#38 - Zane Grey 50M, a mild case of Hyner hangover

Well how to begin to explain this beast?  It’s difficult to put into words how every single part of this race tears you down to the core. But first let me explain how I felt leading to the race. Because of Hyner I could only walk like a normal person until Tuesday and it wasn't until Friday (one day before the race) that I didn't feel any pain. So there you have it. Let me give you a little advice before you go do Zane, do not I repeat do not do anything heavy two weeks before the race, and especially you do not run Hyner 50k one week before. One thing is for sure, Hyner or not the altitude, the elevation, the rocks and the heat would have been at Zane anyways, so I’m not going to pretend that I would have cruised through Zane but a little more legs would have come in handy. The plan was to do 12hrs and I finished in 12:14, however it didn't feel like it. I thought I was never going to get there. The heat was oppressive and there is very little coverage from trees until mile 33 (and all you have is bushes with thorns in the middle of the trail) and yes you get cut, the rocks start at mile one and finish at mile 51, the altitude didn't play too hard on me but its always there lingering with your effort level, the elevation gain was unbelievable constant and it was more than just an uphill trend. Did I mention that you had to continuously look up to where you were going because it was extremely easy to get lost? Well the stories of people getting lost at Zane are legendary. So you are running the risk of face planting at any point in time (for the record I didn’t fall once! Just tripped 2-3 times…). Below a more detailed story of the events.

The Chart to the below is somewhat confusing since the distance/ascent lines are short 2-3miles, total mileage is 51 and even the last mile counts!

I landed in Phoenix on Thursday night and drive up to Payson, roughly 1.5hrs. I stayed at the best western which is the same place where the packet pickup is, the hotels is ok nothing special. On Friday morning I decided to go visit all the aid stations including the start/finish line. One tough thing about this race is that it only has 5 stations at 8, 17, 24 (no crew), 33 and 44. After going to all of them I noticed that the terrain seemed very dry and extremely dusty and it was very warm at 9am. The weather channel said it was going to be warner on Saturday, and the peak heat during the race was over 90F or 30C+ (so I was told) and if that is the case it would have broke the record high for the race, lucky me! Another problem is that the terrain acts like a convection oven, the red dust with the rocks and no shade, it is brutal.

Anyways, since I was alone and there was no bus service to and from start/finish line I decided to contact another Canadian runner (Nancy) to see if we could share cars/rides. She was awesome and together with her partner they gave me a ride to the start and then from waited for me at the finish line to give me a ride back to the hotel. So thankful, and her partner Kelly helped me out at some of the AS with water and so forth, again if you read this story, many thanks. Nance was somewhat sick entering the race and hard time and decided to call it a day at mile 33, can’t blame her I wasn’t feeling very good at that point either and I wasn’t even sick. We met just prior to the race at the packet pickup at the hotel on Friday and figured we could meet at 4:10 am and head out to the starting line which was about 20km away.

Start to Geronimo (0-8) - ~1:30

When we arrived the starting line was already packed and it was a bit chilly, maybe 45F or 7C. I started with arm-warmers and some throwaway globes and I was more than fine. It was dark so we all needed headlights to start. Promptly at 5am we were off. I stayed back and started real easy, the plan was to get to the first AS (Geronimo at mile 8) like I hadn't even started running yet. All went well here the rocks started in earnest and it was mostly uphill for the first part then all downhill to the AS. Looking back now, this portion was very runnable but I had no idea what was ahead of me. This is a race where you can significantly improve your times with a bit of experience under your belt, granted this trail can be brutal and can hurt you in many ways. The views on the first miles were outstanding. I got to Geronimo as planned in about 1:30hrs. Here I filled up two handhelds since I started with only one filled. 

Geronimo to Washington Park (8-17) - ~3:30

The weather was getting warmer but not too much on this segment, however from here on out it was basically an uphill race. Not sure if anyone knows but the race has ~11,000ft of gain and it goes from 6,000 to 8,000 at the finish line. There is a big hill at the start of the section and it was good to feel somewhat fresh, I saw Kelly there and gave him my arm-warmers and headlight and off I went quickly. This section was somewhat hard and the legs were beginning to show signs of stress and tiredness. The heat was starting to show its face, but it was still early. Nothing major to report here, I made good time and I remember thinking that an 11hr finish time handle is doable. I was looking forward to picking up my new set of gels and a shake I had prepared on a small drop bag.

Washington Park to Hell’s Gate Canyon (17-23?) - ?

This is where the race really begins I believe. Rolling hills in very nasty terrain (did I mention rocks?) and the heat was now in full force. I started seeing burned trees and very little vegetation, and only after the race did I know that there was a big fire in the area some years ago that destroyed many trees and killed many animals and even 6 firefighters. These six miles took about me ~1:30 but I’m not so sure, maybe a bit less. The race packet says mile 25 but it is short a couple which makes the next BRUTAL section even harder. The AS was in the middle of nowhere really and only a tent with water/food was there with no crew access. I mean I don’t even know how the guys got there with their 4x4. I caught up to several guys along this path and I soon lost all of them again as I headed out and refilled my 3 water bottles for the next ~10 miles picked some bananas and up I went.

Hell’s Gate Canyon to Fish Hatchery (23?-33) – ~7:35

Remember the last stage being nasty, take it up a notch and add some heat to it. Wow, I was sucking wind barely able to hold up my effort level and just trying to survive. Its freaking 10 miles long and no shade nothing just freaking thorny bushes tearing your legs apart and the rocks just multiplied exponentially. I just kept saying in my head, its going to get better, keep eating your gels drink and you’ll bounce back. The only good thing about all of this is that almost no one past me in this section and I past a couple, so it wasn’t only me. I will always remember something Karl said to me on an email:

“With the rocks, if they are fixed in the ground, the idea is to run right over them, taking the straight line.  Never go "around" them, like a biker would.  You want to be light on your feet, you know, the way they talk in that book....One thing to always think about on rocky terrain is to NOT drag your feet, you'll stumble and go down hard.  Don't get annoyed by them, thrive on it, it's fun, like a dance.  :-)  -Karl”

With about 2.5 miles to go I saw some sort of blue tent on the mountain ahead, I wasn’t sure what it was and maybe I was having hallucinations. I was already running low on water (after drinking 2.5 bottles of the 3 I filled up). I was taking salt tabs every hour now, but I could see the salt stains everywhere on my shirt, I wanted so bad to get to the next AS. Right after I saw the tent I came to a running stream (I was putting my cap and buff in the streams every time I could, but this year was much dryer than any other) and I decided to fill up two of my bottles. If I get sick because of the water then be it, I’m not going to dehydrate. So as I go up the next hill and decide to clean my socks added a new clean pair below the ones I was wearing (that did the trick because I didn’t change socks or shoes for the remainder of the race) and as soon as I start running again I come up to that blue tent I saw 10min ago, it was an improvised water-only check-in station, crap!  I had just downed one bottle of water from the stream so I gave them my number and kept going. After what felt forever I came to the AS barely moving.

Fish Hatchery to See Canyon (33-44) – ~10:40

Coming in to the station I had another quick drop bag with gels and a shake. I was overheating quickly and saw quite a bit of carnage on the AS. I now picked up my 4^th bottle of water for the next 11 miles, almost 80oz.  Knowing that I drank 4.5 bottles over the last 10 miles it is not going to get any easier. I was told before I headed out that there is a steep uphill but the terrain will start changing gradually with more tree coverage meaning less heat. To certain extent they were correct but it wasn’t an immediate change. I walked out quickly from the AS since I didn’t want to spend too much time thinking how crappy I was felling and how on earth was I going to finish another 17 miles of this. I also knew that people take easily 3-4hrs on this stretch and the way I was feeling and I was hoping for 4hrs. I started walking out and eating some bananas, and as soon as I started going up for some reason I got into a good rhythm and effort level. I was not cruising and running but I was power hiking the uphills, jogging the flats (not many flats on this course by the way!), and running the downhills with renewed strength. God damn I’m back from the dead, well I was not killing it. I was still feeling extremely tired. However, I soon started to pass lots of people having a very hard time, and from here on out I got passed by just 2 people and it was on the last segment of the race. With about 5 miles to go I came across another impromptu water-only check-in quasi station and filled up one of my bottles, in case I was going to run short. I may sound like a broken record but this section again went on forever and it was very tough, 11 miles in 3 hours is a long time and I was feeling better than in the last segment. I was having a hard time keeping up with the gels and my stomach was grumpy with heat, I kept at it because I knew I would go into a downward spiral if I didn’t put any food in my body. After a long and steep downhill I started hearing the sound of cars and people and I finally arrived at See Canyon. Only 7 miles to go!

See Canyon to 260 Trailhead/Finish (44-51) – 12:14

When I looked down at my watch I knew that only a miracle would put me in the finish line before 12hrs, so all I could do is give it a go. Filled up only three bottles for a 7 miles (by the way, up to know I’ve drank 15 bottles x 20oz =300oz or 8.8 liters yeah I may have poured some on my head but that excludes any drinks I had on the aid stations; I ended up drinking only 2 in last stage) again took some bananas with me and got out of the AS quickly. I remembered I had full drop bag there in case shit happened, meaning a set of lights, warm clothing, shoes/socks…you get the drift it was basically an emergency kit and good thing I didn’t even ask for the bag. People were saying that this portion is runnable, not sure what portion because I may have missed the portion of the trial that was runnable! The first 2 miles are literally straight up for +2,500ft, my legs were screaming I was out of breath and I began having cramps on both legs. At the very top my calf almost seized I took my last two salt tabs (I packed 14 thinking it was way too much) and began a small jog trying to catch my breath. I remember asking God to please give me enough legs to finish; I did not want to get all the way up to mile 46 and then have my legs die on me. The salt started to work and I was able to run the downhills pretty quickly (I’m amazed how my legs were still working on the downhills after Hyner and +45 miles of this, but I wasn’t going to complain too much) so I let it go as fast as I could on the downhills, powerwalk everything else and if I could run as much of the flats. Time kind of stood still for a while and I just wanted time to go by faster and get it all done, I have had enough. Soon I saw the best sign I could have hoped for, 1 mile to go! I ran the last mile in ~10min so not too shabby.

I crossed the finish line and finally sat my ass down for the first time since I changed my socks (that’s twice since 5am), it felt so good to finish. This race really does destroy you in so many ways. I’m still getting red dust out of my nose my legs are cut to shreds and that is even after they had cut some of the trees and vegetation from the trail, so you can imagine how it was back in the days (Barkleys style I assume?). My feet are sore and swollen from all the pounding on the rocks but my legs hurt less than they did after Hyner. I guess it must have been the uphill nature of the course, but I can assure you there are still considerable downhill portions as well. I’m taking a rest this week very easy and smiling as some of the guys will be heading to Bear Mtn.

 

The Good:

Ate my gels even though I was, at times, in low patch
Kept to plan of going slow and then running by feel; I past a lot of people after mile 33 and only got past by 2
I did not get lost
I did no fall
The altitude did not affect me much, or at least as expected
I finished around the planned time
 

The Bad

I drank too much (17 bottles filled with maybe 3 wasted for a total of 14, 2 half bottle shakes and about 6 half cups at the AS), and my stomach felt like crap at times; I believe I was not able to keep up my salt intake hence my body was needing more liquids, granted I haven’t run in these conditions in about a year. What I didn’t feel was puffy hands which is a symptom of Hyponatremia, I believe I was in the bottom centre quadrant below.

I should have used my bladder instead of water bottles, much easier to run with in these technical trails

I should have not run Hyner the weekend before

If you haven’t done Zane Grey 50, put in your list of must do races. I’ll be back, maybe not next year but I’ll be back. It will beat you down and you will tell yourself many times over why on earth you are doing this, but you know what you get this at the end….how fitting a rock from the trail!