I successfully completed the Canyons Endurance Runs 100K, taking 13 hours to run and hike 59.3 miles from Auburn to Foresthill. This is an exceptionally difficult course, with lots of steep rocky trails and 14,900 feet of elevation gain. The weather was pretty good for running -- clear and cool, with a predicted high of 70F in Auburn, but I still felt quite warm in some sections. The race organization and course markings were excellent. I enjoyed chatting with a few fellow runners. The scenery was frequently gorgeous. The last 10 miles were the most difficult of the course, with the steepest descents and steepest climbs and the longest time between aid stations, and the last two miles consisted of practically nonstop snow, puddles, and mud.
I did well in my age group of 50-59 males. Out of 72 starters, I came in 3rd. There were 528 runners in total who started the 100K, which is a lot for a trail race!
Details
My main goal for the year is to do well at Western States Endurance Run 100 Mile, or "Western States", on June 25-26. Canyons 100K runs on most of the same trails as Western States, except in the opposite direction. And the timing of Canyons 100K works well too, being 9 weeks before Western States. Because Western States is so much more important, I considered Canyons 100K to be something in between a training run and a race; I didn't want to take any big risks!
Looking at results from past years, I thought that 12 hours at Canyons was an optimistic but achievable goal. So, I planned on pacing myself according to that.
Some friends from one of my running clubs, Tuesday Night Run Club, were volunteering at Canyons and one couple owned a house in Foresthill, right along the course! They kindly allowed me to stay there. Nice!
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| The view from the back deck |
I set my alarm for 2:30am (ouch!) and was in bed around 9pm.
2:30am rolled around (yawn) and I tried to get breakfast and get ready as quickly and quietly (lots of people were in the house) as I could. I had 1.5 toasted bagels with peanut butter and a cup of coffee. Getting ready took a bit longer than expected and I was out the door at 3:30am. Somehow I thought to double-check that I had everything, and I was missing both water bottles! I had left them on the kitchen counter. Bottles recovered, I was soon on the road.
We had to park in a large parking lot about a mile away from the start line. There were shuttles buses going back and forth, to take us. I appeared to be the only one to wear a mask on the bus; I don't want to get Covid!
Soon, I was walking around the starting area. It was busy! I used a bathroom one last time and took off my warm clothes and put them into my finish line drop bag. I dropped off a 2nd drop bag for the Deadwood aid station, since some warm clothes were mandatory. (I wouldn't need anything from this drop bag.)
Soon, 5am was drawing near, I took some photos, got my Strava app recording along with a text message to Jennifer, and we were off!
The race starts in the streets of Auburn, which is good, because there were so many of us! There were huge inflatable course markers, stickers on the ground, volunteers, and police to guide us along. It was quite a production, like a big-city marathon! There were even a handful of spectators at this early hour!
After a little more than a mile we were on a dirt road, and then soon we got onto our first single-track trail. I felt cool and at ease. The trail was very runnable and was downhill. My first 4 miles: 9:25, 9:03, 8:29, and 8:01. It would be a long time before I had such easy running again!
It was shaping up to be a beautiful morning as the sun rose.
At the first significant bridge, which goes over the North Fork of the American River at mile 3.24, the entire center, from edge to edge, was a giant muddy puddle. 6 or 7 runners in front of me got onto a narrow curb and were shuffling sideways to avoid getting wet. I just leaped in and ran down the middle. It was fine!
I arrived at our first aid station, Mammoth Bar, at mile 7.3. There were plenty of volunteers and I had a quick refueling and was on my way.
Somewhere along here, I think, was when I first felt a sharp jab of pain on my big toe. I was wearing relatively new shoes, Hoka One One Speedgoat 5, that only had 9 miles on them. My feet were sliding around a bit too much and my big toe nail was catching or hitting on something inside the shoe. Hmm. Should I stop?
The scenery was pretty. We ran through this golden field.
At Driver's Flat, mile 15.3, I saw some of my friends! Jo! Brady! I quickly refueled and got going. Except a gradual feeling of pressure was building up. Crap. Oh well, it happens. So, at the next porta-potty I stopped and that was Unplanned Stop #1 for a #2.
After feeling more sharp jabs of pain on a big toenail, I stopped to tie my shoe tighter -- Unplanned Stop #2.
Soon, I had the sweetest fastest downhill miles of the race. Miles 16, 17, and 18 flew by in 8:30, 8:13, and 7:19.
At some point I was starting to feel warm, and I got out my bandana and soaked it in a river crossing. I soaked my hat, too. That felt good.
I joined up with a woman who had done this race before, and had completed Western States, and had done an Ironman triathlon (but she didn't like swimming!). We crossed a few rivers together, but I wasn't afraid to get my feet wet, whereas she was much more cautious. I started referring to her as "my river crossing buddy".
Eventually, I arrived at the next aid station, Cal 2, at mile 24.6. I was feeling pretty good all-in-all. I was starting to get warm, though.
I started getting big-toenail pain in my other foot. I stopped to re-tie my other shoe. Unplanned Stop #3.
In the next stretch, a fast moving runner caught up to me and passed me. He was the 1st place 50K runner! He had started an hour after me, but was moving so well.
A while later, the 2nd place 50K guy passed me. And then the 3rd.
I came across a runner walking back towards me, saying that she was confused about which way to go. There were maybe 4 of us in a group now, and I was the only one who had the course map on my phone. There was a sort-of fork in the trail, where a narrower trail branched off uphill to the left, but the more prominent trail continued straight. We were supposed to go straight. After a few minutes, I confirmed with everyone that we were on course. This was the only spot of confusion in the whole race, and if I had been by myself, I think I would have naturally gone the correct way without even checking my map. I didn't realize it at the time, but I apparently had accidentally paused my Strava workout on my phone, which led to confusion to my friends and family who were following my progress. I didn't catch the problem until a few miles later.
On a long uphill to Foresthill Aid Station, I was starting to feel hot and tired. I just kept on trying to eat and drink plenty. I came up to the 3rd place 50K runner who was walking. He turned around and asked me if I had any water! Oh oh! He had run too hard for too long without water. I took off the lid to my bottle and handed it to him. I had only 10 oz left. (I was carrying two 20oz bottles and I had finished off the other one already.) He was grateful and he was struggling. I told him he didn't have too long of a hike up this hill until the aid station. Maybe it was 2 miles? He drank half my water and I was on my way, leaving him behind. I soon finished off the bottle. It may have been more like 3 miles to the next aid station.
Foresthill! Mile 32.8! I was more than halfway done. It was exciting to be here, as this was the 50K finish line and there were lots of spectators. I quickly moved through the aid station, but then made Unplanned Stop #4 at a porta-potty; thankfully, this was my last bathroom break.
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| Entering the Foresthill Aid Station |
I met up again with my river crossing buddy. We chatted as we continued through the streets of Foresthill and then we had a sweet dirt road downhill for a mile, crossed a river (I leapt into it, while she gingerly tried to keep her feet dry). Then I hit a big 1000' climb.
Around mile 34, we had our toughest river crossing. The rapidly moving water reached to about my knees.
As I neared Michigan Bluff aid station, mile 38.7, I passed my friends' house that I had stayed at! What a great location! I don't recall now, but I think this aid station had only caffeinated sports drink.
The next leg from Michigan Bluff to Deadwood was frequently rough, rocky, and overgrown. I was dodging lots of poison oak, too. This was getting hard. I ran out of water again. After a 2090' 2.9 mile climb, there was a pretty scene.
I arrived at Deadwood. This is a loop and I saw a few very fit-looking women runners; I wondered if they were the leaders.
At the aid station, I asked for non-caffeinated sports drink, but they didn't have any. I refueled with what they had. Onward.
This was getting to be a slog. More climbing. But then I saw my first snow!
Back to Deadwood #2. I'm definitely getting tired. The air was getting cool. I refueled with more caffeine that I didn't want, but I thought it was best to have the calories with water. I grabbed a quesadilla quarter which tasted great.
On to the last leg! Unfortunately, it was 10 miles to the finish and this was the most difficult terrain. The downhill was so steep and rocky that it was hard to run. My big toenails hurt. There was this crazy damaged bridge we had to cross.
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Then there was a big climb -- 1348' in 2.1 miles. Then more climbing. But I realized that I was going to finish this thing, eventually. Just keep moving.
I was wishing I had hiking poles. A guy passed me using two sticks as hiking poles! I picked up a stick that I thought would work, but it was too flexible and didn't work well. I soon tossed it. I ran out of water.
We turned off this dirt road into a single track trail. Stick-pole guy was going to miss this turn, but I pointed out the markers. He thanked me.
The final two miles were much flatter, but there was so much mud and snow, that it was tough going. Another runner was with me and we chatted for a while, which was helpful, because I was running on fumes and was getting desperate -- thanks, Joey, for the company! I was trying to figure out how far away we were from the finish, but that was tricky with my Strava workout messed up. I finally figured that we were about 15 minutes from the finish at our current pace. I told Joey this and that I wanted to pick up the pace; I wished him luck and left him behind.
There was a sharp left turn in the trail. I started hearing cheering. I was getting close! In a more open field, I heard my name called! Yay! I was focused on not slipping or tripping. Our bibs have our names in addition to our bib #s, so I didn't think that I necessarily knew who was cheering. But one of them sounded like Johanna. Hmm. Right as I was passing them, the guy reached out for a fist bump. Brady!!! Jo!!! I couldn't believe they were there; they had volunteered all day already!
The finish chute! Woo hoo! Hands in the air! Dana! (The owner of the house I stayed at also showed up; so nice!) Aaron was there, too! Nice!
I was so glad to finish, but I was quite depleted. I wanted to find Tecnu and wash my legs and arms and face as soon as I could, since I'm so sensitive to poison oak. Brady was able to find some for me. Thanks! I also needed something to drink; I got some soup from the finish line aid station.
Brady and Jo offered to give me a ride back to the house. This saved so much time. My original plan was to wait 45 minutes for the next shuttle, then take the ~45 minute shuttle ride to my car, then drive back to the house (another 40+ minutes). Instead, like 20 minutes later, we were at the house.
I didn't end up going to bed until about 2am. I was on such a natural high plus the nearly gallon of caffeinated sports drink probably had something to with this. What an epic day!
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| They gave a nice belt! |
What went well
- Mostly, things went well. My leg muscles held up pretty well. I didn't get any chafing. No blisters. I didn't trip or fall or go off course. I'm not injured.
Things to improve
- I shouldn't have let my trail racing shoes get so worn down before replacing them. By the time I got the replacement, I didn't have much time to try them out, and I don't think I had the laces tied quite right.
- Carrying hiking poles probably would have been a big help towards the end of the race. On the one hand, they're kind of pain to put away and get out, and I would have had to use a different hydration pack to hold them. On the other hand, they would have helped on some of the big climbs. I got passed by multiple runners using poles.
- I somehow lost my little plastic bag with salt pills and ibuprofen. I keep this bag in a small pocket on my running vest. The pocket had a velcro seal, so I don't think it accidentally fell out on its own. I didn't find it in my luggage, so I probably lost it during the race, like if I had accidentally thrown it away. I probably would have taken an ibuprofen, but I don't think I would have taken a salt pill, since I had plenty of salt with my food and sports drink.
Race organization feedback
- The course markings, organization, and volunteers were excellent.
- Some of the aid stations, like Deadwood, only offered caffeinated sports drink. I ended up drinking at least 110 oz of caffeinated sports drink, which was way more caffeine than I wanted. This might have upset my stomach a bit and for sure made me feel jittery afterwards. I wish all the aid stations had primarily non-caffeinated beverages and foods.
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