Bryce 100 Race Report

At the first of the year I signed up for the Buffalo Run 100, Zion 100, and Bryce 100 - three 100 milers in the span of 14 weeks. I knew that might be biting off more than I could chew, but there was only one way to find out. I truly wanted to understand 100 milers better, and there is no way to understand them without running them. NOTHING in training can come close to simulating what you will feel after 60+ miles. The Buffalo Run went great. Zion went pretty good. This weekend it was time for Bryce. I'd like to present some awards:

And the award for Most Gnarly, Difficult Race I've Ever Run goes to......The Bryce 100.
Nestled on the outskirts of Bryce Canyon National Park, this race would be my hardest ever - somewhere between 18,000 - 20,000 feet of climbing. This, my friend, is the Big Leagues.

And the award for Most Unique 100 Mile Stunt Prop goes to........The Glow In The Dark Batman Mask. I started the run with my friends Jared, Lucas, and Josh. I always knew when I was behind Josh. Most people (correction: no people) are man enough to attach a glow in the dark Batman mask to their pack except Josh.

And the award for Most Scenic Congo Line goes to.........The First Four Miles Of The Race. (I also made an ENORMOUS, ENORMOUS mistake thinking the whole race would be lovely, rolling, non-technical single track like this. I couldn't have been more wrong.)

And the award for Best Female Runners Across A Beautiful Red Ridge goes to........The Two Girls In This Picture. I'm sorry, I don't know their names. Lets call them Michelle and Stephanie. Congrats Michelle and Stephanie!

And the award for Best 1,000 Year Old Rock Stars goes to..........The Rolling Stones. Closely followed by these cool rock star formations.

And the award for Most Likely To Make You Feel Like You're Breathing Through A Straw goes to.......The Bryce 100. I live around 3,000 feet altitude and the race was around 9,000 feet I believe. (In the end, this had nothing to do with my finish. I just needed to stop being a pansy and put my big boy pants on.)

And the award for Person Who Most Looks Like A Kid In A Candy Store During The First 5 Miles Goes to..........ah, shucks. Despite the straw breathing, I was in heaven.

And the award for Best Looking Ants During An Ultramarathon goes to........All Those Ant-Like Runners Down Below. All those runners strung out below was definitely one of the cooler things I've seen in a race.

And the award for Most Scenic Race In North America goes to..........The Bryce 100. Since the race I've talked with lots of runners who have run all over the country. Every one of them said Bryce was the most beautiful race they have ever run. I concur.

And the award for Most Likely To Cause Goosebumps Even Though You're Sweating Like A Dog goes to..........well, the whole course. But I really loved this section toward the first of the race.

And the award for Race Course That Will Make You Suck Your Thumb And Cry For Your Mother goes to.........you guessed it, The Bryce 100. Around mile 15 the real race started. The trails became technical and steep. Relentless climbing or descending. In all my years I have never seen a course so punishing and humbling.

And the award for Greatest Race Crew Ever goes to.........Mel and Jackson. I can't describe how thankful I was to have my wife and son join me at some of the aid stations to help out and give moral support. They drove some hideous dirt roads to meet me at Blubber Creek, mile 26. The high altitude and constant climbing had my stomach in knots. Thankfully once I slowed down a bit, my stomach caught up and I felt much better. I used Tailwind for my fuel, and other than the short bout with altitude sickness it worked great. Seeing my family during this low point gave me a much needed boost.

And the award for Best Pacer Who Was Actually Not A Pacer But A Runner goes to.........My Friend Jared. Along the way, Josh and Luke dropped off the back of our little train. Now it was just me and Jared. We weren't going tremendously fast but we were steady. I had this pesky knee that started bothering me around mile 20 but I was hopeful that it wouldn't be too much of a burden.

And the award for Pictures That Don't Do Justice To Completely Incredible Scenery goes to........My Pictures. Take the beauty of my pictures and multiply them by 847. Then you'll be getting close to how beautiful it was. This is around mile 30.

And the award for Most Frustrating Body Part goes to.........All the gray hair popping up on my head. And also my right knee starting around mile 20ish. The downhill sections were so steep and I could feel my knees taking the brunt of the shock, but I couldn't seem to do anything differently. Admittedly, I was nervous about how this would affect the race. I made sure to try and stay positive and not get frustrated with the things I couldn't control.

And the award for Person You Want With You When You're Struggling goes to........Jared. I was so thankful to be spending those miles with Jared. This was his first 100 miler and he didn't show the slightest sign of weakness. Jared took the lead and I don't think we were passed by another runner for 40+ miles. It meant so much to me that he helped guide me through some dark places (and I don't mean night time) when he could have gone ahead.

And the award for Best Example Of Optimism goes to........Ultrarunners. In our pressing forward we came across other runners who were going through some pretty dark places too. One of the reasons I love this sport is the grit and determination of these runners. When you see someone struggling and ask how they are doing, they will smile and say "Good." They're not lying. Despite those dark places, there is nowhere they would rather be. I. Love. This. Sport.

And the award for Most Inspirational Moment Of The Race goes to........Passing The Lady With One Leg. We neared the next aid station at mile 34. The knee, well, it wasn't good. I knew a 100 mile finish was in jeopardy. I was feeling frustrated and discouraged. And then when we got to the aid station there was a lady standing there with crutches cheering. And she only had one leg. It really touched me and I got emotional. I thought about how much she would love to be out running on that trail. My bum knee was nothing to whine about, and I was so amazingly blessed to be out running. It renewed my determination. I really wanted to finish the 100 miler for that lady.

And the award for Best Looking Tree goes to.........This Aspen. While we continued to soldier on.

And the award for Nobody Else I'd Rather See at Mile 39 goes to.........Mel and Jackson. I confided that things weren't looking great and that I might have to stop at 100k. From past races where I have pushed through hard things, Mel knew I would not come to this decision lightly. I was so thankful knowing that they would still love me no matter what choice I made.

And the award for Best Place To See A Sunset goes to........Pink Cliffs. We made it to the Pink Cliffs aid station at mile 45 right in time for an amazing sunset. My friend Jeff happened to be there. He helped me doctor my blistered feet (these were the worst blisters I've had but for some reason didn't hurt). He also supplied me with a big, delicious piece of fried chicken. Dear Sports Nutrition Products: I have your next gel or bar flavor!

I saw Mel and Jackson again at the 50 mile point and told them I had decided to drop at the 100k mark. With my knee feeling the way it did, it just wouldn't have been smart to keep going further than that. But that decision burned at me with every step I took. It felt like quitting and I'm not a quitter. I have always lived by the belief that I can do anything I put my mind to. And then to have this course beat me, I just didn't like that feeling. But facts is facts. A wise man once said "You've got to know when to hold 'em, and know when to fold 'em." I'm not a fan of folding 'em.

At mile 50 Jared was still feeling good and planned to go for 100m. Then at mile 52 we were on what I'll call The Never Ending Hill Of Death. Jared stopped. He hunched over. He started staggering. Jared reached his dark place. It came on fast and hit him hard. By the time we reached the top of The Never Ending Hill Of Death it was pitch black, cold, and insanely windy. And with that, Jared decided on the same fate. It was my turn to help guide and support Jared for the next handful of hours and help him like he helped me. We reached the 100k mark after 19 hours and our race was done.

And the award for Happiest Finish Line Moment goes to.........Eric Schranz completing his first 100. Saturday morning we went to the finish line to watch runners come in. Soon after we arrived I caught this finish with Eric from www.ultrarunnerpodcast.com. I enjoyed talking with him and his family after the race.

And the award for Coolest 100k Bling goes to.........This Cool Welded Metal Award. I gave it to Jackson to thank him for his help over the weekend.

I talked to lots of experienced runners who said this course was extremely difficult, much harder than they expected. Lots of people got some altitude sickness. Lots of people dropped out or dropped to the 100k. It makes those 100 mile finishers all the more impressive.

So......it's not exactly the outcome I hoped for. Even though in my heart I know it was the right decision to drop down, it still stings. And yet if you take out the whole knee issue, this was the greatest race ever! I got to run 62 miles around the most beautiful spot on earth. I had the support of my awesome family out on the course. I spent 62 miles with a great friend. I met amazing aid station volunteers. I was inspired by all the other runners I shared the trails with. I am a very lucky guy.

If you're interested, I made a video with my favorite pictures from the race. There are lots more that I didn't have space for in the race report. Here is a taste of that amazing experience at the Bryce 100.

Bryce 100 - Accomplished - Kind Of

So, over the weekend I ran the Bryce 100. Here is the Reader's Digest version, I'll write a full race report to put up tomorrow.

The scenery for this race.......wow. Completely indescribable.

My race started off in style. There were two options for transportation to the starting line: 1) Bus, or 2) The back of a U-Haul. Which did I take? Correct. The back of the U-Haul. With the door opened. Across miles of dusty road. We started the race with a hefty supply of lung butter. I'm blaming this on my less-than-stellar race performance. (Kidding.)

We didn't see any wildlife despite notice that bears, mountain lions, and rattlesnakes were possible running companions. I did see these tracks though. I'm no expert, is this from a bear or cougar?

This course was by FAR the most difficult race course I have ever set foot on. The elevation gain, relentless climbing and descending, and the altitude were insane in the membrane. I talked with lots of ultra veterans who said this was among the hardest they had ever run also. Views like the ones we enjoyed don't come easy.

Unfortunately I had a knee acting up and I couldn't seem to get it to cooperate. I tried threatening, compassion, babying, belittling, and bribery. Nothing worked. It started around mile 20. By mile 50 I knew that stubborn knee wouldn't be able to make it another 50 miles. After doing a handful of these long races, I'm starting to learn what can and can't be worked through. I knew I could make it to the 100k mark (around 62 miles) and with that, the Bryce 100 became the Bryce 100k. (With some cool bling.)

There were things that happened and things I saw that made this one of the best race experiences I've ever had. Let me collect some of those moments and I'll give you the whole scoop tomorrow.

My Last Will and Testament

The Bryce 100 is a mere two (no, not a typo) days away. Last night my kids offered to paint my toe nails so that I won't see if (when?) they turn black.

If by chance you'd like to follow my progress during the race, my sweet wife may be posting occasional updates on my Facebook page HERE. It starts Friday morning and ends Saturday evening.

This whole ultramarathon thing is all fun and games.......until someone gets their face clawed off! The race director Matt Gunn posted this picture from the course a few days ago. These are BEAR TRACKS. (Also not a typo. Bear.)

I don't anticipate dying from a bear attack during this run. There will be plenty of runners ahead of me to clear the bears out. But just in case, I would hate to perish without leaving all of you kind blog readers something personal. You'll just have to divide this stuff among yourselves.

I, Cory Reese, bequeath to you kind blog readers:

1) That box of pottery in the garage from my college ceramics class. (My wife will be SO happy that you're taking this off our hands.)

2) Anything you can find in our treat cupboard. Top shelf. Between you and me, there are a few bags of Cadbury Eggs up there.

3) If you're lucky, I think there may be some boondoggle key chains from my days as a young scout. And who doesn't love a good boondoggle key chain.

4) I'd offer our grass trimmer but that thing is such a piece of garbage that I'd have to pay you to take it.

5) My collection of CDs from high school. (Hope you like Boys II Men, Depeche Mode, and Hootie & The Blowfish.)

Please be respectful of each other. I don't want to be causing a lot of fighting for my stuff. That's not how I want to go out. (Dear bears, I taste like mushrooms and cauliflower and other yucky things. Don't eat me.)

My List Of Things That Are Awesome

This past week was a very low-key taper with the Whole Enchilada ("Whole Enchilada" is code word for 100 miler) coming up in a few days. In fact I only ran twice. The first was that 3+ hour run around Bryce Canyon. The second run was an easy 6 miler on Saturday. I learned that levitating pictures are hard!

I ran on a side route from the Jem Trail. I've ran here so many times that I think I could do these miles with my eyes closed, but I still love it every time.

Let me tell you something awesome: the Bryce 100 is coming up FOUR days! There is the option to do 100k (62 miles) but if things go okay, I'll be shooting for the 100 miles. The race is going to undoubtedly be awesome.

Would you like to know my list of other things that are awesome? (Spoiler alert: if you answered "no" you should click over to another website because I'm going to tell you in just a second.)

THINGS THAT ARE AWESOME
1) The Bryce 100 coming up in a few days
2) Obscenely fake Santas
3) When you get an eyelash out of your eye
4) The Five Second Rule
5) Laughing so hard you can't breathe
6) The smell of rain
7) Sneezing three times in a row
8) Electric blankets
9) Nacho Libre
10) High fives
11) The middle of a cinnamon roll
12) The sound of kids laughing when tickled
13) Naps
14) Scott Jurek
15) The sound of coil doorstops
16) Handlebar moustaches
17) The moonwalk
18) Hostess crumb donuts (Dear Hostess: We miss you.)
19) One time when I was young, we went to a cake auction to raise money for the scouts. Everyone brought a cake to sell. This kid in our neighborhood named Butch brought, to be blunt, the ugliest cake at the cake auction. I'm sure he felt bad when he saw all the other cool cakes. My dad bid the highest amount at the whole auction for Butch's cake. That was awesome.
20) A few nights ago the weather was so perfect that we brought our couch on the front lawn to hang out. It was the greatest of evenings.

Do you have anything you'd like to add to the list of Things That Are Awesome?

Bryce 100 Course Preview

A few days ago I was able to make a jaunt over to Bryce Canyon to check out some of the course for the Bryce 100 coming up in eight (gulp) days. My friend and I started at the 50 mile location - Crawford Pass. This little sign welcomed us. I was anxious to see what "Most Difficult" looked like. (Other things that are most difficult: only eating half of a donut, or listening to music by Celine Dion.)

Within a few minutes of running, bright red cliffs and hoodoos started showing up.

My partner in crime was Jared Thorley, my running companion for the Moab 50 miler and lots of other training runs. It was clear that RD Matt Gunn had spent plenty of time on the course clearing out deadfall.

What was so drastically different from the trails I usually run around Zion is that there was SHADE! Having some cover from the trees and doing a mountain run instead of a desert run was awesome.

Jared is sporting some pretty impressive face fur. (Admittedly, I'm jealous.) The Bryce 100 is his first 100 miler and he said his wife will be at the finish line waiting for him.......with a razor.

The single track everywhere we ran was pristine. I could tell that not too many people have ever traveled across these trails. I was madly in love with all this amazing scenery surrounding us.

There were some pretty good climbs along the way but the trail surface ideal. The Zion 100 has some really technical, really rocky trails with a grand daddy amount of really challenging slick rock. But at least for the miles we ran at Bryce, the trails were soft, compact dirt that were much less technical than Zion.

Some of the miles made me feel swallowed up by an expansive forest. Some miles had views of wide valleys in the distance. But my favorite miles led us around the base of just incredible red cliffs. I'm fairly confident that this is what heaven will look like.

I had been doing a bunch of driving and had also done a full day seminar for work the day before. This led to a bad combination of 1) Too much Diet Dr. Pepper and 2) Too little water. That dehydration caught up with me a few hours into the run when, despite an ideal 60ish degrees, I was sweating like Lance Armstrong at a drug test. I could not get enough water in me.

I kept thinking how among all the people I've run with, Jared most closely parallels my running style. He seems to want to talk at the times I'd like to. And he seems to have an inner sense of when it's best to shut up, suffer, and get through it. The only difference is that one of us looks like Grizzly Adams in running shorts.

The course has lots of low brush and I'm sure we'll all finish with our share of scratches on the legs. I don't own any, but if you have calf sleves this would be a good race to use them. There are also lots of little loose branches on the ground. I learned to not follow too closely behind the person in front of you. Otherwise you might get a case of BTLS (Branch Through Leg Syndrome).

To get some perspective of the wide expanses of the trail, here is the Where's Waldo Runners Edition:

I think the Bryce 100 is going to be an incredible race. If the miles I spent on the course are an indication of the race in general, we are in for a treat.