Buffalo Creek, CO
Saturday, May 30
Weather - sunny, hot for the exposed first miles and then quite pleasant
Last fall when I randomly decided to run in Thailand, I had already been signed up to run Coldwater Rumble - a race in Arizona also put on by Aravaipa. When I withdrew from Coldwater I had credits to use and figured that North Fork would be a good, long training run for the summer.
The 50k started at 8:00 and the pre-race email led me to believe that it could be tough to find parking since the 50-miler started an hour earlier and it looked like a few hundred people total would be running. Initially, Ben wanted to go down with me. With Ariel being out of town I thought that would be too long to leave Olive home alone, so I headed out just after 5 am, thinking it was an hour drive. There was no traffic and I wasn't too surprised when I lost phone service shortly after getting off 285 outside Aspen Grove.
The race had put a pin/coordinates for where the parking lot would be, so imagine my fear/annoyance when the pin dropped in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't had any phone service for at least 15 minutes, and I had no idea where I was. I saw a small parking lot on the side of the road with a bathroom that I stopped at. Another car pulled in just after me and thankfully they assured me the lot was another 5 or so minutes up the road. Phew.
Parking was pretty easy and I got my gear ready and headed out for the 10-minute walk to the start. The email had also said that parking at the start was limited and would be "closed" at 6 am. That was a lie, they were still letting people park there when I was walking up at like 6:20. I saw Jim directing traffic and said a quick hello. There was still no service at the start line so I just put my phone in airplane mode and figured I would just go through the day without even trying to use it.
Went in the building where the race day packet pick up was and got my bib and race shirt (which I shoved in my pack since I wasn't going to walk another 20 minutes round trip to put in the car). I cycled through the bathroom line a few times and talked to Alexa and Julie before lining up at the start.
Start to Colorado Trail - 4.8 miles
I was mostly excited for this race and absolutely THRILLED to run something that had aid stations so close together! I lined up pretty close to the back. Alexa had mentioned that the first mile or so was on a dirt road and that would give the field time to spread out.
The road was definitely wide enough for the few hundred racers, which I appreciated. I planned to take it easy and was doing an easy jog. Passing some people and getting passed by others. It didn't seem like too much time had passed before we moved onto the trail.
The first conga line of the trail began! I had always heard that these were really runner-friendly trails, and they definitely were. Relatively smooth with no huge hills, at least in the start. People were definitely getting antsy already and I had to quickly decide if I wanted to get stuck at what the conga line wanted to do.
Initially I felt like I was in a good position and the people in front of me seemed to be pacing pretty well. However, it seemed like there were sections where there could at least be a little bit of running, so I decided I would gradually make some movements when I felt like I'd be able to run for more than a few steps. We quickly moved out of the trees and into the burn area - the sun felt like it was beating down, even though it was probably in the upper 40s/low 50s.
I started gradually passing people in this section.
Overall, this was a nice section and we seemingly got the first third of the climbing out of the way.
Colorado Trail to Shinglemill 4.8 to 7.9
I was glad that I hadn't needed any snacks at the first aid station since it was just a table with a single jug of water. I was very glad that I had worked to pass people because there ended up being a line of us.
We had a short segment of dirt road leading out of the aid station. I was run/walking in this section and I think I did get passed by at least a guy/gal that were running together and another gal that I would leapfrog with for at least the next hour.
I did not have the foresight to make note of where the aid stations were, so I had no idea each section how long it would be between aid.
Once we moved off the dirt road we had a nice section of flowy single track with just a few gradual climbs. I thought I finally saw Alexa ahead of me.
I caught up to her and we chatted briefly. She said that her knee was really bothering her and that she was probably going to be dropping as it wasn't worth making things worse with her goal race coming up soon.
This was probably the first section where I realized that bikes were going to be on the trails. I mean, I understand that they aren't going to completely close to the public, but if it were me, I would probably have gone to ride somewhere else...
We had a nice downhill into the aid station.
Shinglemill to Tramway 7.9 to 13.2 miles
I filled up my flask and added another packet of LMNT. I grabbed one ginger cookie and a bag of pretzels and moved out very quickly. Initially I was planning on eating the bag of pretzels upon leaving, but I always forget how dry they are when I am actually trying to move quickly. I think I only ate one or two before giving up on them and having some Nerd Clusters instead. There were some rollers leaving the aid station and we moved out of the shade onto another plateau.
I can't remember too much about this section. It was getting warmer and we were working on the second bigger climb of the race.
There was a split in the trail and I got passed by another gal that I would see on and off multiple times throughout the rest of the race (I think she eventually finished 10-15 minutes behind me).
I passed another few women in this section and just was grinding out this climb. The elevation profile showed a pretty gnarly hill right before the descent, but I honestly never could figure out what that might have been. In this section we met up with the 50 milers, and it was kinda crazy being passed by people that were moving so much faster!
Tramway to Buffalo 13.2 to 19.2 miles
I stopped at the aid station just long enough to fill my flask and get some soda. There were a lot of people just sort of hanging out at the aid station but I as in and out. More climbing? I think we were in the trees most of this section, which was nice. I saw a conga line of people coming up behind me and my goal was to try and not get passed by anyone.
I caught up to the gal that had passed me earlier and made some comment like "are you even stopping at the aid stations" and she was nice but not at all chatty. At one point she did ask if I wanted to pass and I apologized for nipping at her heels but she was pacing well.
The course had been advertised as being 30.2 miles on the gpx on the website and I started to get really excited thinking that there was a possibility that I could go under 7 hours. I even told the gal that unless the wheels fell off that I should be finishing well under my A goal (7:24 which was my ultrasignup predicted finish).
This section seemed pretty long and I came into a clearing where there was a bathroom and was disappointed that it was locked up. Thankfully the aid station (the only one with drop bags, but I didn't have one) was only a few minutes down the road.
Buffalo to Homestead 19.2 to 24.6 miles (aka, "the lie")
I filled up my flask and grabbed some Mountain Dew. Had to wait in line for the bathroom for a few minutes. Most annoying was the spectator that wasn't polite enough to let me go ahead. (Not that anyone HAS to do that, but I personally think that is common courtesy during a RACE).
Headed out and there were more rollers and we also had to do our last longer grind/climb of the race. Thankfully the weather was cooperating, and it didn't feel too unbelievably hot. I don't remember much of this section, but I think I passed some people in here. Came to a fork in the road that said the aid station was at mile 24.6 and I looked at my watch and it should have been close. Unfortunately, this was the segment of lies!! I think I was closer to 25.5 or 26 miles when I finally saw the aid station.
Homestead to Finish
I asked the volunteer how far to the finish, "5 or so?" He said more like 6, so I actually had a few cups of coke, two watermelon slices and an orange slice. I knew I had not been eating as much as I probably needed to, but I was still feeling pretty good and was running a lot (for me). I didn't want to get totally burned out. This was probably my second longest aid station stop.
Headed out just as Lesli and some of the people I had passed were coming in. We had a little bit of a climb out of the aid station, and I was thinking that after I got through 1-2 miles it was supposed to be almost all downhill to the finish.
I think I only got passed by two people here, and pretty sure they were both in the 50 mile. I waited until I got to about mile 28 before I changed my watch to see what Garmin thought my finish time would be. I was a little sad to see it was supposed to be around 7:33. Still not bad!
The course was not as downhill as I expected, and I tried to run just about everything since I knew I was almost done. Finally got back to the road and knew I didn't have too far left to go.
I did finish a few minutes faster than Garmin predicted, so I was happy about that. I had a random person take my picture at the finish - he apparently thought I didn't need my feet in the picture - ohhh weellllll.
After I finished I went back in the building to see if there were any cold drinks. I got a La Croix and then went to the finish for a few minutes before deciding just to head out and go home.
Official Time - 7:31:45
Overall Place - 94/168
Gender Place - 27/67
Garmin Time - 7:31:19
Garmin Distance - 31.89 miles
Garmin Pace - 14:09
Elevation Gain - 3,979'
Run Time - 4:46:39
Walk Time - 2:38:22
Idle Time - 6:18 ---> Really pleased with this, probably would have only been 5ish minutes if I wouldn't have needed to wait for the bathroom. Not bad for 5 aid stations that I at least had to fill up my bottles.
Miles 1-5 - 12:29, 16:39, 13:26, 14:44, 13:49
Miles 6-10 - 14:00, 12:44, 12:27, 12:54, 12:20
Miles 11-15 - 11:53, 13:02, 14:42, 17:06, 15:00
Miles 16-20 - 16:08, 16:36, 14:29, 12:20, 15:29
Miles 21-25 - 15:22, 16:40, 17:25, 13:30, 12:37
Miles 26-30 - 15:24, 14:49, 13:43, 14:16, 11:51
Miles 31-32 - 12:55, 11:44
Thoughts:
- Outside of thinking I was lost going to the race, everything was very organized and smooth. Packet pick up morning of was a breeze. No junk to worry about in the pack, just bib and a shirt.
- Course was very well marked. Red flags/signs for the 50 mile and neon green for the 50k
- Aid stations were good, manned well. Only the first aid station was fluid only. All others had plenty of normal aid station fare. (They are cupless but have plastic cups people can use if they forget one and the volunteers clean them).
- I saw a photographer three times on course, no idea if pictures will be free or not, will update.
- Gear used - Sparkle Skirts party cats skirt (I haven't been wearing skirts much and got lots of compliments on this one), Patagonia sun shirt with my rabbit EZ tee Runners Roost race team shirt. Ultrapsire hat and Zygos 5.0 pack with one 800 ml flask. I only ran out of water between Buffalo and Homestead, otherwise 800 was plenty of fluids - and I am a heavy drinker. LMNT - three packets total, Nerd Clusters and a few Hi Chews. Did not use my poles and did not feel like I needed them but probably 25% of people had them.
- I would recommend this race - and with a 13-hour cutoff for the 50k I think it's probably a good ultra for beginners.
