Devil's Mountain 50K

Pagosa Springs, CO

July 17, 2010

31.78 miles (garmin)

7:02:37 hours

13:18 min/mile pace

"Take a run through some of the most remote and pristine old growth forest in the United States. The climbs are great, topping out at just over 9,800' with more than 5,000' of vertical gain in the 50k and 8,300' of gain in the 50 mile." from race website.

This is my last 50K before Leadville and I wanted it to be a good training run. I have never run down here and picked this 50K because of it's location, timing, and fairly inexpensive registration fee. It also had elevation gain which I needed as well for training.

My original ride fell through; however, he was nice enough to give me a fellow runner's name who planned on running it and I was able to hook up with him and it worked perfectly. I was happy I did not have to drive the 5+ hours to Pagosa Springs nor drive on the way back.

We got to packet pick up just a little before they shut down at 8pm Friday night. A couple of wrong turns delayed us a bit; but nothing really to worry about. After picking up my packet, we headed across the street to the restaurant that the RD suggested. I had a great pasta dinner and we agreed to meet up at 6am to drive to the start about 30 minutes away.

I slept pretty well, only woke up once I believe and had already laid my clothes out for the race the night before. Unfortunately, I forgot to charge my Blackberry but thought I had enough charge in it to take pictures the next day. Wrongo sports fans, once at the start, I turned my Blackberry on to take a photo and nothing! It would even open the camera, so I quickly got rid of it so I would not have to carry dead weight with me.

The start was very low key, in the middle of a dirt road with 53 runners in the 50K and 6 for the 50 miler lined up. 7 am and the gun went off and we began our day long odyssey through the mountains.

I started towards the back of the pack in this race; I did not want to get sucked into running too fast as I did at the Dirty Thirty and really wanted to conserve in the beginning which I did rather well. I did not start passing people until about 4-6 miles in the race. During this time, one male runner passed me.

During this first third of the race, my goal was to play it cool and not run too fast. My goal for the next third was to run the race and the final third -- to survive to finish the race. Once I got into my groove, this philosophy worked perfect for me.

As I went through the first ten miles, I chatted with other female runners along the way - two were doing the 50 miler and the rest were 50Ker's like me. I met Christina from Arizona, Melissa from Virginia, and Lisa from New Mexico. I also chatted awhile with a male runner from Illinois. I couldn't believe how far some of these people came in a field so small.

I passed Christina and Lisa and continued on; however, I needed a potty break and stopped behind some trees. When I did, both ladies caught and passed me; however, this did not last too long as we hit a downhill stretch and I once again passed them. At the Dirty Thirty a month ago, this series of events would repeat itself over and over again; however, today, once passed, they stayed passed. Fortunately, I did not know this was going to be the case and kept pushing myself.

After coming out of the second aid station at around 11 miles, I saw two females ahead of me. By mile 15, I only had one female runner ahead of me and I wasn't sure I could catch her since she was pretty strong going up the mountain - not my strong point. However, we hit a flat stretch and I pulled in behind her before we headed up again. She asked if I wanted to pass and I declined seeing how well she tackled the previous uphill section. Once again, she pulled way ahead of me and, to my great relief, the 7 mile uphill section that aid station number two said was ahead, was only 5 miles uphill and then it ran along the top of the ridge before heading down the other side. It was as we crested that I passed her and that was it. I heard her behind me for awhile until I started downhill.

I came into the third aid station really strong and feeling great. I ate a couple of banana slices, had a tortilla with PB&J, and asked for a cup of ice to chomp on as I went. This was perfect. The next section was about 4 miles and I had plenty of gas at the 18 mile point left in the tank.

These next four miles though took you through an open meadow with the sun beginning to get hot in earnest and a cowpath to follow until the next bit of woods. Once in the woods, a three-way trail presented itself with no flags marking which way to go ... I stopped cold. Another runner was behind me and he caught up and we both were confused. I got out my directions to read and as I did, two runners came at us from the left. They said the course went that way. I asked are you sure? Yes, we saw two runners go that way. I was concerned since they were coming down the trail they just said was the proper way to go so I hiked up it a bit and saw numerous tracks so I continued on down the trail. I can only assume those runners were going to be good Samaritans and leave a marking for the runners behind us.

With less than a mile to go, I begin to hear whistling and noise. I mistook this for the next aid station. Oh no. I was running downhill right into a herd of cattle being driven up the mountain on the same trail. The cowboys - yes, real cowboys on horseback yelled at me to go back up the mountain. What?! I just came down the mountain! Go back up!! No! I'm in a race! Finally, with cows running in fear of me in the brambles off the trail, I decide to bushwhack around them and continue on down. I gave them a wide berth and as I went up the trail to do this, I hit those two runners again and told them to go around as well.

Finally! I find the trail again and proceed down to the 4th aid station. The volunteers here were great! Cold towels greeted me. Ice again! Sunscreen and bug spray! What a great bunch of volunteers. I grabbed some more bananas, asked for another cup of ice and wiped my face with a cold towel before they reapplied sunscreen. As I left, I asked, one more mountain right? Nope, not for the 50K (this was the break away point for the 50 milers - they turned left and we turned right). That was great news! I misread the map thinking I had another mountain to hike up.

Two to 2.5 miles to the next aid station, all downhill on fire roads. I ran the majority of this; however, it was completely out in the open and really, really hot by now (temperatures were in the high 80s to low 90s) and unfortunately left the cup of ice I asked for to cool me down. This is the first time I've done this and it worked great. I chomped on ice to get my core temperature down and I think it was a really good idea.

I came into the final aid station and got that cup of ice I left at the previous one. Six miles left and mostly downhill, one volunteer told me to enjoy it as I left. I would have enjoyed it so much more if I could have run more. However, by this time, I was really battling the heat and trying to not get overheated. I drank quite a bit and powerhike a significant portion until I felt under control then I began my run, powerhike, run system that works so well for me.

After about two miles, the three male runners who left the last aid station with me and pulled away came into view. They had separated from each other and I began the slow process of reeling them in, one by one. I was happy to note I was not the only one suffering the effects of the heat. And, I was really glad I ran with my camelback again!

I caught the first one with about 3 miles to go. The second one, pulled off the trail and I passed him. Then I hit what I knew was coming up -- the 500' elevation gain in the last two miles. Ouch. I had a really good pace up to the start of this climb and then that just fell away.

Once I finished climbing, it wasn't too long before the second runner I passed pulled alongside. I commented on how fast his powerhiking was and he said something similar. I stated that last climb just took it out of me and he said he would run but didn't think he could go any faster. We powerhiked together until a significant downhill portion came in sight and I said let's run this. He groaned and creaked but picked it up and ran alongside. As soon as it flattened out I told him I was going to walk and he continued up to catch the last of the three runners now in front of us.

At this point, I thought it was all over, I would not catch either of them again. I was also concerned that some of the female runners I passed in the first half of the race would retake me as they did in the Dirty Thirty. Four, I believe passed me in the last five miles of that race. I looked over my shoulder a couple of times when there were long stretches behind me; but no one was in sight. This did not keep me from running scared though!

As we continued, and as I continued powerhiking and throwing some running in here and there, I caught them both walking together. The last runner and I left the second and here in the last mile, we played tagged until the finish was in sight and I told him to just go on and he did. I rounded the last bend, saw the finish proper and gave it what I had left.

After I crossed the finish line - 7 hours 2 minutes and 37 seconds - I looked for Scott, found him and compared notes. It took me about 20 minutes to recover from the heat and we left not long after that and headed back to our hotels and a nice shower with plans to meet up for the post-race party. My feet hurt; but other than that, nothing pulled, no strains, no falls and no sunburn or chafing this time. I had plenty of food with me (good thing since the first two aid stations had none), drank more than I ever had, peed three times and had no stomach troubles at all. Not even after the race this time.

After dinner, we hit the Pagosa Springs Brew Pub and sat in the beer garden under a gorgeous Colorado night with all the other runners and chatted with those at our table. The RD began the awards ceremony and low and behold .... I came in first in my age group!! Wow!! Icing on the cake for a good ultra! This is the first time I've come in first in my age group -- I've been 4th, 6th, 3rd, and even one 2nd (Collegiate Peaks 50 miler); but never first! I was also the 5th overall female runner to come in and 21st or 22nd overall ... yeehaw!

One of the runners I passed along the way said wasn't it beautiful scenery. Scenery?! I couldn't take my eyes off the trail most of the time because it wasn't real single track -- it was a cow path barely discernible amongst the shoulder and head high weeds (I'm sorry, flora and fauna) overtaking it. When the view did open up, the path was rocky, full of roots and still needed a lot of attention. The only time I felt comfortable taking my eyes of the "trail" was between miles 22 and 24.5 on the gravel road. Would I do this one again ... yes, if it started at least an hour earlier and the cows did not eat the ribbons and the cowboys could refrain from driving their cows just for the morning! The RD was great, the volunteers fantastic, the shwag original, and the atmosphere laid back and inviting.