rest day (for some)

 On Friday, all three of us went up to Sand Flats for a quick 2.27 mile Practice Loop loop.  Milton loves it up there and covers a lot of ground: he can run way out but, because of the terrain (sandstone domes) he can keep an eye on us.  It was a gorgeous morning and we were early enough that it was really just starting to get busy as we were finishing up.  The campground seemed pretty full, at least the first couple of site groups.

Sandflats selfie

Then, after H fixed A's flat tire, H and A did a 23 mile road ride, with a pause on the way back to watch the start of the Moab 240: 240 miles, most of them trails, on foot, in under 117 hours across some of the Moab area's gnarliest terrain.  We chatted with some racers and spectators at the start and then cheered the racers on as they started.  With GPS and social media, it was very easy to follow the racers' progress, even as they were in such remote locations.  So we picked five racers - our Dutch buddy from the Moab Rim parking lot and four women (one we talked with, two we stood next to and one we had seen running on the bike path earlier in the week) - to follow, in addition to the two men's leaders and the two women's leaders.  We must have picked well because four out of our five selected runners finished and, strangely enough, those four spent most of the event within a couple of miles of each other.  The men's winner - Max Jolliffe finished in 69 hours 22 minutes; the final finisher came in just under the 117 hour cutoff.  It is amazing what humans can do.

And they're off!

We, however, figured we had done enough with our 25.27 mile day (23 on wheels), and later that afternoon, picked up our friend Chris on our way over to Woody's for beers.  It really is amazing what humans can do.

We bought a sticker.  We like the fox.

not even half a marathon

A wanted to do at least one longer hike, so Tuesday was the Hidden Valley/Moab Rim loop with Milton (10.1 miles; 3:42 moving time with 18 minutes of stoppage).  There were no coyote sightings along Pipedream this time - no sightings of anyone or anything at all, except a rabbit or two.  It's been several months since we've been to the Hidden Valley trail head and when we got there after finishing the Pipedream stretch, we could see that it had gotten hammered again by the August floods.  The drainage that had washed out a couple of years ago had washed out again in the same place, cutting a deeper channel across the trail.

Huge washout

We didn't see anyone or anything in Hidden Valley or once we crossed over the pass to the jeep trails.  The day was bright and I made Milton wear his white t-shirt (now really more dirt-colored than white) to try to keep some of the sun off.  It was warm - all week was highs in the low 80s and overnight lows in the low 50s - but not too hot, and he even found one pothole still with some clean water to wade in.  We texted H from the top of the final descent and when we'd gotten down, past the jeeps and side-by-sides heading up the Moab Rim trail, he was there waiting for us with snacks and beverages.

Nearing the top of the HV climb

During our parking lot sojourn, we talked for a while with Roel, a Dutch runner who was scouting out portions of the upcoming Moab 240.  He seemed psyched about it, in a good head space, and more concerned about nutrition than the distance (240 miles), the elevation gain/loss (+31,000 feet) or the sleep deprivation.  We got his bib number to keep track of him.

In other activities, H finished his "recovery" period and did a 25 mile road ride (1:24 hours) on the bike path whilst A and M were hiking.  And the afternoon and evening were spent at home, reading and hanging out with our neighbor.

Town deer

marathon man

 For our vacation, we left a little early on Friday afternoon, to get down to Moab in time for H to pick up his race packet.  Because on day 1 of vacation, H ran a trail marathon.  Let us pause to appreciate that.

Pre race (note Milton 

making new friends)

It was his first trail race and his first marathon: the Mad Moose Events Arches Marathon and Half.  There were actually four possible distances: 50K, the marathon, the half-marathon and a 15K, with about 650 total racers and 100 marathoners specifically.  The well-run event took place out on BLM land in the area known as "Behind the Rocks," starting and finishing in a pretty valley that we'd never been to before.  The road in/out was rough, although 2WD cars could make it.  It was super cool back in there and we would like to go back some time to explore/camp/hike. But not until we have a younger truck that will handle that road better.

Heading out

On Saturday morning, we three got there early - before the sun came up - and although the race organizers offered a 6:30 start to the longer distance runners, so they could maybe get ahead of the heat of the day, H decided to stick to his planned-upon 7 a.m. start.  Which was a good idea since the sun didn't come up until after 7 and the rocky trail would have been treacherous in the dark for anyone without a headlamp.  He was hoping for a 6.5 hour finish, which would get him back around 1:30 p.m. 

Mid-race photo 

A and Milton watched H take off, and then stuck around to watch several of the later starts.  Around 8:30, we did some hiking: up along the cliff behind the start/finish line and then, after all the runners had left, out and back on the first hill of the race course.  That was a long hill!  And a heck of a way to start a race.

Overhead

At 11, we got snacks and then hung around the finish line, talking with finished racers (including a woman from Wiscasset, Maine - the next town over from where A grew up!).  Around noon, A had a feeling to start watching the finishers come in ... and THERE WAS H, finishing well ahead of schedule at 5 hours 9 minutes and 19 seconds!!!!!!!

Almost done

We were so proud of him!!! He reported that the course was really sandy (which had been confirmed by all the runners A had talked to earlier) and had way more elevation gain than he'd trained for.  His hips and calves were stiff, and his stomach was a bit upset from all the sloshing around for 26 miles.  But overall H felt pretty good and recovered quickly enough for us to walk to Woody's for a celebratory beer in the early evening.  Walking over was a good idea too as it helped loosen his legs up.

Race results: H won his age group and was 14th out of 100 for the marathon.  He hasn't gone right out and signed up for another one yet, but he was very pleased with his achievement.  Damn right!!!