Like many great adventures, I decided to sign up for the Bryce 100 in the dead of the winter doldrums as a way to find meaning for the coming year and have something to look forward to… My friend Sean had mentioned that this race was on his radar, and after looking at the course, this looked like a good mountain 100 for me. I’ve read a bunch of Edward Abbey (hence my WordPress site name and moniker on many social media as Cactus Ed) and was curious what the fuss was regarding this area of the country. I even convinced Sean to make this his first 100 – I’m a terrible friend!

I also saw this as an opportunity for Julia and I to have a summer vacation. The timing of the race allowed Julia to finish up school and spend a few weeks traveling before summer classes started. Since there are 5 National Parks within the area (Bryce, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands and Zion), we made plans to spend a few days at each park after the race was over.

I had cobbled together a training plan, then promptly didn’t follow it… I missed a bunch of long runs on the weekend because we were busy with life and moving, and I was burning the candle at both ends and in the middle during the work-week trying to squeeze in a run during my lunch break. The only real training was running the Boston Marathon (that was a pretty solid long run, if I do say so myself!) and taking the stairs from the first floor to the fourth floor multiple times a day to use the bathroom (they’re renovating the bathrooms on the first and second floors of my building at work.)

An expensive long run a month before Bryce 100

Vert and bladder training

Despite all our research and careful planning, nothing can control the weather. We were prepared to wear hats, shorts and t-shirts in Utah, but Mother Nature decided it was coats, umbrellas and pants weather… It rained, it hailed, it snowed, the wind blew, sometimes all at once!

The weather leading up to the race had been snowy and wet, and the original 100 mile course was changed to a 50 mile loop. I (wrongly) thought this to be a good thing: preview the course on the first loop, buckle down for the second loop. Bonus: less elevation gain!

The race started in the cold early morning dark as these kind of races often do… I’m not a big fan of early morning running or cold, but at least it wasn’t raining or snowing (that would occur later, apparently). Sean and I made a loose pact to stay together for as long as possible, which turned out to be about 2 miles. I was worried I’d get caught in the “conga line” going up the single-track trail and wanted to get ahead of the larger group – Sean, wisely, let me run ahead – he’s a good friend!

Poor life decisions…

I’m the bad friend…

My wife is the best!

There was a lot of mud just after mile 2 and my shoes were heavy, so I ended up power hiking the steeper sections until around mile 5 where the course leveled out. The sun had come up by then, and I was hoping to take off my jacket, but I ended up keeping it on the rest of the run.

Somewhere before mile 18, photo courtesy @Naivnyak

Sadly, I didn’t take any pictures during the run – I was focused on running sensibly – however, I can assure you it was beautiful out there! At mile 18, I stopped for the first time to refill my water at the East Fork aid station and grab a few potato chips. The next section of the trail was exposed jeep trail, and the mud was sneakily abundant – think black ice, but mud instead… Once again my shoes were heavy and I was thankful to have my trekking poles.

At the mile 25 Coyote Hollow aid station, Julia was waiting for me. I was only a few minutes off my projected time, so I decided to change socks and empty the rocks that had managed to get past my gaiters, and then proceeded on the course to Red Canyon. I’d be remiss to mention that Julia is the best crew chief, making sure I ate enough and had all the things I needed before I saw her at mile 33.

Coming into Coyote Hollow aid

Leaving Coyote Hollow aid

Here’s where things got ugly. This part of the trail is popular with mountain bikers, and if a trail is good for mountain bikes, it’s not good for trail running (in my opinion, at least). Coming down a steep section of the trail, I heard a clicking with every other step – at first I thought I had some loose gear on my pack, but then I realized the sound was coming from my right knee – ye olde IT band decided to make a guest appearance for this run! It wasn’t bothering me on the climbs, but any descent aggravated it.

By the time I got to Red Canyon aid station, my IT band was sticking out like an iron pipe on the outside of my right knee. Julia and Chris M. were waiting for me and I told them about my knee. Chris had a roller in his van and brought it out to me – I gave the outside of my leg a good rogering in a last-ditch attempt to make the issue go away.

Thunder Mountain, photo courtesy @Naivnyak

Coming into Red Canyon aid

Red Canyon Loop, photo courtesy @Naivnyak

Julia told me the next section of the trail started on a paved path – most trail runners would not be happy with this surface, but I figured it might be a good change for my knee. I wasn’t wrong and my knee stopped clicking, but the paved path was short, and I was back climbing and descending in the Red Canyon.

On my way back into Red Canyon aid station at mile 38 I saw Sean heading into the canyon. He looked to be in good spirits – I warned him about some of the heights on this section of trail (neither of us like exposed heights) and he gave me some vitamin I (Ibuprofen) for my knee. Trevor had joined our crew at this point, and I told him about my knee. He told me to keep it stretched out and he’d be ready to pace me at mile 50.

Not long after leaving Red Canyon, it started to snow/hail. Pretty soon, the ground was white – at least it wasn’t rain, I consoled myself! The next 5 miles were uneventful – I was playing leapfrog with two other runners – I was thinking that I might be able to turn this around. But soon my knee started to act up again, on both ascents and descents now, and the pain was running up my right hip.

It was at this point I realized I wasn’t going to finish this 100 miler unless there was a miracle… I’ll save you the suspense: There was no miracle! Instead I started to think about how we could change up the plan and make sure Sean had all the support he needed to get his first 100 mile buckle. Since Trevor didn’t need to pace me, he’d be available to switch out with Chris M. at one of the aid stations between mile 50 and 75.

I had come to terms with my first DNF (Did Not Finish) as I stumbled down the last 4 miles of the course. I’d been passed by a few runners around mile 48, but since I knew I didn’t have to go any further than the turn-around, I leaned into the pain and served some humble pie as I passed them on my way to the start/finish line.

Hobbling into the 50 mile turnaround for a DNF.

Even though I had already made my decision to stop at the halfway point miles ago, the emotions still spilled out. Julia and Trevor checked with me repeatedly that I wanted to stop and I babbled all the reasons why stopping was the right thing to do: I didn’t want to have permanent damage to my knees or hip, walking 50 more miles and getting hypothermia didn’t seem like a good way to spend the next 12-15 hours, and I wanted to be ambulatory for the rest of our vacation…

The last reason was the most important to me – I already have two 100 mile belt buckles, but I’d trade them for memories with my wife exploring the world any day. And this is where I came to love Kenny Rogers:

You’ve got to know when to hold ’em

Know when to fold ’em

Know when to walk away

And know when to run… – Kenny Rogers

Running was over; it was time to walk away. I’ve been doing this long enough to know when it’s ok to push through the pain and when the pain is telling you it’s over. I’m not a smart man, but I’m not stupid…

Julia took me back to our cabin in Hatch where I got cleaned up and tried to sleep, but the caffeine in the gels wasn’t going to let sleep happen, so I just laid in bed thinking of the “would’ve/could’ve” from the race I just dropped.

We’d already worked it out with Trevor to get him to mile 68 to start pacing Sean, and when the time came that evening, we picked him up and drove to the East Fork aid station to switch out Chris M, and waited… and waited… and waited… After a few false alarms, it was zero-dark-30 when we finally saw two runners come in and sneak into the aid station.

Sean looked like death warmed over, but wasn’t giving up. After about 10-15 minutes of sitting entirely too close to a propane heater, warm broth, a change of clothes and a pep talk from Trevor, Sean was back out there to get the last 32 miles done.

Saturday morning Julia and I went and visited Bryce Canyon Nation Park for a little while, got lunch at a place outside the park, then headed back to Hatch to see Sean finish.

Bryce Canyon at Sunset Point

Bryce Canyon rim overlook

Looking up at the rim

We got a text message from Trevor telling us they were two miles from the finish line. Again, we waited… and waited… and waited… No Trevor or Sean. Finally, after an hour or more of waiting and way more than two miles, we saw Sean come around the corner. I was so proud to see him finish his first 100 miler! You should read Sean’s take on the race!

Sean crossing over to his first 100 mile finish! True grit!

The entire crew on our last day in Bryce.

In case you’ve never heard The Gambler, I’ll leave this here…

But, wait… there’s more…

Because I’m not a smart man, I had registered for a 50 miler scheduled two weeks after Bryce. To be fair, I registered for the Dam Yeti 50/50 before I decided to do Bryce, so I’m actually a victim of signup timing… Trevor had been a bit smarter and registered for the 50k, and since I was in no shape to do the full 50 miles after Bryce, I emailed the race director and asked if I could drop down to the 50k, which he allowed.

The Dam Yeti 50/50 is on the same course as the Yeti 100 I ran last year, so I was well-acquainted with the trail. Trevor and I started out in the front group and stayed there for the entire race. I’m sure other runners thought we were punching above our weight, especially given how much we talked while we’re laying down sub-7:15 minute miles, but that’s how we roll: conversational race-pace! Things were going according to plan – we were hitting our time goals and the weather was cooperating with overcast skies and no rain.

By the time we got to the Alvarado aid station, the sun was starting to make an appearance and I was entering the pain cave. Since I still had water in my pack, I decided to go ahead and start back to Damascus while Trevor refilled. First place guy was looking pretty bad as he left the aid station so I decided it was an opportunity to get past him.

I was feeling like I might be able to hold on for the next 5 miles, but having to slow down to open the two gates on the trail broke my stride and my determination. I was starting to overheat and I couldn’t drink enough water. It was around this point that I was passed by the eventual winner, and shortly after that, Trevor.

I played the “walk to that tree/shadow/rock” game as I tried to get some more water in my body before I resumed running. I kept looking back to make sure I wasn’t going to get passed again, and the coast looked clear. Eventually, I was back in the Damascus town limits, and was able to do a solid 9:32 minute/mile jog for third. Not shabby for an injured runner who dropped from a 100 miler two weeks prior! I didn’t get a sub 4-hour 50k, but not every race can be a perfect race, and I was happy with simply finishing and running with Trevor (read his write-up on this race – he’s had an incredible year!)

Right before the pain cave shut me down!

Final “sprint” before the finish…

Another trophy for the office!

You can’t finish a Yeti race without a hug from the race director, Jason Green!

I look forward to doing some other Yeti races next year – I may even return for this one to see if I can get a sub 4-hour 50k or perhaps a sub 7-hour 50 miler. If you’re ever looking for a good east-coast ultra, you can’t go wrong with anything in the Yeti series! The RD, the volunteers and the runners are all great!