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Ridgecrest 30k/50k

Here are some photos from the SMUT ladies up at Ridgecrest this past weekend. Well done to all of you.

Typical Ridgecrest view

Britta beat her time from last year by over 20 minutes

No shortage of fun there

Representing pretty well

Peggy finished the 50k in 4:48

Debbie finished the 30k in just under 4 hours

Terry 30k in 4:21

SMUT weekend results

Here are most of the results from the various races this weekend. If there is anyone I've missed please let me know or post a comment.

Fiesta Bowl Half Marathon


Steven Dean placed 18th out of over 1000 in 1:24:50. Crap man!!!! Destroyed his age group, as usual, by about 6 minutes. Way to go Steven.

Las Vegas RnR

Paula finished the half marathon in 2:01:21. This was Paula's first half. Nice going and I'm thinking she'll get well under 2 hours next time

Kathy-not heard yet.

Jeff Bzoskie full marathon in 4:41. Jeff mentioned something about running Dean Karnazes style from his house to the start and running the race then running home. Not sure if that played out, but judging from the time I'm guessing he did.

Ridgecrest 30k

Britta 3:48
Terry 4:21
Debbie ca. 4 hours

Extremely well done ladies. I think this is Debbie's first trail race too. Way to go.

Ridgecrest 50k

Peggy 4:48 Excellent time there Peggy. Finishing a 50k in under 5 hours is a great accomplishment.

Western States 100 Lottery

Shad in, Josh not. This was really a crap shoot. Odds were about 1 in 10 or so of getting in. I would have almost preferred to see the Las Vegan with a chance of winning to get in, but I guess I'll take it.

There was a lot going on this weekend. Good to see everyone so active. Way to go to all the runners. I also had a good time at the RnR expo helping Josh and Pearl Izumi out as well as being a buffer between Hillary and the drunk Sport Bean guy.

Just about a month until the Fat Ass which has filled to capacity. Two years ago there were 11 runners and just 6 last year so it's amazing to have 50 entrants a month before the race. I know Josh and Ian are going to look into getting the BLM to allow more runners, but we will have to wait and see.

Busy weekend for SMUT

Below are the tallies of what I've received for the races everyone is doing this weekend. Once again the lady SMUTs are leading the pack getting out there and running. Way to go ladies and good luck to you and Steven as well. 


Josh and I are in the Western States Lottery on Saturday and will be watching closely. This would be my first time doing the race. For Josh, this would prevent him from having to go race one of several qualifying races to get in. 

LV RnR: Kathy 1/2, Paula 1/2 

Ridgecrest: Peggy 50k, Terry 30k, Britta 30k, Debbie 30k

Fiest Bowl 1/2 Marathon in Scottsdale: Steven

Western States Lottery hopefuls: Josh, Shad


Saturday we are back at Railroad Pass at 6:30. We may have a couple of special guests that are in town for the RnR Expo so come on out if you are able. If you're going to the Expo swing by the Red Rock Running Company/Pearl Izumi booth. Josh will be there the whole time and I'll be there Friday afternoon and all day Saturday. The Expo is being held at the Sands Convention Center.


Let me know if anyone we know is running these races or other races so I can update the list and follow their results.


Cheers

Post Thanksgiving Run at Red Rocks

Let's take our field trip this month back out to Red Rocks. We had a great time last month and it will help to become familiarized with the new Fat Ass course. There are a couple of tricky spots and having the local knowledge will certainly help.

I've updated the running calendar and we are going to meet at 7 a.m. at the toll booth parking lot just to the left of the toll booths. As always everyone is welcome.

Congratulations Peggy

Congratulations for SMUT lady Peggy Paas. She finished the Helen Klein 50 mile ultramarathon this weekend in an impressive time of 9:35 and won her age group. This was Peggy's first 50 miler and did an amazing job. She trained like crazy and all that work showed up in her excellent finish.

Great job mademoiselle. Can't wait to hear about it.

Grand Canyon 11/6/2010

Shane, Brad, and I headed down to the Grand Canyon for a rim2rim2rim adventure on Saturday. This would be my fifth double crossing but the first for both Brad and Shane. Being able to share this experience with them made this extra special for me.

The sign basically says you're going to die if you go to the river and back in a day

We started about 4:30 am and descended the South Kaibab Trail via headlamp. This trail is pretty steep and it may have been a good thing we weren't taking our eyes off of it site seeing. We got to Phantom Ranch just as the Sun began to come up and the guys got their first views of their surroundings.

North Kaibab Trail parallels Bright Angel Creek

The canyon is narrow here due to the hard schist rock

We kept a pretty good pace the first 5 miles after leaving Phantom Ranch due to the gradual grade of the trail. There are no steep climbs on this section but we soon left the inner gorge and the scale of Grand Canyon left us all in awe.

We stopped often and took pictures to take in the experience

Grand Canyon is far from the desolate landscape often depicted in photos

Looking back to where we started just a few hours before

Before we knew it we had arrived at the ranger residence before the big climb up the North Rim. The trail steepens quite a bit after the ranger residence and we were switching between running the flatter sections and hiking the steep inclines.

Colors changing in valley below the trail

Lookout just below North Rim

After the never ending climb we were all feeling good and in good spirits at the half way point.

North Rim

We saw four other runners on the North Rim doing their own double crossings. As we descending back down the trail I was blown away by how many were out there. Seems every time I do this run more and more runners are out there.

Brad on the descent 

Typical view about half way between rim and residence

This bridge made for a great photo opportunity

Shane and Brad at the ranger residence

We flew down the trail back to the rangers' residence. What had taken us about two hours on the way up only took about 50 minutes on the way down. For me, the stretch from the back to Phantom Ranch is the crux of the day. The toll of miles of downhill pounding really take their toll despite the moderate grade of the trail. I started having some stomach problems and had to rest a few times to let it settle. 

One of four bridges that cross Bright Angel Creek in inner gorge

By some miracle we made it back to Phantom Ranch and we were all happy the descent was over. All we had to do now was climb 5000' in 7 miles to the finish.

Black Bridge crosses the Colorado River

Looking down at Bright Angel Campground from South Kaibab Trail

Going up the South Kaibab Trail can most accurately be described as a slog. Only a handful of flattish sections justify the energy expenditure of running. The trail is steep and relentless. However, we chatted it up and we treated to the expansive views of Grand Canyon that we missed earlier.

The round trip was about 43 miles including the 1/2 mile from the parking lot to the trailhead with +/- 11,000 ft of elevation change. We made it car to car in about 12 hours. This was a pretty good time considering all the breaks and photos we took. Our actual moving time was probably closer to 10 hours. Both Shane and Brad were awesome partners on this run. If anything, I was the whinny baby and held them up. It was special to share an experience that it so dear to me. It was a perfect day. The weather couldn't have been better and everything seemed to go our way. 

Finished

Post Script,
On the way home Shane and I stopped for a burger and a beer to celebrate and fill our hungry bellies. In a show of endurance that pales the double crossing, Shane put down a 1/2 pound bacon cheeseburger and onion rings and promptly ordered another and crushed the second burger without flinching. Very impressive indeed sir. I also have to give a shout out to Brad's show of endurance by putting up with mine and Shane's ridiculous banter all day. In a word, it was SMUTty and Brad took it like a champ.

Photo album available here

SMUT at Red Rocks

Maraya, Shane, Brad, and I went to Red Rocks on Saturday for the second SMUT field trip. Despite the small group this ended up being one of the most memorable SMUT runs yet.

We were treated to a pretty sunrise as we met at the Visitor's Center

Those pesky clouds would make the day interesting

We met at the Visitor's Center and drove to the Willow Springs parking lot. Maraya had her dog and husband to keep her company as Shane, Brad, and I did the White Rock Loop which is probably my favorite trail int the Las Vegas Area.

Shane behind White Rocks

Shad's behind

We originally planned on going up Rocky Gap Road to North Peak after the Willow Loop. The clouds looked pretty ugly up there, but after some discussion we decided to give it a shot and turn back if things got too bad. Shane took off a bit ahead going up the long climb up Rocky Gap Road. As we ascended the weather got worse and worse. I looked over to Brad and admitted I was constantly looking up in hopes of seeing Shane coming back the other way after calling it quits. The wind picked up and we even started seeing snow flakes around the 5000' level.

Brad on Red Rock Summit at the top of Rocky Gap Road

Looks  kind of peaceful here, but it was cold and windy

Just over a half hour after leaving the misery of Red Rock Summit we returned to a beautiful Fall day. The change was dramatic and almost unbelievable.

This was a really fun run for me due in no small part to the excellent company. Even the gaggle of unleashed dogs that went by didn't ruin this day. If this run was any indication, the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim the three of us are planning next weekend is going to be truly off the hook.

Congratulations Karen

Congratulations to Karen for finishing the Javalina Jundred this weekend.

The JJ is run the Pemberton Trail in the McDowell Mountain Regional Park outside of Phoenix

She finished in a time of 27:48. Guess she gets the foot-time award for this week. Judging from her splits it looks like Karen ran a smart race. I'm looking forward to hearing about it.

Typical view along trail

Javalina Jundred Update

Despite an excellent start Josh had to drop at mile 41. He was through the 30 mile mark in under 4 hours and well below course record pace. On the third lap, however, he had severe pain in his pelvis. He said it's a possible stress fracture.

Tough luck Josh. Nothing can be done about unforeseen freak injuries. It's been a brutal year for him at the 100 mile distance.

Bootleg Canyon 10-16-2010

Saturday we were back out at Bootleg Canyon. That 30 extra minutes of sleep seemed like a couple of hours

to me. Several members were out at the Dragon Boat races at Lake Mead which benefits breast cancer services. Brad, Peggy, Richard, Regino, Tim, and Britta are running the length of the River Mountain Trail Sunday. Looking forward to hearing about it. Send me some photos if any of you guys took any.

Next week Josh and Karen are running the Javalina Jundred down in Fountain Hills, AZ east of Scottsdale. This race is a loop course in the McDowell Mountain Regional Park. The is a fast desert course with mountain views and a forest of cacti. Good luck to you both. 

Hillary with a big smile early in the morning

Tim hamming it up.

Shane, Sexy Back, descending the swithbacks

Brad Hawley

River Mtn trail follows a wash up to the benches

Somewhere down there is Shane and our guest Reed

SMUT runner Steven Dean at the 2010 Senior Games

Congratulations Steven on a great race at the 2010 Senior Games up in St. George Utah. Steven not only crushed his age group by almost 5 minutes, he beat the whippersnappers in the 50-54 and 55-59 age categories. Steven has been an elite runner for longer than most of us have been alive and I'm proud to have him apart of our little community and to call him a friend. Way to go Steven congratulations again on a great race.

See results here:

http://seniorgames.net/results/2010/roadRaces/10K/

Race Report Desert Dash 50k October 2nd 2010

Here is Brad's race report from this past weekend's Desert Dash race. Congratulations again Brad on a well run race.

The forecasted temperature for race day was the low 90's, but it felt much warmer at the 9:00 a.m start because the sun was out in full force. The sun did momentarily relent at, however, and we even had a little rain around hour 5.

For the 50k course, we did a couple loops on the Cottonwood trails and a couple loops on the Mustang trails. We passed through the race headquarters at the Late Night trail head between every loop and there was also an aid station on both of the trails, totaling 6 aid station stops during the race. The elevation was between approx. 4000 and 5000 feet, with a net gain/loss of approx. 4800 feet. 

Approximately 40 of us, comprising of a mixture of half-marathon and 50k runners, took off for the Cottonwood trails from the Late Night trail head parking lot, but the initial pace for the entire field of runners was pretty conservative due to the initial temperature and climb, which was approximately 1000 feet over the first few miles.

Brad, with the race in hand, heading out for his final few miles

 

I did not keep track of my place at the start of the race, so I didn't realize that I was in the lead, nor did I ask, until Josh and Shad’s aid station around mile 26 where they told me about my significant lead. During the few miles prior to this point, I was having a tough time and only focused on finishing, but their encouraging words and news of my position provided me with a 2nd wind, allowing me to pick up my pace and enjoy the fun down-hill section of the final few miles. 

It appears that 17 people started the 50k, with 9 finished. The remaining runners were either DNF or moved to the half-marathon race distance. Finishing times ranged from 5:32 to 9:37.

Desert Dash organized an excellent race, as the course was beautiful, the route was very well marked, and the aid stations were well stocked. I would especially like to thank the volunteers, including SMUT members Dana, Hillary, Josh, Richard, Shad, and Shane.

Brad Hawley 

Red Rock Fat Ass 50K January 8th 2011

The Red Rock Fat Ass 50K is a long running trail event here in Las Vegas. It covers some of the best trails in majestic Red Rock Canyon. The event has declined in participation over the last couple years, but Ian Torrence has taken it upon himself to resurrect the event to its former glory. If you don't know Ian, he is a ultrarunning veteran of over 150 races with 50 victories who used to live in Las Vegas and now lives and coaches in Flagstaff.

Fat Ass events are low key, no cost, and no frills. Basically, it's just a bunch of runners getting together to run because they love to run. For more information go to http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=11213 or on
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=100788886653578