My first Ultra marathon was Squaw Peak 50 miler 12 years ago.  I ran a 50k later that year but then went back to road racing.  I had plan to run it again but not soon.  It's not an easy 50 miler. It has 10,000 feet of climb and many hot and exposed hill climbs. Did I really want to run it again? Hell NO!  But part of me wanted to tackle the challenge. Since my last 100 miler in March I have been burnt out, tired and not motivated. I would try to get up some mornings. Sleep would win and I would go back to bed.  I was so tired that motivation went out the door. I got in a few good runs and a long run. For the last 4 weeks I ran 35-45 miles. Going into this 50 miler I didn't know how things would go. I had planed to have fun.

I ran the first 25 easy with some buddies.  It was awesome.  Laughing, joking, and Krashing. My 3rd krash of the day was the hardest.  I was running on a very rocky dirt road and went down.  Over the years I have become great at krashing.  I don't get hurt much. I have a skill for tucking and rolling. This time I landed on a big rock and hit my butt hard. Is this what they call butt hurt? I had my car key in my back center pocket of my shorts. Don't know why I put it there.  Well when I krashed it bent the key. It well straighten out.

The 2nd half of the course was much harder than the first.  More climbing and exposed to the heat. I was eating and drinking like I could. There was not Mt. Dew at the aid stations.  It's the nectar of the gods. I made dew with Redbull.  Wow did it make me feel like I had wings.  Miles 33-37 were all up hill.  38-39 rolling down.  Then the real climb began. Mile 39 is an exposed 1000 ft climb of death.  I only made one mistake and it cost me on that hill.  I forgot to fill up my 2nd water bottle and run out of water 1.5 miles before the next aid station. I savored what I had but still payed the price. Windy pass aid station was the start of the 9 mile down hill to the finish. They get the water from a natural spring at the pass.  This year it wasn't running much.  The RD posted on a local site asking for help to pack water to the pass. A local legend to the ultra running community by the name of Matt Galland came to the aid.  He helicoped in 300 + pounds of water to windy pass. Youtub 100 miles from now where to find more on him.  He had his own TV show for a while.

After pounding the water at Windy pass, I welcomed the rocky down hill.  It took me a few miles to recover.  Oh I love the down hill. I didn't know how many miles I had left.  My watch died at mile 39.  I forget to charge it.  I came into this race with no plan, no pace chart and no goals.  The only plan was to start easy and see what I have left. The last 3.4 miles was no the road.  I had run this part 2 weeks ago and it sucked. The heat and fatigue had beaten me.  The training day was a walk of defeat. Not today.  I was running about an 8 min mile pace and loving it.  With about .5 to go my 14 year old met me on the road to run me in.  She fueled my fire to run faster. I finished 32 out of 360 in 10:33. Ran 2 hour and 30 min PR over the last time.  Maybe I will run it again in 12 years.

Pretty awesome! So cool to have your daughter there at the end - maybe in another 12 years she will run the race, too. Falling on your car key sounds INCREDIBLY painful. I can't believe someone helicoptered water in to an aid station - that is so cool.

Nice job.  I am glad I am not the only one who likes to tuck and roll (if I can get there).  Sounds like a fun race with 10K in 50 miles.

Tuck and roll. Learned that in HS wrestling and it's stood me in good stead. Despite the krashes and running out of water, it sounds like you had a good day.

Thanks for the report! I ran Kat'cina Mosa 100k last year, so I have an idea of the area and trails you were running. The RD is an absolute great guy also, and a Red Bull advocate. We have the yellow stuff in the fridge since we got hooked on it last year.

Congrats on your timely finish!