Mogollon Monster Revenge

I finally got revenge against the Mogollon Monster. 

I tried running the race in 2014, but it was cancelled mid-race due to rain. If you prefer I suppose you could call it a thunderstorm, but I'll stick with "rain." You can see my report from that year here. The race is under new management, and both the management and the aid station tents seem much sturdier, so I was confident the race would go off without a hitch.

Gf and the dogs and I drove to Pine, AZ the day before the race. We were mostly on HWY 60, which I don't think I'd seen before, and was gorgeous though, duh, really hot. Saguaros everywhere. I bought a hat.

As is my wont, we camped near the start on any old dirt road pullout we could find. There was a little more traffic than ideal because hunting season just started (elk archery, I think). Plus we couldn't get very far off the pavement because damn, when a Prius says it has 5 inches of clearance, it's 5 inches tops. We made it through the summer by just going to paved Sierra trailheads, but to get anywhere on BLM desert roads during the cooler months here, we're going to need more clearance.

Gf dropped me at the start seconds before the first busload of other runners arrived, so I managed to talk to a man about a horse with no delay. The dropbag piles were only labeled with the aid station name (not the mileage number), the piles weren't in order, and there also didn't appear to be duct tape or markers for labeling, so that confused some people, but it got sorted out.

The course changed from a convoluted loop to a point to point this year. It now utilizes nearly every trail that goes up/down the western half of the Mogollon Rim, which is a ~200 mile long escarpment. The top of the wall is around 7,000' high and the bottom a little under 5,000'. There are six major climbs.

After I didn't really manage to do even splits at Kodiak, I figured I'd do my usual--start fast and try and hang on for dear life. I did give myself an advantage though: I had a pacer. After Black Hills, I ran a silly little statistical analysis of my 100+ mile races, and I calculated that having a pacer is associated with a 2 hour 40 minute savings, after controlling for vertical gain and extra miles.

My analysis isn't exactly rock solid and publishable in the QJE or whatever, but I figured I might as well give it a shot. So I asked Fegy, who some non-runners may know from the Barkley documentary, to pace me, since he lives in Arizona. (Seriously, runner or no, if you haven't watched the documentary, you should. And then if you aren't inspired by the indomitable human spirit, don't tell me.) We'd only met in person once or twice; we mostly knew of each other because of a similar grad school-long distance backpacking-ultras background. I figured I'd probably get along with the guy if we talked more, so what the heck. I think it worked out well.

Morning Crazy-Face

 

I started towards the front, in the top 10-20 runners, and the first and second climbs were no problem. I did a few 9-minute miles along the rim after the first climb. The third climb around mile 24 hit a little harder but I knew Gf and the dogs were going to be somewhere along the rim road at the top, so it was easy to maintain a respectable pace. The race had a few "crew only" aid areas where crew was allowed to provide aid to runners, though there was no official aid station. Seeing Gf, getting icy Gatorade, and putting on a ton of sunblock was great. Shortly before the crew area ended some strangers offered me a popsicle, which was fucking excellent. Seriously, if you ever want to feel appreciated, hand out popsicles at an ultra in Arizona.

Morning Light

The third descent was tough. I repeatedly tightened the laces of my shoes to try and avoid hitting my big toe against the front of my shoe. I ran in a brand new pair of Hoka Speedgoat 4's, in wide. I think that was the right call, but man those trails were steep and boulder-choked. Baby heads. Ankle breakers. I always wear running shoes a full size larger than my dress shoe size, and Hokas often run narrow so I either get them in wide or an additional 1/2 size up. These were my first Speedgoats, but I think they performed well. Still, when I got to the aid station I borrowed some nail clippers and tripped my big toenail close so hitting it against my shoe front wouldn't hurt as much; that helped a bit.

Like this, but much steeper

Then the fourth climb hit me. The climbing was stacked in the first 40 miles of the race, and miles 32 to 40 were all lower and exposed, and then the climb was really tough, and in the afternoon while it was still hot. I was very glad when a runner I'd chatted with earlier in the race caught up to me and we did the climb together. Yes, I am a nerd, but asking him questions about the interest rates on commercial bank loans and how those are collateralized could only help to pass the time so much--that climb was hard.

 

God damn.

(On-course photos by Aravaipa Running/Jubilee Paige)

There was an aid station right at the top of the climb, and people were wrecked. It was still 85+ degrees, but runner were shivering and huddled under blankets. I tried to rehydrate and get going. The aid stations had plenty of ice, but the sports drink was something I'd never heard of before (Gnarly-2-0)  and I thought it was disgusting. So I stuck with what works and just drank as much icy ginger ale as I could. Bottles and bottles full of ginger ale. And some ginger chews for the road. 

I left the aid station and wept uncontrollably for a few minutes. Endorphins, man.

Crybaby

The situation improved because there was a nice breeze along the top of the rim, the sun went down so things cooled off, and the course was relatively flat for 20 miles. Gf made it to another aid station at mile 46 shortly before it got dark, so that was another good boost.

Then 16 miles of solo night running later, I picked up John around mile 62. The night miles weren't easy, but they were easier than the hot miles the next day. John kept up a good conversation, and I think we only stopped outside an aid station once, and briefly. We got climb #5 in before it was totally light or hot, but the next descent and climb, both in the space of a few miles, were hot and exposed. Knowing it was the last big climb was really the only thing that made it passable. 

I don't know why I'm smiling

After the last climb there was a long road stretch, and finally the road-running during elk season caught up to me. There was a lot of traffic, a lot of it pulling trailers, and a lot of dust. This section also seemed to measure longer than predicted, making up a mile or so shortage I'd had according to my GPS thus far. After what seemed like forever we descended from the rim (again on very steep seemingly unrunnably rocky trails). Once down there were a few aggravating switchback climbs back up, but the climbing wasn't as bad as the exposed heat.

The final few miles on trail were mostly downhill, with some nice, if never ending switchbacks. I got pissed the race wasn't over yet, I so started running hard, and even managed to drop Fegy, who had unfortunately run out of water so couldn't keep up. I repeated my What about Bob? mantra: "I feel good. I feel great. I feel wonderful." It was true for a little while, and I managed a couple 11-minute miles, and managed to pass a few runners in shorter distance races on the same course.

The race ended with a 1.5 mile stretch on pavement to go from the Pine AZT trailhead into the heart of Pine, but I'd expected it to either be 2.5 or 3.5 miles based on the course website, and shorter-than-expected is always a pleasant surprise. I finished in 31:42. Looking solely at the elevation gain (between 17K-19K) that's not amazing, but it was good enough for 22 place out of 150 starters, which I'm pretty happy with.

 

Would I recommend the race? Sure. The course is pretty, but I think the beauty and the difficulty are stacked in the first 40 miles. There's not quite as many views in the second half. I was lucky in that Arizona has had a terrific monsoon season, so there was a lot of greenery. There's a little too much road, especially towards the end. I wouldn't call the trails well-maintained by any stretch. The rocks are crazy. I don't recall other parts of Arizona--the Grand Canyon, Kaibab Plateau, or Arizona Strip from the Hayduke--being this rocky, but this is Pennsylvania AT or Massanutten level rocky. The aid stations were pretty good.  I'm not a fan of Gnarly Hydration products, but YMMV. My one hopefully constructive comment for the RD would be to put mileage numbers in addition to aid station names on drop bag piles, and to put the piles in race order.