Bighorn FINISH

Published June 15, 2019

Soak up all the good and let this be an experience of a lifetime.

Showered, layered up. Leki poles, 2 pair of shoes, socks, sunblock, water – race ready. Snow, mud, high altitude sun, my 3^rd Bighorn attempt. Fail & walk away? Not my DNA.

45-minute drive Sheridan to Dayton. Wyoming Rockies. 6am school bus, Community Center departure. Finish Banner in nearby Scott Park. 8pm, Cinderella hour.

Custer (South Dakota) seat mate. Small world. All roads led to Deadwood, 2 weeks ago. Run groups from Bozeman, Rapid City & Fort Collins represented. Only Wyoming runner I’d meet all day, Cheyenne-native first 5 miles on the loop to Cow Camp.

Slow ride UP, lotta mud. 35 minutes to Start; not much time to overthink things. Aspens, runner chatter. Hat, shades, sunblock. Poles, porta-potty, bug spray. Check-in, bib 803. High elevation ENERGY. I got this, no pressure. Ran my ‘Wyoming’ race Memorial Day Sunday; 50 States done – today, here, present. BIGHORN. My year, my time.

Out-n-back loop from Dry Fork, single-track trail next 13, ATV-dirt final push to Dayton.

Chatted a few minutes with NH Maniac, Kerri Haskins – and the show began. Long haul UP UP UP. One mile, two miles, 35 minutes of altitude. Run with poles, don’t run with poles. Made the ABSOLUTE RIGHT decision. Lekis were graphite light. Helped anchor the high climbs, push thru day’s mud, provided stability for the fast boulder descent.

Fave single-track of the day: 6-mile run to Cow Camp. Lodgepole pine, 8600ft temps & SNOW – mostly drifted in piles, couple spots up-over-thru. All clear on the descent. Shoe punched thru ankle-deep bog. Pole thankful. Last year’s experience remembered.

Cow Camp. 8 miles in, first Aid Station (lost one for weather). I was here last year, mile 28. Like a dated Civil War triage. Littered bodies, waiting for transport. 2019 (only 8 miles in): runner chatter, laughter, outreached hands for BACON. Fan FAVOURITE.

Warm, shed to a single shirt. High SUN & WILDFLOWER MEADOW. 6 miles to Dry Fork.

Long 25-minute Aid Station break. Shoulda/coulda/woulda, but it happened. Done, history. Slice of pizza, dry socks, sunblock reapply. Stuck with my weathered Newtons. Why trash 2 pair of shoes?

Pace struggled; got comfortable with a pack of walkers. Ear buds, tunes, back at it. GAME on! Wrist buzz, another mile, ‘nother aid station. Water refill – and UP. Mile 20 HILL, a mountain of UP. Head down, arms working the poles, steady, overcast sky, wind blew cold. Caught a team on the descent. Drafted their lead, navigating the boulder field down. Quick footed, ticked off distance.

Mile, mile, mile. Runner-on-your-left. Two of us broke away. Like a 14er descent, cool air, felt ALIVE. Cliff walls left shoulder, powering whitewater canyon-right. Lotta rock, lotta trail. Move move move, push push push. Feeling tired, robotic. Body compressed, beat up. Age reality.

Tongue River Trailhead. Laid ‘cross a boulder, back arched. Turned my head, first puke of the day. Up. Upright. Gotta keep moving. 7 hours in, 27 miles travelled, FIVE more per the watch.

Get’s ugly here. Walked 2 miles. Sat on a large rock. Blank.

Ultrarunner Nikki Kimball on a bike. Encourages me UP, pushes ice in my buff (neck gaiter). Says Pam Reed is coming up. Am I on another planet? Feeling meh, sitting on a rock – then, this happens? So…I joined two-time BADWATER WINNER Pam Reed & her pace team for two miles. No joke.

Walk-a-thon finale. Dizzy, really warm, dry heaving.

Quarter-mile to go. Down. Literally. Hands-n-knees, wretching black bile. Pushed too hard, too long. What happens before you die. Buzz, buzz, buzz. Trail angel talk (2 Rapid City gals, 18 mile event). UP. On my feet, nausea gone. Not dead. We run.

BIGHORN FINISH. Crazy EPIC life imprint. Longest FINISH of my life.