Wasatch 100 2013 race report

This years Wasatch 100 lived up to the name of 100 Miles of Heaven and Hell.  312 participant toed the line @ 5am on Friday morning and 207 made it to the end.  Nearly 1/3 of the field ended up dropping due to extreme heat and the shear brutality of this very challenging course.  As for me, I made it but it wasn't pretty but I got it done. This is my story.

Pre Race Photo Credit: Lori Burlison

5am and 75 degrees is not how a cool early autumn morning is supposed to start.  But that's exactly what we had.  I knew I would need to stay on top of keeping hydrated and take measures to keep my core temperature down.  The first section to Francis Peak was pretty uneventful.  I had a good time chatting with the people around me and made it a point to keep moving at a methodical pace.

Upon arrival at the Francis Peak aid station I grabbed my drop bag, topped off my water, drank an Ensure, grabbed a fresh flask of Perpetuem and was on my way.  Many thanks to the great people at the aid station who had pulled my drop bag for me and handed it to me as I entered the aid station.

Things are good. I'm enjoying the scenery, listening to my iPod, walking the hills and running the flats/downhills.  I find myself entering an area that was very familiar to me and began to take pride in the section I did trail work on.  This section of trail is about 3 miles from the Bountiful B aid station and has been known historically for being overgrown with poor trail conditions.

Now this section is some pretty sweet single track trail which has been renamed Ryan's ridge due to my friend Ryan Lauck's countless man hours and coordination of trail work groups to improve this part of the course.  There are some pretty steep climbs through this area but all are relatively short and before I knew it I was being greeted by a lemon scented towel at the Bountiful B aid station.

I refilled my water, grabbed some ice for my bandanna, procured a popsicle and was on my way.  It was already beginning to get hot but keeping ice on the back of my neck was helping keep me cool and relatively comfortable.

At this point, I'm 25 or so miles in and feeling good.  No fatigue, keeping hydrated, eating, no stomach issues, all is well.  I pull into Sessions Liftoff aid station and am greeted by my friend Kelly Agnew and his wife Jo.  Kelly immediately takes my pack and gets it refilled with water while I feast on watermelon and bananas.  A few thank yous's to the friendly aid station people and some friends I ran into and I was on my way.

Feeling pretty good at Sessions Aid Station
photo credit: Kelly Agnew

This next section is very exposed, the temps continue to rise and I start to enter my first low point of the race.  Nausea comes over me and I feel like everything was going to come up.  I slowed down a bit and about a mile out of the aid station was walking.  I made it a point to get some salt on board and keep drinking.  Dehydration was the last thing I wanted to deal with and would surely take me out of the race.  

I made it to Swallow Rocks, it was hot and I just wanted to get out of there.  My pack was refilled with water while I took advantage of some watermelon and ice water and I was out.  I seemed to get a second wind coming out of this aid station and was looking forward to getting to Big Mountain where I could pick up my first pacer.

I cruised along and was relieved to hear cowbells and cheering as I approached the top of the switchbacks that wind down to Big Mountain.  Upon arrival at Big Mountain my pacer Dan Frey had pulled my drop bag, took my pack, refilled my water, and re-stocked my food (rice bars, peanuts, Perpetuem).  I took advantage of this time by eating a turkey sandwich, drinking ice water and adding ice to my bandanna.

I was now just over 40 miles into the race and headed toward Alexander Ridge.  The heat was now beginning to peak and it was very evident that it was taking it's toll on the field.  There had been several drops at Big Mountain throughout the day and many who were staggering along in survival mode.  This section was largely exposed and about a mile out of the Alexander Ridge aid station I ran out of water.  I had consumed 70 ounces of water over the 5 mile section from Big Mountain to Alexander.

My Big Mountain to Lambs pacer - Dan Frey

My pacer Dan and I got our packs filled and headed out.  FINALLY, the sun began to go down, it cooled off a bit and we even got a few raindrops.  The section from Alexander to Lambs felt like we were heading up the canyon for seemingly ever.  I was wondering if we were going to pop out at Kimball Junction in Park City.  Finally, we made a right had turn and made our way over to Lamb's aid station.

Lambs Arrival

My three daughters Left, Mom and daughter top right, Daughter and her friend bottom right

A few family members who greeted me at Lambs

I was very surprised to see so many friends and family cheering me on as I entered the Lambs Canyon aid station.  My wife and 3 daughters were joined by my sister who had come in from Las Vegas with her husband and son, my brother, his wife, my mom, my brother in law...

Immediately upon arrival I was weighed (down 4 pounds) and sat down for some food and drink.  A special thank you to Britta Trepp and Nic Francis who helped put my bag together and get me converted into dry clean clothes.  Dan's duties were now complete and it was time to pick up pacer #2 Jeremy Achter.

Jeremy and I headed up the road toward the steep climb up over Lambs trail and down into Millcreek Canyon.  By now I had picked up a pair of poles and found them helpful in keeping up a methodical pace toward the summit.  Once we got to the top we jogged our way down the switchbacks to elbow fork and was greeted by my friends BJ Burlison & Lori Burlison.

Me, Jeremy & BJ at elbow fork
Photo Credit: Lori Burlison

Now Jeremy and I were on a 3 mile paved section that led to Upper Big Water aid station.  We arrived at the aid station and for the first time since the race started it actually felt chilly.  We're now 61 miles in. I filled up on water, ate a grilled cheese sandwich and headed out.  Next stop, desolation lake.  This is one of my favorite sections of the course when you can see it.  It was pitch black outside without even a hint of moonlight so on we trudged by light of headlamp.

Things were still going very well at this point.  I was tired and somewhat fatigued but overall feeling very good for being on my feet for 18 hours straight and 60 plus miles.  I had noticed what felt like gravel in my sock but didn't think much of it.  Small pebbles and debris getting in shoes is just part of the game.  We made it to Desolation Lake and ate soup.  I made a point to stay away from the fire as I didn't want to get lured into hanging out and wasting time.

We got out of Desolation Lake pretty quickly and began the climb up over Red Lovers ridge and headed toward Scott's Pass.  About 2 miles out of Scott's pass I decided to address what I thought was gravel in my right shoe.  I pulled off my shoe and sock and was confused when I could find any foreign objects in my shoe.  Upon closer inspection I noticed that what I had actually been feeling this whole time was a blister on the ball of my foot.

I had a Lidocaine patch in my pack that I though might help numb the pain a bit and work my way over to Scott's pass.  I arrived at the aid station and immediately asked if there was anyone who could treat a blister. We peeled off my shoe and sock and discovered the blister was far worse than I had originally thought.  It had grown to about the size of a silver dollar and cover pretty much the entire ball of my foot.

We began the process of trying to drain the blister by poking several pin holes in it and applying pressure.  I lost a lot of time in this aid station and finally decided to get put back together and hobble my way to Brighton.  About a mile out of Scotts Pass a kind lady who could clearly see I was struggling and in pain offered me a Percocet.  I gladly accepted the narcotic pain medication and within about 20 minutes the pain had subsided enough to allow Jeremy and I to trot our way down the pavement and make our way to Brighton.

I pulled into Brighton with one thing on my mind...DROP.  The pain in my foot was horrible and I couldn't imagine taking on 25 of the toughest miles of the course in this condition.  I got into Brighton walked straight to the back room and asked for help.  I was immediately placed on a table and being cared for.  As luck would have it, Alicia a friend of mine who is also a nurse was in the back and began trying to drain this enormous blister.

The Blister...the entire ball of my foot
photo credit: Corey Vigil

After cleaning up my foot, draining the blister and getting it all bandaged up we decided it was time to head out.  I walked out the door took about three steps and immediately walked back in.  I couldn't apply pressure to my foot without considerable pain.  I was now convinced I was going to drop.  It just wasn't meant to be on my first attempt at the Wasatch 100.

I came back in and the work began again, this time Alicia had a wound care nurse look at it and work on it a bit also.  Additionally, we decided to elevate my foot for a while and while this was all happening my Pacer Corey Vigil and Alicia allowed mu to doze off for a few minutes.  In all, I had lost about 2 1/2 hours working on this blister and it was now past 6am.  If I was going to have any chance of finishing I needed to get moving.

Somehow I was pushed out the door of Brighton and heading toward Catherine's pass.  Alicia kept sharing stories of how she dropped from the race last year and it has haunted her all year.  I was assured by all the medical staff at Brighton that it would be very painful to keep going but no additional or permanent damage would be done to my foot.  With that bit of cheery news, I began to just take it step by painful step.

I don't recall much of the final 25 miles other than being completely miserable and just wishing this whole thing was over with.  My apologies go out to my pacer Corey Vigil.  I don't think I complained all that much but I also didn't talk and pretty much completely retreated to my iPod hoping the distraction of listening to music might ease the pain a bit.  I do recall feeling agonizing pain on every single step I took and probably did a lot of groaning.

With all that said I still took time to appreciate the view of Mt. Timpanogas, Catherine lake and other incredibly beautiful sections along the way.  I was moving slow but steady and was sending my pack ahead with my pacer when we got close to aid stations.  That way I could arrive at the aid station and immediately get right back out.  At this point I am still fueling with Perpetuem, dry roasted peanuts and chunks of rice bars that I had pre-packed into snack size baggies.

The 7 sisters of Babylon weren't to bad, the plunge and dive section was miserable and seemed like it would never end.  Finally we made it back to the junction and began our descent to Pot Bottom with a quick fill up at the spring.  I blew through Pot Bottom and could finally feel like this great run turned nightmare was about over.  One more dirt road hill to climb and the course was pretty much downhill from there.  About 3 miles from the finish it was fun to see my nephew Brady Guzman had hiked up the dirt road and greeted to for the trek to the finish line.

About a mile from the finish Luke Nelson (one of the top ranked ultra trail runners in the world) ran up the road to congratulate me and made a comment about being, "The grit of our sport."  I thought it was a nice gesture and later sent him a note thanking him.  The note went like this:

Me: Hey Luke, I just want to say Thank You.  You ran down the road as I was wrapping up my 1st Wasatch 100 and greeted me with a comment about being the grit of our sport (I finished 35:29).  It's people like you that make ultra trail running great.

Luke's response:  Hell yeah Curtis!  I am so very inspired and humble by YOU!  It's exciting to see runners go fast, but they have nothing on the runners who keep going regardless of how long or how hard it is.  Tough as nails!!!  So stoked you finished and thank you for being an inspiration to me! Next time we cross paths make sure we shake hands.

Thank you to my family who supported me throughout this event and all the preparation and training it took to prepare for this event.  Thanks to my pacers and thank you to all the aid station help you were all great!

Done! photo credit: Dan Frey