HOT. WHY does this Utah race always have to be in the hottest part of the summer? This was me and thousands of other people whining along what was a grueling course in any weather.
I started with the 13 mile Beast on Saturday morning. It was already hot when we started and just got hotter. Especially since the whole course seemed to be straight up the mountain and then right back down again. I remember on one steep section, the sign said something along the lines of "the next water will not be for 1.75 miles of steep uphill". I started rationing my little squishy bottle, and it still ran out.
Very, very happy to see the top of that hill. I joined the long chain of people zig-zagging back down the hill on the bike trails, all of us happy to feel wind in our face, even if it was a hot wind.
I definitely remember being very happy that I had not signed up to do the 30 mile Ultra here. In fact, I know that I would have not completely it, as that second loop would have been too hot to contemplate. As it was, many Beast racers found themselves dehydrated and with heat injuries. The Ultra loop was shortened and still people couldn't complete it.
I finished 2nd in my Age group, which made me very happy as I hadn't had a 2nd place medal yet in 2021. I know, I'm a nerd. It turns out that I finished 2nd because the woman ahead of me by just a minute or two cramped up, and then puked, just 100 yards from the finish line. Another of my friends fell on a new obstacle and blacked out for a second. Yet another was having trouble with the heat. I handed off my spare drink mix bottle to him, which seemed to help, but it was a tough day out for everyone.
More stories were told as everyone gathered to start the Super, and later the Sprint, on Sunday. We are gluttons for punishment. We know this.
The woman who had beaten me the day before was out, she had sprained her ankle on the last obstacle and had to be carried up to the podium later. Another friend had tried the Ultra, but couldn't keep even plain water in his stomach, and had to be withdrawn after he blacked out for the 2nd or 3rd time after an obstacle. Even after drinking and eating the rest of the day like crazy, he said he was still 5 pounds down that night after weighing himself.
The best thing about the Super was that it was shorter than the Beast. Same thing goes for the Sprint, actually! Ha. No really. Little did I know that this dry heat would be nothing compared to humid RAGBRAI.
