2011 Squaw Peak 50 Mile Race Report

The 15th Annual Squaw Peak 50 Mile Endurance Run is in the bag, and what an epic it was! John Bozung did an amazing job re-routing the entire course to accommodate the fact that everything above 8500 feet was buried in snow, and created a punishing out-and-back course that had minimal flat sections linked by serious climbs and descents, all of which we had the pleasure of running on the first hot, muggy day of the entire year. AWESOME!

The morning started with a 3:30 AM alarm, and the subsequent disoriented attempt to gather everything, get into the car, and get to the start on time. I arrived at Vivian Park 15 minutes before the start, and realized that I’d forgotten my Bib! Without an official bib, I would not be counted at the aid stations, nor at the finish, so I asked my wife to drive back to the house, and then meet me at Aid 2 (the first check-in) where I could pin it on and continue on. I arrived at Aid 2 at 6:15, waited a few minutes for Chriss to arrive, and by 6:28 I was on my way again.

I hammered it up the familiar course to the summit above Rock Creek Canyon, and then ran at a good pace down to where the course left it’s traditional route and descended all the way down Rock Canyon to it’s mouth. Arriving at Rock Canyon Aid Station at 7:43 (mile 11.88), I quickly stripped off my turtleneck, ate some melon, re-watered and was out my 7:46. I was feeling pretty good, and kept up a solid pace as we ran along the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. Where ever possible, John took the opportunity to put us up on the single-track segments of trail that climbed and descended the foothills along the Provo valley, proving he was steadfast in keeping his reputation alive and well… the Bozung Hill was there, it was just broken up into 100 short, punishing, steep climbs.

I arrived at Aid 4 (mile 15.45), Buckley Draw at 8:38, and was out at 8:41, refueled, but feeling a little rough. I tried to keep up an aggressive pace, but could feel myself slipping a little bit. By the time I arrived at Aid 5 (Spring Creek, mile 20.65) it was 9:55, so my pace had definitely faltered a bit. I left Buckley draw at 10:00, and headed up the steep climb to the pass where I’d be able to descend to Pole Heaven Gate Aid station, and the turn-around.

The climb was steep and rocky, and about half way up, the leader came racing down the canyon and passed me. He was flying, and I yelled out encouragement as he blew past me… at least someone was feeling strong at this point. Several other leaders passed me on their return leg while I continued to struggle up the climb, and by the summit I was feeling pretty low. Even the descent down to the turn-around Aid station was painful, so when I finally arrived at 11:23, I took some time to truly refresh, and fully grazed the buffet eating everything that was cold and wet.

I ate several pieces of melon, cantaloupe, and watermelon, some banana, drank some coke and redbull, and enjoyed a cold towel which I placed on my head under my hat. At 11:32 I finally left the aid station and headed back up towards the pass to begin my descent back down to the Provo valley. As I neared the pass, I started to feel my energy returning, and I began running hard again. I arrived at Spring Creek (Aid 7, mile 29.8) at 12:34, refilled my water and fuel, and headed out at 12:39. I was feeling really good as I left the aid station, but the exposed trail had no shade, and the sun was full-bore.

The sun seemed to actively avoid the sparse clouds, and the green ragweed next to the trail exuded hot, humid air. I began to feel sick from the heat, and I really started to slow down. I pushed myself as hard as I could through the pain and nausea, and made it to Aid 8 (mile 33.52) by 13:53. Again, I took the time to try to cool down at the Aid Station, and finally pulled away at 13:59. The heat at this point was unbearable, and even running the downhills was punishing as I was beginning to weaken on top of just feeling ill.

It was only about 85F, but that was plenty hot considering the warmest it had been on any training day to that date was about 65F. By the time I pulled into Aid 9 (38.9 miles) at 15:10, my face and arms were flushed and I was really feeling torched. I told myself I would move quickly through this Aid Station, as I’d spent way too much time at the previous few aid stations. I found my drop bag, poured my fuel into my hand-bottle, and handed off my Nathan pack to get refilled with ice and water. The MD at Aid 9 came up and said “You are standing at rest and your heart rate is at max. You need to promise me you’re going to walk slowly up the canyon until your heart rate lowers, ok?”. He really didn’t need to tell me that, because I was definitely not ready to hammer 3.5 miles of steep canyon trails. I left Aid 9 at 15:14, having only spent 4 minutes there and began what would be a VERY long walk up Rock Canyon.

My heart rate never did slow down, at least until I began the descent from the summit at the top of Rock Canyon. It’s been a while since I’ve felt that beaten down, but for some reason I simply wasn’t recovering. I felt like I was crawling by the time I reached the summit, and I just couldn’t persuade myself to start running on the downhill into Aid 10. After a couple miles of downhill walking, I ran into an guy hiking up the trail. He told me he was working the Aid Station, and it was only ¾ of a mile further down the trail and there was Ginger Ale there. That little bit of hope started me feeling human again and I started into a slow paced run, and in a few minutes I found myself at Aid 10 (mile 44.8) at 17:42.

At the aid station I drank a cup of Ginger Ale, a ½ can of Coke, had some melon, and ate a candy orange slice and best of all, they had big towels drenched in ice water. That was HUGE! I felt great to have that cold water over my head, neck and back. While I stood there, Tony Christensen showed up as he’d been just a few minutes behind me. He and I finished up at the aid station at the same time, and we decided to run the last 6 miles into the finish together.

We had a great time chatting off and on while we ran to the pavement of the canyon walking path, where we turned up canyon and walked the next mile and a half. As we saw the signage indicating we were coming up to Vivian Park, we went back into a run and finished together at 19:11:35. 14 hrs and 11 minutes isn’t exactly fast, but on this day, and this course, I was more than happy to have simply finished.

I was not the only person who underestimated this course. Many people were completely surprised by the intensity of the climbs and descents, and I don’t think any of the runners were happy with the searing sun bearing down on us as we ran the roughly 10 miles along the foothills of Provo. On that section of the Bonneville Shoreline Trail, no tree cover, bright sunlight, and high humidity did their damage, as we struggled to regulate our core temperature while pressing to keep a decent pace along the undulating single-track course.

The rest of the course was no cake-walk either. One runner broke his leg on the upper part of Rock Canyon, while another took a tumble and broke his nose in lower Rock Canyon. Many runners simply dropped out of the run. There is no doubt this was a VERY tough course, and everyone who finished should feel a great sense of accomplishment. I definitely feel like I earned this "Wooden Nickel".