Lining up at the start line was kind of surreal as I was in the first wave as a top10 contender with all the big names of the race: Mike McKnight, Coree Woltering, Jamil Coury, , Micheal Versteeg, Sean Nakamura, Andy Pearson, Taylor Spike, Ben Light, Maggie Guterl, Jessi Morton-Langehaug, Dawn Greenwalkt. As I stood there the wave of excitement and nervousness, and wee bit of anxiety was there but honestly I was ready. The countdown was on and just like that the first wave of ~40 runners (men & women) took off and started our long journey towards Flagstaff.
High above Crown King I finally got to the top of this smaller (relatively speaking) climb, then it was down down down to Senator Highway (not a highway) where it was on rolling double-track that keeps to the gentle ridgeline that gave some great scenic views. This 14.8 mi section was exposed and still in the heat of the day, but there was a little more clouds forming and a slight breeze at the higher elevations, but no joke, was still hot. Finally passed a course photographer and knew I was close to the aid station. Also heard the buzz of one of the media drones above capturing some footage as I came into Battle Flat aid station.
I sat down here as the sun was now already dipping close to the ridgeline of the mountains. The first darkness was coming. I ate some warm broth soup and filled up my hydration for the next section ahead. A full half-marathon lie ahead of me with about 11 of those miles being uphill. As I sat there at the aid station I took advantage of my time and got out my kogallaRA waist lamp and headlamp to be ready. Out of the aid station a short couple miles downhill and all of a sudden the course found itself headed back up climbing all the way to 7,632 ft+ elevation at
Kamp Kipa. It was a long grinding climb again, with not a lot of actual running, mostly power hiking. The night time hours were ticking as it was nearly midnight by the time I made it to the top and arrived at the aid of
Kamp Kipa. The volunteers guided me over to a propane fire and some propane heaters they had set up. I accepted some excellent warm potato soup (a staple for me during this race...so good!). A couple helpings of soup and some coke and then I was on my way again. I did not want to stay too long and get comfortable by the warm heaters. It was quite chilly up there as the temperatures had dropped as the elevation increased, the wind had picked up, and I was now 100km+ into the race.
A mere 10 km of downhill running from Kamp Kipa to the next stop of Camp Wamatochick was again a nice break from the climbing. The ability to stretch out the stride and run a bit more downhill was a good feeling. However the sleepies were starting to catch up with me. I was hoping to go the first full night and second day without sleeping, but I think the start of this race, combined with the immense Arizona sun beating down on us just took more out of me than I thought. I arrived at Camp Wamatochick, mile 71.4, and got in some more soup and calories and then elected for my first sleep break. They had some cabins designated for the runners, so a volunteer guided me over to one, I had it all to myself. I kicked off my shoes, got relaxed arranged the mattress to prop my feet up, and set my alarm for 90 minutes. I elected for a decent sleep break here in hopes to revive me a little and also to take a longer break during the colder hours of the night. I slept well falling asleep right away (I think), and awoke with about 4 minutes left before my alarm was set to go off. I wandered over to the adjacent bathroom building and then gathered my gear back up. I checked out with the volunteers and let them know I was back on my way.
The elevation loss continued as we left Camp Wamatochick down towards Whiskey Row in the town of Prescott, Arizona. It was a pretty bland 9.3 miles in the dark for me as the lights of the town slowly drew me in. Eventually I found myself into the residential area where it was dotted by the occasional home. Then the very first section of pavement for the course brought me into the town itself guiding me towards Whiskey Row. I arrived just before sunrise. I sat down here and assessed my feet to notice the fact I had small holes in my socks. Note: I started off this race with a pair of lighter material socks, which was a mistake! The small fine dust of the Sonoran desert and all the dirt roads had produced so much fine material that found its way into my shoes that it settled beneath my feet and rubbed enough to wear holes through my socks. Once I noticed this and realized my mistake I messaged my wife informing her I would need some socks ASAP since my next drop bag was still 31 miles away at Dead Horse. It was super early but my wife responded and said she would meet me at the next crew point (she is awesome!). I did not partake in the whiskey shot at the aid station and tried to keep my time limited by moving on. Another half-marathon lie ahead of me prior to the next check point.
Leaving Prescott was a very cool section of the course once we were out the town itself. We would enter the Watson Woods Preserve and were treated to amazing scenic views.
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| Lake Watson trails outside of Prescott, AZ. |
The views were unbeatable during this section, but also where the trail around the lake itself got a little tricky. As noted in Runner guide Section details it was stated that "the trail is part granite slickrock, part boulder hopping, and part scrambling". This turned out to very true and I am happy to have gone through this section in the daylight hours.
Coming out of this crazy scene we entered into a granite canyon which then ended up on an old rail to trails crushed limestone path which was extremely flat and a change of pace. It went on for about 4 miles all the way to the
Iron King aid station in town. There was so many runner, bikers, and walkers out there enjoying their days. Often most of them would see my bib and cheer me a small cheer or "good job" as I slowly jogged down the path. Was great to see the local communities embracing the race participants. Always nice to be greeted by smiles and cheers as I grind through the pain of an ultra. Around 09:20 I rolled into the aid station literally only maybe 2 minutes ahead of my family as I saw them entering to park. Such a great boost to be able to see my wife and kids for the first time into this run...plus they had my fresh socks for me!
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| My kids meeting me at Iron King aid 94 mi. Photo: Katie Meding. |
A very brief chat with Courtney Dauwalter at the aid station as she was there awaiting Jamil Coury for some pacing duties and I was back headed out into the unrelenting heat. I kissed all my girls goodbye and hit the dirt trails out into the pasture beyond slowing working my way back towards Mingus Mountain, the next big climb in this race. The trek across the pastures and open areas was fairly boring, unexciting miles. However, one cool feature for sure was the fact that we had to hop a fence (via an A-frame ladder) and go underneath the road for a good 300' section inside a pipe culvert. A fairly gentle flat section all the way to Fain Ranch at mile 104.4. I arrived here to some more great volunteers whom took care of me. I recall getting some awesome mashed potatoes here with all the fixings. It was so good, like a loaded baked potato all mashed up.
For the last couple aid stations I had been arriving at the same or similar time as a fellow runner Tod Bachman (& his pacer Johnny Wasach). We noticed each other each time and were beginning to chat it up on the trail when we'd pass each other within the segments. We went back and forth leap frogging each other many times over the course of this race.
A long grind of a climb up Mingus Mountain led us all the way to the Camp Mingus where the aid station was held. It was about 4 mile climb that was non-stop grade up all the way to the top. Peaking out above 7000 ft+ the singletrack ended and popped out of the pines and onto the main fire road up the mountain. It was about 0.6 mile on this main road that brought us to the camp of Mingus Mountain. I was greeted her by the media team filming me as I arrived and one of the volunteers outside ringing the large bell.
Inside the lodge where the aid station was I grabbed my drop bag and got out some new buffs and did another sock change. The aid station volunteer brought me over some great quesadillas along with my staple cold coke. There was a few other runners in the aid station at the same time as me as the climb seemed to bunch a few of us together. The media team was there doing some random live stream check-ins briefly with each of the runners.
Into the Verde Valley
I left out of the aid station on my own, despite there being a few people in there. As I came out of the camp and turned onto the main road one of the documentary film followed me out on their motorbike for some footage. There was only a short 0.5mi section of the road that still climbed up out of the camp and then topped out in the pine trees near a hang-gliding launch area overlooking the valley below - breathtaking! This is where the road stopped and the singletrack began. Also Howie Stern was there to capture a photo of me running by with this epic view as a backdrop (can't wait to see this one). I continued on the edge of this mountain ridge for a bit and then the trail dropped off significantly and it was all a downhill descent down the backside of the mountain.
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Notice the singletrack switchbacks coming down off Mingus Mountain ~115 mi
(Photo: Aravaipa Running - Live Stream D2.S2). |
There was a gentler section in here somewhere before another long downhill section leading all the way into the town of Jerome where the next aid stop was. The final couple miles were a significant grade downhill, however it was super technical and rocky which made it actually a deceptive super slow run down. Nearing the final mile into town I was caught (again) by Tod Bachman and his pacer Johnny. As mentioned we had sort of been leap frogging each other every section it seemed like. We ran together for a little bit then they went ahead slightly just before the edge of town. Arriving into Jerome, as runners we had volunteers guiding us through town, as required by the permits for this area. Eventually I was escorted through the edge of Jerome and down to the
Jerome Historic State Park, which was the aid station. I came in here right as the sun was going down. I didn't have my lights out yet, but would be needing them as I headed back out on course. Loaded up on some more soup and good old apple pie from the pirate themed aid station. I tried not to linger too long, and took off before my new friends Tod & Johnny.
As I left the Historic Park darkness was creeping in fast. Just as I was making my way down out of Jerome I heard a runner behind come up and say hi. It was Maggie Guterl and her current pacer of Zach Bitter. I think she was down for a quick rest break or something, she had a crew van that she was utilizing which is probably why I hadn't seen her at the aid station Either way, as we headed out of town we started to chit chat as we worked our way to an interesting decent down a maintenance corridor which was somewhat unkept. Maggie was briefly in front leading when she came upon a small rattlesnake in the trail. It was a small little one, about 12-15" in the middle of the rocks on the trail. It was not coiled or anything so we slowly worked around it and kept moving. I guess Maggie isn't a big snake person so she had Zach run in front from there on out. I hung back and just tagged along enjoying the company as this was really the first time running with someone for an extended period of time. We passed the half-way 125mi sign on this technical decent in the dark. Zach Bitter was a great pacer and kept Maggie motivated to move a decent pace. He also kept us entertained with stories and just good banter in general. It was nice to have some human interaction out on trail for a little while (this made me rethink my no-pacer strategy moving forward on these bigger races). The 8.9 miles flew by and we covered this section in just over 2 hours arriving into Dead Horse. This included passing the current first female that Maggie overtook around mile 134 or so heading into Dead Horse. Arriving at the aid, Maggie and Zach headed over to meet the rest of her crew at their van, while I sat down at one of the picnic tables. I ate some chips, ordered myself a nice hot ramen.
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| Quick chip break at Dead Horse aid station 134.9 mi (Photo: Aravaipa Running - Live Stream D2.S3). |
The volunteers brought out my ramen to me and I set it beside me. Less than a minute later I see that Maggie & Zach were starting to take off from the parking lot as their headlights started moving toward the trailhead. I quickly threw my pack on, thanked the volunteers, and had to abandon my ramen. I did not want to miss the opportunity to continue to run and have the company and momentum so I took off chasing them down the trail. Another 10 mile section here but this time it was a small uphill towards the
Dear Pass aid. Running behind Maggie and Zach to allow them to interact as the runner-pacer combo I just hung on and kept going at what I thought was a super fast pace (relatively speaking it was). We ended up catching Drew Frehs and overtook him on this section as well. The night was definitely cooling off, but we were moving quite well that it was not bothering me at all. It was reaching those early wee hours in the morning by the time we rolled into
Deer Pass. Maggie was changing pacers, and also decided to go lie down for 10 minutes in her crew van. So with that news I thanked Zach Bitter for the miles, as he just led Maggie and myself for 19 miles in about 5.5 hours well into the night.
I knew that this aid station was not a sleep station but I wandered over to the tent and checked out the setup as I got some hot soup to warm up. Now that I was not moving the wind was noticeable and the chill was there for sure. I made a quick rash decision in the moment and decided to try and lie down for some rest, due to the fact it was cold and the next section was a longer 15.8 miles. This was interesting because there were no cots, no shelter, and essentially no good rest spots. But I made the most of it and asked the volunteers if I could curl up behind one of the large coolers they had sitting there for drinks. They allowed me to do so and I got out my bivvy got somewhat cozy on the ground only separated from the dirt by the thin layer of tarp the aid station was set up on. I used my NATHAN hydration pack as a make-shift pillow (I wish I had a picture of this set up). I set my alarm for 60 minutes and closed my eyes. Had a great rest despite the cool breeze and noise of the volunteers and other runners that came in after I was lying down. I was kind of awoken by the chill in the air combined with the fact my alarm was nearly about to go off, so I got nearly 60 minutes sleep. I got up to the surprise of a few runners in the aid station whom didn't even know I was there including my friends Tod & Johnny. I got up and tried to get ready as quickly as possible since my body was chilled and it felt super cold, as it usually does when you first wake up, except I was outside, and had just run 145mi so it was magnified. I did not have the patience to fully fold up my bivvy back into the nice little pouch it comes in, so I essentially folded it and collapsed it to the smallest I could get it and stuffed it into the bottom of my pack. I grabbed some nice warm soup from the volunteers and ate what I could as I geared up to get moving. I placed on my light jacket to help preserve some body heat and packed up quickly heading back out into the darkness to tackle the next 16 miles towards Sedona.
The trek continued Northeast towards Sedona as I tried to get my body warmed back up. Slowly it came around after moving for a while. I think it was around 03:00 or so by the time I took off, so it was the coldest portion of the night but also only had a couple hours until the sunrise. I don't really recall a lot moving through the remainder of the night here as I was trudging along solo. Finally sunrise began to extend its rays above the red rock hills of the horizon. My body welcomed the change in light as my circadian rhythm got a slight boost. Plus the scenery that the light illuminated around me was amazing red rock. Right around this time I remember Drew Frehs passing me as I was changing out something from my pack. The trail went from some smooth red singletrack into a trail called the airport loop which was a more rocky and technical section. The sun was already starting to bring a lot of heat to the morning air. I kept grinding forward and just took in the beautiful sights of the red rock area. I weaved my way around the outskirts of Sedona following the trails before it brought us into the aid at the church St. John Vianney. The best part of this is arriving here first thing in the morning was the fact my family was there to greet me for the second time in this race now 160.8 miles in.
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My 4 daughters (crew) meeting me at the Sedona - St John Vianney aid 160.8 mi.
Photo: Katie Meding |
Arriving here with the sun just coming out to bake us I knew it would be a longer stop. Feeling refreshed, sort of, from my prior nap a few hours ago at the previous aid station I did not need to sleep. I sat down in the shade after embracing my wife and was surrounded by my daughters as they ran around all hyped up and fresh, obviously from their near full nights sleep. The media team was there as I got some pancakes and chowed down. I think the documentary team was also there capturing some footage of me and my crew/family (yes, Aravaipa is making a complete Cocodona documentary on this inaugural year).
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My youngest daughter smelling my coke as she likes to do as I try and eat my pancakes.
Photo: Katie Meding |
The sights and scenes leaving Sedona were just awesome...hot...but awesome. It was very cool to have been able to run this in the day and have the scenery as I continued on my journey. There was so many walkers, hikers, and mountain bikers out on the Sedona trails enjoying the day. I got a couple odd looks as I probably looked a little worse for wear at this point trotting along the trails early in the a.m.. Eventually we were spit out of the great singletrack and onto a dirt forestry road in the back country. It was super exposed, dry, and dusty as the various vehicle and ATV traffic passed us by. Somewhere along here I caught back up with my trail friends Tod Bachman and his pacer Johnny Wasach. We teamed up here and ran into
Huntley Tank aid station together. After some cool drink, hydration refills, and some ice offerings the 3 of us continued on towards
Black Tank aid station near the edge of Sedona county. It was only a 7.5 mile section here, but it was all on this dry exposed dirt road. The Arizona sun was simply unbearable at this point and made the pace very slow going. The 3 of us tried to push as best we could, pulled on by Johnny, Tod's pacer, as he was about to finish up his pacing duties after a mere 101 miles (impressive in it's own right!). Eventually after a couple of false positives the sight of the aid station tents were recognizable and within reach. It was mid afternoon and basically peak heat when we arrived here at
Black Tank 181.5 miles. Sitting down here catching some shade I reassessed my feet, got them all cleaned up, and re-taped with the help of the local medic advice. I then made a clear and conscious decision to nap on the medic cot, which was in the shade of the pop-up tent. This allowed me to get around 40 more minutes of sleep during the heat of the day and prior to the next section, which was the climb up onto the Coconino Plateau.
I headed out feeling really refreshed on this impromptu nap break. There was just over an hour of sunlight remaining and I had a steep 5 mile climb ahead of me. Just before I turn straight up the climb I had Howie Stern pass me, he stopped his truck got out and took a quick picture, and chatted to me briefly. He mentioned how awesome the views were up there as he had just come down after following Maggie Guterl up to the top for some photo opportunities. The Casner Mtn climb was straight up a double wide jeep road with some very steep switchbacks in the meat of the climb, followed off by more of the jeep road straight up all the way to the crest of the Coconino Plateau and over the county line.
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| Sunset views from near the top of the Casner Mtn climb up to the Coconino Plateau. ~185 mi. |
I recall looking back down the switchbacks when I got to the top and saw Tod Bachman at the very bottom about 2 miles back starting his trek up. Apparently he also rested about the same amount as me since we were in
Black Tank together yet again. I turned around and trudged on with a slight downhill and some rolling fire road now clearly into
Coconino county. With my kogalla waistlamp on I continued forward and tried to keep the pace up. Eventually Tod caught back up to me later in this segment and we ran together for awhile yet again. About 2 miles from the aid station I was feeling quite drowsy and recall taking down a caffeinated GU gel that was a big boost, it gave me the energy needed to run all the way into the aid at
Turkey Butte 195.3 mi. Being late into the third day and closing in on 65 hours of total race time it was great to be able to get some running in when I could. More soup and broth and potatoes were on the menu for me at the aid station. The darkness of the third night was in full force now and I wanted to get to the next aid before even considering rest again. I took off from the aid station alone and pushed to get the next 9.2 miles done within the ponderosa pines entirely on the dirt forestry road. Tod and his new pacer Ken had caught me again sometime during this section, and once again I shared a bunch of miles with Tod. We just naturally found ourselves together a lot ever since around mile 94 (
Iron King) I think it was. It was good to have the company at times for sure, especially for someone who runs 99% of my training and racing solo. A Couple miles from the aid station at
Cinder Pit I noticed Tod and I were both quiet before one of us voiced how hard it was to keep our eyes open. We then worked together and started telling stories and just random banter back and forth to stay entertained.
Cinder Pit finally came into sight with the warm glow of a bond fire they had going outside the aid station tent, a welcomed sight indeed after this long road section at night. It was around 02:00 I think when we rolled in here. I got in some more warm food, including a grilled cheese and quesadilla, and then I decided that I needed more rest before continuing onwards. The Cinder Pit aid was a sleep station, however, they were outside tents. This would have been perfect and ideal for daytime rest, however it was the middle of the night and up at this elevation it was in the 40s and a bit breezy making it feel even cooler. I asked the volunteers if they had any blankets, and one of the amazing volunteers went to her car and got me a small blanket - such a life saver! I then crawled into one of the tents and used my bivvy again to attempt to stay warm with the mentioned blanket on top of that. I was still shivering a bit within the tent like this but it was ok for a little bit of rest. I set my alarm for 90 minutes, but barely made 1 hour before shaking myself awake due to the temperatures and not being able to maintain heat lying there. Not the best quality sleep and kind of a bad way to wake up, but I knew I had to just get moving again in order to get warm. So that's what I did. I packed everything up, ensured my hydration was filled back up and headed out with my warm hat and gloves and even a jacket at this point. This was the point where I fell behind my new trail friend Tod Bachman as he had continued on and not elected to rest, so when I started out, I was back to running solo miles. The route continued down the plain dirt road for a good while under the dark sky. Then it ducked into the trees and evolved back into a very pretty singletrack. The sun was slowly starting to make an appearance again at this time peeking through the tree. This would be my 4th sunrise of the race. The second half of this segment was truly magical in the very early rays of the sun surrounded by the sparse ponderosa pines up in the hills surrounding Flagstaff. I was running all alone in this magical land and still pressing on forward, what a feeling 210 miles+ into this race. Another complete half-marathon, and then some, had ticked by before rolling into Flagstaff and the
Fort Tuthill aid station.
One of the first sights I got to see running into the complex where the Squirrel's Nut Butter sponsored arch for the aid station was my little girls running out to greet me. This was only the third time I got to see my family all race thus far 219.0 miles in - such a treat and surprise to kick off the morning! I embraced my wife as we headed inside the building to where the drop bags where as were chairs and cots spaced out for the runners. Sat down and enjoyed some great care by the medic whom offered to clean my feet for me as well as doing an overall wellness check (a medical check at this point for all racers).
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Getting a nice foot cleaning thanks to the awesome medic help at Fort Tuthill 219.0 mi.
Photo: Katie Meding. |
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| My youngest daughter giving me a pre-nap hug. |
After getting cleaned up and changed I chatted with my wife and elected for more rest before moving on. So I picked a cot in the middle of the room and set my alarm for 30 minutes, gave my wife a kiss and put on my eye mask to help the process. Katie came in and woke me after the 30 minutes and I slurred to her I needed longer, so she reset the timer for 30 more minutes.
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| Also get as comfortable as possible. Couple helpful tips: (i) use anything to prop your feet up above your heart (to help with inflammation and swelling in your feet). (ii) eye mask to make it dark if sleeping during daylight hours (ear plugs too if you have trouble with noise). Photo: Katie Meding. |
After about 10 minutes into the second snooze portion I awoke on my own without the timer, so again I got about 40 minutes of sleep this go around. My kids came back in at this point and were eager to start helping me get ready. I felt surprisingly refreshed again after this short break, and somewhat eager to tackle the last 36 miles of the course.
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| Getting ready to leave Fort Tuthill aid 219.0 mi. Photo: Katie Meding. |
Leaving the aid station I did a quick mandatory gear check with the volunteers and then headed back out into the day that was beginning to heat up, even at these higher elevations. A long 15.7 mile section from here around the outskirts of Flagstaff to and up and through Walnut Canyon on the Arizona Trail (AZT) for a good while before coming to the next aid. Overall this section was not a lot of climbing just some rolling trails through and up the canyon. The trails were beautiful in this area, especially around Fishers Point. I was hoping for more cover in the trees, but the trail itself seemed to still be exposed combined with the fact the sun was near straight above me, there was not a large amount of shade out there. The views were scenic but it was very hot out for sure. This section took me nearly 5 hours averaging between 3-4 miles per hour and I definitely used most of my fluids up again. About a mile out from the
Walnut Canyon aid station I saw a volunteer on the trail scouting for me. I could tell it was a volunteer since as soon as they saw me coming, they turned around and started jogging back towards the aid station, which to me indicated I was close. Very soon I popped out of the singletrack into a parking lot at the trailhead and was greeted by some cowbells and my crew one last time.
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| Coming into Walnut Canyon aid 234.6 mi. Photo: Katie Meding. |
I was hot and exhausted. I just recall wanting to sit in the shade, which my wife Katie guided me over to my chair set up. One of Taylor Spike's crew members was there awaiting him, and was super kind to offer me a cold Red Bull, which I gladly accepted. I don't think i was here for a super long time, but Taylor Spike did roll in behind not too long after. This gave me a bit of competitive spirits again since I was sitting in 8th place at this point. A full 12.4 miles lie ahead of me with the last ~2 miles being basically straight up the Mt Elden climb gaining over 2,000 ft+. The final aid station of
Mt Elden is set up right on top of the climb with nothing but downhill to the finish.
Mt Elden to the Flagstaff
Leaving Walnut Canyon I kissed my girls goodbye one last time (the next time I'd see them was at the finish line) and set off on my final 22 miles of this epic Arizona journey. The first 8 miles of this section was me basically anticipating the climb as I have never been to this area before. I knew the climb was coming and just trekking across the various trails, including some more of the AZT, to get over to the base of Elden seemed to be taking a long time. I passed many hikers and people out enjoying their day as I struggled on forward. Finally I came upon the final climb. I thought the trail was wrapping around the mountain, until I realized that it was essentially going straight up this canyon ridge on the south side of Elden which was just endless switchbacks, full of large rocks, including many large step ups, and just overall high technical ability to get up this trail. The 2 mile climb up took me 1.5 hours or so, it was a real grind. I don't recall ever stopping I just kept a very slow steady pace all the way up. It was actually a great feeling to be able to not have to stop on this climb. I somewhat feared or envisioned just being so zonked out I'd have to sit down and nap or something crazy being so close to the finish. Eventually I could see the sky peaking through the top of the pines and knew I was close to topping out. I could see the tower on top of the actual Elden lookout, but as noted in the course description, we actually skirted just below the summit at about 9,100 ft+ on the Sunset trail which brought us out onto an open area of the top of Elden and right beside the access road where the aid station was. I arrived here feeling good and refreshed knowing I should be able to now finish before full sunset. The volunteers greeted me with excitement and cowbell at Mt Elden. They asked me what I wanted and jokingly asked if I wanted a cold one. I instantly replied "sure!". So the amazing people up there on Elden got me a cold beer (Pabst Blue Ribbon) and some bacon - the perfect ultrarunning fuel combination - I think they were my favorite aid station.
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| Cold beer at the Mt Elden aid station. Photo: race volunteer. |
I was literally just enjoying my beer and starting to chat with the 4 volunteers up there, enjoying the fact all the climbing was now done. I simply had 8 miles downhill into Flagstaff remaining in front of me. Then all of the sudden one of the volunteers started cheering and ringing their cowbell again. Taylor Spike had continued hard behind me and was moments from topping out into the aid station as well. With only 5 minutes in the aid station, I quickly downed the rest of the beer, thanked the volunteers, and tightened my pack back up and took off as my competitive drive kicked in.
I didn't come this far to get passed now, so I booked it downhill. The grade on the way down the road was not too steep and downhill enough to feel like I was flying. It was some of the fastest miles of the my race although it was only 09:30min/mi pace or so. It felt so nice to stretch out the legs and I could feel the draw of the finish line, plus I was running scared from Taylor catching me from behind. About 4 miles down the road there was a hard turn left back onto some singletrack. I nearly missed the turn as I was texting my wife informing her where I was so they could get to the finish area. My watch beeped and informed me I missed the turn (the great thing about Garmin and have in the course profile loaded into your watch for navigation). I looked up, then back behind me on the orange and saw where the orange marking flags were guiding us back into the trees. So back on track now with just under 4ish miles to go, I weaved my way through the trees and followed the trail into the famous local Buffalo Park, and eventually onto the streets of Flagstaff. I was glancing back every now and again to see if I could see a glace of Taylor but never did thankfully. The feeling here was awesome...then I hit a stoplight and had to wait, ran a bit further down the street before having to make a left towards downtown....another stoplight. I glanced down at my watch and I was only with about 0.5 miles now, felt so great as the sun was setting in the background. I came down the streets to some people cheering and some people not having a clue what was going on, but then the volunteers cheering and guided me into Heritage square itself with only 100 meters to go into the finishers arch. I turned that corner and recognized my kids there and my wife cheering at the line. My 3 youngest daughters ran out to me and crossed the finish line with me to celebrate.
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| Crossing the finish line with my 3 youngest daughters. Howie Stern (right) capturing the moment as well. Photo: Katie Meding |
Results & Statistics
Place: 8th overall
Total Elapsed Time: 86:40:40
Total Sleep Time: 4:45:00
Statistics according to my Garmin:
- Total Distance: 257.52 mi
- Total Elevation: 37,205 ft+ (gain) | 32,290 ft+ (loss)
- Elevation : 1,856' (min) | 9,104' (max)
- Temperature: 46 f (min) | 104 f (max)
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(Left) STRAVA pic of the segments.
(Right) My nerded out spreadsheet of all the sections breakdown with all the various stats. |
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| Cocodona 250 elevation profile (#actually257). Photo: STRAVA data. |
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#BuckleUp This was my 22nd completion of 100 mi or more (& my 4th completion of 200 mi or more) |
Gear Used
- Gear Bags: Victory Sportdesign Grizzly backpack (in my crew/family van), and my other 3 Victory bags utilized as drop bags (see above in my planning section).
- Jackets: rabbit
- Shirts: rabbit (many various ones)
- Shorts: rabbit 5" FKT (2 pairs)
- Shoes: Altra Olypmpus 4.0 (straight out of the box - brand new. I did not change pairs)
- Socks: Drymax Socks (about 5 pairs)
- Headwear: rabbit (BOCO) rabbitELITEtrail cap, Trail Racing Over Texas cap
- Sunglasses: goodr (couple different pairs)
- Watch: Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition (charged twice while I slept - didn't really need to worry about my battery life)
- Waistlamp: kogalla RA Adventure Light
- Backup Headlamp: Nathan Sports Halo Fire
- Hydration: Nathan Sports VaporKrar 12L Race Pack with 2L bladder & x2 20oz Nathan soft flasks, & Trail Racing Over Texas collapsible cup
- Other: rabbit (BOCO) gloves
- Anti Friction lube: Trail Toes
- Foot Tape: Trail Toes
Thank you
A huge shoutout to all my trail friends & supporters!
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| My 4 daughters and biggest supporters awaiting for me in Heritage Square for my finish on Thursday evening. Photo: Katie Meding. |
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#ultrarunningdad
Photo: race volunteer. |
Thank you to Steve Aderholt for being the Race Director of this amazing first year event! Kudos to you and your team sir....well done.
Thanks to Jamil Coury for dreaming up this awesome line and giving us crazy ultrarunners a way to see the diversity, vastness, and beauty of Arizona all in one epic journey.
Thank you Rob Riccardo, Matt Feldhake (& Chris Worden) and your Aravaipa media team, including all the volunteers, for putting on an amazing live stream broadcast of this event. i am still in awe of how awesome and game changing this is.
Thank you to the official photographers out on course
- Howie Stern | @howiesternphoto
- Scott Rokis | @scottrokisphoto
- Eliza Earle | @eliza_earle
To all the volunteers out on course helping us runners get our journey done, I just want to say thank you as well. Without you it would not be possible. Everyone was so gracious, kind, and helpful to me at all the aid stations. The volunteers were truly kind and selfless. Thank you!
Post Race Thoughts
After nearly 10 days have passed by the time I am actually publishing this race report. I have been taking it super chill and easy trying to catch up on some much needed sleep. I have also been watching the recorded live streams of the race in the background at work when I am able to. It is so cool to see how Aravaipa is changing the game for live coverage of the sport. I also noted that a lot of the Texas fans, specifically the #HATRs and #TROT tribe members were giving me shout outs and support in the chat. I can not thank you guys enough for the support. It was so cool to be a part of this larger scale race and feel like my local trail community was still behind me from a distance.
This race was a lot harder and hotter than anyone expected from the front of the field all the way to the back, and even the race team itself. I know this being the first year of the race it was a big unknown, but that Arizona heat along with the exposed section with limited shades just made this race a lot about staying hydrated and conserving energy in the heat of the days out there.
With all the (now known) course knowledge and experience along with the media presence and the coverage that this first got, I can not wait to see what 2022 brings in terms of the big name runners again for long distance ultras and who from overseas may be drawn into a great event like this. I only foresee great things for this event moving forward. Who knows...maybe by the time registration comes around I will have forgotten all the pain in my feet and all those exposed sections I was cursing while meandering through the back country. Who knows?
Room for Improvement
I am super proud and feel accomplished to have achieved my goal of finishing in the top10 with an 8th overall finish. But being honest with myself looking back at my stats I do have some critiques.
- Total Rest Time - my total time was 86:40:40 and a total moving time of ~72 hrs. That means there was ~14.75hrs of rest time (4.75hrs of that being actual sleep time). Reviewing this it made me realize that is an average of 28 minutes at the 21 aid station stops. It is easy to say this now, but it seems that is a lot of wasted down time not moving forward. Of course, some of those stops were needed and super valuable, especially getting out of the hot Arizona sun. This just gives me some data to think about for next time in a multi-day event. I am still very proud of my effort, but there is easy room for time gain if I can somehow manage to limit aid station stopping time (when realistic to do so).
- Pacers - seeing how much the night time hours slow me down (usually) due to the natural circadian rhythms I can now see the benefit in pacers for these long events. I have only used pacers twice before in all my 76 ultramarathons now. Running Cocodona I noticed that when I did team up with Maggie Guterl (& Zach Bitter) for those 19 miles and then with Tod Bachman (& his pacers) multiple times I do see a benefit in just having company out there just to keep your mind occupied or have someone drag you along.
More Race Information
If you have read this far into the race report, you either are an ultra nerd like myself or perhaps are eyeing up for some information and good intel into the race as you maybe thinking on taking it on yourself. I would recommend you check out the Cocodona Origins 5-part mini series on YouTube (#RunSteepGetHigh channel):
Secondly, if you dig into the website of the race you will find great material on their site. The Runner's guide and the Section guide are very detailed and super helpful for any organized and do it yourself planner.
And finally if you are really in need of all the details, commentary, and every single step of the course you can look up the
Aravaipa Live Stream Playlist and watch many hours worth of footage.
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaa116w82q4&list=PLtBEWIBqbhcFVx-3UCqYmOMcsvTZ0jBqP |
Other Cocodona stuff:
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Adventure Awaits indeed. Put this one on your bucket list!
2022 Registration opens in early June they say ;) |
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Thank you everyone for following along.
