Nick Lang
Bear 100
Posted by Nick Lang on Sep 28Preamble
So when I signed up for this race I didn’t really know what exactly I was getting myself into. I figured it’d be a nice mountainy run in Utah. Couldn’t be any harder than Leadville was. Leadville was the hardest thing I’d ever done and it wiped me out for weeks afterwards.
After doing some research on this race (after I signed up of course), I realized that this race makes Leadville look easy! Whoops, oh well.
Well, I knew I was going to need crew for this race. I had asked my friend Ben, who helped save my race at Leadville, to come. Initially he said yes, but then later realized that the Bear 100 is the same weekend as the Bear Chase Race in Lakewood, CO, which he is one of the race directors for. So Ben was out.
I also figured maybe some of my Lawrence Trailhawk friends would be interested so I shot an email out to the mailing list and got one reply. Chris Wristen said he’d come out and help. Woo! Chris’s only hundred experience was helping out at the Hawk100, which was just a couple weeks before Bear. Though I knew his experience at Bear would be totally different than it was at the Hawk.
Next I asked Luke. Luke is an excellent runner, and all around good guy. He said he’d have to think about it for a bit. And eventually came back with a ‘yes’. Luke and Laurie both ran the Leadville 100. Unfortunately though, Luke got pulled from the course with a stress reaction in his foot. Was booted up for a couple weeks after the race. I figured he wouldn’t be able to make it to Bear, so I wasn’t disappointed when I finally got verification.
So my crew, Laurie and Chris. I knew Laurie had what it took to crew a 100 mile race, and I was certain that she’d get Chris whipped in to shape in no time! I was just concerned with their ability to get rest and take care of themselves.
Traveling to Utah
My friend Becca had also signed up for this race to be her first 100. She and I had done a few training runs together, and I knew she was going to do amazing at this race. During some of our runs we talked about the idea of getting a house in Logan for the night before the race so that we wouldn’t have to get so many hotels. Turned out to be a good idea (for the most part). Our travel arrangements were similar except for the fact that Chris was getting into Denver at 7:15am on Wednesday. The plan was to leave CO on Wednesday and sleep in Wyoming on the way and arrive in Logan on Thursday rested, stress-free and ready to check into the house. Since Chris’s flight was so early we weren’t able to caravan. But it worked out anyway.
Laurie and I packed up the truck Tuesday night and left before sunrise on Wednesday morning to pick up Chris from the airport. We had a tight FJ for a while since we needed to stop in Fort Collins on the way up to drop my dogs off at my mom’s house, so she could watch them while we were away. While in Fort Collins we got the oil changed in my truck (I should have done that days before), had an amazing breakfast at Lucille’s, picked up some clippers and beer at the store, then headed out to Wyoming.
We made great time. Eventually, we stopped in Evanston for the night. Evanston is a not-so-small anymore Wyoming town, that I spent some time in as a very young child. My parents have told me stories about how small Evanston was when we lived there. Looking at it now, it looks like it went through a giant boom!
We checked into the hotel, and walked down to this place called Wally’s, for burgers and ice cream. The food was decent enough, and we walked back to the hotel to do race preparations and get to sleep.
We woke up at a respectable 7 am, had free breakfast in the lobby and headed out to Logan. We decided to take the scenic route, which I am excited that we did, because it drove us up to Bear Lake (the finish) and down Logan canyon, where Laurie and Chris would be spending a good amount of time trying to get from aid station to aid station. It was good for them to see all this in the day light, since the next time they’d see it it’d dark.
The drive through Logan Canyon was amazing, huge rock cliffs, river along the road. All sounds very familiar when driving through CO, but Utah was just different. When we reached Logan, we drove around a while, hit a couple stores for some more last minute supplies, found this place called the Bluebird for some lunch. I had the salmon, it was amazing.
After lunch I got a text from Jeremy, a Logan local, who I’m friends with on DailyMile. Jeremy was on his lunch break and was willing to show us around town and take us to the start, etc… I had previously asked Jeremy, on a whim, if he’d like to come out and help at the race. He said he was super interested but would have to talk to his wife. I was hoping that he’d be able to since Laurie and Chris were going to have a long night ahead of them. We went to the start, he showed us where to go to get to our house, where to go to get to the pre race meeting. It was all very nice. Then we split ways, he had to go back to work and we had to go check into the house.
Prerace
Becca and Leila and Jimmy showed up to the house. We were excited to see them. Everyone claimed their bedroom. Started prepping gear for the race. And then we were off to the prerace meeting. Nothing really exciting here, got my packet, saw Willie Lambert, talked to people, listened to the race directors talk about the course and what to expect. We then headed back to the house. Then Laurie, Chris and I went out for pizza (an ultra tradition started by Stu Johnson). Dinner was delicious. Laurie had this amazing pasta on a bread roll thing. Chris had a sandwich and I had a pizza, of course!
Back at the house we finished packing our gear, getting bottles and food ready, shoes lined up clothes layed out. Everything was ready and we finally went to bed. I laid in bed for a while, playing with my phone, twittering and what not, trying to not thing about what I needed to do, which was sleep. Eventually Laurie talked me into turning my phone over and I went to bed.
Race Morning
We headed out early, early, aiming to be at the start 1 hour before the race started. We got there too early. Apparently the RD’s for this race sleep in a little more than some of the other races I’ve been too. Oh well this was a good time for Becca and I to start the game of who could go to the bathroom the most. She won!
We found the race check in, got some pictures taken, chatted with our crews, bounced around nervously, then we were off!
Start to Logan Peak (10.2)
Becca and I started off running together, but she quickly dropped me when I needed to go to the bathroom. The race filed into single track quickly and it became hard to pass. I figured I’d catch up to her eventually (I was wrong, I never saw her again). I got into a groove, expecting the climb to be an absolute bear. It was a lot easier than I anticipated. Thankfully. It wasn’t that exciting, I chatted with a bunch of people and snapped some pictures as the sun started to come out. It was a nice morning for a hike. Trekking along into the Logan Peak aid station, I wasn’t all that hungry as I’d been eating my own food so far. I grabbed a couple chips and headed out.
Logan Peak to Leatham Hollow (19.6)
This next section was a nice short downhill for a couple miles before we got to go up again. I took a few more pictures, talked to some more people, all in all had a good time. I was quite taken by the beauty of the course so far. I was running with this guy from New York named Shannon, and he seemed like a strong runner for the most part, but I eventually dropped him on the second climb (up to about the 13 mile mark). After I stopped for another bathroom break, I started out again. I saw Shannon. He was struggling I was a little concerned at this point. ‘Cause to be struggling this early in the race was not a good sign. I never saw Shannon again, and I hope he finished. The descent down from the high point on this section was long. Long long long. I started to feel it in my knees. I wasn’t happy about that. It was way too early for knee pains. I didn’t really know what to do at this point so I just continued to run. We made a sharp turn onto the Leatham Hollow trail and it continued down hill. There were some wet spots where the water was running down the trail. This caused some hot spots on my feet, but luckily I was close to the aid station where I’d get to see Laurie and Chris for the first time, and I’d get to change my socks. When I reached the bottom of the descent and I started running along the flat part I noticed the aid station, and thought to myself, I’m about 40 min too fast! Ooops! I radioed Laurie asking if they were there, and they weren’t. They got stuck in traffic because of cattle on the road! Luckily they were only a couple min away so I waited for them.
I changed socks, put on sun screen, drank some gatorade, and was off!
Leatham Hollow to Richards Hollow (22.4)
This section was extremely boring. Just about 3 miles down a dirt road. Although one interesting point happened here. There were two old men talking like Jewish mothers. Topic was about being sick. How long they’re sick for, how they don’t like going to the doctor, how long the wait was, how long they had to take antibiotics, how much antibiotics they had to take, blah blah blah. I ran past them, wanting to say something like “Man up”, but just kept to myself.
Richards Hollow to Cowley Canyon (29.9)
Leaving Richards Hollow, I immediately started climbing. I actually felt good climbing. This climb was the second longest of the day. I didn’t really feel at all tired going up this climb. I did, however, run into some cattle on the trail.
The trail was narrow and steep on both sides. There wasn’t really a good place to pass them or to get around them. So I put on my cowboy hat and decided it was time for a cattle drive! I drove these cows up the mountain for about a half mile or so, till we came to a stream crossing where I could hop some rocks and get around em. Nearing the top of this climb it started to get exposed, and I was getting hot. I was desperately trying to keep from over hydrating, so I kept taking salt and eating food and only drinking when I was getting parched. I think I could have gotten away with drinking a little more regularly. It was a struggle for me to run at this top part. It was mostly flat, but for whatever reason, running was really taking a lot of extra effort. So I just continued on with my power walk. Finally made it to the top of this climb and started the descent into Cowley Canyon on the jeep road. I could see the aid station and I radioed into Laurie to let her know I was getting close.
They got my pack refilled and food in me and sent me on my way. It was also here that Laurie and Chris let me know that Jeremy had gotten wife approval to come help out, which was amazing. I felt a huge relief knowing that my crew was going to have one more person to help out!
Cowley Canyon to Right Fork (36.9)
This was the first really bad section of the race for me. I think I walked most of this section. It was hot, and I was having trouble keeping cool. My heart rate was high, my stomach wasn’t happy. I just desperately wanted to be done with this section. This was also the start of me using trekking poles in the race. From Cowley canyon on I think I had the poles in my hands the whole time. I think the part of this I disliked the most was that it was mostly a downhill section, which made my knees hurt even more. I couldn’t wait to make it into Right Fork. I needed help.
Right Fork to Temple Fork (45.2)
Slowly walking into Right Fork, Laurie had already soaked her long sleeve shirt in the river for me and placed it on my head. They gave me a bagel with some meat and mustard, I tried to eat it, but the bread was too dry so I just ate the meat and mustard. I drank some ginger ale, a Gatorade and lots of water. Before I was ready Laurie was ready to go. She was going to pace me here. I was excited. I needed some help. Willie had wandered into the aid station just a little after I did. I was kinda deflated at this point. Willie was aiming for a 32 hour finish and I was aiming for a 30 hour finish. He shouldn’t be so close to me!
Laurie dragged me down the trail, making me run on the flat parts, and we walked the up hills. This section also sucked for me. It really took a lot of effort. We kept her shirt on my head. It was nice shade and helped keep my head cool. And whenever we would come across a river or stream, Laurie would run it down to the water to get it nice and wet and cold again. Willie eventually passed us and we were still struggling, but we were at least making progress. We were passed by a lot of people, but Laurie made me run and we made it to the aid station.
Temple Fork to Tony Grove (51.8)
Here at Temple Fork I sat for a long time. I needed to recover. I was beat, tired, exhausted, dehydrated, depressed, etc…
Chris and Laurie got me some soup, some Redbull, Gatorade, sandwiches, etc…
I started feeling better after my wonderful girlfriend had the bright idea to give me ginger ale!
I also put on my arm sleeves at this point, ‘cause I was in the shade now, and shivering. After a nice rest I felt ready to go. Chris was going to pace me for a while now.
We took off, and I knew I was starting to feel better ‘cause I waved at the police officer who was stopping traffic to let runners cross the road. We had a steep climb right away and then it flattened out for a bit. During the flat part we ran a bit, power walked, and I continued to recover. When we started the big climb, I started to feel lots better, and we really started to hammer the climb. It was a really nice feeling to start passing people again. When we got to the top I started to lose ground again. My knees were hurting and going down hill was a major pain. It was slow going at the top of the hill, but as the slope started to shallow out we started running more and eventually we were running all the way to Tony Grove. It felt good.
Tony Grove to Franklin Trailhead (61.5)
When we strolled into Tony Grove, it was starting to get dark. I sat for a bit, ate some more soup, sandwiches, had another RedBull, reloaded my pack and we were off.
This next section had a long ass down hill. I wasn’t looking forward to it. When Chris and I left we were moving well and the first climb was not so bad.
But next we had a really long downhill. I know I’m starting to sound like a broken record here, but the downhills really were hurting my knees. We moved slow. At one point I was leading and I saw a log that looked like it was directing traffic down a certain trail. Because I was looking down we ended up going the wrong way and I missed the blue flag (blue means “Don’t Go This Way”). We got about a quarter mile down the trail and I was starting to wonder if this was the right trail. It just felt wrong. I asked Chris if he’d seen a flag recently and he didn’t. We decided to turn around and I had Chris run ahead to find a flag. A couple minutes later he found the flag and the right way to go. Once we were on the right trail again we were still going slow and had been passed by a few more people! I was starting to feel a little more depressed at this point. I was going slow, my knees hurt and we just got lost.
I was excited when we got into the aid station. I needed to refuel. I needed some more moral support, warmth and hot food. At this aid station I got to see Jeremy for the first time. I knew now that Laurie and Chris were going to finally get some sleep.
Franklin Trailhead to Logan River (68.8)
After I sat here for a while under the blankets, cold and shivering trying to regroup mentally, I (Laurie) decided it was time to head out. I put on my coat, gloves and hat and we left. Chris and I were walking for a little while and I was a shivering mess. I could see spit flying into the light from my headlamp. I asked Chris to go back and get my hoodie as well. I needed another layer because I was so cold I was barely able to keep control of my arms and move the trekking poles.
Once I had the hoodie on I started to feel better, and I was talking to a few older guys. They asked me how I was, and I said I’d be feeling better once the red bull and soup kicked in. We crossed the river and started up the climb and I started to warm up. Once I warmed up we really started to move. The steeper the climb got the harder and faster I moved. I won’t lie, I tried like damn to drop Chris. But the guy kept on me! If it weren’t for my 62 mile warm up I probably would have stood a chance at dropping him!
Again, on the downhill it was slow and painful. I yelled, cursed, winced, and got angry at myself for going so slow.
Logan River to Beaver Mountain Yurt (75.9)
Once I got to Logan River, Chris was beat! He was visibly tired. I remembered him saying he felt like he could go all night, but I knew better! Chris had just done his PR distance pacing me and it was great having his company. Next up was Jeremy.
Again when I got to this aid station I was cold. I huddled up in the sleeping bag, ate soup, had a RedBull and I noticed that Laurie was starting to look sleepy and not quite with it. I was a bit worried for her and wished she would get some sleep. I wanted to get out as fast as possible so that her and Chris could get to the next aid station and get a little bit of sleep.
Jeremy and I took off and we were slow going. First thing we did was miss the turn, we didn’t get off course too far maybe 10-20 feet, ‘cause we were just wondering around looking for the flag. After we found the flag we had to cross the Logan River. This river crossing was super annoying. My legs were weak, my balance was off and the logs were thin, we had to walk through bushes, while on the logs, but finally we got across the river.
Pretty much this whole time was slow going. I was grumpy, I was frustrated, depressed and I was just walking this whole section. It made me angry actually. Jeremy and I passed a guy who was sitting on the trail grabbing his feet. As bad as I felt at least I wasn’t sitting on the ground rubbing my feet. After being passed by a bunch of people, we were about 2 miles or so from the aid station I decided its was time to stop the pity party and to run. Soon after, the foot rubber passed us and ran in front for a while. He made me promise him that I wouldn’t let him quit. I told him I’d promise, but i didn’t know who he was, or his name, and I never saw him again afterwards.
My headlamp batteries started to go dull on this section as well, which made things difficult. I was starting to trip more. I couldn’t see very well. I asked Jeremy if I could use his headlamp, and his was just as bad as mine. I finally asked for my handheld light and used that. It was kinda hard to use both the handheld light and the trekking poles, but I figured out a way to make it work.
Jeremy and I made it into the aid station and Laurie and Chris were there ready to get me soup and RedBulls. But again, I sat under the sleeping bag and shivered. And Laurie told me I better not go to sleep and kicked me out. I could feel my eyes getting heavy and I kept closing them. Going to sleep was sounding like an amazing idea.
Beaver Mountain Yurt to Gibson Basin (81.3)
At Beaver Mountain, Chris replaced the batteries in my headlamp, which could have been skipped, ‘cause about 15 min after we left the aid station I put my headlamp into my pack. This section Jeremy and I crossed the boarder from Utah into Idaho, and it was a nice milestone and a nice pick me up.
This section was some good climbing and Jeremy was actually familiar with this trail which was nice. He knew where the aid station was which was very helpful. I was excited for the climbing cause that meant I could make good time and pass people! We strolled into the aid station, I grabbed some chips and we headed out just as fast.
Gibson Basin to Beaver Creek (85.4)
Jeremy and I were on our way to Beaver Creek where Laurie would take me to the finish. I tried to suck it up and move quickly on this section. We ran a bit on the flats, found a nice climb and rocked it! But next there was a fairly long down hill, which was pretty damn technical. It was slow going down this technical part, but we made it. At the end of this section there was another river crossing and there was a guy who was super nice and found these long sticks that I could use to balance myself while crossing the river on a log. I threw him my poles and when I got across, he gave me back my poles, and he then tossed the long sticks back across so that Jeremy could cross. I checked in and out real quick and headed over to the truck and sat down to eat a bit more and drink some Gatorade and ginger ale.
This was the last I saw of Jeremy. He decided he had to go back to his wife and kids. So again, thank you Jeremy I don’t think I could have finished this race without your help. It was pivotal not only to me, but to Laurie and Chris.
Beaver Creek to Ranger Dip Trail (92.5)
As I was sitting there this guy told my crew not to let me sit for too long. I yelled back that I’m waiting for a second cup of soup, and I would catch up with him soon enough. I finished the soup and Laurie and I were off. With the sun out I was feeling happy. I was happy to be running the remainder of the course with Laurie. We booked it along on the climbs. I really really enjoyed all the uphill on this course. I don’t think I ever felt like the climbing ever took it out of me. Soon we caught that guy who was teasing me. He had a gift for me! He gave me a banana flavored hammer gel. He said something along the lines of, “You’ll need this for all the energy you spend climbing these hills”. I laughed, and thanked him and we continued on. Once Laurie and I reached the top of the climb and we started the descent into Ranger Dip, we got caught by the group. I wasn’t too happy at this point, ‘cause I was passed by all of ‘em, and I couldn’t really do anything about it.
When we arrived into Ranger Dip, Chris was there and waiting. He had a bowl of hash browns waiting for me which were delicious, and I drank some gatorade, water, refilled the pack and we headed out asap.
Ranger Dip Trail to Finish (100)
The Ranger Dip aid station was super quick. I was ready to finish. Leaving Ranger Dip we had what I feel was the steepest climb of the race. I looked forward to it. I hammered that climb with everything I had. It felt great. Once I got to the top, I ate some gel and Laurie caught me and we started the descent. I could tell that Laurie was wanting to run but I couldn’t really do it anymore. I tried to run a bit and walk a bit but the going was slow.
After a while I saw this guy in a green shirt. This guy passed me while I had to take a bathroom break after leaving the Gibson Basin Aid Station. I didn’t want to be beat by this guy. At the sight of him, I tuned out mentally and I bombed down the hill. I ran down screaming, cursing, yelling going faster and faster. Laurie had joked earlier that I needed to run a 6 min mile the rest of the way, once I started moving she yelled at me that she wasn’t serious! I started passing so many people who were telling me good job, and that I looked good. I thanked them for lying to me. I felt like crap, everything hurt but I knew that the faster I finished the sooner the pain would end. I tried to run faster and faster the whole way down. We finally reached the end of the last steep descent and then there was one more climb. When we got to the top of the climb there were a couple girls there cheering and said, “This is the last climb” I wished that wasn’t the case. I loved going up. I wished it was an uphill finish!
Laurie and I hurried down the ATV trail and across the bridge and on to the dirt road that would take us to the finish. At this point I was running from a guy in a white shirt. Laurie kept a good pace in front and I was trying like mad to keep up with her. I would get frustrated and curse make remarks about how I hated dirt roads. I was having flash backs to my experience at Leadville where I fell apart on the last 3-4 miles of the race, on the “Boulevard”. I would look back periodically and not see the white shirt guy and know that he was coming but I couldn’t see him.
When we got on to the paved road I looked back and saw the white shirt dude. At that point a new fire was lit under me and I started running even harder. I asked Laurie how far back the white shirt guy was and she said about a quarter mile. I was wishing that she’d said he was 200 yards back. Cause I wanted/needed another fire to find another gear. We rounded the next turn, and crossed the road and it was about 200-300 yards to the right hand turn that took us to the finish. Once I saw the white picket fence I was excited, the race was over, I could finally lay down and rest and not have to worry about going down hill anymore.
Epilogue
So this race was hard. This was by far the hardest race I’ve ever done. I was constantly tired, sore, wanting to sit the whole time. I’m excited that I was able to finish this race. Even if I was 2 hours from my goal time.
Basically this race would have been a serious disaster if it weren’t for my crew Laurie and Chris and a special last minute step up by Jeremy. I was at a very low point early in this race and I was excited that Laurie was able to step in early and pace me at that first point.
Chris was super strong to step up and take on a huge chunk of miles, further than he’s ever gone before and suffer with me through many hours of the night.
Jeremy’s ability to escape his family and help out in the wee hours of the night was a major benefit for everyone involved! Jeremy’s help was special cause it was one more shoulder to put weight on during the hardest part of the race.
As part of my promise to Laurie, that I would shave off my beard after the race, I did just that in the hotel room when we got back to Evanston.
Before:
After:
