Hardrock 100 Mile

July 11, 2014   Silverton, CO

Foreword

For some reason it has taken me over a year to write this. Actually I wrote 90% within the first few weeks then I put it down and didn’t touch it for a year. We did have some personal family issues and then we moved half way around the world to Korea so I guess there are some extenuating circumstances. You’ll note some photo credits indicated, that’s because I “borrowed” some of the photos from the internet (www.hardrock100.com).

Prologue

Hardrock is quite simply a beast… as if the 100 mile distance isn’t enough; they route the thing over some of the most incredible mountain passes in southwest Colorado. The run boasts just under 33,000 ft of gain (and 33,000 ft of loss) over the 100 mile loop course.  A look at the elevation profile is enough to make your stomach drop – nine peaks; two over 12,000 ft elevation, six around 13,000 ft and the big one over 14,000 ft. Of course between each pass you get to drop deep down into valleys… why not? The average elevation is somewhere around 11,000 ft.  For a flatlander living at sea level just looking at the elevations is enough to get your heart rate racing.

Photo 1 – Elev Chart

The other thing about the race is that it is run on very remote mountain trails in the San Juan Mountains with limited bailout points. The run starts and finishes in Silverton and goes through Telluride and Ouray (and sort of near Lake City), but those are few and far between.  Let’s put it this way, they make you, and any crew/pacers you may have, buy Colorado hiker permits that get you registered with the Search and Rescue folks.  Of course what all this means; I’ve wanted to do this race ever since I heard about it.  As my friend Lee would say, how hard can it be?

The Waitlist

Another thing about Hardrock, you have to complete a tough 100 miler as a qualifier just to apply to get in. They want to make sure that you sort of know what you are doing before they let you loose in the San Juans.  I have used my past finishes at Western States and Leadville as my qualifiers. That’s just the beginning though, Hardrock only has 140 runners each year, this year they had about 1200 apply, so they hold a lottery to select those “lucky” 140 people; 35 slots are for people who have finished 5 times already, 35 slots are for “newbies” and 70 slots for “everyone else in between”.

I applied for the 2012, 2013 and 2014 editions of Hardrock, but since it is really tough for a “newbie” to get in the closest I have ever come was 13^th on this year’s waitlist.  So, in order for me to get in I just had to have almost half of the 35 accepted “newbies” (who have been also trying just as hard as I have to get in), decide that they didn’t feel like doing it this year – right.  Well, I sat on the waitlist without moving for many months, then slowly moved up, but I still figured maybe “next year…”  But wait, I still needed another qualifier in order to apply for “next year”.  Therefore I decided to do the Bighorn 100 miler in Wyoming on June 20^th.  Fortunately I got a finish there and so I’m all set to apply for the 2015 and 2016 Hardrock’s.

But… hold on… there was movement on the waitlist after all.  The week after Bighorn, three weeks before Hardrock I was sitting at number one on the waitlist.  Holly Crap!!!

Photo 2 - The “before” photo.

I should add that the day after Bighorn I had to go on a business trip that had me in Shanghai for a week and then traipsing around southern Japan for a week (I took so many trains that I thought I should get frequent roller mileage or something). I was able to get in some recovery miles and some tapering miles while in China and Japan, just in case.  I’ll also take a minute here to relay something else, I called my Dad after Bighorn and left a message on his machine that I got the finish.  He always seemed to like hearing about my running, although I always had the feeling that he didn’t quite understand the long distance aspects.  Anyway he was always supportive.  A few days later while I was in China I got a call that he wasn’t doing so well and they moved him from the assisted living home to the hospital.  Then a day later when I was in Japan I was totally sacked when my brother Chris called to tell me that our Dad had passed away.  I was (and perhaps still am) certainly in quite a funk for a while. Eventually I got back home and tried to get back in our time zone.

Then… what kind of crazy roller coaster is this?  Six days before Hardrock I got a call from the race director asking me if I wanted to run.  Holly Crap, again !!!          I said yes!!!

Did I just say I would run the hardest 100 miler around?, three weeks after I did a tough 100 in the Bighorn Mountains?, after two weeks in Asia?, in a total funk?, with only 6 days’ notice?, and no time to get up to Colorado early in order to acclimate to the altitude?         Yup.

Photo 3 - Silverton, CO.

Pre-race

So I had the rest of Saturday and Sunday to plan and repack some drop bags from Bighorn and make the necessary plane, hotel and car rental arrangements.  No sweat.

The good thing was that I had two willing victims; I mean crew and pacer who wanted to help me in my mad plan.  Devan wouldn’t even consider not crewing for me and Robert wanted to crew and then pace me. So the three of us flew up to Durango and then drove up to Silverton, arriving about midnight on Wednesday night, exactly a day and a half before the run.  Rather than taking the 10 to 14 days of acclimation time to get used to the 11,000 ft elevation, I employed the “you might as well show up as close to the start time as possible” method.

Thursday was spent signing in, getting my race number, dropping off the drop bags and getting even more nervous, excited and scared…. Did I mention the elevation chart, or perhaps the mountains surrounding Silverton?  Everyone you bumped in to was pretty much in the same state, very nervous if they were runners or very excited if they were crew/pacers.

Photo 4 - Me and “The Crew”.

The Run

After a few restless hours of sleep it was finally time to head over to the school gym and the start.  The actual start was pretty informal, a few last words of encouragement and we were suddenly off.  I had packed a two bottle hip-pack that also had space for other things like Gels, extra shirt, Glide, etc.  Although I had tested the pack out beforehand, I immediately knew that it would not last long, the bouncing was bad and for some reason while it was ok on my test run, it was really bugging me now.  So a quick change of plan was in order, I knew that Devan and Robert were going to go to the first stream crossing at about 2 or 3 miles from the start, I would just drop the bag there and they could pick it up.  So that’s what I did, just took the real essentials that I would need, including a bunch of Gels and the two bottles (one in a handheld and the other just in my hand) and dropped everything else.  It was a good move and I never missed anything that I left in the dropped hip-pack.

Finally I felt comfortable and was able to move down the trail.  All too soon though, I was climbing up the first valley gaining the 3,000 ft in just a few miles up to Pitman Ridge. The basin and then the high meadow was beautiful, up above the tree line the wildflowers were amazing. This first pass wasn’t too bad, I could even breathe a little bit, but I guess it was because it was “only” 12,500 ft elevation and it was still very early in the game.  Once over the top I immediately plunged downward into the next valley, not able to see the bottom, but knowing that there was a stream crossing down there somewhere along with the KT aid station.  You could also look across the valley and see the trail going up the next mountain pass. Going up the passes is tough, your legs get instantly fatigued, you are out of breath and your heart starts pounding.  But amazingly as soon as you start going down the other side you feel better.  The only problem is after going down such steep slopes your quads and knees start killing you as well.

Photo 5 - From Pitman Ridge looking towards Grant Swamp Pass. The trail is above the red cliff, the next pass is the dip to the right of center at the top, about 5 or 6 miles ahead. Photo by Klas Eklof

The next climb had a few distractions because it is a popular day hike. There were people with families and dogs going up and down the trail, each group saying “hi” and shaking their heads knowing that the crazy people with numbers pinned to themselves would be out on the trail long after they would get back down to their cars at the trailhead.  It was really nice to have some people up there.  But after a while the people thinned out and we still had a long way up to the second peak, Grant Swamp Pass.  Near the top of the pass was Island Lake with the bluest water you ever want to see, it was stunning.  But after the lake those last few feet over Grant Swamp Pass were really rough, you just have to keep your head down and dig deep with feet full of lead (that’s a line form a song I know that was running through my head for a long time.)  It’s incredible how those last 100 feet or so of elevation can take so long.  Once over the top there was a crazy scree-filled steep decent and more quad busting, knee crunching downhill to the Chapman Gulch aid station where my first drop bag was located.  It was nice at Chapman Gulch because Russ, a friend of mine was there, he helped me out with my stuff and getting food and drinks from the tables while I sat in a chair.  I should add that all of the aid stations at Hardrock are really great.

Photo 6 - Grant Swamp Pass looking towards Oscar’s Pass. First you go all the way down again and then the pass is over the top of that wall a little right of center. Photo by Katie DeSplinter

I was now over two mountain passes and 18 miles into the run, it had taken me a little under 7 hours.

All too soon I was off and climbing, again.  As if I didn’t realize it from looking at the elevation profile, or while I was pacing Robert the two prior years when he was in Hardrock, I was now feeling just how relentless the long climbs and descents are at Hardrock.  It never ends.  The climb up Oscar’s is crazy tough, I felt that the worst part was the beginning while still in the trees, it just seemed like it was steeper and the trail just went straight up the mountain, once popping out above the tree line again there were more switchbacks and it didn’t seem quite so bad.  Of course once again the air started getting thinner and the familiar lead feet, heavy breathing and pounding chest were ever present.  After a long time, the top of Oscar’s Pass, but once again at the top it was crazy looking almost straight down the other side…  “you mean I have to go down that?” Once on the way down it was like skiing on scree, you just sort of did a controlled glide down with lots of rocks rolling along with you.

Then it is a nice plunge down 4,000 ft.  The trail is nice, but it seems like it will never end.  You turn a corner and see some ski lift towers off in the distance, but the town of Telluride is still a long way off.  Eventually it does come into view, but here I got a little nervous thinking I missed a turn so I doubled back a little.  Then turned around again when another runner came along, I guess I burned a few minutes there.

At the Telluride aid station I had three mountains down and now about 28 miles into the run, it had taken me about 11 hours.  5pm on Friday and I was able to see my crew for the first time which was really nice.  I got my other handheld bottle strap, reloaded up on gels and cookies, and had some stuff to eat.  Devan even force-fed me some pizza, which while a little salty was actually pretty good. I also got some warmer clothes to put on in case it got cold. I also picked up my lights.

7 - Reloading at Telluride.

The climb out of Telluride and up to Virginius Pass is another killer, I’ve heard a few people say that it is the worst one because of the steepness.  While I was not fresh by any stretch of the imagination, I actually passed a few people on the 4,000 ft climb.  It was just another brutal few hours of constant up.  But at the top of Virginius is a special treat, the Kroger’s Canteen aid station.  These people are up there on top of a mountain for hours where it is freezing, windy and there isn’t a lot of room to spread out.  They were simply terrific and couldn’t have been more helpful.  Especially when it was time to leave.  They had me grab on to a rope and sort of slide down about 300 or 400 feet of snow, of course almost straight down, black diamond slope I’m sure.  But it was also fun.

After the initial snow fields there is a 5,000 ft decent over the next 11 miles. The problem I had here is that for some reason I thought it was 8 miles of downhill, those extra 3 miles messed with my head a little, especially because we were on a dirt road that had no trail markers on it for about 8 miles.  You are sure that you are going the right way, but there is always that little bit of doubt in your head, especially because I was running this part alone.  By the way I was more or less on my own the whole time up to this point except when passing or being passed by people.  Sometimes you stay together for a few miles, but mostly I was alone.  Anyway, I was shuffling down the dirt road trying to run as efficiently as possible.  Those 11 miles of decent were not easy, but I was trying to conserve energy while still moving along.  It was along this stretch that it got dark.  It was also at this point I could see lightening down in the valley, exactly in the direction that I was headed.

At long last the lights of Ouray came in to view.  Devan and Robert were down there somewhere and Robert was going to start pacing me.  Ouray is also the lowest elevation along the course at a little below 8000 ft, nice - a little more oxygen. Down at the Ouray aid station I had done another mountain and I was about 44 miles into the run.  They patched me up as much as they could and before long we were headed out into the darkness, thunder, lightning and rain. And yes of course, up.  This time we were heading up on the famed Bear Creek Trail out of Ouray and up to Engineer’s Pass, a mere 5,000 ft up and 10 miles away.  Yes, that is about a mile up over the next 10 miles of “running”.   Fun.

Photo 8 - Bear Creek Trail, near the top where the drop-off isn’t so bad.  I’ve never seen it in the daylight. Photo by Klas Eklof

The Bear Creek Trail is probably the most hazardous part with just a narrow platform cut out of the side of a cliff, and a large drop-off to the right.  Yes, we were now doing this at night, in a rain squall, thunder, lightning, slippery footing and it was blowing a gale.  If that wasn’t enough, I was basically bonking, very low on energy and really tired.  It took a very long time to do this stretch, even with Robert trying to keep me moving along. It took me almost 5 hours to go 8 miles, ouch! Then we still had to go up for another 2 miles and 1000 ft up to get over Engineer’s Pass.

Once over the pass, unlike the previous passes, I didn’t feel better heading down after this one.  I was feeling like crap and not able to even shuffle down the hill and the 5 miles into the Grouse Gulch aid station. When I got down to the Grouse Gulch aid station I was toast, totally done.  If they would have listened to me, I would have stopped right there, just shy of 60 miles.  The problem was, no one was listening to me… They wouldn’t let me stop.  I was pleading my case saying something about not having the energy to make the highest climb over 14,000 ft Handies, but they kept feeding me a line of bull that “yeah it’s high, but it’s not that steep”.  I was able to negotiate a 20 minute nap though. Finally I said something like “Ok, get me a short sleeve and a long sleeve shirt and we’ll give it a shot”.  They all sprung into action and shoved me out of there before I could change my mind.  I was simply putting one foot in front of the other and heading up the trail as best as I could, somehow making it all the way to the top of the 14er that is Handies.

Photo 9 – Standing at 13,000 feet. The far right is the top of Handies another 1,000 feet up.

Once over the top of Handies, the way down actually was a little better again.  I won’t say I was moving well, but I was able to trot along again down to Burrows Park on the parts that weren’t too steep. Between Burrows Park and Sherman aid stations you go downhill on a smooth dirt road, unfortunately my legs were simply toasted and I could do little more than fast hike, even with Robert again trying to get me to move faster. Sherman is the last full blown aid station for a while so I made sure I regrouped and drank/ate well, I also knew the next remote aid station was about 8 miles away, most of which was up hill.  So at this point I’m about 72 miles and 33 hours into this thing.  I’ll also mention that leaving Sherman there was a ribbon showing the way out, then the you had to stay on the trail until you spotted the next marker, I don’t think there was a second marker for the next 5 miles or so, a bit nerve wracking.

Somewhere on the way to Pole Creek my legs were once again done.  The multiple peaks, valleys, 30 hours, perhaps a bit too close in time to Bighorn, etc. but about this time I was actually starting to conk out on my feet. I’ll also add that since I was going so slowly, I was starting to get cold in the darkening windy, rainy conditions even after adding a layer and rain jacket.  During one of the thigh-deep stream crossings I slid on a bowling ball size boulder on the stream bottom and fell forward, putting my hand down in the water up to my shoulder, not helpful in my struggle to stay warm.  Pole Creek was an outpost, but still great especially considering that all the stuff had to be hauled in by backpack to the most remote area you’ve ever seen.  Very much appreciated.

After Pole Creek the trail continues up and about this time it also got dark, again. The start of the second night on the trail.  At this point I actually started feeling a little better, but it was very short-lived, soon after I was basically a sleep walking zombie again.  Stumbled into Maggie Gulch, mile 85 and 40 hours in.

Photo 10 - Heading up toward Maggie Gulch. Some narrow but deep stream crossings. Photo by Tetsuro Buford Ogata

I was done.  I knew I had 2 peaks left to do…  would probably miss the next cutoff at Cunningham...  give me the darn DNF. So that was it, without fanfare my Hardrock was over. Robert and I were at Maggie Gulch, which technically isn’t a place you are allowed to drop.  However since it was near the end a really nice guy said that he’d drive us back to town.  I sent word ahead to Devan that I dropped and that we were headed back and we’ll meet her in Silverton.

One final word, as always I need to add that I couldn’t do these crazy things without the support of Rachel, Casey and Devan. Their patience with my training and most of all listing to my ‘running stories’ with a minimum of eye rolling is appreciated more than they’ll ever know.

Photo 11 -  The “after” photo. A selfie with Devan.

Postscript

I’ve now had a long time to think about my DNF at Hardrock and I have a few thoughts:

• Of course I can’t remember exactly how fried I was, so I continue give myself crap for quitting with ‘only’ 15 miles left.
• I need to remind myself that there were 2 peaks left.
• During the run I was told ‘not to do the math’, in other words not to figure out the next cutoff time, but I did the math anyway and figured that I wasn’t going to make it. Next time, don’t do the math.
• The next morning sitting in the Silverton gym a friend was talking about what it takes to do Hardrock and said that most important is that your head is in the right place, hmmmmm, maybe he has something there.

So that’s it, no excuses though, I’ll be in the ‘everyone else’ lottery until I get back in.  Some unfinished business.

Thanks for reading folks…..

Sandy

Now we can stop bugging reminding you about the missing RR.

I vaguely remember the timing of you life events last year.  I'm sure you entered the event already mentally exhausted and what impact do you feel that had?

I don't know if I could handle to altitude without acclimatizing. When I hear 5 hours for 8 miles, I can only think "low oxygen".

Thanks for sharing your insight.  Good luck with the redemption lottery.

Thanks for sharing this.. I guess this time of year brought back some vivid memories for you. 85 miles is still a significant accomplishment so belated congrats on your effort. I doubt if I will ever try to get on the list for this one (the ledge you describe on the Bear Creek trail would freeze me in place!) so will live vicariously through your next attempt.

Well, at least you no longer have a DNF for the RR. The photos are spectacular but I can't imagine what the altitude did to you. I think I've been over 11,000 only once or twice (Sierras and Peru), and even 9,000 feet had me panting and mildly nauseous.

As most of you mentioned, the altitude is a huge issue for us lowlanders.  It’s very disconcerting when the first thing you do in Silverton is walk up a flight of stairs in the hotel - and you get out of breath and your eyesight goes haywire before you go up one flite.  All you can think of is “how in the hell am I going to go 100 miles?”  Not to mention I’m only at 9,000 ft now (same thing happens at Leadville).  But one thing that you have to do is to not panic about it.  Panic and worrying only makes your heartrate go up and your breathing worse. I find that if you just go with the flow and slow down, somehow you are able to get used to it quicker.  But I will say that once up and over 13,000 ft my heart really starts to pound, it’s freaking scary!!!!

Mr Jamie: Thanks, yes it wasn’t like the 3 weeks between BH and HR were relaxing.  More like a complete fiasco.

AT: I have to admit, I feel better that I no longer have this damn RR hanging over my head.  I guess I’m a bit OCD. I do think the fact that I was in China 2 days after finishing BH, knowing the RD could call me any day, traipsing around Asia, and then the last minute entry was crazy.  But of course all this totally paled in comparison to losing my Dad.  The worst part was although I talked to him a lot, the last time I called him I got his answering machine. I was gutted.  I think I tried to keep a positive mind and kind of “carry on” with his sense of adventure (he was kind of an outdoors person involved with scouting, sailing, ran X-C as a kid, etc.) and did some “talking” to him while on the HR trail.  I was hoping that being out on my own in the wilderness would help clear my head, but afterwards I would say that I was pretty impacted, mentally drained going in, hence the last “takeaway” listed at the end of my RR.  By the way, that friend knew nothing of my weeks leading up to HR, he just said that out of the blue.

LB2: Thanks friend.  I know people know how important the mental aspects are, it’s just really hard to judge the effect.  It’s not like the physical training where you can see progress (or lack of progress).  It’s also tricky because a run itself can help improve your mental attitude, or the mental aspects can have a huge effect on your run. Wow, that’s deep. . . , hey anyway, keep “sneaking down the trail”.

XT: Thanks, I guess 85 is a B+ right? The Bear Creek trail isn’t so scary at night . . . you can’t see the drop offs.  LOL.  But I will say that when you shine your light over the edge it is very weird that the light just fades out into the abyss.

Daydreamer: Yeah, it is crazy that your heart is pounding and you are taking these baby steps.  Your steps are so small that there isn’t any distance between your heel and toe and you still need to stop and rest to let your heartrate come down.

wc: Yes, I had to get the RR DNF monkey off my back!!!!  That’s funny!

mt: Yes, I do need to go back, hopefully under better circumstances and get it done.  My BH finish is a qualifier for the 2016.  Hopefully I won’t need it, but if I finish Mt. Fuji, I’ll have a qualifier for 2017.

Thanks everyone.

Thanks.

have to ask - what's this "sneaking down the trail"?

Wow, it's kind of hard to explain, but when I did my first 100 I was talking to myself during the late stages in the run where your mind wants to move along, but your legs are beat.  Sometimes you end up just kind of trotting 20 feet or so, then walking, then repeating the process.  While I was in this state I told myself to just kind of "sneak down the trail".  Basically I was telling myself to be smooth, quiet (e.g. good form) and try to conserve as much energy as possible while still kind of trotting along, see if I could extend the trotting time, just kind of "sneak" along.  Does that make any sense?  I know it's kinda weird, but as they say "you had to have been there..."

Anyway, I've paced quite a few people (LB2 included) in the the late stages of 100s and on occasion I have told them about this mind game I came up with to see if we can also "sneak down the trail".  Sometimes it even works.

I will say, there was no sneaking anywhere for me at HR though.  LOL.

Thank you for sharing your report, great read! It really highlights how tough Hardrock is, and your photos show its beauty that makes it so attractive.

I think all the stresses before the race messed up your mind. Losing a parent always leaves an emptiness which is hard to fill for some time.

85 miles is a long way, with all those peaks and valleys. "Only" 15 miles left, but, at least in most 100-milers, those last 15 miles take more out of you than the 85 miles before. I think you did phantastic, grinding it out all the way to that point, and you are always a great inspiration for me.

With the cliff and the dropoff - I had a similar experience at Eastern States, which does by no means compare to the magnitude of Hardrock, but it has a similar feature, and I also ran it in the night and the rain and all. No light amplifier in this world could have captured a single photon coming back out of these depths.

I hope you'll get the chance to redeem yourself, and with the qualifiers, you should have everything in place. Good luck for the lottery!

FTYC and QoN: Thanks !!!  But I still want to go back and get those last 15 miles.

By the way, I mentioned a little bit about the great folks up at the Krogers Canteen aid station.  I just got a link from the Hardrock FB page showing a little YT video about these guys.  It's from the same 2014 run that Id did.  Shows some of the course and also features some guy who did pretty well at HR the last 2 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5e7pr2Z6ZU&noredirect=1