I signed up and began researching where to fly into, where to stay and other travel logistics. I quickly learned that flying anywhere remotely close to Sheridan, Wyoming (the closest city to the Bighorn Mountains) would cost a small fortune. After watching flights for several months I decided the cheapest option would be to fly into Denver, Colorado. I knew this would mean a 6.5 hour drive and leaving at least 2 days early. I booked a little motel in Sheridan that worked out just fine.
We woke up bright and early to catch our 6 am flights out to Colorado. I knew we had a 6.5 hour drive to Sheridan and we would need to stop and stretch our legs a good bit. We had enough time to spare a quick hike in Colorado before we hit the road. We decided Rocky Mountain National Park would be a fun stop so we headed that way. It was definitely out of the way, but we didn't care. We managed to get all the way up to the gate in the long line before we were asked about our "reservations" to get in. I knew that most of the national parks were now requiring reservations, but didn't think it applied to this park. Well we looped into the park long enough to take a picture of an elk and head back out the exit. We were pretty disappointed. We made our way back out to Estes Park and found a great hike just outside the park boundaries. It was about 1000 feet of climb in half a mile. The views from the top were worth it and I got my first taste of climbing at altitude. We saw mule deer everywhere! I loved every second of it. Finally we hit the interstate and took the beautiful drive up to Wyoming. It is some of the most picturesque scenery you could ever imagine.
My other half
Road trippin' buddies!
The deer were everywhere on our hike!
We stopped 100 times to potty and stretch
We checked in the hotel pretty late Wednesday night. We all got a good night sleep and woke up Thursday morning in full preparation mode. We decided to have some local coffee then head out to the little town of Dayton where the race started. We went ahead and drove down to where the race actually started. The next morning we would board buses that would drop us off down on Tongue River Canyon Rd. We decided to check out some of the course and went about 1 mile down the trail and back. It was so beautiful! I knew this was going to be a course I would remember forever.
After the hike we drove back into town where we had lunch and discussed the plans for the race. There are only 3 spots on the way out crew can see you and 2 on the back. This is not a very "crewable" race, which would unfortunately come back and bite me later. We planned for Annie to meet me at the turn around- mile 48 and finish the race with me. After our lunch we shopped in town and got groceries/last minute supplies. I took a little nap before we headed to packet pick up that evening and attended all the pre race meetings. I packed my drop bag for Sally's Footbridge because I was unsure if Kevin would be able to get to this aid station.
We picked up our bibs at check in
They wanted each runner to pin their town on the map of the US. There were runners from all over the USA as well as other countries
My main man crew!
The race briefing was in this really cute little park in Sheridan
We found some interesting things in the goody bag from the race packet!
After dinner we headed back to the hotel to get some sleep. I got everything ready for the morning and went to bed. The race starts at 9 am, but the buses began at 630 and went through 830. Crew was allowed to ride the buses to the start with you. We got there about 745 and loaded up. It was cool but not cold. I knew it would warm up over the course of the morning and I decided to wear shorts. I also knew that the first half of the course was very exposed. Luckily this year the temps were very mild and only reached 75 mid-day with lots of cloud cover. I have heard tales of highs in the 90's with scorching sun!
Annie got stuck with a "talker" on the bus ride out to the start
My bus buddy
Start line photos
The first 2 aid stations are reached very quickly. Tongue River at mile 1.5 and Lower Sheep at mile 3.5 . Both of these aid stations had pretty much water only. I realized at Lower sheep that I didn't pack a SINGLE THING to eat in my pack. Lower sheep only had oranges for food so I just ate a small orange and kept moving. I decided I would get some snacks to take with me at the Upper Sheep aid station which was about mile 8.5. Looking back this was a huge mistake. I know better. I know nutrition is so important and I didn't realize that I would be climbing so aggressively in the mud so soon into the race. Imagine my poor little bodies surprise when the Upper Sheep aid station never comes. Eventually.. several miles down the trail we see where the truck has slid off the road from the mud and was unable to make it to the aid station. The sweet volunteers had walked water and a few little mini candy bars down to the trail to top off water for thirsty runner. I got 2 or 3 little candies and kept on moving. By this point I was over 10 miles in and absolutely starving. I came across a runner who offered me a pop tart to last me until we arrived at Dry Fork. Dry Fork was the first spot to meet crew and the first real aid station on the course. This was mile 13.5 of the race. In those first 13.5 miles I climbed almost 5000' feet. Most of which was in thick, nasty Bighorn mud... which made it 10x harder and had me burning 100x the calories. I started out in a deficit. And if I had it to do again... I would go back and pack food and eat it!
The Tongue River Canyon area was absolutely gorgeous!
After the canyon we began our long climb up, up, up through the open fields of the beautiful muddy Bighorn Mountains!
I was literally all smiles. Everywhere I looked it was just so beautiful. I couldn't help but smile.
This mud was something else. I had no poles the first 13.5 miles so I basically was trying to just stay upright! The slippery mud was very difficult to run or even walk through.
I picked my poles up at the aid station where I met Kevin and Annie.. 13.5 miles in.
I had a delicious BBQ sandwich and Gatorade from Kevin and Annie at the Dry Fork aid station. It was good to get food in me. I grabbed some food from the aid station to put in my pack so I could try and stay up on my calories. There were 2 more aid stations before Sally's Footbridge which was at the mile 30 mark and had my drop bag. I feel like this section went by pretty slow. I tried very hard to meet someone on the course to run with. I think this is always very important for me. I am a social person and I need someone to run with to distract me and speed me up and pull me along. I never found anyone to run with. Strike 2. I was behind on calories and I had no one to run with. There was more mud on the sections from Cow Camp to Bear Camp. I felt like this section just dragged on forever. I was ready to get to Sally's and hit the 30 mile mark.
I finally arrived at mile 30- Sally's Footbridge. This was one of three aid stations that could have crew. This aid station was 2.5 hours from Jaws (the turn around and next crewable station). Sally's was very difficult to get to. It required I high clearance 4x4 (which we had rented) and a lot of long dirt roads. Once at the aid station area, crew would have to hike in another 3/4 mile to meet their runner. Based off this information- I chose to leave a drop bag here with warm clothes/snacks/socks/headlamp, etc. I knew that I would not make it to Jaws before dark so I would need to dress warm and have my headlamp ready. Jaws would be at mile 48- I had 3 aid stations that I would cross before reaching the top. This 18 mile stretch would be a long, slow climb and with dropping temps and thick mud. I grabbed my jacket, long sleeve shirt, pants and gloves. I threw my hand warmers in my pack but I was unable to find a sock hat in my bag. I'm not sure what happened to it- but it would later be a costly mistake. I only ate potatoes and avocado at this aid station. I remembered later on they said something about burgers but I never saw them at the aid station. I grabbed a couple of granola bars for my pack and began my climb up and out of Sally's. It was rocky and a tough climb. It was still warm out though.
The rocks headed out of the Sally's aid station were intense!
The trail followed the river for a couple of miles. The river was rushing a crazy amount of water over the rocks. I stood and watched
I reached Cathedral Rock aid and refilled my water pack. I ate a few crackers and carried on to Spring Marsh. The stretch from Spring Marsh aid station to Elk Camp was the most brutal, miserable section of the race for me. I had ducked behind the aid station tent to put my warm pants on and put my jacket on. I was getting cool but not super cold at Spring Marsh. I tried to eat a little something but the only food was snack items and nothing really stable to eat. I was not nauseous at the time, and still able to eat. But what I was consuming at the aid stations was no where near enough to make up for the calories burned. None of the aid stations I encountered had any sandwiches/soups/wraps. I needed more calories. I activated my hand warmers when I changed into the pants, but shortly after I headed out of Spring Marsh I noticed they were not getting warm. It was getting darker and colder. The climb to Elk Camp was long and cold. My body temp dropped to the point I was shaking due to the wind blowing across the mountains, the temp dipped into the low 30's. I didn't pack a sock hat and only had a thin buff on my head, my handwarmers were trash and I was low on calories. I thought about quitting right there. I could not imagine carrying on at this point. I was too cold to think about anything else but being cold. I finally made it the 3.5 miles to Elk Camp. I decided that I would sit by the fire and eat some food and take the time to get warm before I continued on. I'm not 100% how long I stayed at this aid station, but it was definitely a while. Based off my watch mileage I spent about 45 mins here getting warm and convincing myself to carry on. Once I warmed up my core and had a little broth I mustered up the courage to make the trek to the top.. Jaws Trailhead. I knew Kevin and Annie were there waiting on me and she would run the rest of the race with me.
It was very cold and very dark by the time I rolled into the Jaws aid station. I checked in and got some broth. I had missed my crew somehow in the parking lot, so I had to circle back around and find them. I quickly got dressed into warm clothes, a sock hat and fresh HOT hand warmers. We filled my water and I sat In the warm car and tried to eat some burger. I wasn't hungry and the burger didn't sound good. I left the turn without much fuel in the way of calories. I should of eaten more here, but I was so worried about getting warm and making up lost time that is didn't focus on my food.
Annie headed out with me from the aid station to make the trek back. The miles from Jaws back to Elk Camp are very runnable downhill... when it isn't flooded and full of mud. It took us longer than anticipated due to the slipping and sliding through the black mud. I moved very well thru Elk and Spring. The sun came up around 5 am so we had very little darkness (I didn't even turn my headlamp on until 10 pm). As we headed out of Spring we saw a moose grazing in the field beside us. It was awesome! We finally rolled into Sally's Footbridge at mile 66. I tried to eat a little something stable, but found nothing to speak of. Food wasn't going down easy and nothing sounded very appetizing. I changed out of my warmer clothing and we made our way back onto the course. The climb out of Sally's to Bear Camp was downright miserable. Awful. Horrible. I believe this is referred to as "the wall" and I sure hit hit- head on. This section gained 2,500 feet in 3 miles and it was torture. All the last bit of calories/energy I had left in my body were used to climb this section. When we hit the aid station I was dead. I forced another granola bar down, some electrolyte caps and filled my water up. We made our way to Cow Camp- which was a very long 7 mile stretch. I started crunching numbers in my head and things weren't looking good. I knew I would need time to slow done for the final stretch to the finish, which would need to be done by the 35 hour mark. Ultimately, I would need more time. When we left Cow Camp aid station- mile 76.5 , we had 6 miles to Dry Fork. We would meet Kevin there and I could get food and change clothes. But as we made the trek to Dry Fork I knew I would need more time. If I had 30 mins to sit and eat a good meal, I could finish. But I just didn't have the extra time. I was moving too slowly.
I think was shortly after it had hailed. We had been up at the Cow Camp aid station when it just randomly started hailing. Which was a really first for me! The hail were pretty big and hurt when they hit your skin. It didn't last long , but definitely added to my adventure!
When I had the realization that I wasn't going to make it to the finish line in the amount of time I had left- I slowed down and enjoyed the last 6 miles. We took pictures in the fields of flowers, laughed, talked.. and just enjoyed the last of the ride. It eventually became very difficult for me to walk more than a few steps without severe nausea so I was beyond happy to make it to the aid station where Kevin had the car waiting with a delicious grilled chicken sandwich! It was freezing at this aid station, it was at the top of a hill- the wind was blowing and it was starting to rain. I crawled into Dry Fork (mile 82.5) at 3:04 pm. 4 mins past the cut off. Man- WHAT A RIDE!
The parking area for crew was .5 mile even further up the hill. So my sweet husband, who had been out in the cold for hours waiting on me to get into this aid station, walked up the hill in the rain to get the car and come down and get me. The only shelter from the cold, wind I could find was behind the medical vehicles. As we got into the car, the race directors asked if we had room to transport another runner who was cut back to the finish area. We agreed and had quite the entertaining ride back! Through conversation we learned our new friend knew many of our people and had run many Georgia races as well, including Cruel Jewel!
I loved every second of the race/trip. Having Annie with me made it even more special.
The muddy aftermath when we got back to the hotel!
A few more pics of the intense Bighorn mud!
We got back to the hotel for showers and a quick nap then headed out for pizza. We got up the next morning with intent to hike in Colorado on the way back to the airport. After some discussion we decided to take "the scenic route" back and it did NOT disappoint! We saw mountains, snow, pronghorn antelope, buffalo, windmills... and so much more! We drove through Rocky Mountains and had rooftop dinner overlooking the lake in Dillion, Colorado. It was literally one of the most incredible experiences of my life. From the road trip, to the race- all of it was breathtaking and magical!
The remote areas and beautiful views were amazing.
Becka had sent me a bighorn to wish me luck before we left. I took him with us and he rode around in the front of the rental car all week!
We didn't have a signal for most of the 7.5 hours we drove back. We stopped at a rest area out in the middle of no where and found an emergency phone.
Another of our road side attractions- bathroom stop at a gas station!
We stopped at the "Mangy Moose" for lunch, the food was definitely mangy.
I just loved the fields of big, massive windmills
The majestic snow capped Rockies!
Lake Dillion
Lake Dillion was absolutely breathtaking!
We had dinner and drinks at "The Vue" which was a rooftop restaurant with the best view and drinks you could ask for. The food- not so much.
Watching the sunset over the Rockies was a highlight!
So, I didn't walk away with the buckle. That's the fist DNF for me, ever. I've been racing for 11 years and have never quit a race. I definitely do not feel this race to be a loss. I loved every minute of it and I am proud of what was accomplished as a little ole' Georgia girl who had no idea what running in the Bighorns of Wyoming was gonna be like. I can very easily pinpoint what ended this race early for me. The many nutrition mistakes that I made, not having poles from the start, not having warm gear, not making friends from the start... all these added up to a DNF. If I had more time, I could of finished- but like I said before, that wasn't an option. I ran out of time. But there will always be another day. Another race. Another adventure.
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