ZION ULTRAS 50K – Virgin, UT (April 10, 2021)

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/5105339116

With my friends Jessica and Jacob already registered for the 2021 Zion Ultras 50K and my long-standing desire to explore the desert southwest, it was an easy decision to grab my own spot in the race once registration opened up in 2020. We booked airfare and lodging through Airbnb, and I also took more than a week of vacation time and built in a semi-scheduled yet somewhat flexible road-trip tour of the region around the event. The Zion Ultras 50K, part of the Vacation Races series, fell on April 10, 2021, which would be the third day of a twelve-day adventure in which I ultimately visited eight National Parks and ran and hiked a total of 156 miles, including completing another 50K on the following Saturday (blog post about the whole adventure here!).

I squeezed in a solo adventure at Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada on my way to La Verkin, Utah, where the Airbnb was located, but I got caught in a 70-minute traffic jam on I-15. So, thanks Jacob and Jessica for picking up my race packet! I made it in time for an Ultra Eve sunset and Mexican cuisine.

Jacob made us all custom buffs and shirts (check him out at Chase Something Clothing & Apparel!) to go along with the official race swag. Thank you, Jacob!

Race morning was chilly! We waited in the car with the heat on until it was time to line up to start running. I wore a hat, gloves and fleece, knowing I could tie the fleece to my hydration vest later once I warmed up. I just hate being cold.

As with all the Vacation Races events, the race is located near but not in the national park in order to limit impacts to the trails and natural resources found inside the parks. The long 50K course (actually about 33.5 miles) consisted of two different loops of trail, one on the Grafton Mesa single track and a longer loop on the Gooseberry Mesa mountain biking trails network, which featured a lot of slickrock but also amazing cliffside views of the expansive valley below.

The first mile and a half or so of the course was down the gravel road to the Grafton Mesa trailhead. The sunrise lit up the surrounding cliffs in bright warm color, balanced with the green vegetation and blue skies. It was a wonderful start.

Getting to the single track of the Grafton Mesa was a lot of fun. The trail was somewhat technical: winding, rocky, and up-and-down. But the views seemed to get better and better as the sun rose higher. Then we came upon a canyon overlook and had to stop to take photos. We had agreed before starting that none of us was in this for the pace. We wanted to soak in the sites, have fun, and ultimately just complete the course.

Not far down the trail, we came upon an even better spot for photos (which would be a theme for most of the day!).

We picked our way over the rocky trail for the next few miles, following the Grafton Mesa trail in the counterclockwise direction. As we turned back south, to finish the loop, we were faced with some uphill climbing. We broke up the effort with, you guessed it, more photo opportunities!

About eight miles into the event I heard my name. Coincidence, right? Nope, the guy beyond me was definitely calling my name, directed at me. He caught up. It was Oscar Molina, the friend I’d met on the Tunnel Hill 50 Miler course back in 2019! We were both shuffling through a lot of pain and had to walk it in the last 30 miles of Tunnel Hill, and I think each other’s company was really the only way we both finished. At least, I don’t think I would have finished that alone, in the shape I was in. It was good to see you again, brother!

We walked the hills, ran the downs, and reached the first major aid station at about mile 10. I took advantage of the peanut butter and jelly tortilla rolls and fruit, and topped off my hydration bladder. The next 5 miles-ish was rolling hills along the dirt road connecting the two loops, and by this time the sun was high enough to make things feel hot. Music from the aid station at the end of the road beckoned us in to refuel yet again before taking on the strenuous but beautiful Gooseberry Mesa loop.

We followed the Gooseberry Mesa mountain biking trails (white dots and pink ribbons) for about 13 miles of epic views over jaw-dropping drop-offs and up-and-down-and-up-and-down-and-up-and-down the seemingly endless domes of sharply sloping slickrock. Fun fact: slickrock heats up in the midday sun and beats up on your feet and joints.

The uneven slickrock slowed our pace, and as we approached mile 20 we started to feel the time crunch. We could make the 11-hour cutoff, but it was going to be close. And we’d have to run when we could. At the far western end of the Gooseberry Mesa loop was probably the best view, but also a brief out-and-back scramble up an exposed ridge to get a “proof-I-made-it-to-here” hole punch in our race bibs. I had applied sun lotion to my usual problem areas (ears, nose, back of my neck) but by arms and calves were getting sunburned to the point they were starting to cause pain. And we had another 13 miles to go, with no shade for shelter. Thankfully Jessica had sunscreen packets and offered me one, just in time to avoid worse injury that could have persisted days after the event.

Jacob was chasing something, his first ever 50K finish, and he opted to push himself to beat that cutoff. Jessica and I had completed 50Ks before and we wanted to live in the moment and soak in as much rock-bubble landscape as possible. Miles 23, 24, and 25 ticked by with no water and Jessica and I ran out. Finally, at mile 25.5, we hit a water station and were able to resupply. But it was slow going in the heat and we resorted to walking. Although the course was pretty well-marked with pink ribbon I was glad to have downloaded the course map on Avenza to double-check that we were heading the right way.

With a fresh reserve of water and a dirt road giving us sweet relief from the contorted rocks, we pushed on a couple more miles to complete the Gooseberry Mesa loop. We heard Jacob call out from a cot when we reached the aid station. Not a good sign. He had pushed hard, run out of water, and was suffering some heat exhaustion. He had to listen to his body and unfortunately had to make the safe call and a take the DNF. He’s a tough dude and I know he’ll get his 50K finish soon, but we were bummed he fell short due to what was most likely a hydration issue, and that close to finishing. The good news is that the remainder of the course was doubling back along the dirt road we’d come in on, so technically he got to see every bit of the course. Jessica and I knew we’d cross the finish line, and we knew our chances of doing it sub-eleven hours had essentially slipped away. So we walked it in and chatted with some of the 100K runners we encountered on that stretch.

We got across that finish line, collected our medals, and our official results are listed at about 11:31:00 as opposed to DNF, despite the advertised cutoff. We’re counting it as a win. We grabbed some pineapple and found Jacob sleeping in the rental car with the AC on. I drove us back, we all recovered, and then had a fun day exploring Zion National Park the following day!