Speedgoat 50K My first 50K race. More accurately, I didn't race. The fast guys and gals up front raced. I merely survived to finish. I started a few feet behind some of the best mountain runners in the world and enjoyed being in a world-class ultra running event. A few thoughts: I ran with Josh (JSH) for the first mile or so then caught up with him near Hidden Peak. He must have jammed right through the Peak aid station and flew downhill because I did not see him again until near Pacific Mine. He may not think so but he turned out an impressively decent time considering how little he had been able to train the last several months.
Got stuck behind a long line of walkers on Chip's Switchbacks when I would have rather been running up those things. I hate that feeling of not being able to pass.
I had a goal of getting to the peak after the first climb in 2 hours. I got to the peak in exactly two hours. However, long before the peak it became apparent that my downhill skills were lacking. I passed more people on the uphills than I did on the downhills. The course was marked very well and there was an attentive marshal at every tricky turn. It would be almost impossible to get off course in Speedgoat 2012, and it can be a very tricky course. I had a goal of finishing under 7 hours. Once I was deep into Mary Ellen Gulch and on the way up I had to accept that I would not be going for a relatively fast time. Rather, I focused my energy on getting to the finishing arch. The climb up to Mt. Baldy was heartbreaking. Meltzer said there was a twist going up Baldy: The hike up from Larry's Hole aid in Mineral basin was brutal, and when we finally reached the ridge between Baldy and Sugarloaf, we got sent back down several hundred feet on a service road before we had to make a very steep goat hike up 1,000 feet to Baldy ridge. There was no freakin' trail, only orange pin flags marking a route up the rocky mountainside. It was at the base of this climb I had my first and only thoughts of DNF. Pacific Mine aid station was a party zone. Goat Lady, legendary Roch Horton hosting, ice cold wet towels, someone sprayed mist on me. Popcicles. Everyone leaves with a smile. My family met me on Hidden Peak after the last climb. I got emotional and had to run to them uphill. I hiked close to two guys up the Peruvian Ridge trail then somehow out-hiked them, getting to the summit several minutes ahead. I firmly believed they would catch me on the last 4 miles down but I was surprised to have held them off. Another runner, a lady got very close on the descent from Baldy. She was just a few switchbacks away at the top of Little Cloud. I somehow stayed ahead of her all the way down. I said I wasn't racing but I also did not want to get my place degraded if I could help it. Finishing was awesome. Every runner gets a terrific welcome and a Speedgoat medal. Ultragen recovery drink hit the spot. I immediately sat down under a shelter with some other runners, Kilian just a few chairs away. A runner immediately to to my left congratulated me. Thanking him I asked who had come in first. He replied, "Kilian, Ricky second, and Max King third." I nodded my head, "Awesome." At the awards I saw that the guy that I had that short conversation with was in fact Max King. Anna Frost is a babe. My time was 8h11m, about 800th place. My Garmin measured 32 miles total; 11,252 feet of vertical smile.
I think next year I would like to volunteer then run Speedgoat in 2014. I think I would have a good time out there on the course watching the runners and helping them to the finish. Look at this tough course:
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