Pony Express 100 Race Report: 8 Miles is a Long Way

When it's 1:45am
When it's 35 degrees
When you're alone
When you can't walk
And especially when you don't care

About 45 miles into race.  Photo Jill

92 miles in 18:45 and I was done.  I've never imagined how anyone could stop so close to the finish.  Now I know the main reason for me is when I don't care.  Had this been Hardrock, I would've crawled to the finish (hell, I did do that in July).  But this was the Pony Express 100 and I just decided to run it six days before the start.  My season has been like an all you can eat buffet with abundant and varied food.  Pony Express was like that last grape on your plate that you pop in your mouth before waddling out the exit.  It didn't matter to me enough and I finally found that edge where I could stop and not regret it.  At all.

I was fiddling around still getting ready when the race started, so I got underway a few minutes after everyone else.  I still took it easy and relaxed running down the dark dirt road alone, finally passing slower runners after about 3-4 miles.  I felt good through the first 30 miles but then my IT band started acting up.  I didn't stress too much about this because I knew it would pass (or just get numb) after a while.  It was bad enough to alter my gait and even cause me to walk for a few minutes during miles 30-40.  It was getting hot, so I told my crew (Jen and Jill) to stop for me every 5 miles (instead of 6-7).  I only had a 20oz bottle and was going through about 40oz per hour during the hotter hours.

My crew: Jen (red) and Jill (blue).  Photo obvious (I'd buy it but I don't buy race photos - it's not 1995 anymore)

Earlier and still chilly

Later, hot and this is a nice little climb up Dugway Pass (those are my excuses for walking anyway)

On the remote Pony Express Trail

We reached the 50 mile finish (50 milers did a point to point run).  This is the only "aid station" in the entire 100 miles.  I hit 50 miles in about 8:55-9:00.  I reached the turn around at mile 58 and felt ok (the 100 mile course is strange in that it runs out 58 miles and comes back to finish 16 miles short of the start line).  It was cooling down a bit and I'd found a nice stride at about 12 min miles.  I held that pace until about 70 miles where my knee, that had been hurting off and on, began aching in ernest and I'd have to stop and rub it to provide short-lived comfort.  I'm not sure what it was and have felt it before in 100s but not like this.  It's sort of on the inside (where the knees touch together) and towards the back.

15 miles in.  Photo Jill

It was so painful by 79 miles that it made me nauseous and I had long stopped eating and drinking.  I was at 79 miles (a check point at the top of a pass) at 10:15pm (15:15 into the race) and it was getting chilly, so I put on all my night clothes, which consisted of a long sleeve shirt, wind jacket and gloves.  I was now reduced to just better than 15 min miles and told my crew to go 6 miles and wait for me (mile 85).  I reached them in 90 mins.  I didn't need anything since I hadn't consumed any water or food in my bottle, so I told them to go out another 7 miles (mile 92).  This was a big mistake.  My knee locked up from the pain just 10 minutes after they drove off.  I could only walk and only with my left foot turned in (pigeon toed) to change where the inflamed tendon (or whatever it was) rubbed my knee.  That tactic lost its relieving effect and left me in sort of a quasimodo shuffle-hop.  I decided to stop at mile 87 but had to keep moving to get to my crew.  I was freezing.  It would've been fine had I been able to move faster but I wasn't generating enough heat and hadn't eaten in 5 hours, so the 35 degrees soaked right down to my bones.  Finally, a car came up from behind and I flagged him down to give me a ride to my crew, which was about .5-.7 miles but I was thankful nonetheless.

For those thinking of doing the Pony Express 100, I'll be honest about my take on it.  Davy Crockett does a superb job.  He sets accurate expectations of what to expect.  With the mandate of a car-mobile-roving crew for each runner, it can be made into a beginner friendly race (have your crew stop every two miles) or a veteran race (have them stop less frequently).  The course doesn't suit me.  It's an out and back on a dirt road with cars, most race affiliated and some obnoxious hunters, so there is A LOT of dust to breath in and deal with for most of the run, not to mention the constant zig-zagging back and forth to each side of the road.  The course isn't flat but there also aren't any real hills.  The scenery is beautiful and it's so remote that there's not much light pollution, so star gazing is perfect (if you can enjoy such endeavors after running 80 miles).  The race answered questions for me:  1. I don't like flat(ter) courses.  2. I can't hop into a 100 miler without some deep urge or desire to do it and finish.  3. I'll never underestimate warmer clothing.  I've been "burned" by this mistake three times this year and will opt to carry a bit more with me for night/cold running even if I end up not wearing it.  4.  I'll probably not use a crew again in any race.  It can save time but I end up worrying about them not enjoying it, getting angry with me, spending too much time chatting with them at stops, having to be polite when I feel like absolute shit, and generally uses up a lot of mental energy for me.  I seem to move much faster and am more relaxed when doing these things solo and unsupported.  I feel badly that Jen and Jill came all the way out there only to have their runner stop just 8 miles short of the finish.  Could I have gone on to finish?  Probably, but it would've taken me about 4 hours and I would've had to borrow clothing from the girls because I couldn't have gone on that slowly without it.  Fundamentally, I didn't care whether I finished or not.  I've done enough this year, seen so much diverse beauty, been through so much suffering and elation, met so many unique and amazing people that this last grape at the buffet didn't matter enough to me to choke it down.

A giant and enduring THANK YOU to Jennifer and Jill.  It was a great comfort seeing the van and then their smiling faces (and for the delicious case of good beer they smuggled into this 1930s-minded state for me).  Thanks to McDavid for all they've done for me this year.  They are the sole reason I was able to complete so many races in such diverse venues both in terms of their compression clothing and logistical support.  They are an amazing company both in terms of high quality product and devoted people.  I'm humbled and honored to have them consider me a McDavid Athlete.

Here's Jennifer's blog post about her trip to UT and crewing for me.
Here's my comment to her, which explains a little more my feelings about the race.

"Sorry for the delayed comment.  First, thanks again for coming out there so far to be there for me.  I was a bit relieved when I saw you guys had made it into a nice trip, visiting your sister, exploring, etc. and not just driving 10 hours to watch me run down a dust encased road for 19 hours.

Regarding the end and what you could've done to change the outcome, nothing is the answer.  I can push though anything in these races and have done it several times (San Diego, Grand Mesa, Hardrock come to mind).  This was a unique situation where I was on the verge of doing serious damage by continuing.  I obviously could've dragged myself to the finish but it didn't really matter to me.  As tough as this run was (dust, exposure, flatness) it wasn't an "accomplishment".  The flatness of the course lead me to disinterest and apathy.  There were not mountains, no technical trail, nothing really difficult, just plodding along.  After the substantial events I had run throughout the year, very satisfying and humbling, this race offered little to me mentally.

I'm actually glad I stopped and wish I would've done so on the pass at mile 80 instead.  It's taken me a week now to recover enough to get out for 30 min jogs.  I usually bounce back after the 100s I've done in three days and by the next weekend am ready for a 3 hour run.  Continuing on for that last 8 miles and 2-3 hours would've probably injured me pretty badly.  So, you guys did everything correctly.  I'm not used to crews, so I wasn't really communicative beforehand.  It's not some giant production (crewing these things or even running them).  It's just a run and you just replace calories and water.  Not much more is needed and people waste a lot of energy with all the excess outside of their own run.
Thanks so much again.  It was great meeting you and Jill.
Tim"