Alastair is the real runner in the family, having done multiple marathons over the years. I was a bit envious of all the great friends he was making during that time, so I also started road running in 2010. I competed in 5k, 10k and half marathon distances. Fast forward, I found I much preferred trail running to road — far more interesting scenery and terrain, trail runners are generally more fun and laid back, you use more muscle groups, and it’s great for balance training. Throughout 2020 and 2021, I participated in a number of virtual trail races, many supporting charities. Those were great, but I needed the real thing. My first in-person “post COVID” event was in May of 2021, Vacation Race’s Bryce Canyon 30k (placing 2nd place in age group), followed in November 2021with Triple Dare Running Company‘s Fire Fest 10k and Half Marathon (placing 1st in my age group in both events).
Before getting much older, I decided to add a 50k trail event to my bucket list. Many races I looked at had cut off times that I didn’t think I could make, but fortunately the Fire Fest Ultra had a very generous cut-off of 15 hours! Plus, I was familiar with the course and I loved the fantastic red rock countryside. Thankfully, it didn’t take much to convince Alastair to join me, so we signed up for the November event (which would take place in the Mojave Desert of Nevada), and our joint training began in May.
Throughout the weeks, training runs would be a mix of short road runs in our neighborhood and longer trail runs, often in Catalina State Park or Oracle State Park. On weekends, Alastair and I would do a long run, gradually building from “easy” 10 miles to our final, longest hike of 27 miles at the end of October. Let me be clear. Our goal was not to run the 50k, but to walk at about a 3 mile per hour pace or faster. Alastair is an excellent pacer, often walking faster than I can run, especially on the uphills.
Some of our longest distances were done during the summer, and it was often brutal. Summer 2023 in Tucson broke many heat records, with 53 consecutive days above 100°F, 17 consecutive days above 110°F, and one of the driest monsoon seasons on record! Most of our training was done on the trails through Oracle State Park, which is generally cooler than Tucson given the higher elevation of 4K+ feet. But even with starting before sunrise, the temperature would often be in the mid 90s when we finished!
To escape the heat we occasionally went to higher ground, between 6K and 9K elevation. A particularly memorable hike was in June on Mt. Lemmon — a 13 miler with about 3K elevation gain. The temperature was great – in mid 70s – but trails were quite rocky and damaged from previous years’ fires. It was tough and both of us agreed that we’d take the heat over that!
We generally followed an average 50k training plan, with weekly long runs getting progressively longer and every third week a “stepback” week for recovery. But our training wasn’t ideal. The month before the race we were on holiday in the UK where we tried to stick our training schedule, but between family time and rain we weren’t able to get out as often as we’d hoped.
Our outbound flight included a brief stay in Austin, TX, where we did the Mellow half marathon trail race at Lake Travis on September 8. We thought Tucson was hot and dry – Austin was even worse! Not a drop of rain since July 4 and the lake level was depressingly low.
The UK was a welcome break in terms of heat and more gentle terrain than Arizona. We thoroughly enjoyed some lovely, long hikes in Southern England and on the Isle of Skye in Scotland.
When we returned to Tucson, the weather had cooled significantly, and November temperatures were ideal both in Arizona and Nevada. We took it easy the week before the race, spending some vacation time with my nephew, Stephen. He flew into Phoenix where we picked him up, then spent time in Lake Havasu and Las Vegas (where unfortunately both Alastair and I were infected with COVID, but didn’t realize it until after our race).
Alastair and I left Vegas and drove north to our race destination near Logandale, NV. Race day had been forecasted for rain, but all we got was a brief sprinkle on the way to the start and the rest of the day was stunning – partly cloudy, light breeze, and temps in the mid 60s. No complaints with the weather, aids stations or the gorgeous scenery. But the course was worse than I had anticipated, even having done part of it two years prior. Some parts were fairly on dirt road, but other section of the trail were badly eroded from recent rains and, in our opinions, should never have been used as on the course. Oh well, we finished in about 10.5 hours, not the slowest, but certainly at the back of the back. Scratch that one off my bucket list, and move on!
