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| Photo by Jim Porter (www.jimporterphoto.com) |
Return to the AZT
Three years ago Emaad and I ran the Colossal Vail 50/50 50 mile race. We returned in 2022 for the 55K on December 10. The entire course is a double out and back on the Arizona Trail, and the 55K is the southbound part of the course, so we know what to expect. The only difference is that the race has moved from November to December and the temperature at the start promises to be chilly.
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| Visiting the Desert Museum with Cathy |
Eco-tourism
The day before the race we meet up with Arizona friend Cathy, who is an avid gardener and runner at the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. She gives us an enthusiastic tour of the outdoor facility where we can view not only desert plants, but many of the animals who inhabit the Sonoran Desert, which stretches to the Gulf of California. The museum also tells how the Tucson area was once home to grasslands watered by riparian waterways, but the arrival of settlers with overgrazing cattle and water diverting plans led to the spread of desert plants in place of the grasslands. Cathy runs the half marathon at Colossal Vail, but because that race starts well after ours we do not see her. She finishes second in her age group even while stopping to take pictures along the way.
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| At the start. |
I sleep fitfully the night before. I continually worry about being able to make the final cutoff at the final aid station. Also, I worry about the temperature swing. Will I dress for the cold and then regret it as the weather warms up?
Start
We arrive at the start in plenty of time to see the four dozen or so 50-milers take off 15 minutes ahead of us. Then it is our turn and we are off. I've dressed for the cold - two long sleeve shirts, gloves, hat, buff and tights. The race starts with a long climb of about 300 feet that helps string out the approximately 80 entrants.
Cresting the ridge we head downhill. After about a mile Emaad takes off. I don't try to follow. I chat with some other runners, including a 50 miler who has dropped down to the 55K because he has a holiday party to attend later.
Soon enough I'm pretty much running alone. I take a gentle fall and land pretty much unscathed. Further good fortune, there are no cacti where I land, especially the dreaded cholla, or jumping, cactus. I'm up and underway in no time.
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| Saguaros on the course. |
We pass under the railroad trestle over Davidson Canyon and then descend into the canyon itself. There had been rain the previous week, and the creek has water in it that requires some judicious stepping to keep feet dry. I only partially succeed and manage to wet one foot. And the water has a certain fragrance that reminds me that there are probably cattle grazing somewhere upstream.
Gabe Zimmerman Aid Station
A slight climb leads out of the canyon and to the first aid station at mile 4.9. The aid station is located at the Gabe Zimmerman Trailhead, named for Gabe Zimmerman, the community outreach director for Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He was one of six people killed on January 8, 2011, when a gunman shot the Congresswoman and 18 other persons outside a Tucson Safeway at a “Congress on your Corner” event. He liked to hike, run and mountain bike in the Tucson mountains and contributed to the completion of the Arizona Trail and his father and friends helped get him memorialized in a place he loved to visit.
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| The tunnel under I-10. |
Southward
In about a mile and a half we go through the snake tunnel under I-10. The course rolls a bit as it heads south and then southwest, crossing the Old Sonoita Highway and then in a bit crossing under Highway 83.
By now we have left the range of the majestic saguaro cacti and have only lower varieties to see.
Time for a Change
Reaching the Sahuarita Road Aid Station (mile 11) manned by superheroes ("We were going with a Marvel theme," I'm told, "but then Mrs. Incredible came, so we went superhero."). I sit down and get my drop bag. It has warmed up enough (frankly, warm enough at Gabe Z AS) to switch my two long sleeve shirts for a fresh one, get rid of my hat, gloves and buff, change the (one) wet socks and try to stay modestly covered while I take off my shorts and tights. A towel helps. I note a scape on my knee from my fall and get a alcohol wipe to clean it. I joke that I fear contracting necrotizing fasciitis, but decline to offer of a band aid.
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| Gate on the trail. |
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| Follow the AZT! |
And It is Officially a Trail Race
Going onward, I monentarily lose the trail. But having been here three years previously I realize that the jeep road I'm about to go on is not the AZT, backtrack ten yards and pick up the turn I had missed. Since "it isn't a trail race unless you fall down or get lost'" I have now checked both boxes. And I still have another 20 miles or so to go.
The course climbs another 500 feet or as it heads to the ridge crest before dropping down to the Peaks View Aid Station (mile 17). About a mile from the aid station I meet Emaad coming toward me. We exchange greetings and he tells me that only only about 20 minutes behind him. Thinking about it I recalculate what he said and figure he meant I'm 20 minutes from the aid station, or 40 minutes behind.
Turn-around
After using the primitive facilities at the aid station (imagine a child's potty chair surrounded on three sides by a blue tarp flapping in a breeze) I head north. Although I had applied sunscreen at mile 11 I regret not having grabbed a cap. The sun is getting warm.
After topping the crest, I enjoy the opportunity to run the long and mostly gentle, mostly rock-free downhill. I feel like I'm making good time.
I spend a lot of time walking during ultras. My GPS will say that I walked half the time during this race. I walk the uphills, I mostly walk rocky or rooty sections, and I walk steep downhills. And I walk if I feel tired. So a chance to run for a seemingly long stretch is uplifting.
Back at Sahuarita Road Aid Station (mile 23.6), I change shirts again, this time putting on a short sleeve shirt and remembering to take a cap. I chat a bit with a runner who has dropped out due to a hip injury and another runner, who I had passed just before the aid station comes in and announces that he, too, is dropping out.
Facing the Cut-off
I had prepared a pace card so I knew what times I needed to keep up to make the cut off at Gabe Z in-bound. But I had lost it, and would have to rely on being able to calculate time and distance, something ultrarunners know is difficult to do on a tired brain. I had a back of the envelope calculation that I was in good shape, but one is never certain. A fall, a rolled ankle or a wrong turn can lead to failure.
I go on and after a bit can see I-10. Cross under it and Gabe Z is only a mile and a half away. But it never seems to get closer. Maybe I'm looking at it on the diagonal. Maybe the trail is veering at an angle. But finally the trail drops down to the tunnel and I'm through. A glance a the watch shows that time is not a problem.
In the distance I can see another runner. Sometimes I seem to be getting closer, but just a soon she pulls away. The final stretch to the aid station (mile 29.8) seems to take forever but I arrive there with plenty of time to spare. I plunk down in a chair while the helpful aid station workers (dinosaur theme at this aid station) refill my pack, soak my bandana with cold water and generally treat me royally. Now my only concern is getting to the finish before sunset as I don't have a light other than the flashlight on my phone.
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| Union Pacific railroad bridge (about miles 3.8 and 30.9) |
Home Stretch
Shortly after leaving the aid station I catch up with Judi. She is signed up for the 50 miler, but has decided to drop down to the 55K. (The race allows 50-mile runners the option to take a 55K finish rather than continuing on to the northern out-and-back when they return to the start-finish area.) We go along together, chatting and trading stories of races we have done, including one we both did in different years.
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| Food at the finish, with finisher's spike. |
Results
Emaad is at the finish, having finished in 8:29. I finish in 9:43, good for 72 of 79 overall; 48/51 males and 3/3 in my age group.
I enjoy the BBQ sandwich, macaroni salad, potato salad and a beer before we head out.
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| Swag: Shirt, bib, finisher's spike, AZT socks and sticker, Huppy bar. |
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