The 2021 Pass Mountain 50K was the first official ultramarathon that I finished. It wasn’t pretty, but I got it done…
A little back story about my running career before I jump into the race:
In 2019 I hiked the Arizona Trail with my good friend, Dylan Harris. After returning from the 34-day long hike, I felt like I had built up the endurance to easily run a marathon distance or more.
Fast forward 1 year later I found myself driving to Austin, Texas to run the Austin Rattler Race 66K with Dylan and Joe Holway. I ended up DNFing around mile 35 and was in rough shape.
A few months after swearing off ultramarathons while on that long drive back from Texas, I signed up for my first Aravaipa Race: The Whiskey Basin 1/2 Marathon. I ended up placing 1st overall. Mostly because everyone in the front pack took a wrong turn, but a win is a win!
With renewed confidence and a lot more mileage under my belt, I registered for the Pass Mountain 50K in November of 2021.
Pass Mountain is the race with the least amount of elevation gain in the entire DRT Series, making it an awesome tune-up race. I figured I had the stamina to complete the whole 50K but was quite nervous going into the race after my first attempt at running an ultra had gone so poorly.
I had previewed the course a couple weeks prior, and it was mostly smooth and flowy aside from one technical climbing section which you hit twice on the double looped course. My plan was to run at my own pace, shooting for a sub-5-hour time.
On the morning of the race, after eating my traditional pre-race breakfast of a banana and a snickers bar, I placed myself at the front of the starting line. As soon as Race Director, Noah, counted us down and yelled “Go get ‘em 50K runners” I found myself moving through the first section of the course much faster than I had anticipated to keep pace with the lead pack.
My lizard brain took over and I chased the two front runners through the entire loop, too afraid to let them out of my eyesight. When we hit the climbing section where I felt I’d likely have a slight advantage, I increased my power output. As I passed the second-place runner, he looked at me and mentioned we were going much too fast for him, which was exactly what I had been thinking to myself as I pushed my heart rate into the low 170s.
Everything was going okay until I approached the midpoint of the race to begin my second loop. The temperature had risen significantly in the two hours it took me to complete the first loop and my stomach began to turn. As I went through the final wash before running through start/ finish line I became suddenly nauseous and threw up into some bushes just off trail. I tried to play it off as not to let any of the other runners know what just happened.
The first-place runner took little time getting aid and took off on loop 2 much faster than I had hoped he would. Had he even grabbed any water? I quickly refilled my soft flask and found myself back on the trail and in hot pursuit, again moving faster than I wanted to. I had taken almost zero time to reset or rehydrate. In hindsight, this was a crucial mistake.
By the time I made it to the climb for the second time (around mile 25) I was not feeling good. Cramping had set in, and I was walking more than running. I was alone at this point, unsure how far ahead 1st place was and had no idea what was going on behind me.
As I was contemplating my life decisions, I looked up to see the first-place runner walking back down the trail towards me. He had bonked even harder than I was and decided to return to the last aid station to drop from the race.
I was now in first place… by myself… struggling to maintain a walking pace due to cramping and dehydration. I was overtaken by 5 runners in the final few miles of the race as they seemed to effortlessly fly by me to the finish line.
When I finished in a time of 5 hours and 28 minutes, I was barely able to walk myself to the medical tent where they gave me pickle juice and electrolyte mix (huge thank you to the Medstar Medical Staff who have brought me back to life on multiple occasions). My overall pace had gone from sub 7-minute miles to a nearly 30-minute miles by the end of the race.
Looking back, there were several things I would have done differently. Had I stuck to my planned pace, utilized aid-stations more, and actually taken in any sort of nutrition I know I would have had a much more successful race, but it’s often these difficult experiences where you learn the most!
I’m excited to be toeing the line at Pass Mountain 50K again this year on November 12th and I am once again planning on running my own race 😄
If you’re considering running your first trail ultra, or if you’re looking for a a tune-up race, Pass Mountain 50K would be my recommendation. With the manageable terrain and frequent aid stations, it’s the perfect race to dip your toes into ultra running.
Just don’t go out too fast…
