SP Crater Marathon, or, A Few Firsts

Remember Nick, this is just a training run. When that horn is blown, find your rhythm, relax and do NOT follow the pack! At the beginning of most races, I tend to get a little too psyched up. This leads me to gun out of the start with a huge smile on my face but also a huge deficit of energy in my legs. As I looked out toward the beautifully sculpted SP Crater on the horizon, I needed this time to be different.

This would be the first time I have experienced running consistently for over 20 miles and I was considering it a last effort long run before the Mesquite Canyon 50K on the 22nd. I had my pace in mind and planned on not caring where I placed after it was all said and done. And, if you know me at all, that is hard to do! The competitiveness that has been bred into me needs to be tamed occasionally and I think that age and wisdom (and a dose of humility living here in Flagstaff) have tempered some of that drive.

Rewind: I started the morning not quite knowing what to plan for. What would the weather be like? I heard that there might be 20 mph winds! Which shoes am I gonna want? I don't know the style of the forest road yet. Do I have the right nutrition? I think I have the aid station miles memorized. I grabbed everything extra for just in cases and headed out the door.

The drive through town provided an absolutely stellar sunrise. A blast of color and clouds that had me staring dangerously long. I threw on a running podcast for some last minute inspiration and drove the 20 some odd miles out of the pines and into the vast open high desert grasslands. Seeing the bright green sign on a box in the distance I found my turn and immediately experienced what was soon to come. "Crap, -thud - thud - thud - I hope these washboards -thud - thud - thud - aren't on the road WE will be running". I careened through them and parked along the road, getting my first glimpse of the North side of the Peaks. I had my back to them during the drive and now had a view of what else was to come...the wind!

Dome shaped clouds covering the San Francisco peaks are a tell-tell sign that the days winds' are on their way and I took heed by throwing on a pair of sunglasses and a long sleeve. I also observed the condition of the forest road course and decided that there was going to be a really good chance that one of the gravel cinders would get excited, take a leap at my ankles, and snuggle up cozily between my sock and my shoes. Crap, I still haven't picked up any gaiters. So I rummaged through my truck and grabbed the socks that I had previously cut to become my arm sleeves for runs (see: cheap Scottish heritage). Hmmm, these might just work as some homemade gaiters... worth a try! I put them in place, secured them to my shoelace with a safety pin, and then looked around for anyone to see my awesome new gear! I was, and am still proud of this MacGyver moment because they did not budge the entire race!

A few quick pictures, one more port-o-potty visit, and we were toeing the line. All 10 of us. Wait, 10? I thought there were 11. Does this mean I am guaranteed a top ten finish in my first marathon? Hell ya!
Ian Torrence: "He's here, he's checked in, and he's not worried"
Me: "Guarantee gone"

Ian Torrence/Emily Harrison

Ludo blew the horn and 10 seconds later, I knew I was going to be running this alone. Flagstaff always amazes me with its prowess of athletes. This made it oh so easy to relax my pace and watch these crazy Flagstafarians cruise away through the wide open grasses toward the cinder cones. As I got into my groove, I occasionally looked back to see if and when I would have company from the late runner, but I couldn't keep my eyes off the road for very long or one of these washboards was gonna reach up, smack my toe, and send me into an unplanned for somersault. It was quite the little video game trying to hop left and dart right, finding the little spaces of flat ground. Not long after I passed a tall cylinder water tank with the words "BEER CAN" painted on it, I heard the footsteps.

"Mornin'"... "Mornin'". He found a pace right with me and I was surprised not to have him just keep on crusin'. Most of my long runs are solo so this next hour or so was a great experience. Meeting fellow runners and being able to share experiences on the trail is refreshing and something that I will remember most about this run. Chris was from San Antonio but working for several weeks at Grand Canyon. His first question to me was, "Do you know anything about the geology of this area?". Oh do I.

WARNING: Science teacher geek out opportunity:

Being an Earth Science teacher in town, each year we spend at least a couple of days talking about the San Francisco Volcanic Field. This year, I opened the volcanism unit with a picture of SP Crater and explained to the students how I was going to run around it in a few weeks. SP is really a great example of one of the coolest things to happen with a cinder cone volcano. With its' high gas content, it will spray little globs of lava into the air much like a Mentos/soda experience. This forms the beautiful symmetrical cone but what can, and did, happen after makes for some great features. After the volcano loses its' fizz, it might still have some magma left to contribute to the surface of the planet. If so, a flow of lava will find its way out of, not the top, but the bottom of the cone. Crazy! It kinda oozes out of a weakness at the bottom of the cone and flows where topography demands. This happened at this particular spot in a beautifully dramatic way. As you look from the air at SP, you see the solidified flow moving North from the cone. This view gives you a great visual of why this particular crater was aptly named Sh*t Pot crater. haha, awesome! This race brought us right through this chunky basaltic story and you couldn't wipe the smile off my face as I jogged into and out of the Earths' molten innards.

NASA.gov

After a few miles and great conversation, I told Chris that I would be slowing my pace a bit and he could take off if he wanted to. So he did, and I was left to my endurance training pace once again and that weird 11th place finishing number.


The rest of the race I was treated to massive lava pile-ups, cows giving bewildered looks from the distance, strong wind tunnels trying to toss my visor and me, into the distance, a herd of sheep traversing a fence line, several Pinacate beetles scuttling across the road and expansive views in every direction.

Photo: Amanda Manville

Near mile 20 I came upon where the half-marathon joined and noticed two people coming in from the right. They were about 100 yards in front of me, halfers, tall, and what appeared to be walking. I thought to myself, I'll catch these guys pretty quickly and say hello. Cut scene to 30 minutes later... I still hadn't caught them and they appeared to still be walking. Is this one of those hallucinatory experiences people speak of on the trail? I don't think so, I've only gone 21 miles. These guys gave me quite the rabbit to catch! As I finally came upon them I noticed that they were some of the fastest "walkers" I had ever seen...and I told them that causing them to laugh and tell me that they were purposefully giving me a target to hit. Hilarious! That was one of the most memorable parts of the race as well. Thanks guys (forgot the names).

At this point, my body was getting pretty spent and I could see the Start/Finish line. Unfortunately, after you reach the "finish line", the full distance still needs to do a last 5K loop. So I tried my hardest to tell my body this was NOT the end and don't start shutting down yet. The visualization of a finish, with the tent, spectators and food, tends to make the legs start to slow down. But as I approached a big smile smacked itself onto my face when I saw my very own cheering section; my wife and my dog! They were a few yards from the end and I stopped for a quick hello. Pongo was wearing a t-shirt that said TEAM NICK and it helped me push a little more gas into my legs for the final loop.

Photo: Amanda Manville

Crossing the line, Mark yelled "way to go Nick" thinking I was done when I still had 3.1 miles to go. I laughed as I pasted and he said "oh, he still has a 5K left?" I did but I felt good and wanted to calmly finish these last miles. But then... I saw it! The neon green shirt of Chris was in the somewhat near distance. Could I catch up with him and have a 10th place tie finish? I think I actually could! I picked up the pace, fighting a little groin cramp after hurdling a rock (don't hurdle a rock at mile 24.5!). Yep, I'm definitely gonna catch...wait...shoot, it's not him. It was a halfer with the same color top on. OK, slow down, no keep going. Finish strong. Teach your body to finish strong. I cruised into the finish area at 5:08:52 and just before crossing I yelled,"D...F...L..." and jump/stomped the finish chalk.

Photo: Amanda Manville

My first Marathon race completed and I couldn't be happier. I did exactly what I wanted to do; keep my endurance pace, get the miles, and HAVE A BLAST! After a few pretzels and a couple of swigs from the keg, I thanked Ian and Ludo for a great race and headed off to Lumberyard for a mac n' cheese/bacon/sriracha sandwich...drool.


**BIG THANKS TO THE VOLUNTEERS THAT ALLOWED ME TO FINISH THIS GOAL**

For a quick little race report see the podcast I am trying to put together here: Elevated Trail

Podcast test pt II

Podcast test