Zion Race Report

I'v been visiting Southern Utah and Zion in particular for 5 years now. It all started with spring break trips with The University of Montana Triathlon team. This was a tradition among U of M triathletes to flee the cold and cloudy conditions of Missoula and head down to blue skies and hot temps that was perfect for putting in big miles on the bike.

The tradition was to camp in Virgin, UT on some land off of Kolob Terrace Rd. and get up every morning eat food & ride bikes most of the day then get back to camp and eat more food and repeat. Maybe it was a windy and hilly day and this meant a trip into Hurricane, UT for some ice cream. These trips forged life long friendships and made us much better athletes than we were a couple weeks prior. 

 U of M Triathlon spring break training trip Zion National Park 2010 

Putting in the big miles on the bike was a blast and it payed off at the Grizzly Triathlon and Wildflower at the end of the season, especially Wildflower with the bigger hills and heat. There was something still missing from these trips for me though. We got to ride lots of roads through beautiful surroundings but I wasn't able to get out and be in it. Now that I am putting my energy into running in the mountains and seeking cool terrain getting back to Zion to SEE MORE was not a question! I knew it was going to happen I just didn't know when.

I took a short little hike up the side of this mesa after 11.5 hours of driving. This is also where I camped. 

After running The Bear 100 this past September and taking a couple weeks of recovery I took a look at upcoming 2013 ultra marathons. I saw that there was a Zion 100 mile run in April and it didn't take much convincing to sign up for this race.

The Race 

I woke up Friday morning at 4:55 am to the sound of my motorcycle alarm. I decided to camp up Kolob Terrace Rd. on some land next to the Virgin River which was only a 5 min drive to the start. Once I got to the start I got my drop bags situated, threw down a Hammer Nutrition bar, mango juice and a couple buzz bombs. Fellow Missoulian John Fiore was also down racing the 100k race and it was good to see someone I knew.

The race director Matt Gunn went over a few of the course descriptions and then went into a moment of silence for the Boston Marathon explosion. During this time I reflected on all of the memories I had watching my uncle Mark race there when I was little. Massachusetts is my home state and the Boston Marathon was always a special event that me and my family would go to and cheer on all the runners. This year my cousins Melissa and Lindsay were racing and were racing to raise money for the liver foundation. I am very grateful they made it out safe and sound. They were not even a half mile from where the blast took place. My uncle Mark and Aunt Donna were also there cheering on and were very close to the finish when this happened. My grandfather and grandmother were en route to meet my uncle and aunt when the explosions went off and they were all safe.

The RD handed out blue and yellow batons to run with in honor of the families and victims of the attack. I ran with a blue baton for 52 miles and then passed it on to another runner. This helped me get through my low patches during the race when the going was tough.

The race went off at 6:00am and was a little chilly but I knew that it was going to get real nice soon so I put one layer on and figured I would ditch it on top of Gooseberry (mile 19.1) after the first climb. I decided to not use a hydration pack and instead used a handheld and borrowed a waist belt from fellow Missoulian Mike Foote. Never ran with a belt before but was really nice and allowed me to fit close to 10 gels! The race started off in the dark so I used my old Petzl head lamp for the first hour or so. The race followed Route 9 for the first couple miles then meandered off onto a dirt road and then some nice cruisey single track that looked down to the Virgin River. John Fiore caught up to me on the dirt road and we had nice conversation while the sun was rising over Zion Natl Park. At this point I felt ok but not great. I actually felt pretty bad throughout the first 50k. For some reason my right medial side of my knee was giving me some problems and my legs just felt heavy. The rising sun over the red rock mountains gave me energy though and I kept chugging along. At this point John Fiore had run up ahead of me and just kept doing his thing the rest of the race. John had an amazing day and came in 4th place overall in the 100k in a time of 10:45.
Great race John!

Early miles of the race that went along the Virgin River. I took this photo the day after  when I needed a walk to loosen the legs. 

The first climb was up to the top of Gooseberry Mesa and it was short N' steep. It climbed 1200ft in about a mile or so. I was actually happy to start climbing and marched passed  a couple more 100k runners up to the first aid station at 19 miles. At this point my knee was bugging me and my legs were still heavy with my hip flexors especially feeling tight. I grabbed some more gels, filled up on some water and headed off into the maze of slick rock that capped the top of Gooseberry Mesa . Running over the slick rock was fun at times but was different running from anything I have ever done. Up/down, over around that rock, opps too steep gotta stop and climb up this quick was kinda how it went on this section and it wasn't easy by any means.

It was on this section of running from mile 19 to 31 that I thought about doing this race without a crew and no one to pace me. I have raced two other 100 mile races at The Bear and had a crew and pacer for both of  these runs. I realized  in the early miles that having friends support you at aid stations helps so much. Not just because they are there to help get your bottles filled up and nutrition ready but knowing from aid station to aid station you have a good friend there that is going to be cheering for you and giving you some words of encouragement goes a long way. I found at the Bear that when times were difficult knowing that I'd get to see some familiar faces at the next aid was what kept my morale up and moving forward with determination. Knowing that I wasn't going to have anyone crewing me or pacing me and it was still early in the day got me a little worried based off how I was feeling at the time. I knew it was going to be a tough long day but I looked at not having crew or a pacer as just another challenge and it got me fired up to keep on moving.

To keep this post short I will just touch on the later parts of the race...


The rest of the day consisted of feeling bad for sections then getting a second wind and picking it back up. I had another pretty bad section up on Guacamole from mile 67 to 77. This was another 6 mile gradual climb up onto another mesa that had even more difficult slick rock to maneuver around. At this point my stomach was really sensitive to any solid food and the thought of having another gel made me want to vomit and it actually did. I was starting to run low on calories on this ~9mile section and stopped to try and get a gel down. I immediately vomited and this throwing up thing happened another 3 times on this loop. So not only was I low on calories and couldn't get anything down I was loosing more calories from throwing up and was putting myself in an even worse spot. I lost track of Kent, a friend I met on the trail who was from the Bay Area and started early at 4:00 am. Kent asked if I was ok and I continued to vomit. I kept a PMA( positive mental attitude) on this section and as the sun just tucked below the mountains in the distance I returned to the guacamole aid at mile 77 and it was now dark. This is where I met Steve Hooper  the owner of St. George Running Center. I had gone into his store the day before the race and talked to him about my running store venture and the race. Steve is an awesome guy and really spent some time trying to get me to get some   calories down. I tried to have some broth and I vomited again! I finally parked a spot for ~40min with the determination to get some calories down. Steve was a huge help and got me (somehow) to eat a bean and cheese burrito and some potatoes. I also made a mistake of not packing my headlamp in this drop bag, oops! Steve was nice and let me use a smaller light that clips on to the brim of your hat. It wasn't the greatest light but it was better than nothing.

 I eventually took off from the Guacamole aid and headed down the hill to mile 83 and Walsh Aid. Between this section I had no calories but got some decent energy from the small meal I had prior. At this aid I was only able to stomach coke and after about 5 min at this aid I headed off to tackle the "flying monkey" climb. This was a very deceiving climb that seemed to never end. I felt pretty good climbing and dropped a guy that was with me up to the approach of the climb. It was a pretty techie climb that required some rock climbing skill! There was even a rope that you had to use to get up and over a rock. Looking down wasn't a good idea because it just dropped off into a drainage. I slowly but surly made my way up to the top of Smith Mesa and our last climb of the day. I was hoping to see an aid station at the top of the climb and kept running down a jeep road until I saw a sign that pointed to the right and read- 2.4 miles to Smith Aid. "Geeeeeezzz" I said and I kept heading up the dark dirt road . At this point my head lamp or a better word for it, hat light was loosing its mojo and I turned it off to save the batteries. The moon was only slightly covered by clouds and the stars where out in full force. I remember Johnny Wasatches words to take a moment at night, stop, and  look up at the stars and I did just that. It was truly amazing to be up on top of Smith Mesa nearing the finish still chipping away and have this moment. It gave me the energy to make it to Smith Aid at mile 89. After some more coke I headed out for a 1.5 mile out and back that brought us back to Smith Aid at mile 92. I grabbed a bit more coke and prepared myself mentally for the long 8 mile down hill to the finish.

Flying Monkey climb to the top of Smith Mesa. Photo: www.fastcory.com 

This got me a little emotional as it brought back memories from the Bear last year and having to walk, or better word, stumble down to the finish. The Bear decent was maybe a mile longer with poorer footing but I was just excited to be running the last section to the finish. I didn't really now at this point where I was in the race because of the 100k runners starting with us but I figured I was at least top 20. I kept chugging down the hill and a headlamp reflected off the side of the canyon walls. I looked back and two more runners that were bombing down the decent. I recognized them from the Bear and I gave them a big " whaaa WhoooOO" and kept up behind them the best I could. The paved road eventually lead us to another dirt road section that mazed back and forth before spitting us out across the road from the Virgin state park and the FINISH!! I gave a few fist pumps and let out another " whoooooOO whoooOO"!

I ended up finishing in 21hours 14minutes for 13th place.

This race was something else. I went through some pretty low section where I wanted to just hang it up. I was hurting early on top of Gooseberry but I got through it. I was throwing up on top of Guacamole and was only drinking coke and ginger ale the last part of the race. I kept telling myself keep moving, forward, forward. My time and place at the Zion 100 are just numbers. The true race that day was with myself and my mind and overcoming all of the tough sections. I'm happy I kept on.

 I definitely reccomend this race to anyone who wants a challenging scenic course in a part of the country that I think is truly amazing.

I want to thank all my family and friends for their support and encouragement!

Cant wait for the next adventure!

World class ultra runner Pam Reed and her husband Jim Reed at  the Brew Pub outside Zion Ntl.  Park post race.  Pam is the first female winner of The 135 mile Badwater Ultra Marathon in Death Valley, CA and loves to run long. 

 River Rock Roasting Co. in Hurricane, UT. 

Hanging out at packet pick-up waiting for my delicious wood fired pizza.

Wood fired pizza!!

Homemade belt buckle 

Look at that right cankle! Draining the legs back at camp.

Gear used: 

Shoe: Pearl Izumi N1 Trail. Was really happy with how this shoe held up over 100 miles. Great protection over the rocks and dried out fast after crossing a stream. Only two blisters and best of all NO LOST TOE NAILS!!! I definately reccomend this shoe. 

Nutrition: Mostly Hammer Nutrition  with some convenience store items.

• Hammer Gels ( favorite flavor is raspberry) 
• Hammer Bars ( chocolate chip coconut) 
• Endurolytes 
• Clif bloks 
• Honey waffers 
• Red Bull
• Orange slices (soft candy) 
• Nutella on tortilla 
• Coke + Mtn Dew 
• Bean & Cheese Buritto ( took 40min to get down) 
• Potato w/ salt 
• Some hippie vegan broth that I threw up

Sunglasses: Altice Wrapids I wore these shades for 14+ hours and they were amazing!! 

Hydration: Nathan 16oz handheld ( should have carried two at some point) 

Light: Petzl ( didn't actually use it. Put it in wrong drop bag). 

Fuel Belt: Amphipod Airflow 

Socks: Feetures low cut

Taper week

April 8th-14th 

4/8/13

Mon: AM- Easy run with Hanners this morning down the Kim. Legs still a little sore. I blame tapering for this. TOT- 4.7 miles 41min

Shoe: Pearl Izumi N1

4/9/13

Tue: Noon- Met Johnny Wasatch and Chris Kollar for a nice run up the Jumbo slant trail down into East Missoula and back up. Legs felt better as the run went on. TOT- 10 miles 1hr24' Core- 10' 

Shoe: Pearl Izumi N1

4/10/13

Wed: OFF 

4/11/13

Thu: Easy run through Greenough Park. Legs still a little stiff. TOT- 5.3 miles 40' Pull-ups- 6' 

4/12/13

Fri: AM- Easy run down the Kim East on the single track on the way out back on the road. Still have taper legs! 

TOT- 6 miles 40' 

Core- 10'

PM- Easy shake-out run around Osprey stadium. Legs felt good ( about time). TOT-3.5 miles 28' 

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4/13/13

Sat: Easy run around Lincoln Hills. Myke took some cool photos. Windy,cold,snowy at times. 

TOT- 3 miles 25' 

Core/Pull-ups- 5' 

4/14/13

Sun: Ran around Osprey Stadium from the house again. Legs feeling much better. Arms heavy from pull-ups.

TOT- 3 miles 23' 

Totals:

Run mileage: 35.5 miles 

Bike: :( 

Core: 30' 

Hours: 5hrs 

Pretty low volume week but that's just what I wanted. Legs felt bad early in the week but that usually happens when I drop the volume down. I like to call this "taper legs". Next week will be more of the same with short 20-30min runs and a couple days off. Wed will be a long drive down to Zion so I will break up the ride and hopefully get a short run in. Tapering is so fun!!!

Next post will be after Zion. 

The 100 mile shoe

What shoe is best suited for running 100 miles? This is a question I've been trying to figure out the past couple years. I've ran in the Brooks Launch and the Brooks Cascadia 7 in my two previous 100 mile races. On April 19th at the Zion 100  I will hopefully have picked a shoe that will keep my feet feeling happy and maybe even keep some toe nails this time around! 

For Zion I have 3 pairs of shoes that I will potentially run in come next Friday(I'm confident I found the one). The New Balance MT 110, Hoka One One Bondi B  and the Pearl Izumi N1 trail. I have narrowed my selection down to my top pick and will share with you why I believe this shoe is right for this course. 

Photos below taken by Myke Hermsmeyer

New Balance MT 110 

 I never thought I would run consistent miles in a light-weight, low profile trail shoe but this one just seemed to work for me. Most of the shoes that I have trained and raced in have been in the 10 ounce range. This shoe weighs in at 7.6 ounces in a men's 9 with a 4mm drop and 16mm stack height. The 110 provided plenty of room in the forefoot, great traction on snow and wet conditions and the rock plate and stiffer out-sole kept my feet from getting bruised on rocky terrain. The upper held up nicely and the soccer cleat replication on this end seemed to work well. I did most of my running in this shoe from mid January 13' up until Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 mile (March 23, 13) and I was shocked at how well I ran in this shoe with bigger mileage weeks. I made the decision to use this shoe at the Buffalo Run after running a couple 4+hr long runs during training. This shoe was created by designers at New Balance with heavy input from both Anton Krupicka and Erik Skaggs.

Although the 110 worked really well at the Buffalo Run 50 mile, this course was fairly flat and hard packed compared to the sandy/hillier Zion 100 course. My experience with wearing the Brooks Launch at my first ultra which left my feet and quads feeling like hamburg has scared me away from taking this shoe past 50 miles. This minimal shoe has done so much for my form and strength that I will still use this in training and trails runs from 50 miles and below. Incorporating a minimal shoe into your training can be a very valuable tool if built into your mileage patiently.

From little to BIG.... on to my next shoe.

Hoka One One Bondi B 

Hoaka Bondi B

This is another shoe that I thought I would never try out because it looked like a clown shoe! I changed my view quickly about this shoe during the Bear 100 and the final 25 mile death march to the finish. My girlfriend Hannah picked me up at "The Yurt" at mile 78 and we took off into the night with good energy. This energy quickly faded for me and my body went into shut down mode. Along with my body my feet were throbbing and every rock I landed on shot pain from my foot up my body. This race I wore the Brooks Cascadia 7 which was a beefier shoe compared to the Brooks Launch that I wore the previous year. I was excited to try this shoe out because of the hype local Ultra Runner "Johnny Wasatch" gave to this shoe. Johnny wore this shoe at the Hardrock 100 this past summer and ran them into a 12 place finish. I though if that shoe can take the 33,000+ft of climbing and decending then its got to be the right 100 mile shoe. It worked for Johnny W. but not Johnny F. 

On the last LONG decent down to Bear Lake and the finish of the race I was still walking and couldn't muster up a run even on the downhill. At this point I was getting passed left and right which was difficult to see. I noticed what seemed like everyone was wearing the Hoka One One shoes. After limping into the finish and laying down for a little bit I decided to seek out some Hoka One One runners. They reported that their feet held up nice and they were really happy with the shoe. This made me really curious about this shoe and I 

needed to try it out. 

Bondi B meets NB 110 

I decided to try this shoe out on my return back to running and it was definitely a soft ride. The Bondi B weighs in at 11 ounces, has a 4.5mm heal to toe drop and a stack height of 35mm in the heal and 29 on the forefoot. The major complaint I had about this shoe was the lack of feedback and feel for the ground, especially while climbing. I will say it is a fun shoe to bomb down a steep grade!

After some playing around with this shoe I knew that I couldn't race in it because of the lack of feel and the way I felt while climbing. I think this is a great shoe to use for recovery runs and easing back into running after a hard race but not a racing shoe for me. 

Having fun in the Hoka One One Bondi B's 

Comfy shoe but no feel and pretty expensive ($160) 

Pearl Izumi N1 Trail 

Timothy Olsen wore this shoe to a 14:47 and new Western States 100 CR

This shoe caught my attention because of the simplicity and that it looked to have some protection but not too much bulk to it. The N1 Trail weighs in at 9.6 ounces and a drop of 3.5 mm with a unique "dynamic" offset in the mid-foot. Pearl Izumi wanted to create a smooth ride with added protection under the metatarsals. In doing this they moved the take off point which is typically under the 1st ball of the metatarsal  rearward. This makes for a smother transition to toe off and eliminates the "slap" that some runners create on landing. 

I stopped by the Runner Edge and after trying on way too many shoes I settled with the N1. I'll have to say it took some time to get used to the mid-sole cushion but this shoe is nice and stiff and offers plenty of protection on rocky trails and felt great climbing and descending. The more I wear this shoe the more confident I feel wearing it against the sandy rocky Southern Utah desert. 

This shoe dries out fast 

Overall I liked the NB 110 and sensory feedback I got from impact but I don't feel confident testing this shoe out over 50 miles just yet. The Hoka Bondi B was a comfy shoe that was fun as hell to descend with but the limited ground feel has pulled me away from wearing this shoe over the 100 mile distance. The Pearl Izumi N1 Trail is what I will be starting the Zion 100 with and I am excited to see how it fairs over the distance. I love the smooth ride that it creates and the weight of the shoe and protection seem to be just right. I'm excited to settle into a groove running in the N1 Trail next week! 

Zion 100

12 Days till race day 

 Recovery after Antelope Island 50 mile (2 weeks ago) has gone really well. I was doing a good amount of driving to and from ( Missoula,MT -> Davis,UT -> Carson City, NV -> Missoula,MT) which made recovering take a bit longer.

Photo by: Matt Gunn (Zion 100 race director) 

After the race I hung out for a little to have a few home brews made by Jim Skaggs the (RD of Antelope Island Buffalo Run) and waited for my head-lamp and jacket to be returned from The Ranch aid station. My gear finally arrived and  after munchin' on way too many cookies and drinking way too much hot chocolate it was now time to hit the road and start heading west to Carson City,NV. I had about 3 hours until it would get dark so I figured I could make it to Wells,  NV (well shit!) and sleep in Olie (my green Subaru). This would set me up for a 5-1/2 hr drive on Sunday to make it into CC by noon. 

I woke up Sunday morning at 5:30am with an empty stomach and crampy legs. I tried to look out the window to see if my MTB was still there but I couldn't see out the window. The windows were completely frosted over.  I started up Olie and turned the heat to full blast while I chugged some water and stretched the legs. Now it was McDonald's time ( two egg sandwiches and hash brown) and 5-1/2 hours on the road. 

I arrived in Carson City by noon and was so happy to be done driving (for now) and just lay out in the hot Nevada sun. The trip to CC was supposed to be a business trip but I needed to loosen up the legs a little and what better than to go for a mountain bike ride up Ash Canyon. The sun was in full force and the flowers were blooming everywhere. The legs were sore but it felt amazing to breath some fresh air and get some blood flowing to the legs. The trip to CC was short and before you knew it I was back in the car and headed north for Montana. This trip to CC got me really excited for my new home there and the chance to explore some new landscapes. 

MTBing up Ash Canyon Carson City, Nevada

Spring is here 

I've been back in the bubble of Missoula and the last week of training has been nice. The legs came around nicely after Antelope Island and I was able to get some decent days in this past week. I have mixed running in with mountain biking which has been a nice mix. Now its time to start cutting back and resting up before 

Zion (I guess you call this tapering). 

We should just run back 

Ryon Reich's broken derailleur while riding Deer Creek Sneak

Tapering 

I'd like to say that I have the whole tapering thing dialed in but I don't. This is the one part of training that I think most people undermined. Everyone picks there races, they train for them week in week out and then race day is only a week away and you cram, just like before a college exam. Maybe you start to worry that you didn't do a certain workout and you squeeze one last hill session in. If you look back at all your training leading up to a race, all the hard hours, the runs in nasty weather, early morning workouts and all the accumulated fatigue that you have inflicted on yourself and you don't rest properly, whats the point? Why would someone want to feel crummy during a race that they have worked so hard towards having a great performance? 

It all comes down to believing in all your efforts and knowing that you have done the work because when race day comes this is your day to celebrate all your hard work and to look back on your journey that got you to where you are. 

UM Triathlon training trip to Zion (2011)  with Myke Hermsmeyer  and  Chris Cordingley 

I learned after Antelope Island Buffalo Run that proper rest going into an Ultra-Marathon is a must. I took 9 days off 3 weeks out and my legs felt great! I owe this to the ample amount of rest that I had before the race. Granted the rest came because I was sick and at the same time had a tooth infection and got my wisdom teeth extracted on top of this a reactions to my antibiotics that left me sweating buckets at night and  a throbbing head during the day. I would like to think that if I wasn't sick and didn't have surgery that I would have rested up properly before Antelope. Ummmmm... part of me thinks that I would have kept running and gone in fatigued.So don't go kidding yourself before your next Ultra-Marathon and actually rest! 

So with 12 days out from the Zion 100 its time to kick up the feet and relax.

Cheers!

 It's racing season! 

Week Ending 4-7-13 

4-1-13

Mon:  Pengelly Ridge - Right calf was really tight at the start of this run. Started to loosen up though as I went on.Took this one up the slant back to the tree line then up Pengelly Ridge across to the top of Sentinel and down the ridge home. Legs a little sore on this one. Breathing felt good. 

TOT- 11.5miles 1hr45'

4-2-13

Tue: Slant - Took this one up the slant back to the tree-line and back across Sentinel home. Legs a little flat. Took it EZ. TOT-10miles 1hr22' 

Core/Pull-ups- 12' 

4-3-13

Wed: Flat- Easy running on Waterworks. TOT- 9miles 1hr16' 

4-4-13

Thur: Sentinel + North Hills- Slant back to the tree-line across the fire Rd. down the "M". From there I went across Waterworks on the game trail and down Randolph back home O street. Legs feeling much better. 

TOT- 12.5miles 1hr44' 

Core- 10' 

Ride- Fun ride up the rattlesnake a little ways. Legs a little sore but felt good to spin them out. 

TOT- 1hr15' 

4-5-13

Fri: Flat- Easy run around campus and down the Kim E a ways after the MTB ride. 

TOT-6miles 44' 

Ride- Met Myke Hermsmeyer, Ryon Reich, Daniel Zielaski and  Cory Kaufman at Treasure State Donuts for some pre-ride fuel. Took this ride around Sentienl via Deer Creek sneak. Ryon unfortunately had a stick jam into his rear wheel which broke his derailleur. Great ride with great company. TOT- 2hr

4-6-13

Sat: Slant Trail- Ran back to the tree-line again up the slant. Took the MTB trails on the way down. Ran right into a rain storm which was kind of refreshing even though I couldn't feel my hands. TOT- 8.5miles 1hr15' 

PM run- Easy run around Osprey Stadium trying out the Pearl Izumi N1 trail shoe. Don't know weather to go with these or the New Balance 110's. Right now I'm leaning towards the 110's. TOT- 3.3miles 25' 

Core- 10' 

4-7-13

Sun: North Hills with Hanners- Decided we would run up Cherry Gulch from the house but decided to take a game trail on the hill to the right of Cherry. Nice climb with a different view of the lower rattlesnake.TOT 9miles 1hr18' 

Core/pull-ups-30' 

Totals: 

Running miles: 70 miles 

MTB: 3+hours 

Core: 1hour 

Total time: 14hrs 

 

The Bison attack on Antelope Island State Park

My name is John Fitzgerald and I was just recently informed that I was in the photo of the bison attack. Here is my story and some photos that I took right before the attack.

(I am the second closest guy wearing the orange jacket and blue hat)

Edit: The original photo was taken by Wayne Ebenroth of Final Kick Productions. It has spread across the internet and to various news sites (Huffington Post, The Today Show, MSN, Perez Hilton, etc). See Waynes site for a list of outlets using the photo.

I was down in Utah visiting Antelope Island State Park for the Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 mile race. I was camping on the island, arriving Friday with the intention to watch the 100 milers run off into the wind and snow. I got up early Friday morning to go grab some coffee and food in layton,UT and made it back for the 100 mile start at noon and to see Karl "speed goat" Meltzer take off up the first climb. It was really windy with snow showers that morning so I threw on my down jacket and headed down the start of the race to catch the runners at the first turn just 1/5 mile down the road.

As I started heading down the hill to the corner I noticed a HUGE bison standing right smack down in the middle of the road. Myself and a fellow spectator immediately tried to scare him off so he wouldn't interfere with the race, and most importantly injure a racer.  As we repeatedly shouted at the bison to move, I noticed another spectator nearby starting to get closer to the bison with his camera sticking out in front of him. We both told the photographer to get back because he will charge you. The photographer wouldn't listen to us and the bison started getting closer. 

At this point the photographer was backed up against a chain-link fence with the bison standing 12 ft in front of him. I started to get a weird feeling from the animal, almost as though he was nervous and may hurt this man. I took out my camera and started taking photos while the photographer had his big camera sticking in front of his face aimed right at the buffalo. I yelled again trying to scare off the bison, but to no avail. 

The bison put down his 500 lbs head and charged pinning the photographer against the fence. My stomach sunk and I immediately jolted backwards. The photographer was now backside on the ground with the bison's head on his chest shaking back and forth, like a pit bull whipping a rag doll. After a brief period of time the bison charged off to the right and trudged across to the other side of the fence - right in the path of where the racers were to be coming through.

We ran over to see if the photographer was injured. He was covered in dirt and took a little longer than expected to say a response to my question but said with a startled tone - "I am fine, but gees!" The photographer stated that he didn't think that the bison felt threatened and he was just trying to get him out of the way of the race. Myself and the fellow spectator could not believe what we just saw. I thought for sure that he had broken some bones but he reported that he was fine, just startled.

After chatting some more with the victim of the attack the other spectator and I headed back up to the start of the race to see them head down the hill and take the turn left over to where the bison was. The bison had fortunately gotten out of the way of the racers. 

I went and told the race director (Jim Skaggs) that we just saw a guy get charged and hit by a bison. He asked how close the man was and I said 13 ft. Jim replied with "Doesn't surprise me - if you bother them they will charge at you." Jim sent the park rangers down to get some more information on what happened. I glanced through the fence and out to the trail to see the last of the 100 miler racers crest the first climb. I also noticed the photographer was now on the other side of the fence an over by a herd of buffalo, now further away but still trying to catch some photos.

Photo from my twitter account.

The rangers soon came by on ATV's and talked with him for 10 minutes or so. I heard later that day that the man was fined by the rangers for supposedly throwing rocks at the buffalo and kicking dirt at him. I never saw this happen but I could have missed this from being in shock myself from what I just witnessed. 

I am now back up at home in Missoula, MT and just recently found out from my friend Myke Hermsmeyer that I was in frame of the picture that's since gone viral (wearing the orange jacket and blue hat). I typed "bison attack" in Google and found articles all over the web on the attack. Below are pictures that I took of the photographer and the bison that charged him. The last photo was taken right before the man was charged. 

My name is John Fitzgerald and Carson City, Nevada will be my new home in June. I have a passion for running in the mountains and a curiosity to see how far the human body can be pushed mentally and physically. I am pursuing my dream of creating a buzzing running community in beautiful Carson City summer 2013. John is currently supported by Hammer Nutrition, Johns Greenhouses and Florist Shop, and Altice Optics.

Antelope Island Buffalo Run 50 mile

The Antelope Island Buff Run has come and gone. I would have to say I was happy that I actually made it to the start line. Two weeks out from the race I got sick and then had a tooth infection and got my wisdom teeth pulled(1 week out). I was in so much agony! Tooth pain =no joke. It kept me up at night and all I seemed to have my attention on all day was the pain and nothing else! After a few days of being on pain meds and little to no running for at least a week I was starting to feel pretty crummy. I also could not eat any solid foods at this time which meant apple sauce pudding and ice cream. Dr. Jensen was super nice and referred me to Dr. Wiswell who ended up getting me into his office later that week. The operation was pretty quick and easy but left me a little out of it for a couple days post. I started running 4 days after surgery but was feeling heavy headed and the legs felt weak. On top of this I was having reactions to the antibiotics which resulted in fever(102.5) and night sweats that left me drenched(yeah it was a total blast) through all this I kept s positive attitude leading up to Antelope Island 50 mile with the intention that I would go down to the race and run if I felt good or volunteer if I wasn’t felling it. I was still having some tooth pain on thurs before the race but everything else was good so I started to mentally prepare for the wind and cooler temps that I would face. The race started on Saturday at 6am with a temperature of 23deg. So I layered up and did a few warm up loops around the camping area to get the blood flowing. I actually wasn’t too worried about the temp after talking with the 100 milers last night saying that the weather wasn’t that bad and that they were actually comfortable. I put on 4 layers on top with a beanie and tights down bottom. My right calf has been feeling tighter then usual leading up to the race so I used some 2XU compression socks which worked great. Goal for the race was to run steady, stay on top of nutrition and finish strong. The last one was the most important but I knew it wouldn’t be realistic if I didn’t pay attention to my pace and calories. I kept to the routine of a gel serving every 25min which seemed to do the trick. The race went out with Scott Jaime a Pearl Izumi athlete and 5 others running behind him including myself. I settled into a nice pace and was going back between fourth place and fifth place most of the day. I only had one rough patch on the day on a mind numbing out and back section that was 18 miles long. The challenge about this course was actually that everything was runnable which meant even if I wasn’t feeling well there where no excuses to not keep a jog going. I kept to that and ran a decent pace the whole run. In the last two miles I was still in fifth place and was just rounding the last bend before hitting the dirt road to the finish when I saw the green shirt that I was looking back at all day and the man of the name Harrison Fluman. At this point I was pretty toast and new it was going to be a battle till the end. I gave Harrison a hand shake and congratulated him on a nice run. We ran side by side during the last half mile before he broke away and got me by 13sec. Overall I was happy with the day and most important happy that I was able to pace smart,eat well and finish STRONG! Results: http://strideracing.com/2013/march/2013_buffalorun50M_overall.htm Next up is Zion 100 April 19th! Keep on runnin’ Posted on March 30, 2013 | Leave a comment | Edit

Here we go..

After 5 years of posting training on athleticore I need a change. Follow RunJohnny.blogspot.com for weekly training,mountain runs, The Running Sage store updates, and ramblings.
Photo courtesy of Withawhy Photography