My eyes widened.
"Whaaaaaat?! This NEVER happens!" I exclaimed as I strutted past the long line of men.
"Rub it in!" one guy said.
While I wish more women were entering these types of races, I admit this was a pretty nice perk.
4:45 a.m., race day, the Armory. Barely awake after tossing and turning all night, I jumped in the bathroom line behind a guy who said, "this is the men's line, there's no line for the women's bathroom." My eyes widened. "Whaaaaaat?! This NEVER happens!" I exclaimed as I strutted past the long line of men. "Rub it in!" one guy said. While I wish more women were entering these types of races, I admit this was a pretty nice perk. The San Juan Solstice 50 miler benefits the Lake City volunteer EMTs, and it's been a bucket list race for me since hearing my friend Craig talk about it before ultra marathons were a part of my life. 50 miles, 12,800 feet of climbing, high point of 13,334 feet, with incredible views of those mountains I so love! While the race starts at 5am, I didn't bother with a headlamp. Sure enough, it was already getting light by the time I was turning off the dirt road and onto the single track (it is around the solstice after all). If you've read my race reports before, you know I like to start out slow. Really slow. It serves me well normally, but on this day, I think it hindered me quite a bit. For the five miles before the first aid station I enjoyed some company, but had to keep reminding myself that it was going to be a long day and there was NO reason to go any faster before mile 10. I don't regret those slow early miles because I just wasn't really feeling it. I was SO sleepy that I actually closed my eyes a couple times and longed for a nap. When we hit the first aid station I quickly continued on, happy to see the runners had spread out a little. We also began to climb the ridge line and it was so wonderful to be at 13,000 feet with a 360 view of the mountains! There was a hint of smoke in the air, but this was the only time I would notice it. I started to worry a little about the first cutoff- 10 a.m. at Williams. How was I going to be so close to it? What about all the people behind me? Are they worried? Are there even that many behind me? I sped up. The volunteers at Williams were efficient and completely on top of every runners needs- which I was thankful for, coming in about half an hour before cutoff. They had our drop bags immediately available and it seemed like each runner that flowed in got their own volunteer to help them fill their water, put on sunblock and do whatever the heck we do at aid stations. I thought I had been drinking a lot, taking sips here and there but not wanting to run out of water like I did at Jemez, but when the volunteer helping me took out the bladder and saw I had barely put a dent in it, she scolded me! It explained why I was already having headaches as well. She topped it off while I downed a bottle of Skratch Labs, then told me to DRINK as I sheepishly promised and ran out of the aid station. Seriously, the best volunteers, thank you! The next stretch was 2.5 miles up the road before turning onto a dirt jeep road where things got pretty steep for a 3.6 mile grind to the Carson aid station. I actually felt really good here, which was a relief after feeling off the first 15 miles! I passed quite a few people and one guy and I paced off each other almost the whole time and arrived at Carson with 36 minutes to spare. The Carson aid station sits at about 11,500 feet, and I could feel the elevation the rest of the way up to the highest point on the course. My head ached as we climbed higher and higher. At the top of the climb I was ready for the downhill, hoping to make up time. At this point I was 25 miles and 7:50 in. I knew the second half would be faster without the long climbs and that I shouldn't worry about the 16 hour cutoff, but I also knew you just NEVER know what's going to happen in an ultra! Some of the downhill and flat portions were also so rocky that I really had trouble making up time on them. As I ran from the group I climbed up with, I came screaming up on a girl whom I made the mistake of not asking to pass immediately. Miles 25-31 were much slower than they should have been, but I couldn't stop the thoughts of, there is still a really long ways to go. I didn't want to push too hard yet, so I let myself run somebody else's race into the Divide aid station at the 50k mark. I also took a tumble close to the aid station, but that's becoming the usual around here. At the aid station I was as efficient as I could be in hopes of leaving before the others I came in with. Success! I actually would not be passed by a single runner the rest of the race (except for an awesome guy who kicked my butt up the last hill of death through the aspens, but that I would then re-pass on the downhill), which I am super proud of! Completely alone, I had a couple moments of fear that I was off-course, but the course was so well marked that I never had to worry very long. The cheers from the Slumgullion aid station volunteers as I came swooping in had me jazzed! I quickly changed my shoes, shoved my poles in my drop bag, grabbed some sandwiches and a bottle of Skratch Labs and "sped" (I mean, let's be honest, I was running about 11 minute mile pace) off to push the last 10 miles. Shortly after leaving the aid station there was a river crossing that required a pretty good jump. Right as I was thinking about how to approach it, WHAM. I slipped on the steep, loose dirt and almost slid right into the water below. Looking like Pig Pen I dusted myself off as the guy in front of me made sure I was okay. I felt like I was sprinting as I ran the flats and downhill to the next climb. I felt amazing! But then... that last climb. Ohhhhh that last climb! It looks so innocent on the elevation profile compared to the first two climbs, but climbing (and bushwhacking) up 1700 feet to 11,000 feet with 40 miles on your legs was just brutal. I'm pretty sure this was the climb that had me questioning how in the HECK I got through Hardrock. I even turned on my phone and started texting a couple friends haha. Once that climb was over though, it was on again. I ran the rest of the way, pushing when it wasn't too technical and rocky and arrived at the finish in 14:17. A new PW for 50 miles :D After finding my friends (I wish we'd gotten a picture!) I walked back to my airbnb a quarter mile away and took a shower, then walked back to the finish. The video below is of who we THOUGHT was going to be the last official finisher, but she ended up being the second to last! My phone ran out of storage in the middle of filming it, so you don't get to see the clock- she had 30 seconds to spare! Incredible effort. We all went nuts for her and final finisher. So overall, not my best race, but I'm really proud of how I ran the last 10 miles, and it was great seeing Steamboat folk crush it out there! The runner breakfast on Sunday in the park was so lovely, and they acknowledged every runner that finished. I definitely plan on returning someday, it doesn't get much better than this one! My next race is the Pikes Peak 50 miler next month, but on Wednesday the last of the trails I have to run will also be closed for Stage 3 fire restrictions, so I'm not sure how I'm going to train for it, or for Run Rabbit Run. We shall see!
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