What an underated treasure. I had a blast at Bighorn. A strange approach I took given my limited ability to run much these days given that I'm working on an injury. Officially I was in the 50k. But really I was just hiking the course and eating the copius bacon at aid stations. We (50k) started after everyone else, and so I was walking ahead of all the other runners. I hiked along, and waited for friends in the 50 and 100 mile races to sneak up behind me, at which point I'd tag along with them for a few miles, then rest and wait for another. It was really fun for me, and I learned a lot getting to visit with so many different runners in that way. some of these included Texans Robert King and Joe. P, who I encountered at (his) mile 93. He finished very strong, actually running fast the last couple miles, and hung around like he'd just finished a 5k. A tough one, anyway. The course is really great, and tougher than I thought. Elk, and even some moose were seen. Aid stations seemed pretty good. The only downer seemed to be the tough-on-the feet-conditions and the aggressive cutoffs. Many good athletes were barely making them or getting cut. My friend and chief reason for being there, Theresa Bone, was pulled at mile 35 from the 52 mile race (which Celeste W. went on to finish), slowed down by sore knee. Among the 100 milers, Several people commented that Wasatch seemed to be a less difficult race, but yet allowed two more hours (36 vs. 34). There was some speculation as to the source of the cutoffs: were they the product of some intentional plan to make the race harder, or was it just an arbitrary guidline that might need adjusting? I don't know, just reporting some of the trail chatter. One exception was my friend Charles Hansberry, who ran a blistering 26 something, only to get on his mountain bike and ride back on the course to run his friend in the last five miles. I must admit that this alarmed me greatly, given that I've agreed to pace Chuck at HardRock this year. Evidently Chuck is even more bionic that I'd imagined, so I guess I will have to cope with that in July. What I do know is that I had worked very hard to be DFL in my "race," and thought I'd succeeded by going out of my way (including napping on a rock, backtracking in search of Theresa ot knowing she'd been pulled, and wading with some boy scouts) to do just that. However, I was sad to learn that my place was actually penultimate, given that an otherwise lost 50ker found her way back to the start just before cutoff. Rats. My Dad, there for a little Father's Day trip, was waiting cooly at the finish, remarkably unshaken by my disapearance wrought by an almost 13 hour 50k.

Maybe next year I'll do the 100, that 11:00 am start time really appeals to me. Then again, maybe I'll redouble my efforts, and really shoot for last in the 50k. That was fun too.

Regards, Matt Crownover