Race Report: Sand Hollow Marathon 2012

Distance: 26.2 miles
Time:  2:51:31
Place: 2 

Before I begin with this belated race report, I would like to take care of two items of business.
 
First, I would like to once again thank Jason and the volunteers and staff of the Sand Hollow Marathon for putting on another great race this year!  Once again it was a blast, and even with nearly three times the participation of last year's race, the volunteers, aid stations, post race food, course, and everything else was just superb.  I would recommend this race to anyone and everyone.
 
Second, I should apologize for the lack of posting.  I know everyone is SO interested in my blog.  :)  School has been very busy, and on top of that I got a new and better job and I am on the college robotics team, so needless to say between all of that stuff and trying to get back into racing shape, I've had little time for blogging.  Especially since when I blog I usually take forever and get very long winded.  But, summer is fast approaching so I expect to do more posting with the additional time I will have.
  
Anyway, on to the race report.

This year, I brought three of my friends who I will refer to in the running world as my "padawans" down to run the race. Their roommate came to watch as well, probably because she didn't want to be left kicking it at home alone all weekend.  It's a good race for beginners, despite the challenging nature of the course, because it doesn't beat you up as badly as some of our other Utah courses which tend to be drastically downhill.  Recovery is therefore a little easier.  Two of the three had run at least one other marathon, and the other would be making her first attempt.  We were all excited to take a trip down from the frozen northlands of Logan and spend the weekend in sunny Southern Utah...running.  What could be better?
 
We left Logan in plenty of time Friday to avoid a repeat of my experience at St. George last fall, and made it to Hurricane that afternoon without incident.  My parents had cooked up a big nice pasta dinner for us which we gorged ourselves on after going and picking up our packets at the golf course clubhouse near the turnaround of the course.  As a side note, my parents always like it when I bring girls down home to visit.  Probably because it gives them at least some hope that I'll someday find someone who will tolerate me and my obsession with running and get married.  Anyway, they were very happy to have the girls spend the weekend.  My youngest brother is going to be quite the ladies man, I think, because he got right in there and was curling their hair and being cute to beat the band. 

Saturday morning, we woke up around 6:30, which is pretty late for a marathon race day, but since I live 5 minutes' drive from the start and the race wasn't until 7:30, we got to get some beauty rest.  I ate some bread and a banana, and drank a bunch of electrolyte drink and water, since the forecast was calling for a very warm day.  We were also a little worried about wind, but in my experience with Hurricane weather I correctly surmised that, since it was supposed to be a southwest wind, it would not start until the afternoon.  After making sure all of our stuff was in order, we drove to the start.  I milled around a bit with some of the other runners and warmed up.  The temperatures were cool, but I could tell it was going to be a hot day.

Before.
(me, my padawans, and their very supportive roommate)

After a brief run through the usual race business, we got started.  I took off at the front, and was waiting to see if anyone would follow me, and if so, who.  I was hoping for a little more competition in this year's race, even though I was certainly not nearly as well prepared as I was last year due to my injury last winter.  I was quickly joined by Brian Summers of Sandy.  We exchanged hellos and I found that he was in a similar position as I was.  We were joined shortly by another runner from Boulder, CO named Aaron Hoover.  He seemed to also be a pretty experienced runner and we all chatted a little bit throughout the first few miles.  They were both wearing bright yellow singlets, so with me and my white SGRC singlet we looked pretty snazzy and hip in our lead pack trio, if I do say so myself.

After the first aid, Brian began to attack the pace more with some pretty big surges.  I knew I didn't want to be caught up in a sprint-and-then-try-to-survive race, so I tried to hold everyone back a little without falling behind Brian.  This worked pretty well, as Aaron might have realized that I knew the course very well and was probably doing it for a reason, so he seemed to stick with me and we kept things under control.  This continued until about the 10k mark where Brian began to fall behind a little bit when he wasn't pushing the pace hard, so I finally said that there was a long race still ahead, and that it was better on this course to keep calm and just let things happen.  This seemed to calm him a bit.  I didn't want the pack to break up at this point, as we were all still thinking about a possible headwind, and we were working quite well together keeping each other going strong.  We crested the big hill looking down into Sand Hollow and began the fast descent.  I opened up the throttle and let things fly, wanting to use the downhill for all it was worth, with Brian and Aaron following a short distance behind.

At the bottom, Brian came flying past but then faded very quickly, leaving myself and Aaron to our own devices.  We wouldn't see him again other than passing him going the other way on the turnaround.  I was still moving well and feeling surprisingly good.  We were on something between 2:35 and 2:40 pace at this point, so in very good shape time wise.  As a small side note, here is an example of why I love this race and the staff:  Coming through the aid at Mile 9, I missed all of the cups I tried to grab (my fault).  I wasn't too panicked, but within less than a quarter mile there was suddenly a car next to us with Jason, the race director, and his wife (I assume) offering us some water or Gatorade since I missed it.  I gladly accepted, knowing I that the hydration was going to be very important in this race.  Aaron commented that he'd never seen anything like that in any race, and that this was clearly a "5 star" race.  I heartily agreed.

The rest of the journey to the turnaround was pretty uneventful.  Aaron and I chatted a little and just enjoyed the run while keeping a solid effort.  On our way back, we both began feeling a little fatigue, but I was feeling better out of the two of us so around mile 15 I began to pull away a little bit.  I knew that "Nemesis" hill was coming up, so I wanted to push a little here and build up a little bit of a gap, which I was successful at doing.  The hill was very tough, but I made it up without walking and was relieved to finally get to the top and see some downhill.  Last year, this is where I really was able to put the hammer down and drop my time down with the long rolling downhill into Hurricane.  Unfortunately, I was not in nearly as good of shape this year, so after a brief period of attempting to replicate last year's strategy, I began to break down.  Mile 20 seemed like crossing a threshold from feeling relatively good (surprisingly good, actually) into a suffer-fest.  I knew I was not in prime racing shape, so I was almost expecting it, but it was still no fun.  However, before the race I had determined that I would just give it my best shot no matter what happened and be happy that I was able to run a marathon this early in the year despite my injury and the slow recovery.  I had built a huge gap on Aaron, but he managed to chip away at it little by little and he went past me around mile 23.  I had nothing left in the tank so I just let him go and concentrated on finishing as respectably as possible.  The heat was beginning to become a factor at this point, and I just wanted to be done with the race and somewhere cool with a cool drink of water.  At around mile 24 I suddenly got very sick and had to stop for a couple of minutes to deposit my breakfast in the weeds on the side of the road.  Again, the race crew was right there in a matter of probably less than a minute offering me water and making sure I was ok.  Can't say enough about how well run this race is.  I felt much better and was able to run the last mile feeling better and faster than I had for the past 5.

My finish time was 10 minutes slower than last year, at 2:51, but considering the unusual heat, and my lack of fitness I was satisfied with the results.  Aaron finished around 2:45, so I still own the course record, and hopefully that will go down next year when I break 2:40 on that course.  Brian must have had a very tough race because he finished about 10 minutes after I did...his only finish over three hours ever.  I think he was kind of bummed about it, but hopefully he'll be back next year.  It was actually nice to have a competitive race.  All in all another great Sand Hollow experience, and I plan on making it a regular part of my race schedule.

Old Stompin' Grounds

It's always nice to go back to a place you haven't run for a long time.  This past weekend I had a chance to go home and (among other things) run on some of the trails I would run when I was in high school.  Aside from rediscovering the discomfort associated with running through dry foxtails and cheat grass, it was nice to run on those old trails on the hill east of town.  Now there's a whole network of trails (JEM Trail, Hurricane Canal Trail, Rim Trail, Gould's Rim, and others) to run on, many of which I haven't yet run.  There's even the Hurricane JEM Trail Marathon which will be in its second year running this October and is entirely on this network of trails.  My run last Friday was a loop of the Hurricane Canal Trail and the Rim Trail.  I must be in really good shape, because I remember the Rim Trail being a lot harder than that.  These trails are a lot different from anything you encounter around Logan, but have their own beauty.  Here are some pictures from that run:

Chinatown Wash as it enters the Virgin River Gorge to the east of Hurricane.  You can see the Hurricane Canal approach from the right and cross over a wood and metal "flume" in the center.

The old flume on the canal which used to carry water from a diversion dam upriver out to the southern part of the Hurricane Valley.  Very interesting history.  It took 12 years to hack this 8 mile canal out of the cliff sides with picks, shovels and wheelbarrows back at the turn of the century.

Looking eastward towards Zion National Park from the Rim Trail.  This is right on the edge of the Colorado Plateau.

Looking southwest over my hometown of Hurricane.  My starting point for this run was near the foot of the big volcano near the center of this photo.  You can also see the sand dunes on the left.

Looking west over northern Hurricane and part of LaVerkin.  You can see the bridge over the gorge in the lower center.  The big blue mountain is Pine Valley Mountain (10,365'), one of the largest laccolithic formations in the world.

Inaugural Sand Hollow Marathon Race Report

Left to right:  James Holt, myself, and Steve Hooper.  St. George Running Center Race Team sweep!

(Originally posted Saturday, March 26, on my daily training blog)

Woke up bright and early at 6 AM to get ready for the Sand Hollow Marathon.  Ate a banana and a slice of bread along with drinking some of my Revive/Emergen-C mix.  Drove down to the start with a half hour before the race.  The race was very small--only about 100 runners give or take.  Steve and some of the other SGRC guys were there, so I figured they were my competition.  The course was an out-and-back, going through the Hurricane Fields, making a large swing around Sand Hollow Reservoir, with a short section through a golf course community and then back the same way.

My dad is the worst early AM photographer.  But that's ok.  Maybe someone will think I ran drunk...

The gun went off, and away we went.  I wasn't sure how fit I was so I took off pretty easy, but still quickly built a little gap on Steve within the first mile.  I could still hear them talking behind me, but I didn't think they were racing that hard so I just settled into a nice relaxed tempo for the long haul.  My family was able to watch this race in its entirety, which was nice, and they were at many spots along the course. 
I did the same thing this race as TOU last year...only worrying about 5-mile splits.  My goal going into the race was 2:45.  The first 3 miles were expectedly slow, but I must have picked it up quite a bit because I was right on for my 5-mile split. 
Up until this point, the course was almost all completely flat through the Hurricane Fields with only one small hill, but shortly after the 5-mile mark the course climbs a long ridge before it drops steeply into the Sand Hollow basin.  This is one of the most beautiful portions of the course, and although the grade was mildly difficult I enjoyed this part.  These were my old stomping grounds through my stint in high school XC and track.  I lost some time on this section, but gained it all back and then some dropping into Sand Hollow down the hill that apparently has been named "Nemesis."  I must have been going faster than I thought, because I came across the 10 mile mark 3 minutes faster than my goal pace.  I was pleased at this, though, knowing the road back would be more difficult.  I was glad to have a little cushion.
The next 5 miles were more difficult, with rolling hills and several turns to take away momentum.  But I came across the half about 2 minutes ahead of pace at 1:19 and some change.  I forgot to look at my split for 15 miles, but I expect it was similarly ahead of pace.

Rounding a turn a little before the 22 mile marker.

 After this point, I settled in for the most difficult section of the course:  climbing back up out of Sand Hollow.  I was already beginning to feel the fatigue, but I was able to work through it and lay down some good solid miles before arriving at the base of Nemesis at mile 18.  This hill was a beast.  It climbs about 250 feet in just 0.7 miles.  Nothing compared to some of the stuff you face at races like Logan Peak, but at road-marathon pace and at mile 18 it presents a significant challenge.  After climbing hard for 100 meters or so, I decided the best plan of attack was just to last through it, going as slow as necessary, and worry about going fast again once I got to the top.  This worked nicely, and I was able to get a good tempo going again once the course turned downhill again.  The long downhill was very welcome and I was able to really put the hammer down on these miles.  I came across the 20 mile mark with a nice 4 minute cushion.
Immediately after the 20 mile mark, the course makes a final descent with the rest being level with only one short up-and-down hill at Angel Heights.  I wanted to just get through this section as fast as possible and get as far as possible before my tired legs gave out.  I kept waiting for that moment to happen, but other than a couple of lapses it never really came.  I was tired, but still had plenty of energy and spring in my legs to maintain a competitive pace.  There started to be some people cheering me on during the last mile and I really pounded it hard to the finish.  Finished in 2:41:22 in first place. 
My first marathon win!  Granted, it was a small race, not thousands of runners like the others I have done, but I was very pleased and I'll take a win anywhere I can find one.  I expected to struggle to clear 2:45 on this challenging of a course, so I was very happy to get a time that was only 3 minutes and some change off a PR.  The race was very well run for an inaugural running with only a few minor glitches.  The race director came up to me after the finish and asked how I liked it and if I had any suggestions.  I told him a couple of small things, but overall I was very impressed with how smoothly it was run.  The only big problem was the weather, which was very rainy for most of the runners--but of course that was outside of his control.  The weather was actually very nice for 24 miles of the race.  A tad chilly, but overcast and really not that bad.  The volunteers and other race officials were great.  Enthusiastic, courteous, helpful...everything that helps a runner have his best possible run.  Overall it was a very enjoyable race, and it was also a nice excuse to come down and enjoy the warmer weather and time with family.

The trophies were really cool!