Wasatch Trail Running Series HEATS Up, 8 Jun 2016

There's a fun little trail running series along the Wasatch mountains around Salt Lake City.  Each Wednesday evening (and some Saturdays) there is a trail run, and each time it is a different trail in various locations, including Draper, Park City, and the local ski resorts.   Check out the locations and dates here:  Wasatch Trail Run Series

I was hoping there would be more races in Corner Canyon, which is the closest event to where I live.  But reality hit home as I was driving to my first race, which just happened to be in Corner Canyon.   It was still over 90 degrees at 6 pm, and the course faced the west and would be in full, sweltering late afternoon sunshine.    Driving up to the ski resorts to run didn't seem like such a bad idea anymore!

There are two courses each week, short or long.   I guess they can be anywhere from 4 miles to 7 depending on the location.   I choose the long course, then cringed.  I was already sweating just standing in line to register.  Luckily this week, long was only 5.5 miles....any more and someone would probably get heat exhaustion.

This would be my first summer in Utah, since I've spent the last two summers in Europe for the Red Bull X-Alps race and training.   It's already hotter than I though it would be in June, but I can do anything for 5.5 miles, right?

Salomon shoes were at the race to offer free demos of their newest shoes.  I was already wearing a pair of their shoes, but I took them up on their offer and tried a newer version of my model.   At least it would be their shoes getting full of sand and dust on the trail!  :)

Corner Canyon is a bit torn up right now, with construction workers putting in a pipeline straight up the middle.   Luckily some of the trails are still open, and our route took us past some contraction, then up and up near the Bonneville Shoreline trail.   I was unable to run uphill in the heat, and forced myself to take small sips of my water bottle so it would last me the whole race.   It felt like about 4 miles of uphill, but finally I was able to point back down the hill and down to the finish.

It was a fun little race, and $20 rather than some trail races where the entry fee is much higher.  I look forward to doing more of these!   Hopefully next time it will be cooler...at 7:45 pm when I finished, the car still showed 90 degrees.  Like running in a sauna.

RESULTS    I'm not proud of my finish place, but my legs were dead from a hard bike ride the day before.   Not that I would have been much faster in that heat regardless!   A note about results....they are further broken down in the SHORT and LONG courses by A, B, and C designations.   When you register you can self-select whether you want to race in the Fast (A), Middle-Of-The-Pack (B), or Beginner (C) groups.   I couldn't possibly declare myself to be a beginner runner (!) so I selected B.  This only really applies to the series results if you compete in at least 5 races, and all the runners start together, so the designations aren't too big of a deal.