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