My pal Kev-O had one of his pacers bail at the last moment and asked if I would pace him for 22 miles of the Wasatch 100. The longest run I had done post FAI surgery drama was about 12 miles, so sure what is another 10! I love pacing and so desperately wanted to be a part of the racing scene again so I committed.
I picked up my runner at 10pm at Lamb’s Canyon and delivered him safely to Brighton as the sun came up at 6:30am. I can’t remember the last time I was up for 28 hours straight not to mention traveling over 22 miles and climbing 6300 feet though Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. So stoked that I was both able to be on my feet for 8 plus hours 8 months after my last hip surgery and that I was able to be happy, positive, and encouraging to Kev-O through the entire night of his first hundred mile race.
Later that day…
I hadn’t planned on pacing a runner in the Wasatch 100 so I had signed up for the Peruvian Downhill Dash 8K the following afternoon down Salt Lake’s Little Cottonwood Canyon. I thought it would be pretty stupid to run the Peruvian after 22 miles through the night and 2 hours of sleep, but then all the coffee kicked in and I was overly deliriously stoked!
It ended up being worth it even if I couldn’t walk for a few days since I won a FREE NIGHT at the Peruvian Lodge, which is going to be awesome come ski season – yay!
I had planned to run the first mile as fast as I could and then slow down to meet up with some friends. I had never run under a six minute mile so I wanted to try and run the first mile under six and then cruise at a comfortable pace to the finish. The first mile was 5:58 (ha, ha, ha!) and then I physically couldn’t slow down due to gravity and inertia aka ridiculous downhill and the next one came in at 6:08. Around mile 4 the course turned into an adventure race with speeding cars, torrential down pours, and crazy lightening strikes – so, so very frightening, but such a dramatic finish to the last 24 hours of fun.
I think my two runs balanced each other out so I am pretty sure I will be okay. My body aka hips held up well and well… 27 miles in less than 24 hours, I think I am back!!!
Wasatch 100 Elevation Profile: Lamb’s Canyon to Brighton
Peruvian Downhill Dash Elevation Profile