San Tan Scramble

It's amazing to me to think that a year ago I was barely able to run a mile, and on Saturday I completed my first 50k. For my first foray into the ultra marathon scene, I chose the San Tan Scramble 50k.

The San Tan Scramble is a great event put on by the great guys at Aravaipa Running and is held at the San Tan Mountain Regional Park. The course for the 50k consists of three loops of the San Tan Trail with Goldmine trail thrown in for good measure. Goldmine trail is a rugged out-and-back trail that climbs over Goldmine Mountain and down to the northern most section of the park, terminating at the Goldmine Trailhead. For those of you who are keeping track, that's six ascents of Goldmine Trail.

The morning started off cool at only 38F. I got to the park 35 minutes early and there were already a number of runners clustered around the portable heaters. It was the typical pre-race atmosphere, with runners greeting each other and talking about past races as well as future plans, anxiously awaiting the start of the race.

A few minutes before 7:00, we all gathered at the starting line and patiently listened to final, last minute instructions. Before I knew what happened, the start signal was given and the crowd was on the move. I guess I should have payed more attention, because I found myself fumbling with my Garmin 405 as I was crossing the start line. Oh well, I lost 20 seconds or so to the "Acquiring Satellites" screen. No big deal.

I was running with my friend, Greg, who has a little more running experience and agreed to "pace" me throughout the race. It was a good thing he did because I have a notorious habit of going out to fast and burning out mid-race. He kept me on pace as we headed through the sandy washes and undulating trail on our way to the first aid station. My strategy was simple: run to the aid stations not to the finish, take it easy on the uphills, and kill the downhills.

It seemed like we got to the first aid station much sooner than expected. It's always nice to be greeted by attentive and friendly volunteers, and we weren't disappointed. We stopped their only briefly to refill our bottles and grab some goodies before continuing. The location of the first aid station was appropriately situated a couple of miles from Goldmine, so anything consumed there could be in my system by the time I started the climb.

Once I reached Goldmine, which again appeared much sooner than I expected, I did a quick evaluation and decided that I may have started a little fast and I should take it easy up this trail. I didn't want to push myself too hard, but I didn't want to take it too easy -- this is a RACE, right? I established a good pace somewhere in the middle and made it my goal to maintain that pace to the top. The climb was much easier than I remembered it on my training runs and I was feeling good enough to continue without a break onward and down the other side on my way to the Goldmine trailhead.

I won't bore you with each and every detail -- that would make for a very long report. Let's just say that the race continued to go well until I reached Goldmine the second time. I was about halfway up the climb when a nagging injury struck and I had to deal with shooting pain down my right leg. It wasn't every step, but when it happened, I would end up stopping for a second to recover before continuing. Needless to say, this really slowed me down. I also discovered that I couldn't run downhill -- putting a major kink into my race strategy.

By the time I got to the Goldmine trailhead, I was hurting. The lumbar region of my back felt like it was spasming, and my right leg was suffering. I refueled at the aid station with the lingering thought of the dreaded DNF becoming more and more of a possibility. One of the Coury brothers was at this aid station and asked how I was feeling. I guess I looked like I was in rough shape. I had decided pre-race that I wasn't going to quit, so I finished up at that aid station and started the climb back up Goldmine.

I quickly figured out that while I couldn't run downhill because of my injury, I could keep a strong steady uphill pace. So, the rest of the race I pushed a little harder on the uphills and did my best on the downhills. That got me through the third lap and through my last two ascents up Goldmine. When I got back to the Goldmine trailhead, the same Coury brother seemed surprised to see me. Sure enough, when I got to the aid station, he commented that I "had the quitting look in [my] eyes" and he wasn't sure he would see me again. I told him I wasn't quite sure how to take that, but he assured me it was a compliment since I continued through instead of quitting.

To end the third lap, and the race, I continued the same strategy of pushing the uphills and doing what I could on the downhills. Going up Goldmine the last time I kept a steady pace uphill and found a strategy that helped me maintain a slow but steady downhill pace. At the bottom of Goldmine, I glanced down at my Garmin and saw that it read 5:52. I couldn't believe it. I hadn't looked at my time at all during the race, but this would be an excellent finishing time for me. I kicked it up a notch with the goal in mind to finish under six hours. It was difficult dealing with the pain that last couple of miles, but I managed to run a much faster pace to the finish. It was there that I realized my Garmin was off (probably measuring moving time vs. overall race time) and my finishing time was 6:41:19 ...not under six. But, hey, 31 miles in under 7 hours for my first ultra? I'll take it!

The race was fun, the support was great, and the weather ended up being beautiful. I was also privileged to meet some other great runners on the course, including Trevor and Carin, who helped keep things interesting. Now, on to the next race ...Ragnar!