Our philosophy at First Endurance has always been to fully understand our customers.  This is why we race cycling races and triathlons so often.  Because we also market our products to ultra runners, I felt inclined to jump in and give it a go.   I knew I could run 50K since I have done an Ironman and several marathons in the past,  but, because I thrive on challenges, the Wasatch Speedgoat’s “toughest 50K in the Country” description helped solidify this as a full-on challenge.   I knew it was much, much more than a 42K marathon considering a) it was on rough trails, b) it climbed 12,000+ feet and c) it took place at high altitude.  So a short five weeks prior to the start of the race, I had to drastically change from running 7 miles twice per week, to training like a mountain goat.  When I told my wife Sylvia I wanted to do this, I was ecstatic that she decided to join me.  So for five weeks we took every opportunity we had to run on trails and train our climbing legs.  

The more we read about the race, the more we both realized this was going to be one of the toughest races we had ever done.  And with only 5 weeks of training we knew we could not safely jump our running distance up to this level without fear of overuse injury.  So we consciously kept it hard yet manageable and went in a bit under trained.  

The week leading up to the race, I was calm yet excited and Sylvia could not sleep.  I finally convinced her that we don’t need to race, just spend a day in the mountains with 150 other runners enjoying the scenery. 

We woke up at 4:00 a.m. on race day and headed up to Snowbird Ski Resort.   With the base at 8,000 feet, you expect the air to be cold at 5:30 in the morning.  To our surprise it was warm-the start of one of the hottest summer days in Snowbird this year.   Though we discussed staying together during the race, we didn’t train together much so we really didn’t know if one of us would be much stronger than the other.  150 Ultra runners started at 6:30 am and we quickly got into a rhythm of hike/running our way up to the top of the first climb.  I settled right behind Sylvia somewhere in the middle of the pack and realized she was going about at my limit.    We meandered up one ravine, down gully’s, across rock slides, off-trail, through river rocks and rarely did we find ourselves on steady even trails.  When you climb sections that are nearly 50% incline over rocks nearing elevations of 11,500 feet, your heart rate is at maximum.  Because of this and the rough footing and exhaustion, races like this require extreme focus.  Your mind does not wander, its fully focused on the next step or next ridge.  If not, you quickly slip down a ravine or severely twist an ankle.  

We made it to the 11,500 foot top of Baldy peak about 2:15 minutes after the start.  My heart rate was somewhere in the 180’s or 190’s and immediately we had to scramble down a 60% descent over loose rocks.  With your heart rate maxxed out this is a difficult task.  Luckily Black Diamond was there with ropes and volunteer’s.  (see image #2).  From here it was long 4.5 mile descent down the back-side of Snowbird Ski resort into Mary Ellen gulch.  We were both looking forward to a nice long downhill so we could relax a bit and let our heart rate drop.  We quickly realized this was not the case as we jumped right into a rock river bed with sketchy footing for what seemed like miles.  From the lowest point on the course we began our climb back up towards Baldy Peak.  A few hard steep ups, followed by off-trail descents, then back to climbing till we could almost touch the Tram Station.  We dove into the Tunnel (used in the Winter to haul skiers from the front of the mountain to the back) and headed straight down the front side of Snowbird.  By this point we had climbed about 8,000 feet, covered 20 miles and were highly motivated to get to our ’special needs’ bag at the top of the Tram so we could indulge in an Ultragen Cappuccino!  We didn’t pay close attention to the map prior to the start of the race and were disheartened when we got so close to the Tram and were pointed back down the mountain.  Following a long descent, we then had to climb right up the ridge of the ‘Cirque’.  This is a brutally steep spine that goes right up the heart of Snowbird ski resort and points directly up towards the top of the Tram.  

At this point I began to get a bit weak and watched Sylvia pull away from me.  We climbed directly up towards the Tram and I stayed motivated knowing that as soon as I crested I could suck down that yummy Ultragen Cappuccino.  300 feet from the top the course turned south and headed back down to the base of Little Cloud Bowl.   The Ultragen would have to wait another 45 minutes until we circumvented Little Could Bowl and climbed out through some snow fields.  

At the top of the Tram, Sylvia and I were greeted by family including our two boys who waited a couple hours for us.  They cheered for us and sent us off for the final descent to the base of Snowbird ski resort.  

7:39 minutes after starting, Sylvia and I finished together.  We both raced as hard as we could.  Had we not known one other, I think we still would have finished within minutes of each other.  It was a great bonding day for the two of us, who never got more than 100 feet from the other, more so because we were evenly matched.  Sylvia was the 5th female over all to finish and we respectively took 27th overall.   

The top three finishers were all First Endurance athletes!  Nate McDowell won the over all finishing two hours before us.  

Images courtesy of Pure Light Images

At the finish all athletes were treated with Ultragen for recovery. I was very proud to hear everyone saying how much they loved the Ultragen and how great the EFS drinks worked at the aid stations during the course.  This was especially pleasing because most athletes had no idea I was a founder of First Endurance, hence I knew their testimonials were genuine.