June 10, 2023. We had congregated behind the starting line for the Big Sky Wind Drinkers' Old Gabe 30K and 50K trail races at the Middle Cottonwood trailhead, each of us preparing in our own way. As the 6 AM start time approached, the starter had us gather more tightly. He described the course and gave us the low down on conditions. “There will be snow once you get over Saddle pass, but the course is in really good shape. Have fun out there. … Go.”
With that our hours-long battle for position began. What the starter had neglected to tell us was that the creeks were swollen. Wet feet were unavoidable. There was mud; lots of slick mud on steep slopes. We’d all look like we crapped our pants before the race was through. There were downed trees; lots of them across the trail down to Truman Gulch with stubs of dagger-like broken branches lying in wait to impale an inattentive runner.
But the starter didn’t need to go into these details. We all knew that it had rained two inches in the past week. We all knew that trail crews wouldn’t have been out yet to clear downed trees. There would be snow, mud, water and trees to be negotiated, and we were on our way.
Trail races are different from road races. Conditions in trail races are generally more extreme, and trail races do not have crowds along the way to cheer us on. We came across a few hikers who were surprised by all the company they had on what they had anticipated to be a quiet morning walk. They were all affable and cheered us along, but mostly we just cheered on each other. In making a pass or in greeting runners on the return trip to Middle Cottonwood it’s “Good work. Looking strong. You got this…” a raised fist and a smile or one of many other salutations to provide encouragement.
Racers quickly spread out along the course. Before you know it, you are out there seemingly alone in the forest. Then you come into a meadow, and your competitors colorful costumes are visible all around you. I struck up a few conversations as we went.
Penny was standing on the pass, taking a minute to quaff an electrolyte water mix. I passed her, sure that she would catch me on the race down Truman’s. She did. We chatted for a few minutes. This was her first trail race. She did it on a dare. At 20 years of age, one can pull that off. I told her, that at 65 I had been training for eight months, 1,000 miles of running in order to pull off this and other races this summer.
Micaela was a mom who had taken 3rd place in the 50K in 2007 when she was fresh off the fireline, but has since decided that distance was too much. “30K is just a saner distance.” No argument from me. Travis passed me climbing up Truman, told me that he was running the 50K. I passed him near the top of the climb. I could see the WTF look on his face. He wasn’t from the area and this course was more challenging than he had in him. He settled for the 30K.
Rick and I pushed each other up Truman’s. He looked like he might be in my age group, I fought to stay ahead of him. He got by me just below the pass, then we traded positions on the race down Middle Cottonwood, but he was one age group below me and entered in the 50K. At 58, he was the oldest finisher of that race.
I commented on Jim’s brightly colored socks as we gathered before the start. I caught him at the top of Truman’s noting that while he too looked like he crapped his pants, his socks still had enough of their bright colors showing to be visible from a long way off.
I started the season by running the Baldy Blitz, the Old Gabe 30K was my second race thus far this year. I was the oldest competitor in both these races. These were test courses for whether the zone training I started back in October could counter enough the effects of aging to keep me in the game a little longer.
Viewed from the standpoint of a comparison of my current and past performances on these courses, the training is working; I beat my previous best performances in the Blitz and Old Gabe by 6 and 20 minutes respectively. The 60+ geezer age group though can be tough. Those few of us who stay in this game into our 60s tend to be serious competitors. I earned Top Geezer in the Blitz, but only two of us were entered. There were five of us in the 30K; I ended up as fourth geezer, and was soundly beaten.
Improved performance was my original goal when I set out on my new training regime last fall. I feel like I am accomplishing that, but, like all of us, I judge myself relative to my peers. On that dimension I still have work to do. The Ridge Run awaits.
Way to keep it going Chuck!