Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/11378126726
This story starts with my attempt at running the full Cocodona 250 in 2023. You can read that recap here. I was unable to finish the full race, but I made it past the halfway mark and eventually bowed out at Dead Horse Ranch after 138 miles of running (officially about mile 135 on the course). Aravaipa, who puts on this race, happens to offer the Sedona Canyons 125, which starts in Jerome and ends at Heritage Square in downtown Flagstaff. It’s essentially the back half of the Cocodona 250 course (with a few late changes due to permitting issues which I’ll note below). I signed up for Sedona Canyons 125 within a couple days of DNF-ing the 250 in 2023. It would allow me to finish what I started without having to redo those first 125 miles (and the registration fee for the 125 is hundreds of dollars cheaper than the 250, which was also a key factor).
Unfortunately, the Sedona Canyons 125 course wasn’t exactly aligned with the Cocodona 250 route due to a need to limit the number of runners in certain sections due to sensitive habitat for the endangered Mexican Spotted Owl. The key differences were that we didn’t summit Mount Elden, but rather we skirted trails along its southern base, and we skipped the Schnebly to Munds Park section (instead, they shuttled us from Schnebly to Munds Park with vans) and then we made that distance up with an extra ten-mile loop at Fort Tuthill. Fortunately, we all got to experience the same beautiful views in the Sedona area!
My training leading into the race was similar to last year. Consistent high base miles (40-65 mile weeks typically), with a few big weekends (I did three 50Ks in three days on the North Country Trail in Ohio in March, and then completed a 50 miler on the Manistee River Trail loop about 6 weeks before race day). I also did a winter summit of a Colorado fourteener (Quandary Peak) and some higher elevation trail runs in March. Finally, I enjoyed a few sauna sessions and hot tub soaks in the couple weeks leading up to the Sedona Canyons 125 for heat acclimation. It all proved beneficial, I think, and I succeeded in completing the race!
Getting to Arizona was somewhat stressful. I arrived at the Detroit airport at 11am for what was supposed to be a 1pm Frontier flight. It was delayed three times and we didn’t take flight until almost 7pm, which was really frustrating but at least I made it to Phoenix the same day. Whew!
Despite the travel frustrations, the sunset views from the plane were spectacular!
Alright, a huge THANK YOU is due to my friends Stephanie and Kara! With their help I was able to do this trip without renting my own vehicle. I took a shuttle to my first hotel, in Phoenix, and grabbed a late night Chipotle burrito before hitting the hay. Stephanie picked me up the next morning and we grabbed lunch and picked up groceries and supplies en route to packet pickup in Jerome. It was exciting being back!
The race check-in and start line was located in the Gold King Mine Ghost Town just outside of Jerome. I saw/hallucinated? a ghost there last year when I was slogging my sleep-deprived trashed body through mile 124.
Photo credit: Howie Stern
After start-line bib photos Stephanie dropped me off at the Little Daisy Motel in Cottonwood. She went car camping and I walked across the street for a pre-race meal of pad thai on Mai Thai On Main (followed by a Crumbl cookie that Stephanie was so kind to get for me!). She then picked me up at dawn and delivered me to the start line to get my SPOT tracker and some coffee. This race kicked off at 7am, which to me felt especially late having just arrived from Eastern Standard Time.
My start line garb was, by design, the same kit I wore last year for my attempt at the full Cocodona 250. I liked the continuity of that. From top down, I wore the Cocodona bucket hat, Cocodona sun shirt, blue Nathan hydration vest, orange and yellow board shorts, Wright Socks Cool Mesh II blister free socks, Javelina Jundred ankle gaiters to keep debris out of my shoes, and Hoka Speedgoat 5s (a newish pair). I ran with Leki trekking poles and sun gloves designed for fisherman, and I only put a little sunscreen on my nose and legs (which was enough). I’ve since lost my prescription sunglasses, so I went with some big shades that fit comfortably over my prescription eyeglasses. My pack was loaded with 2L of water, about 1,000 calories of sweet and salty snacks (replenished at aid stations), an emergency space bag (required), wet wipes, and a headlamp. For certain sections (night and the second half of the course, which is up on the Coconino Plateau at over 6,000′ elevation and much cooler), I grabbed Patagonia fleece shirts and/or my puffy jacket from Stephanie and Kara, who met me at each of the aid stations with crew access. I carried my phone, in airplane mode most of the time, with the course GPX file loaded in the CalTopo app. For the second night, I also used my Kogalla light. It was worth carrying the bulky battery pack for the improved vision. I fastened the LED light strip to last year’s race bib belt, which was easy to clip around my waist and worked really well. I carried headphones and had a ton of music downloaded on Spotify, but as with the Cocodona 250 I never once listened to music! Other odds and ends included chapstick, a whistle, Leukotape for blister care, and a second pair of socks.
Let’s get to the race deets, shall we?
It was a bright and sunny start! We had dry conditions throughout the week and it was relatively cool, which helped in the hot Sedona sections but made for some really chilly nights (it got down to about 30 degrees the second night!). About the beard. Haven’t shaved since Cocodona 250 2023. So that’s what one year of growth looks like.
At 7am we were underway and soon running downhill the streets of Jerome. The goal here was to take it easy. No need to pound the joints too hard this early in the race!
After a couple miles on pavement, we left Jerome (via a turn that Sara and I missed in the dark last year, which cost us almost an extra mile with some unnecessary vert). This was the “bullshit” (race director’s accurate description) down a steep, dusty hill full of rubble, metal scraps, and broken glass that Sara and I slid down by headlamp last year. It was, unsurprisingly, far easier in daylight on fresh legs. I crossed paths with Wes Plate on the way down and saw Leah at the next aid station, and I enjoyed chatting with a group of fellow runners tackling this section at a similar pace.
After descending that brutal hill (the biggest descent of the race) things leveled out and we ran sidewalks in Clarkdale and some nice riparian areas along the Verde River en route to Dead Horse Ranch, where I pulled the plug on my 2023 race.
We had the first of two unavoidable river crossings at about mile 8. The water felt good and it wasn’t very deep, so it was an easy crossing, but coming out with wet feet into a sandy area is a recipe for blisters if left unaddressed. I ran with wet feet for a couple miles to the first aid station, and took the time to dry my feet and put on dry socks there.
Photo credit: Anastasia Wilde
The shade of the trees was welcome as by 10am things were already heating up in the valley. I made good time, and most of this section was runnable. The trail wound around Tuzigoot National Monument en route to Dead Horse Ranch State Park. This was a different route than I experienced last year coming into Dead Horse, as last year’s route had been altered due to a recent fire in the area.
After refilling water, stocking up on snacks, and putting on dry socks I left Dead Horse Ranch aid station and the next section was a little bit of trail running along the river and a long stretch of paved sidewalks and road shoulders through the town of Cottonwood and along the highway towards Sedona until routing off on a forgiving sandy gravel road.
There was murmur among the runners I was grouped with at that point over the smoke on the horizon, as it appeared to be close to the back end of our race route. Fortunately, we got a text from the race director that it was a confirmed prescribed fire and we didn’t have to worry about it. Keep chugging along was the directive. That’s what we did. Eventually we reached an intersection with the Lime Kiln Trail and the course followed that beautiful singletrack into the Deer Pass aid station. I really enjoyed that part of the course!
As I reached my first good views of the multicolored rock formations of the Sedona area I passed a full 250 runner, Jessica Turner, who was en route to successfully completing her second Cocodona 250. I had shared a few miles with her near Crown King in 2023.
The trail wound through through this landscape under a bright blue sky until we passed through a concrete culvert beneath a road and came into Deer Pass aid station. I was hungry and warm and a few slices of watermelon hit the spot. I topped off my water and left with a vegan hot dog to eat on the go.
After Deer Pass (approximately mile 23) there was a water-only station at mile 30 before the next full aid in Sedona, at mile 37.5. The first half of this section was pretty awesome, as the rocks and dirt shifted from tan to red and those beautiful cliffs came into clearer view.
I completed a couple miles chatting with a fellow 125 runner (Dave, I believe?). We climbed up and down a few small hills and the views were getting better and better with every open vista.
I was moving pretty well on the terrain but limited my spurts of running to manage heat (and I feel like I managed it well… I certainly felt warm but never got nauseous or felt I was overdoing it). Between the photos above and the one below I hit the water station. I topped off my hydration bladder and took advantage of the cold water bucket and sponge to soak my upper body and head. I used the boost of cool to propel myself through the next couple miles quickly. Faster than I should have, because my left knee started to feel a pinch of pain from the pounding which forced me to walk that off from time to time.
Hitting the 50K mark under 8 hours felt pretty good. At this point, I was projecting finishing sub 40-hours. That seemed pretty reasonable. Did I do it? Read on!
When I was three miles out from the Sedona Posse Grounds Park aid station, where Stephanie and Kara were planning to meet me with my night gear and to cheer me on, I pulled out my phone to text them updates. Naturally, that’s when I was walking up to race photographer Scott Rokis had his lens trained on me. He got my attention and put my phone away for a proper photo and I chatted with him for a bit, looking back at the view in the photos above and below, before I crested the hill and then descended into the streets of Sedona. I missed a turn but recognized it within about a tenth of a mile, so no big deal.
Photo credit: Scott Rokis
In the pace chart/plan I sketched out for Kara and Stephanie (knowing from last year how far off those things can get in a race this long) I had estimated I would arrive at the Sedona aid station in 10 hours. I arrived within five minutes of that target.
I enjoyed some salted watermelon and a black bean burger, and sat down (for more than a few seconds) for the first time in the race. I grabbed my Patagonia fleece and windproof rain jacket and had to display my required gear at the aid station check-out table before continuing on my journey. I probably spent at least a half hour at the Sedona Posse Grounds aid station but it was a good refresher to get me energized for the next twenty miles. And it would be a tough twenty miles with a crossing of Oak Creek, the biggest climb of the race, and some tired night miles with swiftly dropping temperatures and a cold breeze.
I had enough daylight to enjoy the amazing views of the next eight miles in daylight. I covered the majority of this section with Brian from Flagstaff and Kyle from Vancouver, running together or loosely leapfrogging our way through those miles. There was a spot or two where we got turned around and followed the wrong trail for a while, but cumulatively we went no more than a quarter-mile off course. I think I ended up with less than one “bonus mile” for the entire 125, which is pretty good all things considered (and compared to last year!).
Navigating the slickrock and red rubble with Brian and Kyle. That evening light on those cliffs! Yes!!!
Upon reaching this bridge the route descended into the Oak Creek valley. We encountered Andy Glaze on this section, too. If you’re a runner and you’re on Instagram, you probably know who he is. He completed his fourth Cocodona 250 this year, has run at least 100 miles/week for 216 straight weeks (and counting), and has become online-famous for his running accomplishments and catchphrases like “smile, or you’re doing it wrong” and “daily reminder to do hard things”. You can check his account out here: @amglaze
Given all that, he gets a lot of requests for photos and somehow seems to always be up for a photo and a conversation, even when he’s extremely sleep-deprived he might not remember it later. I was impressed with his ability to be coherently conversational under such conditions, which I know would have rendered me a tight-lipped zombie.
We didn’t see any snakes. I was kind of hoping to, but alas. The Oak Creek valley and crossing was an adventurous place, though! I was really glad to see it and get the crossing done before nightfall.
The crossing was not deep (and this year it’s relatively low flow), but it can be slippery and the water flows fast. They string up a rope to aid in crossing and I took advantage of it. Slipping and getting my warm shirt and everything else wet would have been disastrous. After crossing, I fished out my headlamp and grabbed a photo with Andy before the biggest climb of the race – a 2,000′ grind up Casner Canyon to the rim of the Coconino Plateau.
No photos for the final 8 or 9 miles of the Sedona to Schnebly section. It was dark and I just focused on moving forward. The climb was a slog. At the top, the wind was blowing and I put on my fleece and filled up on water at the water-only station. Then it was about five miles on a dusty road that was very runnable but at about 50 miles into the race I was feeling it and covered the distance with run/hike intervals. I saw a few headlamps ahead and behind me but for most of that section I was out there alone. It was about 10pm and I was feeling really sleepy. My original plan was to push through the first night on no sleep and try to sleep in the morning when I reached Fort Tuthill.
The upcoming aid station situation was a goofy one. Once I reached Schnebly aid station, I would check in and out of that aid station and ride a shuttle directly up to the Munds Park aid station, cutting out a section that the full 250 runners cover (due to permitting issues and the endangered owl habitat). The Munds Park aid station had an indoor space with cots for sleeping, and I was on pace to arrive there at midnight. Munds Park is also where runners can pick up a pacer, and Kara was on deck to meet me there.
About an hour out from Schnebly, I made the call (literally) to let Stephanie and Kara know that I planned to take a sleep break at Munds and told Kara to meet me there at 3am. My mood lifted considerably knowing I was now only about an hour away from a sleep break.
The road I had been on passed under a highway underpass and then led up a rutted trail to the Schnebly aid station. This last mile really sucked. Because of the shuttle situation, both race vans and private crew vehicles were coming and going and I had to dodge vehicles that were dodging rocks and deep ruts in the road. One vehicle almost hit me, forcing me to jump off the road. I was not a fan of that little stretch but I made it through.
There was a five minute wait for the next shuttle once I got to Schnebly so I ate some ramen noodles with an extra scooping of macaroni noodles in it. When the shuttle arrived I checked out, enjoyed sitting with my eyes closed for the fifteen minute ride, and then checked in at Munds Park (they scanned our race bibs in and out and the transit time was subtracted from our total finishing time). I picked a cot at Munds and fortunately I was able to get about two hours of real sleep between midnight and my 3am alarm. I ate a quick breakfast of bacon and eggs and drank some coffee and Stephanie and Kara met me there at the aid station tent. Kara joined me for the next section(s) and we set off on through a residential neighborhood at about 3:30am. The sunrise was early in Arizona, with the sky starting to lighten by 4:30am, so we only had to get through about an hour of total darkness before the new day.
It was chilly and a little windy, so Kara and I set off in puffy jackets. After a mile or two of paved streets the route took us onto Forest Service two-tracks through an active logging area. Kara was there to verify that I wasn’t hallucinating up these machines.
With the new light in the sky, a three-hour rest, and some coffee it was a brand new day and I felt pretty good. I wasn’t running a lot, but maintained a pretty good hiking pace with short spurts of jogging the downhills. I could have run more of this section, but this was also ONLY the half way point and I had to conserve myself for the rest of the race.
The section featured a mix of two-track and singletrack trail through a pleasant pine forest. There were rolling ups and downs and switchbacks and a few areas with slash and torn up ground from logging. It was about 16 miles from Munds Park to the next aid station, Kelly Canyon, at mile 70. Kelly Canyon had a fully stocked aid station but it was not a crew-accessible aid station so Kara was on for the next 17 miles as well. After some coffee and quesadillas we set off on the next section.
The full 250 mile runners only had to run 6.5 miles on runnable roads to reach the Fort Tuthill aid station, on which we caught our first glimpse of snow-capped Humphreys Peak in Flagstaff (pictured below). We ran/hiked those same miles (I was still running some downhills through mile 75), but right at the cusp of reaching the aid station 125 mile runners were diverted on a 10-mile loop adventure through Fort Tuthill to make up for the miles we skipped by shuttling between Schnebly and Munds Park. It was objectively a pretty nice trail through pine forest but it just seemed to drag on forever.
At long last we finished the loop and reached the Fort Tuthill aid station in mid-afternoon. Thank you so much Kara for pacing me through that long section (34 miles, she ran an ultramarathon pacing me)!
I was feeling pretty exhausted from 87 miles of adventure and the short night of rest and I faced a choice. Tuthill is the final sleep station on the course and Sedona Canyons 125 runners are given an extremely generous cutoff time of 75 hours. So, I had plenty of time to rest if I wanted it. If I set off, I would be committing to pushing through the next 40 miles without sleep. Dirt naps are allowed, but it was going to be a cold night and I knew I would likely be too uncomfortably cold to get meaningful rest (and I didn’t want Stephanie to be stuck out there not moving in the cold night while I attempted to sleep).
Given the time of day, I didn’t think I’d be able to fall asleep at Tuthill. I learned from last year’s mistakes (I wasted a lot of time trying but failing to get sleep at Cocodona 250 2023) and made the decision to press on. I chugged a can of cold brew coffee and fueled up with an extra big plate of pasta, put tape on my blistered toes, and put on clean socks (I was still wearing the same ones that I crossed Oak Creek in). I also wanted to put miles behind me while there was still about four hours of daylight. Onward!
Three segments remained. About eighteen miles from Fort Tuthill to Walnut Canyon, another eight from there to Sandy Seep, and then the last twelve to the finish line. Walnut Canyon was the next crew accessible station and Stephanie was planning to pace me there. We set off from Fort Tuthill about the same time as Andy Glaze and we got to share steps and stories with him for the first mile or so before we went off ahead (my mile 88 was approximately his mile 213).
Stephanie and I got to observe a military plane take off, which was kind of cool. The first few miles out of Tuthill were mostly sidewalks along streets on the outskirts of Flagstaff. We weren’t all that far from the finish line, but the route took the thirty-eight mile long way by looping way around the east and then north sides of Flagstaff before finally coming into the heart of the city.
The temperature was pretty perfect, with a fleece on and at a hiking pace, and the setting sun and partly cloudy skies made for some great lighting and views. Stephanie snapped these amazing photos along the way:
We got to follow the Arizona Trail for a few miles in the middle of this section, then there was another long, straight sidewalk trek up a long gradual incline. My beat up feet hurt and the pavement was a very noticeably harder surface to walk on than the trail, but I appreciated the faster pace and lack of obstacles to kick and trip on.
I hit mile 100 (my fourth time hitting 100 or more miles on an individual run) on this sidewalk section at dusk. Stephanie captured the moment with this photo:
At the end of the sidewalk the course route hopped onto a network of sandy trails, which were easier on the feet and mostly flat and free of rocks. We dug our headlamps out at that point, and headed into the dark. There were some confusing intersections through that area but with our CalTopo maps up we were able to navigate through to another gravel road section, then onto a quiet paved road leading to Walnut Canyon. I threw on my puffy jacket as the temperature dropped. It was a little breezy in the open areas. The road section felt like a long walk, but it eventually hopped onto a single track for the last half mile or so into Walnut Canyon. We talked about how much we wanted something warm to eat and drink until the lights and aid station tent came into view. Mile 105!
Walnut Canyon was another full aid station but with no crew parking. However, crew and pacers were allowed to park at a Hobby Lobby and shuttle to the aid station, which is how Kara got there with my bag of supplies. I took a seat in a camp chair to drink coffee and eat (i.e, choke on and swallow, because I was getting too tired to chew properly) a bacon, egg, and rice burrito. I think it was about 10pm there and I knew I’d be lucky to keep a 3 mph pace for the final twenty miles. Therefore, I would be on the course for another seven hours or so (it dawned on me that I’d see my third sunrise of this run). I understood that I would need fuel so I ate more than I wanted to eat at Walnut Canyon.
Because Kara and Stephanie are both so awesome they both offered to pace me for the final section. The Sandy Seep station was no crew or pacer access, so if one of them joined me they’d be in it until the finish line. That would have made for a 54 mile day for Kara or a 40 mile adventure for Stephanie. I had offered to do the final twenty alone, and rely on music and the impending finish to motivate me to keep moving. Stephanie was up for it, though, and I’m so thankful for her company through the long and chilly night. Having a second pair of eyes looking for course markers and extra light (I used my Kogalla until the battery died at around 3am, after which my headlamp alone seemed very dim). Kara was off the hook and got to shuttle back to her rental car and go sleep. Not true for me and Stephanie!
Thankfully, a lot of the eight miles from Walnut Canyon to Sandy Seep was on sandy trails with sparse or small rocks, and I got reprieve from my swollen, blistered right big toe. I had all of my layers on, with hand warmers in my chest pocket for core warmth, and I still felt chilled out there. I’m sure Stephanie did, too, and to her credit she never complained about the cold or my slow pace or the losing the full night of sleep. She was, yet again, a rockstar pacer and friend!
The landscape felt flat aside from some trees and brush, with the world reduce by our small spheres of light, surrounded by black void. But somewhere out there ahead of us was Mount Elden, a 4,000′ climb up to above 9,000′ elevation that the full Cocodona 250 runners had to complete at mile 242 and which we were supposed to be doing if it weren’t for the late route changes due to the endangered owl habitat. I’ve never been so thankful for owls. It would have been an accomplishment to look back on, had we summitted Elden, but in the moment I was quite content with the revised route, which was technical and featured ups and downs but only had about half the vertical gain.
We crossed paths with a couple of runners on this section but runners were getting pretty spread out by this point in the race. One of the most memorable moments was crossing a railroad on a road overpass and big train, all lit up, passed right beneath us in the dark. It felt surreal [on that note: as I am writing this paragraph I actually just texted Stephanie to make sure it was actually real, because hallucinations do happen. She remembers it, too!].
Reaching Sandy Seep was a minor celebration. It was 2:30am (almost 44 hours into the race) and twelve more miles seemed like a huge obstacle after doing a long eight since Walnut Canyon. But every step after Sandy Seep was a step not towards the next aid station, but to the finish line!!! I realized I hadn’t eaten anything over the three or four hours it took us to get to Sandy Seep. I felt lightheaded for a moment, which I suspect was probably low blood sugar but possibly from breathing in exhaust from hunching over the sunflower propane heater they had set up for us to warm up near. I guessed that I would feel better if I had a cup of Coca Cola. I was right, that did the job. Stephanie and I each had a bowl of ramen noodles and I drank some more hot coffee for both the warmth and the caffeine. It was tempting to linger, but that wouldn’t get us any closer to Flagstaff. We began the final section…
^ Definitely some Frodo Baggins and Samwise Gamgee take the ring to Mount Doom vibes this night
The advantage, mentally, of not leaving Sandy Seep until about 2:30am was that we only had to get through about two more hours of night. I would finish in the daylight. Far from the sub-40 hour finish I thought I was capable of, as it would be approximately 48 hours. But it would still be a finish solidly in the middle of the pack.
This last section was more rugged than the previous 25 miles had been and just covering ground at 2 mph was tough. I kicked rocks with the same sore toe, over and over, and there were steeper climbs and descents as the route skirted the southern base of Mount Elden. I only took one photo before sunrise, but this is pretty representative of the bulk of those trails:
When the sun finally started to rise the birds started singing. Depth perception became easier, and the world expanded to include a more expansive view of the surrounding scenery. There was no question about whether or not I’d finish this thing (I had about 26 hours left to complete the final four miles). The question was when, and my answer was sooner rather than later. The game was to keep moving, even if slowly. The terrain stayed pretty rocky until the final 5K.
After following trails through forests, in view of Flagstaff residences, we passed a shoulder of lumpy rocks and then climbed a short but steep hill into Buffalo Park. From there we had a good view of the sun rising over Mount Elden. It looked intimidating and I was again appreciative that we didn’t have to ascend to its windy summit in the dark.
The little climb up to Buffalo Park was the last climb of the race. My watch hit the 125 mark. We crossed the park and then an easy trail led downhill to connect to Flagstaff streets. A quick zig and zag and then an exciting march down the sidewalk along N Beaver St. I thought about running the last mile or two into the finish line. I could’ve finished a couple minutes earlier, but who cares? I was in the last mile of my Sedona Canyons 125 adventure (and the last mile of the full course, bridging my 2023 and 2024 races). I had waited a long time for this moment. So I walked. And soaked it in. And the live coverage team caught up with me and followed me in to the end (see minutes 3:00 to 8:00 in the YouTube video here).
As we approached the famous “turn left on Birch” I told Stephanie I was running it in. It felt good to still be able to kick into run mode for my finish. Kara was waiting to capture video of me coming through, and I clipped the image below from her video.
Huge thank you Stephanie for covering such a long segment with me, and taking the week to crew me! She finished almost forty miles of the course… the Elden Crest 38 course, which is the third race distance offered as part of the Cocodona experience and overlapped the last 38 miles of the Sedona Canyons 125.
I was handed my sweet sweet finisher buckle and a cup of ginger ale to sip on. I checked my phone and read through an outpouring of congratulations messages from friends, family, and coworkers. I was happy to hear Kara had snagged a parking space close to the finish line, and we gathered into her rental car. We had to get Stephanie back to her car at Fort Tuthill so she could get on her way to her solo adventure in the Grand Canyon (after she got some rest)! After dropping her off, Kara and I went to the hotel I had booked in Flagstaff so I could shower before we drove to Phoenix. I’m glad I finished in time to do that before 11am checkout! It made for a more pleasant drive to Phoenix for us both that way.
My toe was a sight to behold. I had drained and taped the blisters at Fort Tuthill, when they were smaller, but kicking rocks dozens of times created this monster over the final forty miles. Sorry you had to see this. But it’s part of the story.
I had to fly back to Michigan on a 6am flight on Sunday morning, so I’m really glad I finished on Friday morning, more than 24 hours before the official race cutoff, so I could rest up all day Friday and Saturday. Kara and I grabbed Chipotle in Phoenix and stayed at her cousin’s AirBNB in Scottsdale for the just the cost of the cleaning fees (thanks Kara and family)!!! I did a lot of sleeping, tracking the last day of the race online, and responding to messages. I checked the race results and discovered I’d come in at 63rd overall, out of 142 finishers of the 2024 Sedona Canyons 125. The race had a 72% finish rate. Full results are here.
On Saturday I went for a slow and easy two-mile walk in my socks on the sidewalks of a Scottsdale neighborhood. It felt good to stretch my feet and feel the warmth of the sun-baked concrete. Kara’s family hung out with us for dinner and we sat around the pool and played trivia, and the next morning Kara dropped me off at Sky Harbor and I made my way back to Detroit. Then I drove three hours up to Gaylord, and then straight down to Grand Rapids the next day for River Rally conference, where I relied on a ton of coffee to network, engage in discussion, and deliver my presentation on “Engaging Communities in Dam Removal and Management”. It was a whirlwind couple of weeks!
How’s recovery going?
I ran a 50K eight days after finishing Sedona Canyons 125. I guess I should’ve done the full 250, huh?