my wife) about my crazy idea for 2011 she was on board and wanted to support me at the race. She also thought we could rent an RV and she could support me at base camp at the same time hang out with our two daughters. Well after calling a few RV places we decided we didn't want to spend a minimum of $600 to rent and who knows how much in gas to get us to and from Moab. We went with plan B and decided to rent a hotel and she could support me the best she could during the day and hope for the best for the evening. I mentioned our trip to our friends Ryan and Vivien and they wanted to tag a long to go 4x4, hike in the area and of course help out if needed. So I signed up for the race early February and the training was on! I decided to not go overboard and I had a lot of travel days coming with work, so I didn't want to spend most of my weekends running and rather spend it with the family. I probably averaged 50-60 miles a week and tried to do some longer runs in the evening time while I was on the road. Unfortunately I didn't have the opportunity to hit some more technical trails which would of been nice for this race course. Instead I just hit the pavement and in most cases get around 8-10 miles a day. Three weeks before the race the traveling finally caught up with me and was on the verge of getting the flu. Luckily no temperature, just a bad cough and runny nose and that didn't stop me from running. After that I was able to get in a good 20 mile run to Boulder with some trails along the way and felt pretty good to squeeze in one more long run before the race. Well one week before the race I came down with the worst stomach flu ever! This one put me out for four days and it managed to spread to the kids and Kate. I was getting worried this would carry into the weekend of the race and none of us would want to go to Moab. Thankfully it was in and out of the kids system fast and as bad as Kate felt her's was pretty fast too. I was the only one to suffer for four days and ended up taking an extended tapering off of my running schedule.

Race Weekend

We all headed out of Denver Friday morning and ate lunch in Vail. Another pit stop in Grand Junction and last stop Moab! Between Grand Junction and Moab the weather was pretty bad with the wind and rain. I was happy this was not race day! I can't imagine being pelted by rain and trying to run on wet slick rock. We made it to our hotel around 5pm, quickly unpacked and headed out for dinner.

Race Day
Race started at 7am and it was a chilly 35 degrees out. Just after the race started Kate set up my table across the check-in tent with supplies needed for the 100 miles. The first lap would start going clockwise then counter clockwise and so on. The first 4 laps I was able to keep a descent running pace and after that I figured it would be best to start walking the hills if I wanted to have the energy to go 100 miles. For each lap the first two miles were roughly a 600 foot elevation gain then the same after the turn around back to base camp. Running clockwise the first mile was a lot of sand and rocks and start of the climb it was all slick rock.

Throughout the day Kate and the girls were there to greet me and help me replenish. Even Reese would run out to me and run back with me. That was definitely a big motivation for me to keep on going. I was doing pretty well with making sure to drink plenty of fluids and take e-caps when needed. For the most part I was eating gels every lap and whatever looked appetizing at the check-in table. Later in the afternoon Kate brought a subway sandwich surprisingly back from town and that was good booster to keep me going. It was time for Kate to take the girls back to the hotel and get them ready for bed, so I was on my own again. Starting lap 11 was very difficult. My knee's and ankles were taking a beating with the slick rock, also the rain clouds were coming in. I decided to put on my rain jacket and carry my phone in case anything happens I can get a hold of Kate. One mile into lap 11 it started to rain and the thought of running/walking on the wet slick rock wasn't sounding too appealing. I started to text Kate about it and she assured me that throwing in the towel at 60 miles isn't a bad thing and it's still a huge accomplishment. So I decided to finish the last lap and Ryan volunteered to come help pack up and bring my battered body back to the hotel.

Later in the week I looked up the Mike Le Roux's (placed 2nd 19hrs 36min) live updates and he was quoted saying:

"100 miler is the hardest thing he's ever done, track had fine sand that was impossible to run thru, + uneven terrain!"

Lap	Miles	Time	Split
1	5.37	7:55	0:55
2	10.74	8:49	0:54
3	16.11	9:44	0:55
4	21.48	10:51	1:07
5	26.85	12:00	1:09
6	32.22	13:13	1:13
7	37.59	14:27	1:14
8	42.96	15:42	1:15
9	48.33	17:03	1:21
10	53.7	18:29	1:26
11	59.07	20:00	1:31

Gear
I kept it simple this time around. Since the laps were fairly short I did the hand held Nathan water bottle with a two to three gels in the pockets. The first 27 miles I was able to wear my New Balance MT101's, which already had close to 700 miles on them. Not sure what I was thinking I should of went with a newer pair. Towards the end of the 27 miles the holes were getting bigger and lots of sand was coming in, plus the support was just not there anymore. I ended up finishing the remainder of the miles in my old Nike Air Pegasus shoes, which held up pretty well. Last item were the Zensah compression leg sleeves which I thought came in handy during the race and for my recovery process. I feel this time around my recovery was much faster than my last ultra. Within taking three days off I was back on the trail starting off with 3 miles and working my way back up.

Pictures