Tried to take it easy at the start. Figured 8-minute pace would be a good warmup on the first road mile and it ended up seeding me pretty well for the narrow singletrack on the first climb. I only passed one or two people and no one passed me.

At about mile 5, I felt like I was running too fast and stopped to let some people pass. Shortly after the creek crossing, at the start of the long incline, I was caught by a group of Bad Rats (including last year's women's winner). I let them go and followed. I think it helped with pacing as they slowed and walked the steeper sections, so I just tried to hang on and follow suit. Coming out of the aid station at the top of the hill, I was feeling pretty good and started passing some runners.

Came into Penny Pines at mile 12, feeling great. Our crew was there (including Mom, who happened to be in town this weekend). Heather helped me fill my bottles and Maggie gave me a cold towel. It seemed that a lot of people had passed me in the aid station (I also stopped at the facilities). The trail was more crowded for the first mile or so of the "loop", and I had completely lost sight of the group I had been running with.

The climb on the PCT from mile 13 to mile 16 was not fun. I mixed in a lot of 20-second walk breaks and just tried to power through it. This was the highest point on the course, climbing from 5,000 - 6,000 ft., and it was starting to get warm.

After the turn onto the Big Laguna trail - and a fast downhill section through Rat Hole and across Sunrise Hwy - the course spikes again before flattening out through the meadow. I found myself running by myself for a few miles and was having trouble maintaining a 10-minute pace. I would stop and walk for 20 seconds, when needed, and was starting to wonder how I was going to get through another 15 miles. A runner caught me around mile 19 and I tried to follow him as best as I could. He was walking the uphills, so I was able to keep him in sight and we ran in to Penny 2 together. 22 miles in, 12 more to go. The crew was there - same drill. Filled up bottles, ate some Bloks, took some salt. Left my shirt with Mom and headed out. The other runner was already on the run and I lost sight of him after a mile or so.

I had planned to take it very easy on the long downhill as I completely blew out my quads through this section during a 30-mile training run on the course. There are some tough climbs after the crossing and I knew there were still 6-7 miles to go after the 4-1/2 miles of downhill. I did not want to be reduced to a walk like I was last time.

I was passed 3 or 4 times on the downhill, but I was able to catch up to a couple of them very quickly after crossing the creek and the other two were in sight as we headed back into the last aid station. A volunteer too my bottles and refilled them with water while I took advantage of the cold sponges / towels and stood under the canopy for a little bit. I headed out with the other two runners, but they started pulling away right away.

The last climb out of the canyon is always tough. After 30 miles of racing and 90+° temps, it was brutal. I kept with the run/walk plan and tried to catch the two runners who had gotten up the trail. I didn't know if I could catch them, but I thought that if I could get to the top of the hill (about 2-1/4 miles from the finish) under 5 hours & 40 minutes, I would still have a shot at a sub-6. I must have been doing more run/walking than walk/running as I caught one of the runners just before the top of the hill and then caught the other just after it flattened out before the last descent. I was surprised to see another runner partway down the hill. It was the guy who had passed me in the meadow around mile 19 and ran away from me out of Penny 2. As I passed he said "you've come back...good job!" That was nice of him and it gave me energy to push through the downhill.

It was a huge lift to be back down at the Noble Canyon trailhead. I ran through the parking lot, back along a short trail and out onto the road for the last mile to the finish. I kept looking back, expecting one of the three runners to come up on me at any time, but I never saw anyone. Once I could see the markers at the turn into the Bible Center, I finally felt I could relax a bit. I cruised in to the finishing area and crossed the white line in the dirt (I missed the finish chute and had to go back around to kiss the rat and get my medal). I felt very relieved to be finished. My Mom, Heather and two friends that had finished well before me (in 3rd and 4th place - almost an hour earlier!) were there to cheer me on in.

Try to maintain a steady pace throughout the race. Power-walking the steep sections of hills is one thing, but I definitely did more walking than that.

At first, food did not sound good - I just wanted water. Took a shower and waited for the rest of our group to finish. It was a great scene and we hung out for about 4 hours, until they started breaking down the finishing area.


Experience on trails. I had trained a half a dozen times or so on this course, so I knew what to expect, but this was my first 50k. Long training runs are great for building endurance, but maintaining race pace for 5+ hours takes a bit more focus.


This is an excellent low-key event. There are only 200 entrants and the volunteers are great. The race director is very personable and approachable and the start / finishing area and refreshments / food were great. My only recommendation would be more toilet facilities at the start. There were two men's and women's locker rooms with a couple of stalls each, but that was it. There was one porta-potty at the crew station.