Got right up near the start line and met up with Robert. We chatted for a while; turns out he is into adventure racing, also. We let the really fast guys have the line; no since in being rude about it.

Took off and ran about as fast as I could, but that uphill sure made it seem hard. Got a super-dry mouth from the cold, dry air and snagged a sip of water at the 2-mile aid station.

Once the course leveled out some I was able to establish a decent race pace and I was still sub-21 at mile 3. From miles 3 to 5 my stomach started rebelling and I thought I was going to throw up.

I never have stomach issues, but in retrospect I'd eaten too much of 3 different foods (700+ calories) and drank too much (20oz of G-ade, 19oz of Power Edge & ~10oz of water). I'd eaten like I was in an ultra race instead something that's going to be over with in less than 2 hours. A 'not thinking' mistake; it's been awhile since I've run a short race.

Nothing to do, but keep running. Little by little, the bad feeling started to minimize itself as I kept up the pace. I was right at 42:00 at the 6 mile mark and that's about when you start hitting the hills.

Started to slow somewhat. The fast folks were gone and I was ahead of the rest of the field, so I didn't see too many runners. I got passed by a couple of folks and I passed some others.

The sweat was starting to flow, but the hands were stone-cold numb. Don't need no hands no how. I carried a gel, but never thought about taking it; who needed it after all I'd already eaten?

The pace dropped off during the middle miles, but I was doing OK. The stomach issue had settled, nothing was cramping or hurting in the legs; just had to keep pounding away. Actually slowed down at the 9-mile aid station to get a half-cup of water and half-cup of Gatorade for a real drink.

About mile 10, a longish, gentle downhill begins and it's the perfect place to start emptying the tank. Passed a couple of runners and that's always motivating.

Turned the corner to start the last mile and uphill finish. Glanced at the watch and saw that I was doing pretty well and was going to beat the 1:40 by a good margin. Kept a solid pace all the way to the line for a strong finish.

Nothing; other than eat like I'm running 13.1 instead of 50+. I probably could've dropped a minute or more if I wasn't packing such a gut-load.

Ran as hard as I could for 13.1 miles and PR'd.

Really pleased with the result. Coming off the DNF in Minnesota; this was a real boost.

Walked around, ate a banana half, some orange slices, drank a water.

Looked at the preliminary results and confirmed what I already knew; Robert had won the AG (1:27), but I wasn't sure if I was second. Yes, there was another AG'r I didn't know about (1:31), so it was third again for me.

Since awards are one deep, I left.


I'm built less for speed and more for endurance (at least that's what I keep saying to myself).

No speed work either because next up is the Zane Grey 50 in AZ.


This is a well-organized, medium-sized, but bare-bones race on a challenging course. No swag (advertising and a packet of fajita seasoning), modest post-race food (water, bagels, oranges, bananas), one deep awards, BUT, it's a certified course, with honest mile markers, plenty of portacans, 8 aid stations, and lots of volunteers.

All the profits go to their local charities and I'm cool with that.

It gets the "dash" name because they run a 5K at the same time. This race has really grown and the competition is increasing. In 2010 my 1:36 was 32nd of 750; this year my 1:35 was 59th and was won with a 1:10.

As a bonus this year, they did have really nice race shirts that were designed by a local, famous artist, Benjamin Knox. Awesome graphic and quality material, too.