2012 BairGutsman This race is just stupid...It really is. Yet is the sheer stupidity and recklessness of it that seems to draw people to come and do it. The race starts at a church in Fruit Heights, takes you about a mile on the road, where you then hit the trail and climb another 4+ miles and 4000+ feet to the top of the mountain, just north of the Francis Peak communication towers. In years past, you would continue on the road and down part of Farmington Canyon, where the finish line would be waiting. With the canyon being closed the past two years, the race has instead turned you right back around and down the trail, the way you came. While I have only run this race these past two years, at the pre-race meeting they were talking about the possibility of returning to the original course after the canyon road is fixed...I think that would be a shame - how can you finish off such a brutal climb on a dirt road? It's only fitting for a race that claims "No False Bravado - You're going to bleed!" to NOT take the path of least resistance. Anyway... Since I only live a block from the church, I was able to sleep in till about 5. Said hi to a few people from the neighborhood that were running it, and then headed on over to the start. Told myself to start much slower than I did last year, since I felt like I pushed it too hard and paid for it later. Settled into a nice barely sub 10 minute pace and just tried to get warmed up. Hitting the dirt I was feeling pretty good and quickly hiked the first steep section, passing several people here, and on the other climb before the first crossing. From there it's a bit of a run/hike mix, as the trail is at a more gradual incline. After the third crossing it really starts to get steep, where the 'real climbing' begins - just prior to that I was starting to feel a little fatigued, so I tried to eat and drink some before it picked up. I started feeling better and felt like I was moving pretty well, but would occasionally be passed by faster hikers - I just don't seem to have that gear. Cruised through the ferns, and as I started to get above the trees into the rocks, I started feeling the fatigue coming on. Shortly after this I thought to myself "this is about where Twinkies passed me last year" - which prompted me to do a shoulder check, and sure enough, not too far down the hill was Twinkies, just cruising along. It was also somewhere around here that the first place runner (Camdog) came blasting back down. I wasn't expecting a runner this early, no one said anything, and I didn't even have a chance to move out of the way - he just came tearing down through the bushes - amazing. A few minutes later Twinkies caught up and I let him pass - I kept him my sights as you begin the killer part of the climb, a nasty quarter mile trench that just goes straight up the face of the hill. An overhead view of the map shows a series of switchbacks - these are long overgrown and now unusable - though I think it would be nice, for the way up at least. By this time I was slowing down but still moving, getting passed now and then by faster hikers, and moving out of the way of those coming down. Hitting the road I was able to switch over to a nice trot, which actually felt kind of nice. Passed Twinkies coming back at the same place as last year, giving the same high 5 as we passed. He was probably only a minute or two ahead of me at that point, which means he made up some killer time on the way down. Hit the top aid station at almost exactly 2 hours, and spent less than a minute drinking three cups of water and getting an aid station worker laughing. Then it was back down! That first section down is killer - steep, washed out, dusted out and full of people trying to come up! My quads were already feeling kind of tired by the time I got to the bottom of that, but you've got only one way to go! Passed a lot of people on the upper section, some moving out of the way, others waiting for multiple request...Spent a good amount of time pretty much by myself going down. Could see a guy in red every now and then ahead of me that was moving well, I finally caught him and passed him right around the third crossing - then I really started feeling it. My stomach was turning, legs were heavy - I was finally getting to the section where you can actually get some speed going and I had nothing there! I felt like I had been fueling pretty well, but obviously not enough. So I decided to dial it back a notch, ate some jerky, a gel, some salt and some water, and figured that I had a couple miles to get it back together so I could at least finish strong. Guy in red passed me back somewhere during all that, and went to finish 3 or 4 minutes ahead of me, all gained in that last couple miles. Finally hit the road and started to feel better. I knew I wouldn't hit sub 3 hours, so my goal was to beat my 3:06 ish from last year. The steep downhill road was slower than I would have liked, but once I hit Mountain Road my legs started to come back and I was able to pick up the pace, especially when I was able to see the finish line. Crossed the line in 3:04:30 with my wife and son cheering me in. After a minute or two I felt just fine, was able to catch Twinkies as he was leaving - he had finished more than 10 minutes faster than me, also improving by a couple minutes from last year. I asked some of the front runners if they wanted to go for a double - but they didn't seem too interested. :) That would have been super slow! Stupid as this race is, and as hard as it seems while you're out there, I couldn't help but walk around with a smile on my face. The views are incredible, and the trail - as rocky, overgrown and steep as it is, is a lot of fun!
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