Scout Mountain 100

I just got back from running Scout Mountain 100, my 33rd complete 100-or-more mile race, outside Pocatello, Idaho. I also got to visit with a couple Utah friends since I flew through SLC, so it was a nice weekend. I'd say it's a good, tough course. It was unfortunately very hot (high of 89 in Pocatello Friday, 88 Saturday) and coming relatively early in the season that made the heat feel even worse, likely skewing my view of things.

Endless field of mule's ears

 The course has three major climbs and several additional smaller ones for 22K vert. Two of the big climbs take you to 8500'+ summits (Old Tom and the eponymous Scout Mountain) which had great views and still had a little snow on them, necessitating some fun glissades on Scout. Views are often open in other places even if you're in foothills rather than alpine terrain. 

First Summit, Old Tom

Friendly guy (whose name I hope is Tom) with big dogs on summit of Old Tom

 

The trails were in decent, if not wonderful, shape. They were very well logged out--not a single blowdown unless you left the main trail to avoid mud--but single track was often a little overgrown. This is more the sort of thing that on shorter runs you think is fun, but then after 75 miles or in the middle of the night starts to slow you down. There was essentially no pavement. Some of my least favorite trail conditions were the first few miles (starting from a very drab, hot, gravel lot up a trail full of cows and shit) and the end (a climb up a nordic ski center grass slopes on long switchbacks with no trail and potential gopher holes.)

The race starts at noon, probably working backward from the finish times for several other shorter concurrent races (50+ mile, 50K, 21-mile), but probably also because the RD Luke Nelson thinks everyone, even elites, should suffer overnight. He's known for a gnarly FKT and stout Barkley and Tor performances among other things, so this makes sense. Unfortunately when it's hot, this means it's hot for much more of the race. I went through the 11 to 4 blast furnace two full times. 

Gross. It was hot.

 

I moved slow from the start, and was eventually a little concerned that I'd miscalculated by not picking up a headlamp until mile 35. (I should be able to do 4 miles per hour for the first 35, right?) There are two long descents after the first high summit at mile 20, so my average pace picked up and the headlamp wasn't an issue.  I then felt pretty good through 40 miles, so it was nice to be thinking "I'm feeling good at night!" By 50 miles I knew I was slowing down and I tried really hard to stick with a couple Coloradans I'd met at the start who turned out to be volunteers at High Lonesome, for which I run the lottery. It was taking all I had to keep 14- to 16-minute miles, so I flagged after at most a couple miles. Part of the reason it was hard to keep up with them was the trail was narrow and a little brushy, and I turned my waist light down to low after it flickered on me and I got worried it might not last the night on medium. (Note to self: buy a new, brighter light. As annoying as the oncoming headlights of a Kogalla Ra are, you have to be able to see details of rocks and brush to go all out at night.) 

After another long descent to the outskirts of Pocatello after mile 60, I felt pretty good. "OK, Foresthill to Auburn. That's easy. We got this." What a fool. The climb up City Creek was gradual at first, and very well maintained--being so close to town I assume it's a popular trail.  Partway up, however, it abruptly, rudely, switched to climbing straight up a dry gulch or seasonal stream, far more erosion and gravity than a trail. This was thoroughly exhausting, and when I finally got to the top, there were good views along the ridgeline, but all I could do was hobble, and scream, and weep. "Who hurt you, Luke?" I thought. It reminded me of struggling up to Michigan Bluff at Western States last year and without a word from me, Amy seeing me, saying "I know. It's OK," and giving me a hug. I could have really used another hug.

In retrospect, it couldn't have been that bad if I had the wherewithal to pull out my phone when I was crying.

It's steeper than it looks.

Eventually another runner came by, and instead of a hug, she gave me a couple electrolyte pills, which I haven't used lately so I wasn't carrying any myself. I couldn't hang with her for long, but a quick chat and knowing some of the same people helps. It was fully hot, exposed, and miserable again by the next aid station, where I took my time and had the delightful experience of not being repeatedly asked the same bandwidth-sapping open-ended "how are you feeling?" questions, but just waited on me patiently. I was very grateful for the low-pressure sales tactics, and descended, feeling decent again, to my drop bag at West Fork aid station at mile 80. 

There were plenty of opportunities for drop bags, but I only used West Fork, which you pass through twice, at 35 and 80, for simplicity. Unfortunately my sleep-deprived brain saw clean shoes and put them on. If it ain't broke don't fix it! My Sportiva Karacals had been doing amazingly all day. I'd changed my socks at 35 after numerous creek crossings, and another change of socks here probably wouldn't have hurt, but I switched to Sportiva Mutants, which don't have a rock plate. I regretted it within a few steps. I felt the pavement. Then after crossing the street and heading up the trail, I felt the rocks. I should go back and switch shoes. No, it'll be fine. I should go back. No, it'll be fine. I should go back. No it'll be fine and now it's too far to go back. I should go back. No, it'll be fine and now it's really too far to go back.Ugh. 

This lasted for five slow miles to the next aid station. After getting off my feet for a few minutes, my feet felt better. I was buoyed by seeing my friend Tod who was running the 50-miler, but the climb kept going, in a seemingly circuitous manner. We're summiting that mountain, let's just go up! Instead it rolled around to the ridge for another couple miles. Finally after reaching the ridge, there's still more climbing to do. Finally after summiting, there was a trail that is obviously a ton of fun of fresh legs, complete with a few glissades down snow fields, but I didn't exactly have fresh legs. Tod caught up to me and we chatted for a few minutes into the next aid station.

Bomb off this if you've still got legs

Six miles left, with two short but annoying climbs and not amazing trail tread. Maybe a subpar way to finish, but a great hard race. Luke was at the finish, so I asked him my question ("Who hurt you?") Which he took as a direct compliment (as he should), said thank you, and handed me my swag, which included a hand made bar of soap. 31:39. Not my best time, not my worst.

Overall a great race. A good amount of singletrack relative to dirt road, and almost no pavement. Sure, some of it could be a foot wider and overhanging branches cut back, but I'm nitpicking. The tough climbs all lead to rewarding views. The aid stations were well-stocked, if routinely far apart. I realized I had no idea how far apart aid stations were, which makes sense because I can't for the life of me find a simple spreadsheet on the website. You can extrapolate it from the course profile, but a spreadsheet would be simpler. (Am I wrong and just can't find it?) Some water drops were added, but I also feel like they weren't quite where I expected them, or the mileage between the next full aid and next water was confused. Of course, I think straight vegetable broth is disgusting and would prefer cheap ramen noodles, but that's just me. Volunteers were great and aid stations were well stocked (sometimes not enough ginger ale) and great for vegetarians, if perhaps not A+ for vegans. Camping at the finish line is easy and contributes to a good social atmosphere. The shorter races held concurrently all use (portions of) exactly the same course, so there's no danger of veering off onto a different race course, and turns were well marked.

I'd love to go back some day and bomb down Scout Mountain on fresh legs when it's not the hottest day of the year so far!