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Race Web Site<br><a href="http://www.mas50.com/redhot/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.mas50.com/redhot/index.html</a><br><br>
Flat out the most beautiful race I've run so far. The slide show on the web site do not do the vistas justice. If you want to run the southwest, this race is a must! If you cannot do the 50k+ (34 miles), the race added a 33k this year with the best bits.<br><br>
I decided I wanted to run this course as a medium-hard long run. That meant my HR would be around 85% max. I also wanted to test my new hill strategy: run up until the HR monitor beeps, walk until 70% then start running again. I'm convinced if I run up more hills, I'll get better at them.<br><br>
The strategy worked for the first 17 miles with fairly easy to follow jeep trails and only a few big hills. There was some slickrock but mostly dirt and sand roads. Towards the second aid station, we were on top of the butte/mesa that overlooked US 191 and you could see Canyonlands in the distance. WOW. At the end of the 17 miles, I had 5 minutes in the bank for a 12 min/mile pace.<br><br>
The second 17 miles were almost all slickrock. There were times I had wished I had brought the road shoes. The ascents were deceiving because there were no trees or single path trail to compare against. Time was also lost trying to find the road. However, it was all worth it when I made it to aid station 4 at mile 22. It took what little breath was left as I overlooked Arches, the Colorado River, and La Sal mountains. Now I was 5 minutes behind the the 12 min/mile pace.<br><br>
The next 7 miles were a rollercoaster up and down. I did not make much time on the downhills since more time was lost trail hunting and the slickrock was always at a horizontal angle. We continued to get different views. I lost another 10 minutes and was 15 minutes behind when I reached the 5th and final aid station at mile 29.<br><br>
After mile 29, I took a wrong turn and lost ~10 minutes before reaching the correct trail again. Oh well. It led to a nice overlook of the Colorado River.<br><br>
Final time was 7:23. Not the 6:48 I was hoping for but I felt strong running into the finish line and was able to run 6 miles comfortably today.<br><br>
When I commented to different runners that this was my most scenic race, I had two disagreements: a) the Big Horn 50 Mile cource and b) Hard Rock 100. Since I won't be running Hard Rock EVAR, I need to make sure I check out Big Horn next year.<br><br>
I also need to work on a good camera solution. My camera did not fit into my race belt so I left it at the motel room. It was probably for the best because I would have been stopping every 100 feet to take a picture.<br><br>
The results were posted at the post-race party. If I remembered times correctly, Chris Gerber improved his time by an hour! CONGRATS!!!<br><br>
Chris G
Flat out the most beautiful race I've run so far. The slide show on the web site do not do the vistas justice. If you want to run the southwest, this race is a must! If you cannot do the 50k+ (34 miles), the race added a 33k this year with the best bits.<br><br>
I decided I wanted to run this course as a medium-hard long run. That meant my HR would be around 85% max. I also wanted to test my new hill strategy: run up until the HR monitor beeps, walk until 70% then start running again. I'm convinced if I run up more hills, I'll get better at them.<br><br>
The strategy worked for the first 17 miles with fairly easy to follow jeep trails and only a few big hills. There was some slickrock but mostly dirt and sand roads. Towards the second aid station, we were on top of the butte/mesa that overlooked US 191 and you could see Canyonlands in the distance. WOW. At the end of the 17 miles, I had 5 minutes in the bank for a 12 min/mile pace.<br><br>
The second 17 miles were almost all slickrock. There were times I had wished I had brought the road shoes. The ascents were deceiving because there were no trees or single path trail to compare against. Time was also lost trying to find the road. However, it was all worth it when I made it to aid station 4 at mile 22. It took what little breath was left as I overlooked Arches, the Colorado River, and La Sal mountains. Now I was 5 minutes behind the the 12 min/mile pace.<br><br>
The next 7 miles were a rollercoaster up and down. I did not make much time on the downhills since more time was lost trail hunting and the slickrock was always at a horizontal angle. We continued to get different views. I lost another 10 minutes and was 15 minutes behind when I reached the 5th and final aid station at mile 29.<br><br>
After mile 29, I took a wrong turn and lost ~10 minutes before reaching the correct trail again. Oh well. It led to a nice overlook of the Colorado River.<br><br>
Final time was 7:23. Not the 6:48 I was hoping for but I felt strong running into the finish line and was able to run 6 miles comfortably today.<br><br>
When I commented to different runners that this was my most scenic race, I had two disagreements: a) the Big Horn 50 Mile cource and b) Hard Rock 100. Since I won't be running Hard Rock EVAR, I need to make sure I check out Big Horn next year.<br><br>
I also need to work on a good camera solution. My camera did not fit into my race belt so I left it at the motel room. It was probably for the best because I would have been stopping every 100 feet to take a picture.<br><br>
The results were posted at the post-race party. If I remembered times correctly, Chris Gerber improved his time by an hour! CONGRATS!!!<br><br>
Chris G
