Last weekend I found myself power-hiking up a mountain at 6am...in the dark...chasing some very fast women. There's a trail running group here in the valley, Wasatch Mountain Wranglers. As with most outdoor groups in Utah, it's not made up of your average Joes/Janes. I interviewed 12 of the members for a freelance article I recently wrote- one 65 year old man has finished the Hardrock 100 mile run...7 times! This is a 100-mile foot race in the San Juan Mountains with 34,000 feet of climbing all at an average elevation of 11,000 feet. If the climbing and elevation weren't scary enough, the race consistently serves up lightning storms. With most of the race above tree line that lightning is headed right at ya. There was also Drew, an ultrarunning newb who ran collegiately. His first ultra race was the Wasatch 100, with 26,000 feet of climbing. The majority of runners finish the race between 30 and 36 hours. Drew finished in just over 23 hours.
So when one of the members announced a ladies-only trail run, it was with a lot of trepidation that I agreed to go. The organizer has the FKT (fastest known time) for running the entire White Rime Trail in the Moab area. She owns two course records at local ultra races, and has made a couple honest attempts at a crazy challenge in UT called the WURL (Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Link Up). The challenge is only about 30 miles with ~21,000 feet of elevation gain, BUT, involves bagging 20+ peaks and technical climbing up to a 5.7 classification. I was scared silly to go on a run with people this crazy!
Dr. Hottie & I both woke up at 4:30am. Me, for a running adventure, him- for work. Over breakfast I confessed to him, "I don't know if I'm going to go." He responded with an oh-so-loving, "Just go- stop being a pansy!" Well if your husband calling you a pansy doesn't get you out the door...
In the end, tackling a mountain run with 8 very fast women was just what the doctor ordered. The trail running community here is one that I'm quickly learning to respect and admire- bonding over a love for the trail and intense curiosity in expanding our ability to suffer far outweighs any talk about place or times. It's about the adventure and the escape the mountains afford us. And...I love a good wake-up call every now and again that humbles me.
Hopefully next time, I won't feel like chucking up my muesli on the way to my next group run.
**pictures below from my and Dr.Hottie's latest fall run.**
So when one of the members announced a ladies-only trail run, it was with a lot of trepidation that I agreed to go. The organizer has the FKT (fastest known time) for running the entire White Rime Trail in the Moab area. She owns two course records at local ultra races, and has made a couple honest attempts at a crazy challenge in UT called the WURL (Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Link Up). The challenge is only about 30 miles with ~21,000 feet of elevation gain, BUT, involves bagging 20+ peaks and technical climbing up to a 5.7 classification. I was scared silly to go on a run with people this crazy!
Dr. Hottie & I both woke up at 4:30am. Me, for a running adventure, him- for work. Over breakfast I confessed to him, "I don't know if I'm going to go." He responded with an oh-so-loving, "Just go- stop being a pansy!" Well if your husband calling you a pansy doesn't get you out the door...
In the end, tackling a mountain run with 8 very fast women was just what the doctor ordered. The trail running community here is one that I'm quickly learning to respect and admire- bonding over a love for the trail and intense curiosity in expanding our ability to suffer far outweighs any talk about place or times. It's about the adventure and the escape the mountains afford us. And...I love a good wake-up call every now and again that humbles me.
Hopefully next time, I won't feel like chucking up my muesli on the way to my next group run.
**pictures below from my and Dr.Hottie's latest fall run.**