Third times the charm for sure.
Solo running - no pacers at all. One person support crew - my husband Nick. He drove the van all around the course, met me at access points with food and water in the first half of the route due to road conditions limiting further support. Once things started drying out, he was able to get on the moto and do more support and carry more supplies for me. I took on long weather forced sleep break at mile 58 when it started raining and the road conditions became impassible for the vehicle. Then another short break at mile 126 to sleep and let the final climb dry out after a major hailstorm Friday night. Went from mud and rain to blazing sun and heat in the final miles leading to the finish!
Started at 0800 on Thursday morning, four hours later than planned. Was somewhat able to avoid the peanut butter mud in the first 15 miles, but had to skip the first planned support stop at the end of the Dry Creek section (15.3 miles in.) Nick was not able to get the van down Transfer road at all. I met him for the first crew check point and some food at mile 24 and the end of the Transfer road section. A short 7 mile section along the Grey Creek and Parallel trail, then the next checkpoint at East Bull Run Road. I had some hot food and took my time getting ready for the next section - the Roubideau section, 20 miles of rugged ATV and single track. The plan had been for Nick to moto down and do on course support about halfway in, but with road conditions and the mud, he wasn't able to ride. I got the inreach message saying I was on my on until the end of the section. Luckily we had packed for that possibility and I had 6 hours of food and fluids with me, as well as my lights. Due to the late start, I would be hitting the 25 Mesa Singletrack in the dark - and that section of the trail isn't very well used at all. It gets dark fast in the thick woods up on the plateau - especially when there's clouds moving in... I was very happy to see the van! As the Pit Boss, Nick made the executive decision that for the 20 miles of the Love Mesa section, he would follow in the van for as long as he could drive safely, then we would stop for my planned rest break. It would be earlier then anticipated, but Love Mesa is a renowned Black Bear hunting area in the USA. We were making good time, but another rain storm moved in, forcing out hand. At mile 58 - 1130 on Thursday night - it was time for a break.
It rained for what felt like a few hours as we tried to sleep. A few times over night after the rain stopped, I got out and checked the roads. Horrible mud. Despite wanting to get moving and start covering the miles, I couldn't start too early and risk Nick not being able to make it back around to the end of that section. Finally at about 0630 on Friday morning, just over 22 hours from starting, I was back moving. Within a mile, the road was drier - still wet and sticky, but not thick mud. I was able to make good time until the final two miles, where the mud returned with a vengeance. But until then, the morning hours on Love Mesa were magical - clean air, rain washed green all around, birds signing and all the animals around me. Nick met me a mile in on the Divide road for the next 14 miles of full support. I gave him my pack, took a soft flask and kept trotting along. There were thunderstorms building all around us, drenching the Paradox valley to the south and the La Sal Mountains to the west. It was hard not to keep staring at those clouds and panicking at the thought of more rain and mud! Mile 88 meant the start of the Dominguez Trail section and another break for some food. I changed shoes for the first time here since it seemed like the mud was clearing up. Dominguez Trail is about 14 miles of double track heading north, with some major climbing in the middle few miles. I started the section fully loaded for the 14 miles since we again weren't sure about Nick being able to get in on the moto. Finally this time, he was able to ride in and help by taking my pack and doing flask handups every mile or so. We were both watching a huge thunderstorm to the north of us, not knowing where exactly it was hitting. Was the trail a few miles ahead getting hammered? We would find out in a few hours. Finishing up Dominguez and another food break for some chicken soup. The next 15 miles leading into Cactus Park was my nemesis. It was here that I had cracked completely in 2023 and been forced to stop. The heat and the sand had done me in that year. This year, while it was still super sandy, it wasn't hot! I was heading into the second night, and was treated to a brilliant sunset as the temperature dropped. This was another section where Nick was able to Moto in for help and when I saw those lights on the dirt bike piercing through the darkness it was a sigh of relief. I love being out there, but there's only so many hours of alone I can take! Cactus Park had been hit by a rain storm at some point earlier and the trail was rutted and muddy. There was enough water along the trail that the frogs were out and croaking!
Finally - staring down the last 35 miles. We headed up into the darkness for the 11 miles of the Radio Towers section. Nick did five miles of moto support, then peeled off to get the van and drive around to the end of the section. I started on the six mile descent to CO 141. Even here, the road was muddy in spots and rutted out. That thunderstorm we'd watched Friday evening had done a number on the trails! I was starting to get tired. I took a four minute eyes closed break on the side of the trail, then kept moving. Despite wanting to not take another break and just start on the final long climb of the trail, I would need some rest. At the van, Nick forced a break until sunrise. He was wanting to moto up the start of the Bangs Canyon section and didn't want to attempt it in the dark. I didn't protest the break and was sleeping minutes after eating. That 1.5 hours of sleep made all the difference for me. When I woke up, I was ready to face the final miles. Bangs Canyon section - 17 miles, with a 9 mile climb to start things off, then 6 miles of steep descending and traversing before another two miles climb up exposed slickrock. We'd originally planned for Nick to support me a few miles up the climb, then hightail it back down and drive around to the Bangs Canyon parking lot to come back in. But that changed and he ended up riding all the way up to the top of the climb so I could trot with just a soft flask and not carry a full pack. Save the full pack for the upcoming heat.... When he left me, I was starting the most technical part of the section - narrow double track, filled with baby heads, ledges and eroded by the storm Friday night. I was slower going down some of those miles then I had been climbing! The trail was also starting to get busy - Bangs Canyon is a very popular OHV area and I was seeing more people in those last miles then I had in the prior 130! Dirt bikers, ATVers, Jeepers - everyone out playing in the sunshine. As planned, Nick met me at the bottom of the final climb. We quickly went into full heat mitigation mode - ice water on my shirt, ice cubes for my bra, cold fluids to drink. It was hot and I was starting to feel the climbing temperatures. Luckly, I'd been doing some heat training and was ready for the climb. I know every step of that slickrock climb. In the parking lot, it was full ice shower time. Mile 145 - five miles left to cover. Three on the blacktop of Little Park road and two dropping down to the Lunch Loop trailhead. I took one pole with me for the black top as vehicle deterrent - it's amazing how quickly the drivers will move over and slow down when there's a risk of getting their car scratched! Nick would pull over as frequently as he could to give me cold fluids and ice. We did once more full ice shower at the turn off Little Park, I took my second pole and two flasks of fluid. Two more miles, with the only section of Tabeguache that I had not covered since I started this goal. I could see the parking lot the entire time - the finish line. Each step taking me that much closer. Down Widowmaker Hill and I was checking off the trail intersections I ran through on a near daily basis in training. One of our mountain biking buddies met me about a mile from the lot with another flask of cold water and said that everyone was waiting for me at the finish.
And they were - a small gathering cheering as I exited the wash and started the final climb up to the lot. Nick cajoled me to run the final few steps, but I was done. Five years of dreaming, four years of planning and three different attempts and finally, 56:01:38 since I had started, I had run home. And the two word response to the question of why did I do this? "Good Question!"