Many of you know that I did the Squaw Peak 50 mile trail run last year. I finished that day, but with injury (peroneal tendonitis) that required me to walk the last 10+ miles. I was successful in the lottery again this year, and I was determined to make up for last year’s performance.

This year was so much better. I was pretty apprehensive before race day because the forecasted high was in the low 90s. I do not thermoregulate well in the heat and have a lot of anxiety about it. I hydrated like crazy in the days before the event and during the event (but still ended up a little dehydrated). I also really focused on my diet in the week before. I think that helped a lot.

Anyhoo, I finished, and finished well. 41st overall (out of about 300, I think), 3rd woman over the line, and 1st master’s female. I felt pretty good most of the day, the normal ups and downs. The things I did differently this year that I think made a difference:

  • Ate more “normal” food – At the aid stations I had small amounts of PBJ sandwich squares and fruit. This went down better than the Honey Stinger chews, Perpetuem tabs, and Lara Bars after about 30 miles. At about 40 miles I had just a small piece of a Lara Bar and I had to spit it out. It was just disgusting to me at that point! I also admit that I had Coke at the aid stations after about mile 30. I had used Coke on a couple of the other hot-day races I did earlier this year. I’m sorry, but this stuff is amazing. I know it’s bad for me, will cause a spike, etc. But it works, period.
  • Carried poles – after last year, I decided to have poles for the last climb, thinking I would use them for the downhill. They actually saved my sorry azz on the very steep uphill (as in about 1400’ climb in 1 ¼ mile). I did use them a little bit on the downhill after that (which was very technical) also but they earned their worth on that uphill. These are superlight poles that collapse to about 14” so they are easy to carry.
  • Used a coach – in the past I’ve successfully trained for and finished long events with no or minimal coaching. I only hired this coach about 5 weeks before the event (I actually hired him to help me with training for TransRockies, which is in August) but I think those 5 weeks of a different kind of focused training and his guidance through my anxiety about the event made a difference at least mentally.


Stats are 51.15 miles, 10,751 feet of climbing, 11 hours 18 minutes, average moving pace of 12:15 and average overall pace (includes stops at aid stations) of 13:15. I am very happy with this result.

I don’t have a lot of photos (I didn’t have a pacer until about mile 44) but here are a few from the last aid station and the finish.

I think I'm going to choose a different 50 next year. This is a good one, but I'd like to find another beautiful place to suffer through.

At the aid station with my hubby and friend:


With my doppelganger (I also had a lime green overshirt on at the beginning); we ran together for about 10 miles:


Happy, dirty, and sweaty, relaxing at the finish:


Getting my trophy!