Dan Stumpus | Bob Metzger

Editor's Note: Dan undersells himself here—he really is a hilarious guy who just happens to part his hair on the left and listen to Prince on his way home from training runs. But in the interest of fair and balanced race reportage [a useful French word] he's just given us the the facts, ma'am.

Dan Stumpus: "My Non-hilarious BP50k report"

Just in case the Nobel Literature Prize web-site doesn't have this up yet, you are granted permission to use or toss this (yet another) bp50k report as you see fit.

I wrote it to entice the non-trail runner, and posted to the rec.running group.

I'm still debating with myself as to whether I want to run (how many miles is it from Chantry?) from 1 to 5 am with Stu...maybe if I dally long enough Dean will volunteer. I'd certainly get the runner's eye view of the night of the long knives, though...Also, having never paced a hunnert, I'll need etiquette lessons....should the runner puke on the left or right?

This little 50k was rated in 1992 as the toughest in the US, and it's my favorite. It has extreme altitude changes (11,000 feet of climb), nasty
trail, runnable trail, scree bowls, and wonderful views, since the top of the course is almost 10,000' above the urban basin to the south.
I thought I'd have to pass on it, due to a sprained ankle, but I was able to get a bit of quality training in, so what the heck. I entered at the last
minute knowing I wasn't in top shape, which is a good attitude to have on this baby.

At the start, Luis Escobar blasted off like a sprinter, and I struggled to keep up for a few steps. I'm used to gradual starts in ultras, and his
track start took me by surprise and disoriented me, and I instinctively kicked it in, thinking I was 20 years younger, and promptly strained my
right hamstring. Ok....time to back off a bit on the first 1.5 miles of downhill to the climb.

The first climb is about 6000' in 6 miles. The last few times here I'd run about 40% of the climb, but this time I vowed to hike nearly all of it. To
counteract my insane competitiveness, I repeated the phrase "if someone comes up on you, let them by. Don't race them". It was quite enjoyable, actually. My pulse was about 140-145 all the way up. (73%) I ran it much easier than I do my training runs up here. I chatted with everyone I saw,
including Julie Arter the women's champ, who passed me at 3.5 miles and would finish 25 minutes ahead of me. One guy who came up on me, but did not
pass, had finished 7th in the Atlanta Marathon in 2:24, but was out of shape and racing the first time in years.

There is a 20 minute section of really tough trail on the first climb at about 8500', some of it so steep that it's hard to keep from sliding
backward, but the bright sunlight on the granite and the gnarled pine tree shadows were my antidote. Mercifully, at about 9500', the grade becomes
moderate and the trail runnable. We ran along a few amazing ridges with thousands of feet of drop off. Finally, after a longish jaunt across a
scree bowl, I saw the 10,000' peak, and hiked up the last pitch. I was in 14th place, where I would finish, and we were at 8 miles. I was about 10
minutes slower than last year to this point--but I felt...good for a change. And a bit guilty at taking it relatively easy, but there was a *lot* more to
come.

The route down the mountain is varied technical stuff -- the descent is about 800'/mile on average, with a couple of sections much steeper than
that. There are slippery switchbacks, lots of pointy rocks embedded in the trail, daring you not to trip, and there's a bit of rock-hopping. A lot of
the three mile descent has really exhilirating drop-offs, thousands of feet. My favorite part is traversing a small scree bowl that goes down at a 40
degree slope for quite a ways. The path is barely a foot wide. Then there's the nasty, rotten, steep 60 foot descent where Anne Langstaff (2nd
woman) and I just slowly walked down. Falling here is not an option. Last year, I was behind Pinenut Kiner here, and the guy RAN down this like he was
a teenager descending a staircase. He would come in 2nd today, far ahead of me.

I can't really get much of a workout in this part of the descent, it's a matter of focusing on each step and getting through it in one piece.
After 3 miles of this tech trek, we get almost 5 miles of fast fireroad at 500'/mile grade. Ann and I ran this at a bit under 7:00 pace. With a
couple of miles to go, she accelerated a bit, and I decided to let her go. We were only at mile 14, and there was the harder, second ascent of Baldy to
come. She gained a minute or two, which she would keep until the final miles.

Down in the thick air at 16 miles and 6,000 feet, I tanked up with some help from my great wife. I munched on little squares of barbeque chicken pizza.
My hydration plan was to drink 40 oz/hour and take about 10 Succeed (salt) capsules (about one per bottle). Last year I lost 9 lbs, and cramped up in
the last 8 miles. I did the math and drank like a sink this time. Would I be ok to the end?

The second ascent to the peak is only about 4 miles, with the usual 1000'/mile grade, but this would take me nearly two hours (30
minutes/mile!). The winner did this section at a torrid 25 minutes per mile, just ripping that mountain up.

It was getting hot. The first 1 3/4 mile is tough and seems endless, but at least there's an aid station where the volunteers trekked up many gallons of
water for the parched runners. The next 2 1/4 miles to the summit are the toughest in the race. And there's nothing but rocks at the top. You're
climbing up over roots straight up the fall line where no one in his right mind would put a trail. Then you're struggling to keep from sliding
backward. Each step is a major effort. Then you're climbing over boulders. And what run would be complete without several places where you wonder
"where did the *%$&! trail go?".

I climbed this section (I can't say "ran" in good conscience) with a very fit guy who ran a 150 mile week two weeks before this race. I told him my
plan was to take it as easy as I could, because there was 9 miles of downhill to the finish after this summit, and you need your legs to be as
fresh as possible. He decided to hang with me for 6 miles or so, and we chatted up a storm.

I felt stronger coming down the mountain the second time than I did on the first descent, something I've never experienced on this course. Down at
7800', there's an aid station where I had a couple cups of iced water poured over my head -- that feels so good when it's 80+ degrees. Then we have a
little 750 foot climb in 1.5 miles, the last climb in the race. The two of us alternately jogged and walked the ascent, kind of like doing intervals,
except we stopped when our legs were about to burn.

Finally, we peaked out and started the long 8 mile descent to the finish. My friend picked up speed, and would finish 3 minutes ahead of me. I held
to my plan of not racing anyone -- for the time being.

By this time, about 6:40 into the race, my quads were a bit tweaked, with the kind of soreness you get after you've run too much downhill the day
before. So I cruised down at a mild pace for me, a bit under 8:00/mile. I breezed past the aid station and focused on the last 2.5 miles, on the hot
paved road. By this time I was down at 6,000 feet, and it was over 90, hotter on the blacktop. I picked it up to a bit over 7:00/mile pace and
started pushing for the first time in the race. Up ahead, I saw Anne Langstaff, who'd gone ahead of me at mile 14. I knew I would catch her. I
picked up the pace another notch, and kept it there until the finish. Naturally, they threw in a 300 yard steep climb at the end of the race, and
it was in a canyon that was *really* hot. It felt like 100+. I charged up the hill totally spent, caught my breath for a bit, and checked my pulse:
180. Ok, I got my money's worth!

My final time was 7:30, 14th overall, first in the non-existant 50+ age group, (although there were a couple of really fast 49 year olds, dammit!) I lost about 5 lbs, despite drinking 40 oz of cytomax and clip per hour! I don't know if my poor system can process liquid much faster than that...

If any of you are looking for a tough challenge, look it up next summer.--