A few months ago I signed up for the Black Canyon 60K which was to be held on February 17, 2018. The race starts in Mayer Arizona at the local High School and finishes in Black Canyon City. This would be the longest distance I have completed to date, all in anticipation and training for my first ever 50 mile race.
My husband who is suffering from some knee and hip issues would be there to support myself along with his Uncle Steve rather than completing the race with us. Our race began at 8:00 AM on the Mayor High School track. We had until 8:00 PM to finish the race. It was definitely a chilly start but we knew that it would heat up quickly once we got out onto the course.
We ran one lap around the track and then we headed out onto the street making our way to the Black Canyon Trail. It was close to 3 miles before we hit the trail and it was still chilly and windy but the sun was out and we knew that the day held promise.
There were a total of 5 aid stations each having their own cutoff time requirements. Since I am not a fast runner I wrote on the back of my race bib the cutoff times for the each of the aid stations. I wanted to make sure that I was pacing myself appropriately so I would not be pulled from the race. I have not had this problem in the past but there is a first time for everything!
The first aid station was Antelope Mesa at 7.3 miles and considering the first 3 miles were on road this meant only about 4 miles on the trail. This first aid station came up quick and I was having fun! Not much climbing in this first segment most of it was downhill and I was enjoying it. I came into this aid station quicker than I thought and moved through it pretty quickly as well. I knew it was early on and I shouldn’t get too excited about my performance yet. There was a long day ahead of me and all of the climbing was still waiting.
The second aid station was Hidden Treasure at mile 12.5. My gloves and buff came off around mile three and I was ready to take off my top layer as well. I was experiencing some heat on my right big toe and I knew a blister was forming which was not good news with so many miles to go. Since I was still running faster than expected due to the downhill nature of this course I took the time to stop and take my sock and shoe off and lubed up my toe with my go to “Trail Toes” ointment. This did the trick and I was off once again at this point still having fun as it was still mostly downhill. Boy did that change fast!
Aid station three was Bumble Bee at mile 19.2. This is where I got to see my husband Mark. Although I was happy to see him I wasn’t having so much fun anymore and the smile on my face was fading. We started climbing right after Hidden Treasure and it seemed like it didn’t stop until we got to Bumble Bee. I was still pretty much on target with my time and took about 30 minutes at this aid station to refuel with some bean burrito’s and fruit. I refilled my bottles with water and Tailwind and lubed up my toe again as a precaution as it was feeling pretty good. My mood was still good and I was able to laugh and smile with Mark and told him he was lucky he was on the sidelines! I must say the aid stations were well stocked and the people were so friendly which made for great overall experience. Volunteers rock!
Running out of Bumble Bee I passed some steers which I’d never seen on a race course before. We did run by some cows earlier in the race before the first aid station. They were pretty darn close to the road which was very cool. The climb coming out of Bumble Bee was brutal. I believe this was just a road coming out of the ranch which would take us back to the Black Canyon Trail but wholly molly it was steep! I heard voices behind me and looked back and saw two women so of course I thought I wasn’t going to let them catch me. It seemed the harder I worked to move fast the quicker they caught up to me. They passed me with ease with a smile on their face and told me I was doing a good job. I certainly didn’t feel like I was doing a good job at that point but I pushed forward. I was able to keep my eyes on them for quite a while and when I saw them run I knew that I would be able to run again as well. Before I knew it they were long gone. They were nowhere in sight and I was alone once again. Trail racing can be a very lonely experience so you need to be able to deal with that and pull yourself out of some dark places and I had a few dark spots on this day.
Aid station four was Gloriana Mine at mile 23.7. I knew what this aid station would look like as we had driven by it the day before and parked and walked a little bit down the trail. It was comforting to have a little familiarity out there on this long day. The trail has a lot of loose rock and dirt and of course cactus along with a lot of climbing and down hills. The last time I ran a dessert race I had a run in with a cactus. It came out of nowhere and thought it would catch a ride on my hamstrings to the finish line. I was prepared for such a daring cactus this time and packed some tweezers in my vest but they thought better of the free ride and left me alone . My quads were starting to burn and my feet were tired. There were a few times my calves wanted to cramp and I had to stop to stretch them out. I did not want my day to be over because my body wasn’t happy with me. I pushed on knowing that I had only 1 station left before the finish line but that was almost 8 miles away.
Somewhere around mile 28 I missed a critical turn and found myself with several other runners not knowing where to go. I ended up with a little over a mile additional to the 37.5 I was supposed to run. Now math is not my strong point especially after running 28 miles, so this was an additional challenge for the day. To continually figure out where I really was as far as the actual mileage at least kept me alert. You get to a point in a race when you really just want to be done, so when your watch shows 30 miles but you know you’re really not at 30 its disheartening at best. We worked our way back to the last flag we saw and found the error and got back on track. I laughed shortly after that and said aloud I like the other route better as it was much easier.
Aid station five was Soap Creek at mile 31.2. This had to be the most frustrating aid station to get to as you seemed like you were right there but then there was another switch back and another switch back and yet another. Several times “WTF are you kidding me?” escaped from my lips! I had to shake my head and laugh it off, after all I did pay for this. What kind of adventure would it be if it was easy? It seemed like a bad dream where I was moving and not getting anywhere. Once you got to the top of that climb in order to get to the aid station you had to scramble down a ditch and then out of the ditch to get to the road which led to the aid station which had no porta potty! The volunteers were great as they offered to turn around and let me use the bushes behind their SUV which I declined. I found a suitable location a little further up the road. First however I had to run down the road and down and out of the ditch again.
I had just over 6 miles to go before I finished my longest race ever. I knew there would be one water crossing within the last 2 miles of the race and was looking forward to finding that water so I knew I was only 2 miles away. That of course did not come easy. Those next 4 miles seemed to take forever as the trail continued to be technical climbing. I was finding it hard to enjoy the beauty of the course at this point since I was extremely tired. After coming out of the water crossing the trail did not get easier. There was a lot of solid slippery rocks that needed to be climbed with wet feet. The water washed all of the lube off my toe so the blister was hurting again. The sun was starting to go down and I thought it’d be a good time to get my headlamp out and in position so I wasn’t fumbling with that in the dark. I now had to hold my sunglasses in my hand as they were just bouncing and annoying me if I put them in my hydration vest. I tried really hard to stay positive and take in all the beauty around me and not get wrapped up in the pain I was feeling. I was getting pretty excited thinking that I would be able to finish before dark, before actually having to turn on my headlamp. The goal I had in my head was one, to finish before dark and two, try to be as close to the 10 hour mark as possible. I saw a sign up ahead, and it was another critical turn so the runners would take note and not get lost. The sign noted I was at mile 36.6 or 36.06 (my memory is foggy already) 1 mile to go! A big smile crept across my face and then BAM! I was down. I saw the ground coming up quickly and no matter how I tried I couldn’t regain my balance. I hit hard. My hat and headlamp flew off my head. I shattered my watch and broke the sunglasses I was holding in my hand. I recall a loud sound escaping my mouth but had no control over my body or my mouth. It all seemed to be in slow motion and as I gathered myself to get up and looked at my hand I thought that doesn’t look good. My pinky finger on my right hand had an odd curve to it and my entire hand started turning pretty colors and started increasing in size. For a moment I thought maybe it’s dislocated and I should try to straighten it out but then I rethought that and left it alone. My hand hurt so much and was so swollen and stiff that I could not put my hat back on my head so I was now carrying my hat, my broken glasses and my headlamp. The soft flask from my hydration vest came partially out from the impact and every time I tried to run it slapped around. I tried several times to shove it back into its holder with my left hand and finally it worked. This was by far the longest last mile of any race I had ever completed. Of course the trail was still unrelenting in it’s rolling hills so it was a walk/hike/run to the end. It seemed to be taunting me and daring me to finish. I would not give in and was determined to cross the finish line on my own two feet. How could I possibly give up now? That was not an option! As I was coming off the trail and onto the road I was greeted by several 100K runners going out to finish their day. They asked if I heard anyone calling for help and that there was word that someone out there was in distress. I told them no but laughed and said I think I’m gonna need some help and held up my hand. They wished me luck and then were on their way.
As I got closer to the finish line I saw my husband standing there waiting for me, filming my triumphant finish! He grabbed me a strong IPA that I made him promise to get for me earlier in the day and we made our way to the first aid tent. Ice on my right hand and an IPA in the left, Mark grabbed me a pizza from Freak Brothers Pizza and fed me a few slices as we waited for Steve to cross the finish line. We grabbed our stuff and said some goodbyes and headed to the emergency room.
Several x-rays later it was discovered that I did indeed fracture my pinky finger and had suspected soft tissue damage to several other fingers and my palm. They wrapped up my hand and splinted the finger and sent me on my way. Once home I saw an Orthopeadic Dr. and surgery was performed. I am now the proud owner of a metal plate and 6 screws. Does this qualify for calling myself Bionic? Well maybe not, and hopefully I will not have any additional pieces added to my body at any point but it makes for a good race story.
I finished with a time of 10:22:01, 123 out of 135 runners that completed the race and it was not dark yet! There were 22 runners that dropped from the 60k distance. Steve finished with a time of 11:08:50, pretty impressive for a runner in the 70-79 age group! I can only hope to achieve the longevity in this sport that he has. If I am smart and heed his advice and wisdom maybe I can.
Overall this was a great adventure! Although there was much time spent during this race looking down to watch my footing the beauty of this trail was not lost on me. This was a challenging course with plenty of opportunities to open it up and run, also many times where hiking suited me just fine. Aravaipa Running is a quality group that puts together amazing races in beautiful locations. If you ever have the opportunity to run one of their events I highly recommend you do so.
Go on now, what are you waiting for? Your next adventure is waiting!
At the packet pick up, ran into Jamil Coury the owner of Aravaipa Running
Pre-race photo op with RD Jubilee Paige and Uncle Steve
Elevation profile from my Garmin 225
Finally at the finish line with a little daylight remaining!
Beautiful views on the Black Canyon Trail
Plenty of solitude today