USATF Trail Running National Championships, Vail, CO

Get comfortable, this is going to be especially long. A few months ago, I decided to run in the inaugural USATF Trail Running National Championships in Vail. Although I was well aware that I would be at a physiological disadvantage due to the race being at 8,200ft, I still wanted to go. Since I would be attending a conference on avian endocrinology in Phoenix the week after the race, I flew into Phoenix on Thursday. I immediately jumped into a Ford Focus and drove 500 miles north to Moab, Utah. I went for an amazing run through Arches National Park, and set up my tent. On Friday, I drove 250 miles to Vail, ran the course, and then drove another 100 miles to the home of Darrin and Jill Eisman, who were kind enough to give me a place to stay despite being new parents. On my tour of the course, I was surpassed at how much of it was dirt road. The singletrack sections were nice, but there was a lot of dirt road sections. Luckily, I had brought two pair of race shoes. I would have to wear my road flats, due to the need for more protection on the hard-packed, stone-strewn dirt roads. After my tour, I had a relaxing dinner with the Eismans, and packed my bag for the race.

Darrin and I got to Vail Village at 8:15, and spent the next 20 minutes filling out the most redundant and lengthy race application ever created. There were actually several events going on in Vail, as the trail race was part of the Teva Vail Mountain Games, which included mountain biking, climbing, kayaking, and an adventure race. Darrin pointed out a number of high-quality Vail area athletes, and it was soon apparent that the trail race would have solid field.

I put on my flats and started to do my warmup. Darrin had mentioned that he thought it was important to do a thorough warm-up prior to races at altitude, and it made sense to me. I ran the first section of the course, ran several strides, and made my way to the narrow start. Several competitors seemed pretty nervous, and after some last minute instructions, we actually had a false start. I was quite amused. We got lined up again, and managed a clean start. I got out quick, but was careful not to over-exert myself early in the race.

I settled somewhere between 8th and 10th place heading up the first gradual climb. I passed Bill Raitter, a member of the US Mountain Team, but he soon passed me back as we approached a steep single track switchback. It was at this switchback that I first realized how thin the air was. It was there that my effort went from mild to intense. The field started to string out quickly at this point, and Bill began moving up through the field. I passed one runner at about 1200m, and then Bernie Boettcher passed me as we approached one mile. I wanted to go with him, but any small acceleration would result in my knees starting to buckle. I was planning on making up some ground at the steady downhill from 2-3 miles. However, it was not technical, and everyone just took off as soon as they hit it. Bernie and I gained on the runner ahead of us, Peter Maksimow, but the gaps up ahead were already quite large. I tried to reel in Bernie, but considering how well he ran in several up/down mountain races last year it is not surprising that I wasn't able to gain on him.

At 2 miles we made a sharp left ad headed up the second hill, a short, consistent, 300ft climb on tight single track. Bernie pulled ahead of Peter, and I seemed to be holding my ground. At the top of the hill, I was shocked at how long it took for my legs to recover and accelerate on the flat terrain. It felt as if I was still going uphill for 30 seconds after the hill ended. The next downhill was a bit more technical, and there were a few tight switchbacks. I kept telling myself that I needed to make up ground on the downhills if I wanted to improve my placing, and really let it fly. On the only real wet spot on the course, my Saucony road flats gave out and I went down hard. Luckily, it was a feet-first slide, and I quickly got back on my feet. My left wrist was sore, but not enough to bother me. The downhill ended at about three miles, and we took another left up hill #3. Peter seemed to be pulling away from me at the start of the climb, and Bernie was now out of sight. As I was entering the trees, I heard Darrin cheer for me as he negotiated the last switchback of the previous downhill. I tried to maintain a steady rhythm on the hill, but it was a struggle just to run the entire hill. I knew the fourth hill was going to be rough.

I kept Peter in sight and seemed to be gaining rapidly when we hit the next downhill. Unfortunately, the trail was very open, and Peter could see me coming on the switchbacks. Every time I would pull with a few seconds, and then we would get to a runable section, and he would hold his own. On the hard turns on this downhill section, my right shoe began to feel a little loose. I just figured my feet were getting sweaty and didn't think about it. The fourth and last hill almost brought me to my knees. It started out gradual, but then switchbacks ended and the last 200ft was the steepest climb of the race. I was forced to stop running and hike, and as I watched Peter continue to run, I thought he would pull away for good. To my surprise, I seemed to be hiking just as fast as he was running.

The last 1.4 miles of the course was s steady plunge to the finish on dirt road, and I was optimistic about being able to catch Peter. I didn't really know what place I was in, and it didn't matter, I just had to get Peter. He had about 8-10 seconds on me at the top of the last hill, and I dove into each switchback with my sights set on his back. Once again, he could see me on the switchbacks and seemed to be working hard to keep me at bay. As we got closer to the finish, people told him I was gaining on him, and informed me that I could get him.

The course flattened out 500m from the finish, and I was only 2-3 back at this point. I couldn't pull any closer in the next 300m, but at the last hard right turn 200m from the finish, Peter seemed to slow down. I saw a door opening, and went into attack mode. I never thought to look why he slowed, I just swung a bit left and ran into the turn as hard as I could. The dirt road turn to pavement at this point, and as I planted my right foot in the gravel, it instantly gave out as the gravel rolled like ball bearings on the pavement. It all happened so fast, I'm not sure of the details, but I think I rolled twice across the road and ended up next to the steel barriers lining the course. The crowd gasped loudly as it happened. I instantly got back up, grabbed my sunglasses which had been launched from my head, and sprinted to the finish.

As soon as I finished, I felt the effects of my fall, and the temperature which had risen into the 80's during the race. I was actually somewhat nauseous, which is extremely uncommon for me. I staggered over to find some shade and lied down on my bleeding back. To complement the skin missing from my back, I skinned both elbows, both knees, and both hips were bruised. My hands were also damaged in my spill. A couple of people who witnessed the fall asked me if I was OK after the race. Given the fact that I rarely fall on much more technical courses, I was completely satisfied with my effort during the race. I actually thought I was going to pass out on that last climb.

Before I had chance to stiffen up, Bill Raitter grabbed me for an exhausting 30 minute cooldown. I was relieved to find out that all my limbs were still functional, and that my wounds were cosmetic. Bill told me that I was probably the only lowlander in the top 10, and this was mostly true, besides the fact that Peter had moved from CO to NC a few months ago. Although I would have liked to place higher, I was happy to earn a USATF medal for a top ten finish. Unfortunately, Bill and I missed our chance to be featured on the Jumbotron during the awards due to our cooldown.

Soon after the race, I drove back to the Moab area and set up my tent along the Colorado river in a canyon with brilliant red 2000ft walls. I soaked my bleeding carcass in the river, treated myself to a rib dinner at resort right on the river, crawled inside my tent and passed out. I couldn't believe how wasted I was from a 10k.

Open Men
1 Simon Gutierrez, NM 42:57
2 Josiah Middaugh, CO 44:02
3 Bill Raitter, OR/CO 45:02
4 Bill Fanselow, CO 45:35
5 Andy Ames, CO 45:43
6 Mike Tobin, ID 45:55
7 Michael Jo Friedber, CO 46:03
8 Bernie Boettcher, CO 46:10
9 Peter Mausimow, NC/CO 47:02
10 Ben Nephew, MA 47:10


Go to vailrec.com and look under running events for more results

Ben