Silver Rush 50 mi Trail Run - runner's perspective

I don’t exactly recall what motivated me to sign up for Leadville's Silver Rush 50 this year.  It was partly because I wanted to do a lower key race-- meaning not driving to Wyoming for the Big Horn 50.   My coworker and friend, John DeFord, also expressed interest in doing a trail race and had mentioned this one.  I was also curious to run this race as I have done both the 100mi and 26.2 mi distances in Leadville.  I signed up in mid-March for the race with grand hopes of a strong race as my last few ultras have not gone as well as I had hoped.   

My training went pretty well.  I ramped up my long run distance in the spring and it seemed each long run was during a snow storm.  I tended to say out of the hills and ran more on the flat trails to get the distances in.   I was only running 3 days a week, 2 during the work week and a long run on the weekend.   On the other days, I was doing Max Insanity.   My training took a hit on our vacation.  It was hard to get longer runs in that heat.  Maybe it didn’t matter, a break from training was probably good.   

Tiffany and I went up to Leadville the day before my race on Sunday, July 10^th.   Our friends, Greg and Renee Alaniz, were there for Greg’s go at the 50 mile mountain bike (MTB) race. We got there early to crew with Renee who is newer to the race crewing scene.  We had a great day watching Greg crush the course. We also go to see the aid station logistics first hand and filled our day watching a great event.  We learned that the 2^nd aid station called stump town was a logistical nightmare with the access.  It was a narrow jeep road and people were not very smart with parking, making it hard to get cars in and out.  On the map, we found a promising location about a half a mile from the half way point of the race.  We drove up there after Greg finished and confirmed that it looked like an ideal aid location. Greg finished in an impressive 5 hours and 30 minutes!  

We had a great dinner with John DeFord and his family that evening.  We then spent the rest of the night getting my drop bag (bag you leave at the start that the race organizers take to the half way point) and gear bag for Tiffany (bag that Tiffany would have in the car with her) packed.  I had only the essentials (shirt, socks, GUs) in my drop bag and Tiffany had the rest.    

Race day began at 4:30AM.  I woke up before my alarm, which is common on race day for me. I got a simple breakfast of a bagel and a small amount of coffee. Prep was pretty simple, got my pack ready with water, GUs, headphones and salt pills. I put on sun screen. I used Vaseline on my eyebrows to keep sweat out (worked great!).  I lubed up parts that needing lubing. I used Desitin on my feet to see if it would help with blisters.    

Off to the start.  We met up quickly with the people we knew in the race.  John was there and ready to go with his family.  I met Jesse who is the boyfriend of an ex-coworker of Tiffany’s who has run a marathon before but never a trail race or Ultra.  I experienced the typical race day nerves but the weather looked great for the day ahead.     

At the start (Tiff's friend Lindsey, Jesse, John, Me, Tiff)

6am – Go!    We race up to the top of the hill.  

We started on the right side of the hill since we made a right turn.  It was fun to watch a crazy few sprint to the top to get the LT100 entry.   John and I split at this point and I settled into a good easy pace.  We had the typical conga line congestion at the beginning.  My guess is that about 500 people started the race.   The trail was a jeep road so people could pass easily.   John caught back up to me a little later and we ran a while together.   The first stretch to the first aid station was flat to a little uphill.  Most of it was runable and everyone was in good spirits.  I saw Tiffany at the first aid station which was a good mental boost.  So far, we had been mostly in the trees.  John was right behind me but I took off since he needed a little time.

Aid 1 to Aid 2 – I continued on the trail up the Iowa gulch drainage. Eventually we got above tree line.  Pretty soon, you could see the climb to the road that would be used to come back out of the valley.  You could see the climb for a while which looked daunting.  Turns out it was a tough climb but nothing compared to climbs later in the race.  The views at the top were amazing.  

At the top of the hill, we got on a maintained dirt road to run down out of the valley.  When running down, this is when I first ran into Dan Collins, a Fish and Wildlife employee from Albuquerque. The road was pretty good decline and lasted about 3.5 miles.  It was not going to be fun coming up on the way back.  Finally, I saw the paved part and new I was near the aid station and Tiffany.

Views were pretty nice here too: 

  The only thing I got at this aid station was my ice bandana.  It was great to see the people and know we were over half way to the turnaround aid station.  

   

Aid 2 to Aid 3.   Leaving the aid station, we went on a jeep trail for a nice downhill for two miles.  We crossed a main road and then a small climb up a well maintained road, which then went back down again.   We took a right turn and were now on some single track trail that pretty rough trail.  I saw a guy fall going uphill but he was okay.  Most of this uphill was walking.  I got to aid station.  There were no spectators allowed at this station.  I was not feeling so good at this point, my stomach was upset.  I had been taking aid station GUs which were Roctain instead of normal type that I trained with, which in hindsight was causing my problem.  Below is one of my favorite race pictures.  I don’t recall where it was taken but feel like it was close to this aid station. 

    

Aid 3 to Aid 4.   The aid station leaves near Ball Mountain right about tree line.  The views were stunning.   We have a small uphill section until the trail dropped down into the trees around the right side of Ball Mountain.  At this point, I saw the leader coming back to the finish.  I was maybe at mile 20, he was at mile 30.     The road rolled a bit and then you come out of the trees and see the summit of the climb behind the mountain.   Once we crested the climb, the trail went down, down, down to stump town. The hill is serious downhill on a jeep road.  Probably less than a mile but hard to run.   You can see the aid station from the descent here but the course tricks you.  Once the downhill was done, we had to go up a very slight hill as we meandered around.   Coming off the jeep road, I saw John’s family and he caught up with me again right here.  John’s wife works for my company.  I had never met her before mile 23 of this race, pretty wild. Half a mile later, I saw Tiff at the crewing spot that we scoped out the day before.  I saw maybe 4 cars there so we were right, it was a great spot.   I was not feeling good here, mostly my stomach.    The course is evil and cruel at the aid station.  The race directors added a little climb up and around when you can see the aid tents.   Once in the aid station,  I got a little food, reloaded on my style of GUs from my drop bag, and got going to see Tiffany where I would get the real aid I needed. From the picture you can hopefully see that I am not feeling great.  

 I took some ibuprofen and added more Desitin on my feet.  Tiffany added ice in my hydration pack with Gatorade and got a new ice bandana, as it was hot.   I decided no more roctain GUs and to  go with the GUs I brought.  I also saw how little I was drinking and knew I had to drink more in hopes it would help my stomach.       

Aid 4 to Aid 5.   After leaving Tiffany, it was a tough part of the race.  My stomach didn’t feel great, I had a big climb to come and wouldn’t see Tiffany for 3 hours. This is the mental challenge part of racing, you put your head down and press on. Up the road was John’s family with John and he was ready to go when I was. I was feeling better already, I think it was the Gatorade that I had been drinking heavily.  John and I took off and were social with some other runners as we went.  We were moving well and passing many other runners, we were feeling great.  Then we came around a corner and can see the climb that is waiting. Ugh.  

We both went up the hill pretty quickly, it felt good and we made good time. Here is a picture of John at the top.  This would be the last time would see him until the finish.  

John

 The wind was blowing at the top so I started heading down fast.  It felt really good to be going that fast to I stayed with it.  I ran at a very good pace on the down hills and hiked fast on the up hills into the next aid station.  Here was one awesome view I had heading down into the aid station.

Aid 5 to Aid 6.   I didn’t stay long at the aid station.  There are no spectators here and I was feeling good so wanted to keep going. I was still feeling good running downhill.  About a mile out of the aid station, I tripped and fell on terrain similar to the picture above. This was a first for me. I have tripped and recovered many times but this time I couldn’t keep my footing. I first looked to see if anyone behind me saw the fall, there was no one. Good!  It wasn’t anything major, a few scrapes and blood.   I kept on pushing down the hill.  It was here I could first feel blisters starting on my feet.  Blisters are the typical major problem I have in races.  They typically show up about this point, mile 32.  It is tough because my training runs are not quite that far so I don’t have any problems training.  Oh Well.   

At the bottom of this downhill I caught up to Dan Collins again, the guy I had first met at about mile 10.  He and I ran together and hiked up to printer boy which is the next to last aid station.   I got the same supplies I did at the half way point from Tiff; ice bandana, ice in hydration pack and Desitin on feet.  (Mistake, I only my covered heels, not my entire foot at the half way point.  Better coverage might have helped with the blisters).     I thought I had a blister on the foot and tried to pop it, didn’t look like it worked, but it did and felt better than the other heal.          

    

Aid 6 to Aid 7.  Dan didn’t stop long and went ahead.  I then headed up hill for 3 or 4 miles. It was easy coming down but tough going up.  Not technical, just steep and hot. You can never see where the road ends and the trail begins, marking the end of the climb.  My left knee was really hurting now on the uphills.   I kept my head down and pushed up the hill as fast as I could.  The pack of runners is pretty thin by now so not very many people to talk to.  Finally, I got to the top of the hill and prepared to go downhill, 10 miles to the finish. I was able to run most of the downhill to the aid station.  I wasn’t feeling as good as the last downhill but good enough that I could run.  It is a huge mental lift when you can be running and knowing the miles are going by much faster than the last few did going uphill.  My knee and blisters didn’t feel that bad. At one point, I ran into a runner that was laying down in the trail.  He did NOT look good.  I asked him if he needed help and he replied no.  I know he was alert and decided to make sure the next aid station knew about it.  It was a good reminder that you might not being having a great race but there will be some people that are having a much harder day than you.  I ran into Dan again and we cruised down to the aid station. This is the last time to see Tiffany before the finish.    

Aid 7 to finish.  Dan and I ran this entire stretch together.  It was tough.  We were both tired but we would try to run the downhills and walked the rest, including flat sections.   There was some shade in these parts which was a welcome relief from the heat.   Finally we got to the bike path near the finish.  We thought had a very short distance to the finish. Yeah right. The race directors added a bit more trail to get the distance closer to 50.  People were out in this part cheering racers which was a huge mental boost.   Finally, we saw the last hill down to the finish.   The finish is a cool experience to have if you are alone.   I decided to hold back and let Dan finish in front of me as he was expecting to cross the line with his daughter.    I then bombed down the last hill and saw the view below.  Boy was I happy and boy was I tired.  

Below are the official race stats.  My goal was less than 12 hours which I achieved. Some may think I'm a bit crazy to tackle a race of this distance with the high altitude and major elevation changes, but I love the challenge and the finish makes it all worth while!