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Pony Express Traill 100-mile Endurance Run

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Location:

Saratoga Springs,UT,

Member Since:

Jan 31, 2008

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Local Elite

Running Accomplishments:

2016 Finished 12 100-milers during the year.  86 career 100-mile finishes, 9th in the world.   First person to do 6 consecutive summits of Mount Timpanogos.  Won Crooked Road 24-hour race. Achieved the 5th, 6th, and 8th fastest 100-mile times in the world for runners age 57+ for the year.

2013  First person to bag the six highest Wasatch peaks in one day. First and only person to do a Kings Peak double (highest peak in Utah).  I've now accomplished it four times. 

2010 - Overall first place Across the Years 48-hour run (187 miles), Overall first place Pony Express Traill 100.

2009 - Utah State Grand Masters 5K champion (Road Runners Club of America).  National 100-mile Grand Masters Champion (Road Runners Club of America). USATF 100-mile National Champion for age 50-54.

2006 - Set record of five consecutive Timpanogos Summits ("A record for the criminally insane")  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=42

2007 - Summited 7 Utah 13-ers in one day.  See: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=14 

Only person to have finished nine different 100-mile races in Utah: Wasatch, Bear, Moab, Pony Express Trail, Buffalo Run, Salt Flats, Bryce, Monument Valley, Capitol Reef.

PRs - all accomplished when over 50 years old

5K - 19:51 - 2010 Run to Walk 5K

10K - 42:04 - 2010 Smile Center

1/2 Marathon: 1:29:13 - 2011 Utah Valley

Marathon - 3:23:43 - 2010 Ogden Marathon

50K - 4:38 - 2010 Across the Years split

50-mile - 8:07 - 2010 Across the Years split

100K - 10:49 - 2010 Across The Years split

12-hours 67.1 miles - 2010 Across The Years split

100-mile 19:40 - 2011 Across the Years split

24-hours 117.8 miles - 2011 Across the Years split

48-hours 187.033 miles - 2010 Across the Years

Long-Term Running Goals:

I would like to keep running ultras into my 60s. 

Personal:

Details at: http://www.crockettclan.org/ultras/ultracrockett.pdf Married with six kids and six grandchildren.  Started running at the age of 46 in 2004.  My first race since Junior High days was a 50K. I skipped the shorter road stuff and went straight to ultramarathons.  I started as a back-of-the packer, but have progressed to a top-10-percent ultra finisher.  Wish I would have started running at a much earlier age.  Have had several articles published in national running magazines.  Check out my running adventure blog at www.crockettclan.org/blog

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Race: Pony Express Traill 100-mile Endurance Run (100 Miles) 20:53:05, Place overall: 1, Place in age division: 1
Total Distance
100.00

The brief version for now:

5th annual race, we had a much more competitve field this year.  The race starts in two waves, slower runners at 5:00 a.m. and the faster group at 7:00 a.m.  The race is run on dirt roads and is a very fast course with less than 3,000 feet climbing.  I am the race director, but again this year I raced.

I started out very fast as usual.  I reached mile 16.6 in 2:16, that is 8.2 minute miles, a crazy fast pace to start a 100-mile race.  I was in the lead by 17 minutes.  I soon started to pass all the early starters from both the 50 and 100-mile races.   My lead extended to over three miles, but I became very distracted by race director duties, including greeting all runners I passed and some times slowing to answer questions.   I wasted probably a half hour dealing with a safety issue when a runner was ignoring a rule and refusing to respond to direct instructions and warning.  He was upsetting several runners.  Finally I caught up to this early starter and had to threaten disqualification.  It bothered me that he was ruining my own race.

But still I held the lead all the way to the turnaround at mile 58.5.  However, I lost the lead at mile 59 when I had to stop.  For the past 12 miles the heat (80 degrees) had pounded me.  My stomach was in high rebellion and I threw up over and over and over again trying to find something it would accept.   Finally at mile 59 I got into my crew car (cars drove along providing support for each runner instead of aid stations along the way). I turned on the air conditioning and rested as I sipped on coke.   The first and second place runners passed me as I stopped.  Finally after almost 15 minutes of rest, I pushed myself out of the car, feeling much better and started running again.   Jun was in fourth place just a hundred yards back or so. When he saw me start running again he commented to his pacer that this would be the last time he saw me.  It was.   I started running faster than I had since mile 34.

The sun went down and the temperature dropped to 71.  At mile 68 I passed the second place runner. I was about two miles behind the first place runner.  OK, I was now feeling good and fast, the stomach had recovered and I was able to eat again.  I considered, could I regain first place?  I didn't really know how far ahead Ed was, but I put together a strategy in my mind.  I knew Ed was used to racing pretty flat coursed.  Up ahead we and a long nine-mile climb. I had the strength to run uphill and I was sure I could get up that hill faster than Ed.  But I knew I had to chase him down without him detecting it.  If he did, he would run faster to keep his lead.

So, I figured out a chasing strategy and discussed it with my crew-guy who was driving along.  Because a half-moon was out, I would run the entire nine miles without turning on my light so Ed wouldn't see it. (You could see lights for miles across the desert)  Also, usually when you catch up with your crew, the crew drives forward a defined amount of miles (in this case 2 miles), so the runner ahead can see the headlights of your crew car moving forward and thus figure out how far behind the runner is.  I explained to my crew guy, Josh, that we would use a trick.  Josh would not drive ahead until I was a mile ahead of him, and then he would go forward 2 miles.  So, Ed would think I was still two miles back from where Josh stopped his car, but in reality I would be back only one mile from that point.  Our trick worked.  Josh would report that Ed was ten minutes ahead, then eight, and finally four.  I would have Josh wait as much as 15 minutes, so it seemed to Ed that I was still 2 miles behind but I was only one-half mile.  Josh and I were having great fun with the trick.

Finally I reached Dugway Pass.  My friend Carl was at the checkpoint there and he asked, "Do you have a light."   I replied, "I'm sneaking up on him"  Carl laughed and said he knew what I was doing, he had seen me do similar things before.   I looked down below the pass and could finally see Ed's headlamp moving pretty slowly down the steep road.  I had told Josh to not go over the pass for 12 minutes.   I was going to attack the lead.   I blasted down the steep road in the dark, still without my flashlight on.  Ed approached his crew car and started to fill his drinking bottle.  When I was only about 30 yards away, I turned on my bright light.  I really surprised Ed.  "Is that you Davy."  I replied that it was.  All he could say is, "Well the win is all yours now."   I passed him by very fast and shortly later Josh started driving over the pass to rejoin me.  I flashed my light up to him so he could see that I was now in the lead.

When Josh drove up, as I refilled, I explained that our strategy would now shift.  Josh would not drive forward until Ed caught up to him.  Josh would then drive forward to me and report how far ahead I was using his odometer.  Josh grinned, understanding this new trick.  "I'm learning from the master." He said.  I laughed, we were having a great time.   With each two miles, I extended my lead by a half mile.  When I was about a mile and a half ahead, I told Josh that he no longer had to measure the distance.   I had "dropped" Ed for good.  Now I finally turned on my light and even shone it behind me so he could see my position.  I explained to Josh that this was to "demoralize him" making him feel like he could no longer catch me.  First place was again mine to keep.

On the stretch of road we were on, in the dark you could see lights over 12 miles ahead.  Finally I reached a two-mile lead.  My next worry was, where was Jun.  I knew that he was smart enough to use similar tactics to sneak up on my.  But I soon could see his crew car lights and understood that I was about five miles ahead.

So on and one we went on the long-straight Pony Express road.   Friends heading in their car to the finish would stop and report about the runners behind.  Ed was struggling, but Jun was moving very well.  I knew that if I could finish by 4:00 a.m., I would have the win.  So I just kept pushing.  I detected that Ed was about 30 minutes behind and Jun way further back.  Finally Jun's dad driving to see where Jun was, reported that I was just 1.7 miles from the finish.

I pushed up the last hill and reached the finish at Simpson Springs in 20:53.  I won the race again for the second straight year.  It is rather embarassing to win my own race, but I wasn't going to hand over the title, someone else would have to earn it. It also was a 100-mile distance PR for me by 14 minutes.   Along the way, did my fastest 50K ever and fastest 50-mile ever. 

Ed finished at 21:30:00 and Jun came in at 22:46:12.   All three of us had broken last year's course record, but I had lowered in by more than two hours.  I had hoped to break 20 hours, but the race director distractions and the sickness during the heat prevented that.

For the next eight hours, I greeted finishers and awarded them their belt buckles.  I was thrilled that finally a woman had finished the race.   The last runner came in at 29:41:24.

The KSL Outdoors show co-host, Russ Smith managed our race headquarters.  He and I called into the show.   I'll link to a recording later.

Out of the 19 starters, 15 finished.  In addition, 19 runners ran the 50-mile race, 14 finished including Maurine, ScottW.   Course records were also set in that race.

I went home very satisfied.  The race seemed to be a great succcess.  The heat pounded everyone, but the finish rate was good and I saw lots of smiles.  Thanks to my great race staff of volunteers, seven of them.

Hoka Miles: 100.00
Comments
From Kelli on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 17:27:15 from 71.219.65.246

It was so hot yesterday, I was worried about all of you guys (and gals!) Glad to hear y'all survived and that 3 of you beat the old record. That is awesome!

Sorry to hear about the sick tummy (see, this is why I KNOW I could not do it) but glad you got some cool air and Coke. I tell ya, that coke works miracles.

Congrats on your race time AND fulfilling the darn director duties. I am very curious what rule was being broken....

And I think it is totally okay to win your own race. You never hand o0ver a win. Way to mess with Ed on the way to catching him and after. Ya gotta do something to pass the time, right?

Rest well Superman.

From crockett on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 17:37:56 from 71.36.84.70

If two or more runners share the same crew, they must run together or stay within 3-4 miles of each other. If the distance is larger, the crew would have to drive back and forth on the road to support the runners causing increased dust. The runner was sharing a crew with two slow runners and before the race, I reviewed the rule with them. They all agreed. However, this runner ran ahead as much as ten miles and I detected that the crew driver was driving back and forth and ignoring the slower runners for a long time because he had to drive so far. It was getting very hot. I detected that something was going on and I flagged the driver down and asked about his runners. He explained that he had tried to tell this runner to slow down but he refused. The runner was then recruiting other crews to take him on. That also is against the rules because it creates a disturbance among the crews who are trying to help the runner or runners that they had agreed to support before the race. The crew chief finally returned and said he made the runner stop. When I reached the runner sitting on the side of the road, I discovered that he had broken these two rules. Another crew did offer to take him on, so I told him if he didn't stick with them (he was again running too far ahead) I would disqualify him. Well, he behaved, but when he reached the finish, I discovered that he had shifted to yet another crew during the night. I was pretty angry with this guy and I won't accept him into my race again.

From JD on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 17:45:18 from 32.176.57.247

Congrats! I see the Hoka's served you well.

From Rob Murphy on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 17:59:33 from 24.10.248.6

Very impressive win. Especially with having to expend so much mental energy on things other than running your own race. Congratulations!

From catherine on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 18:54:35 from 69.169.157.242

Congratulations! Sorry about the lame rule-breaker.

From Kelli on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 19:45:08 from 71.219.65.246

What a jerk. The rules seem to be for very good reasons---the dust and for the safety of each member sharing the crew. How selfish of him, really. what a bummer that he demanded so much of your time. But maybe the anger drove you to run faster!

Scott and i just got back from a run where we discussed the details of my measly 50k nest week. I am so unprepared, BUT we had a good talk about you (and Scott, Craig, and Maureen) and all of the stuff you brought with you and so on. I am just not sure that I can make it with the aide stations being 6 miles apart. Any suggestions for me? I can drop bags at them, but I would have no clue what to put in them as I can not eat. I think I can carry everything I need in my pockets. I really do not want to have to stop much at the aide stations. What do you think? Any wise words for me??? I know you are exhausted and the last person you need to worry about is me, so you can get back to me later!!!

OH--and my husband is going to run the Squaw Peak 50 next year (I think he is crazy-but Pikes Peak has converted him to trails) He would love to go on any runs that you are willing to have guests on (just promise not to lose him!) So keep him in mind should you ever decide to host a running adventure.

From Maurine/Miles on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 20:01:46 from 97.117.58.136

You are the master! I love your sneak racing technique. Good thing the moon was bright and the road is pretty level. Congratulations on an awesome win.

Too bad to hear about the rule breaker. He should have had his own crew if he wasn't going to share his toys.

From Holt on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 20:38:53 from 71.213.84.126

Good work Davy - someday I am going to join you on that one!

From RAD on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 21:10:34 from 67.172.229.125

Great race report as always, I like the tactics employed!

You are brave to run your own race, I'd be frightened of having too much stress dealing with the things you did on the trail, but hey...maybe it did give you motivation to keep moving!

Excellent work Crockett! We are definitely NOT worthy! :)

From Superfly on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 23:24:07 from 208.117.127.110

Great job man!

From Smooth on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 23:24:54 from 67.41.235.104

Davy ~~~ CONGRATULATIONS on the win and a successful race. You are my hero!

LOVE LOVE LOVE your sneaky tactic...sure puts a smile on my face! :) :) :)

You are truly the master of ultra! I can't wait to do it someday...hopefully next year!

From Jon on Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 23:57:37 from 98.71.191.82

Wait- you set a 50k, 50m, and 100m PR, plus could have broken 20 hours? Ok, now you're just showing off.

Congrats, Davy. Loved the whole sneaking up story.

From jun on Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 11:09:27 from 97.126.224.27

Davy, what an amazing race. That was a ton of fun. I can't believe you were really worried about me catching up. I'll have to remember that for next year. Great job catching and fending off Ed. He was looking strong after Fish Springs when I saw him.

Bummer about the rule breakers. As a racer who relies heavily on my crew out there I can vouch for how critical it is that they are there when you need them. I really feel sorry for the racers who were further back having to wait on their crew because they were up helping the selfish runner in the lead. Its really a shame.

I'm going to send you an email later regarding the finishing aid station. My parents have a great idea for next year that will make it easier and more accomodating for the finishing runners.

Thanks again. I can't believe I took 3rd. I also can't believe that I was respected enough in that race for you to even be concerned about me. Now I just need to find a belt to put my buckle on.

From crockett on Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 13:33:34 from 71.36.84.70

Jun: you looked very strong at the turn-around when I was a ball of sick mush. I had visions of seeing you streak by. I kept asking my crew, where is Craig? At night that road is so weird. Lights looks like they are so close but are miles away. You really have to study them closely to understand the truth. So it messes with your mind, making you think runners are on your tail. Turns out I was more than seven miles ahead of you when I finished. At the finish, Carl thought I was just a quarter mile away, but I was over four miles away. He kept asking me why it took me an hour to go such a short distance. This is what I really love about this race, the whole chasing lights factor.

From Teena Marie on Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 17:57:32 from 174.23.122.157

You always amaze!!!

It has been fun to read all the reports and hear about the many fantastic aspects of your race.

A huge congratulations.

From crockett on Sun, Oct 17, 2010 at 20:55:12 from 71.36.84.70

Jon, For your amusement, here are my splits for the 100-miler: 5K - 21:30, 10K - 46:00, marathon: 3:53, 50K - 4:45, 50-mile 8:51. My last marathon during the race was about 5:10, so I slowed down a wee bit, but still a respectable pace to finish up with. Much faster finish than my Rocky finish in Feb.

From Tom on Mon, Oct 18, 2010 at 14:50:27 from 137.65.56.16

Great job. Quite an impressive race and running year. Amazing!

From Scott Wesemann on Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 03:01:47 from 75.165.249.90

Congrats on your victory and course record. You sure were looking strong out there when you passed me. I really enjoyed this race and thought you did an excellent job with the organization. It was a great time and I can't wait to do it again... although I think I may try the 100 next year.

From flatlander on Tue, Oct 19, 2010 at 15:43:34 from 198.207.244.102

Great job, this is an impressive event you have organized.

From crockett on Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 15:25:30 from 71.36.84.70

Finally wrote up my real race report. I'll be submitting this to ultrarunning magazine. You can read it at: http://www.crockettclan.org/blog/?p=484

From RAD on Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 15:55:55 from 67.172.229.125

Love the pictures! Thanks for sharing Crockett.

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