Now for something new and different.
The Last One Standing is a 6 mile loop race. Every 90 minutes you have to run one loop of the course. If you can't finish by the cutoff time, your race is done.
To make it harder, it's held in December, close to the shortest day of the year.
If that's not bad enough, it starts at 3 pm, so for most average runners, only the first 2 laps are in daylight. Everyone but the real beasts quit sometime between sundown and sunup.
AND, it's probably going to be cold. Yes, it's held in St. George, Utah, but it's winter, and it's cold.
https://www.sgcity.org/lastonestanding/
I tried to get an extra bit of sleep the night before the race started, but that's like trying to catch water in your hands. I spent the morning packing up a bunch of cold weather camping gear, and the food I would need. At midday, I went down to the park to register and set up my tent. Inside went my sleeping bag and mat, plus all the spare clothes I might need to stay warm, phone charger, snacks, flashlights, etc. It was close enough to my house that I could then go home and rest again for a few hours.
It was a beautiful day, and I started the first lap wearing shorts and a t-shirt. That wouldn't last but it was nice anyway. 1st lap challenge: 50 jumping jacks before the start. The loop was almost pancake flat with a bump after the first mile. It was very runnable on pavement along the Virgin River. My goal was to run the distance in under an hour and have 30 minutes to rest each time. I ran the first loop in :53 and came in first. Not that such things matter...it meant that I probably went out too fast!
I crawled in my sleeping bag, changed into warmer clothes because it was already feeling cooler, and ate some rice and pork from Mo'Bettahs. Then I rested. That part was really nice on each lap!
2nd lap was light enough not to need a flashlight yet. 2nd lap challenge: Wear a santa hat and beard. It kept my head warm but the ponytail pompom made me happy not to have long hair. :53
3rd lap was dark and I went with hat, gloves, sweater, race pack, and an emergency windbreaker. One headlamp was enough light to see the ground but I carried a backup. 56:
4th lap get in a routine of a steady pace. Chatted for a few minutes with Ashley, Amber, and Sarah, who clearly COULD run faster than me but were choosing not to. (Ashley won Badwater last year too!). It helped pass the time. :57
5th lap. Challenge: Carry a raw egg the whole way around. Mine made the journey :) Could my headlamp batteries last 3 laps or did I need to switch them out? These are the questions I needed to answer as I crawled in my sleeping bag. Need to eat...went with licorice, potato chips and more rice and pork. Carrying a small bottle and making sure I drink it on each lap :59. 30 miles total so far.
6th lap got a late start as I was reluctant to get out of my tent. But that would just make my rest shorter on the next round. Didn't catch up to anyone to chat because they were all ahead of me. 1:00
7th lap at midnight. Made sure I got out on time this lap. Ashley had changed into a gingerbread man costume or something...yes she had 17 changes of costume for this race! This one looked nice and warm! Chatting distracted me from thinking about my knee hurting a little. 1:01
8th lap changed shoes assuming my carbon plated road shoes might be tired and a new shoe would help. So wrong. The new ones felt flat and yuk and I lost a minute per mile in springiness. Plus it was getting really cold and my knees hurt and it was that time of night when you really don't want to be running. Discovered pineapple juice in my cooler. Yum. 1:14
9th lap not much time to rest with my slowing pace. Changed back to my original shoes. Handwarmers weren't really working and I was starting to get really cold but didn't have enough energy to put on a warmer pair of tights. Not generating enough heat to stay warm either. 1:19
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| The branding iron to mark each lap was the warmest thing around! |
10th lap gave up any hope of finishing as running was really painful but walking felt fine (I hdan't walked at all, just run and laid in my tent!). Took a longer break, put on my biggest puffy jacket and set out to walk the whole loop. I was still freezing the entire way and knew I would not make the time cutoff. 1:37
That gave me 60 miles and I crawled back in my tent for a minute to warm up my hands enough to pack up my gear. Packing up was harder than running! It was just getting light as I walked to the car. The thermometer said 28 degrees! No wonder I was cold. I left my cooler open as it was colder outside than inside!
Of the 15 hours I spent racing, I spent 11:49 running and about 3:30 resting. Luckily my tent was right by the finish line so it was a quick switchover.
I came in 22nd out of 105 runners. 15 men and 2 women survived all 17 loops to run 102 miles. Kudos to them!
Results are Here: https://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=100567
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| My nearest tent neighbor Joshua finished the whole distance! |
