The House Always Wins, Ogden 2016

If I went to Las Vegas and gambled, I know the house is going to win. When I go to Ogden and run, I should know by now the weather is going to win. Deal the cards!


I had high expectations for Ogden, the weather reports were conflicting, but I had hopes for a light rain and cooler temps during the race and I had three diminishing goals for the race. 1)Beat 4 hours for the first time, 2)Beat Huntsville's 4:13 for a PR 3)Beat Ogdens best time of 4:39:58 for a PB.  One consistent theme between the weather reports was better conditions towards the end of the race, if one finished soon enough, as there were more storms on their way in the afternoon.

A group of us met at The District at 3:30am to carpool to Ogden. Annie, Klayton,

Kimberly, Susette, Mandy, Marisa and myself travelled together and had lots of laughs enroute.

We arrived downtown Ogden around 4:30 and first stop was the porta-pottys. Then a group of us gathered near the buses including Amber and some others.

In Ogden there was a very slight rain. As we travelled up the canyon the rain got a bit heavier but still not too bad. The field where everyone was supposed to sit and wait for the start was graveled, so we didn't have to deal with mud like some other years, other than on the far side porta-pottys which were in wet grass.

A few minutes before the group picture I decided to switch into wool socks, as my feet were already wet and I figured they were going to get cold during the race so wool would be the way to go. I'm not sure if that was a great decision but time would tell.

We gathered for a group picture near the water tables around 6:50, dumped our drop bags into the trucks hoping we'd meet again, and headed to the start.


The race started in a very slight rain which soon turned to a light drizzle.

My music was playing while I ran with all the songs at a 90 bpm cadence and I had enough songs for just over 4 hours. I was running at was an easy pace on the slight downhill for the beginning of the race. Johnny Ahn passed me in the second mile. The first 5 miles I was at an overall 9:03/m pace. I was wearing a short sleeved t-shirt, gloves, rain jacket and a garbage bag with a hole for my head, and a ballcap. No holes for my arms so my hands stayed warm for the most part. I knew from experience to keep that garbage bag on for as long as I could.

Even though the rain continued I was feeling good, by mile 10 I was at an overall pace of 9:35/m. By now I was realizing I would NOT be reaching my first goal. But was still on pace for the second one.
From mile 8 my bladder was killing me and its about all I could think about. At mile 11 I finally stopped to use the portapotty. It cost me some time, but I thought I should be able to make it up by running quicker without my bladder nagging. I had hoped to make it to the half marathon starting area as I knew there would be more choices there with less wait, but I couldn't have gone another 2 miles.  Looking across the lake I could see the hillside we'd be running along on the west side and the weather there looked even worse than what we were dealing with. It did not look good for us.

Going through Eden, and the half marathon timing pad, I saw the time on the clock was about 2:10. I started wondering if I could do a negative split in the marathon. I needed to do the next half in 2:03 to beat my second goal. I doubted it, but thought I'd at least try. I watched a few people climbing into the buses at the half, they were either done or going to try to warm up for a bit.

I knew what to expect after Eden on the course, we make a few turns, then there's a climb with an aid station at the top. The volunteers at the aid station were awesome. I can't imagine being out there in that weather helping and cheering the runners.



Around mile 18 just below the dam.

I still had my garbage bag on, but the opening for my neck was started to tear in the wind. My arms were feeling wet, but I wasn't sure if it was from sweat or the rain working its way in. My hands still felt okay.

I saw so many things strewn on the roadway, bibs torn away from their pins by the wind, someones timing chip still in a loop on the ground and lots of unmentionables.

The wind was brutal, the rain was blowing from the side and felt more like sleet or a soft hail.
Climbing the hill I ended up walking a few times, reached the top and tried to do what I could on the downhill runs along the lake. I knew once I got to the dam at mile 18 there was a good downhill and all I could do was try to use that decline to gain some time. At mile 16 my mp3 player died. I thought crap, 10 more miles of no music! And then without having the music in my ears I could hear a voice following somewhere behind me.



Beautiful waterfalls

I recognized it as being a pacer who is quite loud while she encourages her entourage. It gave me the incentive to push harder. At that mile I was at an overall pace of 10:13/m. I had given up on my first two goals by this time and had the final goal to work on, beat Ogdens best. It was still within my reach, but my legs were feeling the toll of the previous miles and walking was becoming way too often.  I finally dumped the garbage bag as it was becoming too much work holding the neck closed and the rain was finally letting up some. I thought my rain jacket would be fine as a wind breaker.

Sloshing down the canyon, I tried to walk as little as possible but the wind would howl coming around some corners. But the walking increased. I was running out of steam. I met up with Rick Holbrook who said he was bonking.

And then I heard the familiar voice of an angel to the rescue. Miju caught up with me. It was so good to have someone to run with. She made one stop at the toilets but caught up to me once again a short while later and we ran together. I made much better time having her with me. I would encourage her to run but it was me getting the benefit :) We saw a couple of other runners with "4" on their calves and introduced ourselves to them. One I had already met in the past, Bailee Hawkins. Her husband Zach had introduced us at Thankful 13 a few years before.

We ran past a gorgeous sight of a bloated waterfall. The rains had increased its volume which added to the beauty of the canyon. I was able to get a few pictures as we ran past in awe.

The weather had changed, the sky had opened up, I took off my rain jacket and tied it around my waist as best as I could. I also still had my earphones tangled up in it.

The river beside the road was roaring, muddy and fast.

Miju was having trouble with her ankle but between 3 and 5 miles before the finish I thought we should be able to finish this race under 4:40.

With about 2 miles to go I decided I'm going to try for the last goal I had on my list and left Miju, knowing I'd see her again at the finish. I pushed hard and watching my time but I knew it was going to be close. My legs were feeling like lead and there hardly seemed to be anything left to give.

A half mile to go I could see the finish area. My watch was showing the course was long which added to my doubts I could beat the 4:39:58. 2 tenths away I knew it was impossible. I walked for a moment and could see Megan ahead doing her final run across the finish line. I then did the same, my final sprint which I'm sure was more like watching a 95 year old in a 100 yard dash. I crossed shortly after Megan, finally done. I was so happy that this race was over with.


I soon started hearing a lot of people had quit throughout the race. The elements were just too extreme and I don't blame them one bit.

Towards the end of every marathon I ask myself why I'm doing this, I tell myself I'm quitting, or never running this race again, or ever running marathons again. I find they are the toughest race distances out there. Half marathons are fun, over with in a short time. 50 milers are done at an easy pace and are fun.  I swore I'd never do Ogden again, and told some to smack me upside the head with a 2x4 if I look at Ogden next year.

Get the 2x4 ready.

Vigor Big Cottonwood Half Marathon 2016

This morning I tried pulling a Susette Fischer and it worked! Up at 3:10am after 2 hours of sleep and headed over to Cottonwood Heights for the Vigor Big Cottonwood Half Marathon. Met up with Randi and Ryan, we found the buses and also met up with Curtis, Susette, Dave and Mimi.

The school buses were entertaining as a number of them struggled to get up the canyon. The one we were on just about took out a tree and signs in the parking lot before we even got on the road. Another one looked like it stalled out and couldn't move so we assumed they were going to get the people onto another bus. Ours attempted to pass another one as we were going up the hill but it took ages to get by the slower bus. At some points we could have run up faster. The air was cool exiting the bus and we quickly got into the warm building to get comfortable.

We spent most of the time in the lodge waiting for the bathrooms and visiting with friends while waiting for bathrooms, but it was soon time to do the 3/4 mile walk to the start line. It still felt cold! I thought its a shame we have to walk down that section of the canyon as it seems such a waste of elevation drop.
About 2 minutes after 6 A.M. with a brand new pair of running shoes I had never worn, the race started. Ryan wasn't feeling great as he had just got back from Taiwan and was getting a bad cold but he said he'd try to keep up with me,

I laughed as he's usually a lot faster than me. I pressed my start button on my garmin as we crossed the start line and I felt like I had wings, I flew down the road. After a half mile I realized there were only about 8 people ahead of me in the whole race, I was thinking I don't belong here this is totally wrong!



I looked at the pace on my watch and it was showing an average of 5 something, I thought I can't keep this up and knew many people would be passing me later in the race. The first mile was the fastest for the whole race at a 6:20/m pace. A new mile PR for me! In the second mile a few people passed me including Angie Welder, she had a late start to the race but had 1:24:00 in her sights for a finish. The morning was cold but bearable and we knew it would warm up quickly towards the last half. Scott Freimuth strolled by me on his way to a first place finish in his age group and a new PR. I figured Susette would catch up to me pretty quickly as she's faster than me and knew she was planning on her own strategy.

Big Cottonwood has some steep parts to it but some areas flatten out, drastically slowing the pace. I watched each mile as they clicked by and slowed to walk through each aid station for water. Mile 2 was 7:24, well below my goal of 7:37/m so I had banked some time by that point, Michele Snow passed me by on her way to a first place finish in her age group AND a new PR. Mile 3 was 8:18, I lost some time on that one and a number of people passed me including the 1:35 pacer, who I had expected to see at some point. Mile 4 I got back into the grove with a 7:39 pace and then 8:05 on mile 5. The 1:40 pacer Jeremy caught up to me and I told him I was NOT happy to see him! We chatted for a bit, then Susette caught up to us and I took off with her. We visited for a few miles until we raced around the S curve on the wrong side of the road and I thought we were going to get yelled at by a cop coming the other direction but he left us alone. Then all of a sudden, Susette was gone. I wasn't sure what happened to her but kept going hoping she would catch up. It turned out she had to stop at one of the Porta-Potties.
We were passed the half way mark and I knew there wasn't too much downhill left so tried to take advantage of what was left. Mile 7 was another fast mile at 6:39 (my shirt came off after it) then 7:31, 7:15, 7:23 and 7:28. With two miles to go I knew I was on track for a new PR. If I did 8 minute miles in the last two I'd still have a solid PR. I was dying to walk some and still only limited my walking to aid stations. In the last half of the race I would get a cup of water at the aid stations, drink half of it, and dump the other half in my hat then flip my hat on to cool my head. A type of mini-swamp cooler :)

Coming out of the canyon we wound our way down a paved trail, along some roads and passed a few people doing the other race distances. One mile to go and I knew I had it! The final corner and I knew the finish line was almost within sight. As I turned the corner I could see 1:37:XX on the clock and pushed that final few feet and was done. Finally after 18 months I had a half marathon PR. Seconds after crossing the line Jennifer crossed and yelled to me that she had been trying to catch me but just couldn't. I took that as a huge compliment as she is a fast runner.
1:37:36 was the official finish time with an overall 7:27/m pace. 6th out of 13 in my age group, a lot of fast old guys my age showed up this morning! Overall I was 67th out of 525 people.
Like a few people have said, today was an awesome day!