Old Man Still running

Squaw Peak 50-mile Trail Run

Recent EntriesHomeJoin Fast Running Blog Community!PredictorHealthy RecipesCrockett's RacesFind BlogsMileage BoardTop Ten Excuses for Missing a RunTop Ten Training MistakesDiscussion ForumRace Reports Send A Private MessageWeek ViewMonth ViewYear View
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
2008200920102011201220132014201520162017
15% off for Fast Running Blog members at St. George Running Center!

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

Favorite Blogs:

Click to donate
to Ukraine's Armed Forces
Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Race: Squaw Peak 50-mile Trail Run (51 Miles) 12:05:10, Place overall: 88, Place in age division: 12
Total Distance
52.00

I ran in the Squaw Peak 50-mile trail run, held in the mountains east of Provo, Utah.   If successful, this would be my fifth straight finish at Squaw Peak.  To me, it is one of the greatest 50-mile races in the country.  The views are spectacular and the trails are very challenging. In particular I enjoy it because of all the local participants.

But this year, I was very nervous about running.   I had been battling a foot/ankle injury for the past couple months.  This would be my first ultra since the injury put me on the disabled list.  I went into the race without any serious trail training for the past two months and I knew my hill strength would be a problem.   I had been doing plenty of pool work and some road training, but with this difficult course, I knew it wouldn’t be enough.   I also knew that this type of injury sometimes needed several months to fully heal.  I was taking a big risk running.  It could set me back for the entire summer.

I enjoyed the great pre-race dinner the night before and participating in the usual pre-race laughs with ultra friends both new and old.  The biggest laugh at our table came while 59-year old, Ed Green from Colorado was wondering if we would put up a monument for him if he died during an ultra race.  I suggested that the monument would have to be put out in the brush and would read, "He squatted, but never got up."

Squaw Peak 50 puts on the longest race briefing in the sport and this year featured a long multi-level marketing pitch by the RD and sponsor.  It was the wrong venue for this type of thing in my opinion.  But after that, just a good-night’s sleep was needed to get ready for the race.

I arrived at the start (Vivian Park in Provo Canyon) in plenty of time so I wouldn’t be rushed.   I was disappointed to discover that my MP3 had been wiped of all its music for some reason.  There would be no tunes today on the trails.  I was also disappointed to feel pain in my foot as I walked around.  We started promptly a 5:00 a.m. and began our race by running two miles down the Provo River Parkway past Bridal Veil Falls, roaring above us in the dark.

I knew there would be some very fast runners in the field this year, but I was flabbergasted how fast the field went out.  I like to run those first two miles very fast in order to reach the single track trail before runners who could slow things up.  But this year it seemed like there were at least 20 runners ahead of me.  I did hold back someone because one of my calf muscles started to tighten up from the very fast pace.  I quickly decided that I would not push the first ten miles as hard as I usually did.

Once on the single-track trail, we started a huge climb that would take us up several thousand feet over the next six miles.  Buddies who usually passed me around mile seven were already passing me and commented on the blistering pace.   It would be a good day for speed.  The temperature was cool and ideal for running and the trails were in great condition with very little snow to slow us down.  

Last year I arrived at the Hope Campground aid station (mile 8.5) in about 10th place, but this year it seemed like I was in about 40th place and only two minutes slower.  I had let several long trains of runners pass me on the climb.  I just didn’t have the right conditioning to push the climb very hard.  Also, I dislike leading a train of runners.  Instead I like to be the caboose so I can alter my pace as desired.  The foot was in some pain with each step, but it wasn’t terrible.  I had to be very careful to avoid any type of ankle twist.  If the foot started to twist, I could tell it would cause bad pain and problems.

 

The dawn arrived and near the top of Squaw Peak I was able to look down at the massive valley floor far below and see my home town far across Utah Lake.   Co-worker Bill Francis caught up with me and for the next two hours would kindly run with me.  My speed was a little better than his on the single-track, but his speed was much better on the dirt roads because of all his experience running roads.   He would kindly wait for me in order to have some company.   However, as we were talking during a climb, we missed a turn onto a single-track short-cut.  We ended up following the road up through several switch backs.  I soon noticed the mistake because the scenery was not familiar and I did not see any foot tracks.  But we didn’t turn back because I knew we would finally join up with the course.  We probably did an extra quarter mile or so, but it didn’t appear like we lost any time because the people we passed were not re-passes.  Many runners started the race an hour early and within 3.5 hours we passed most, if not all of them.

View of the windmills

We reached to top, Kolob Overlook (mile 14.6) at 3:10.  I was only four minutes behind my pace from last year.   As Bill and I ran down the long seven-mile road, I discovered that I just could not push the ankle hard.  I needed to be patient and careful.   I estimate that it slowed me on the downhills by about 15 minutes during the first half of the race.   The views coming down are spectacular.  I could even see clearly the giant wind-mills guarding the entrance to Spanish Fork canyon.  They looked very close.

Once we reached the paved Hobble Creek Canyon road, Bill pushed on strongly ahead and I believed disappeared ahead for the last time.   I ran with a consistent pace up the road, vowing to walk very little of it.  I kept leap-frogging a pair of runners who would run the flatter sections very fast and then would slow to a walk.   With about a half-mile to go on this road section, my pacer, Mark Ellison came running down the road to greet me.   It would be great to have him run with me to the finish.

I reached to aid station at the top of the road (mile 26.1) at 5:09, about ten minutes slower than normal.  My stop was very fast and we were on our way climbing up Dry Canyon.  I tried very hard to push this next section and at one point ran very fast and hard, even working Mark hard.  But despite the effort, my split time was about normal, an hour.  We reached Sheep Canyon (mile 30) at 6:11.  Karl Melzer and Scott Mason were working the aid station.  My stop again was very fast.  I wasn’t going to waste any time at the stations.  I never would sit down the entire race.

We next needed to run through the creek bed and make several creek crossings.  This was very difficult for me because of the wet rocks.  My ankle would start to roll many times and I could feel the pain, so I eventually had to slow way down and just carefully pick my way through the stream.  I really enjoy the next section that winds its way up along the canyon floor, crossing open fields and makes its way up to aspen groves.   But I can never do this section very fast as fatigue starts setting it.  It was no different this year and several runners caught up.  However, they were the same cast of characters I had seen for the last couple hours.  I would pass them in the aid stations and they would eventually catch up.  The trail next descends through the trees into Little Valley.  My foot/ankle was really starting to bother me more, so I again had to slow down on the downhill runs.

We arrived at Little Valley (mile 33) at 7:15, about 15 minutes slower than normal.  Shortly after we arrived a stream of runners also came in who I had not seen all day.  That motivated me to make a very quick stop.  At this station runners will typically make a long stop.  I was there for only two minutes.   I was careful to make sure I drank plenty because the next section is really a three-bottle section and I planned to stick with only my two hand-held bottles.

Mark and I ran at a good pace up the road and started the long climb up to Bald Knoll.  A few familiar runners caught up but once we hit the rolling trail around Bald Knoll, I could kick it into gear better and we repassed several.   Finally we reached the base of the massive steep climb that seems to go straight up.   Usually each year we can climb straight up a snow ridge, but this year there was very little snow so we would follow a rough trail through the brush. 

View of the back of Mount Timpanogos

Once we started the climb, there was a slow runner ahead of me going at a slow, but steady pace.  I quickly passed him but then discovered that the altitude immediately slammed me.  I had not done any training above 6,000 feet for months.  Now at 9,000 feet, I just could keep pushing it hard.  I stopped and let him go ahead again.  Once I recovered, I again wanted to go faster but just didn’t want to play the leap-frog game over and over again, so I was content to climb at a slow rate.

Runners making their way up the steep climb

Once on top of the ridge, fellow mountain team member, Eve Daivies caught up and passed me with her dog.  I was surprised to also see Bill Francis catch up.  He had got off course after Little Valley, taking the road up the mountain instead of the Great Western Trail.  Eventually, he turned around and got back on course, but that had cost him at least a half hour or more.

I arrived at Windy Pass (mile 41.5) at 10:01.   I realized there would be no PR today, but I still had a good chance to break 12 hours.  Charlie Vincent and Jim Skaggs were there and they kindly attended quickly to me needs.   I grabbed a couple tasty cookies, filled my bottles up, took some pain killers from Charlie and was on my way to try to catch up with Eve.   But I never did.  The decent was slow as we hit some snow.  I just couldn’t risk sliding and twisting the ankle.  Also, I was developing a couple painful blisters on the other foot, probably because I was over compensating. 

We made patient steady progress down the long trail, an amazing 4,000-foot descent. In past years I could really blast down sections of this and would even do some nasty face plants on the rough trail, but this year it was much slower.  The thing that was slowing me the most was a painful lower back due to poor conditioning. We were passed by several runners along the way.   I noticed that my ankle was feeling pretty good, almost pain-free.  If I could just finish the last single-track section without a twist, I would be in good shape.  As I was descending, I started to think about my next race in two weeks, Big Horn 100.  How in the world could I do that race if I was feeling so poorly after only 50 miles?   I tried to remind myself that these thoughts are typical as I’m finishing a hard race.

Runner crossing field with Windy Pass in background (2008 race)

Finally as we neared the bottom of the South Fork, we ran across a wide, flat field.  A runner passed me and I thought to myself, “Uh…we aren’t on rough trails anymore, why are you being lazy?”   I really kicked it into gear and we started to fly across the field.  We passed that runner like he was standing still and sprinted past some spectators waiting for their runners to arrive.   We came to the last aid station at 11:31.  I knew it would take some very serious speed to arrive at the finish before 12 hours.  I had over 5K left.  I told Mark that I had once run this downhill road section in about 18 minutes during a road 10-mile race.  

We pushed the pace hard and soon could see a yellow-shirted runner ahead.   I purposely kicked the pace up another notch in order to really fly by him.  Our 48th mile was run at about a 7-minute-mile pace.   I noticed that the runner who I had passed in the field had been trying to match our pace, but after that, we left him far behind for good.   Eventually I needed to slow down some.  I could feel a painful blister developing because of the hard road running.   With less than a half mile remaining, I saw my watch click past 12 hours.   Oh well, I would still finish strong.  I made the turn into Vivian Park to the kind cheers of the families and crossed the finish line in 12:05.   Despite all my challenges today, I had finished only 25 minutes behind my PR.  I was pleased that I had been able to finish strong, and had finished without any serious further damage to the ankle.

My pacer, Mark had enjoyed the run.  I needed to drive him back to Hobble Creek Canyon to retrieve his truck so I wouldn’t  be watching many of my friends finish this year.  My feet were in pain anyway, and I was anxious to get home.

So what was the damage to my injured foot?   No real damage!  After 24-hours it was again pain-free.  I suspect the run had actually helped the ankle and foot strengthen.  I'm considering running the Utah Valley Marathon this Saturday as a training run.

I finished my 5th straight Squaw Peak 50!   It was my 47th ultra finish since I started this craziness in July '04. Here are my split times for the five years.

 

  miles 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
Start 0          
Hope CG 5.6 1:06 1:04 1:04 1:02 1:04
Rock Canyon 8.5   2:10 2:15 2:12 2:15
Kolob Overlook 14.6       3:06 3:10
Pole Haven 20.9 4:44 4:17 4:12 4:06 4:14
Dry Canyon 26.1 5:39 5:05 4:58 5:02 5:09
Sheep Cyn 30   6:05 5:57 6:01 6:11
Little Valley 33.5 7:39 7:07 6:54 7:08 7:15
Windy Pass 41.5 10:39 9:57 9:45 9:53 10:01
Big Spring 46.5 12:00 11:25 11:02 11:07 11:31
Finish 50.9 12:42 12:06 11:40 11:43 12:05

Comments
From Jon on Sat, Jun 06, 2009 at 22:54:34 from 75.169.153.187

Nice job, Davy. Being that close to your PR with little training and a bum foot is very impressive.

From Holt on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 00:00:07 from 71.213.8.108

Good job Davy. I can't imagine trying to run that with your ankle bugging you. One thing I really learned is how crucial foot placement and technical trail skills are. Those boys cruised me on that - it something you just don't learn on the road that's for sure.

From Smooth on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 00:45:47 from 71.32.234.77

Davy, I was thinking about you today as I sat looking up Sqaw Peak from the valley. YOU DID GOOD! Consider a bum foot and compromised ankle, your time was so close to your course PR, that's no small accomplishment. I can't imagine running that grueling mountain trail. Sounds like you ran a smart race to prevent any further injury. Speedy recovery to you!

From Twinkies on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 10:21:41 from 67.166.71.60

Awesome race. I can't believe you could do a 7 minute mile after 48 miles. That's amazing.

From MichelleL on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 16:42:03 from 71.219.40.17

Wow. That was an intense 12 hours. I hope your foot isn't worse for it.

From jun on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 17:51:23 from 71.213.18.126

I'm really amazed at how well you did. Fantastic race. I am very happy your ankle held up and is feeling better. I hope it continues to improve for Big Horn. I'm sure you already know to take it easy and just give it time to heal over the next two weeks. Congrts again.

From Kelli on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 18:04:17 from 71.219.74.247

Holy crud, you are hard core. I felt like I was there reading that report! I am super impressed by the pace of mile 48----MILE 48!!!! You are truly an amazing athlete. Nice job and I hope the foot remains pain free.

WOW, 50 miles!!!

From Nevels on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 18:37:59 from 75.143.88.18

Solid run, Davy. Way to gut it out even with the shaky ankle; I know the feeling well!

Congrats, and good luck at Big Horn...

From crockett on Sun, Jun 07, 2009 at 19:55:05 from 70.56.100.144

Thanks to all. I've added several pictures. My recovery went pretty well. The worst part was all the pollon in my system. Feeling "normal today". Normal after ultra: nothing tastes good, sinuses are a mess, and quads sore.

From Twinkies on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 11:54:40 from 63.241.173.64

Your full race report was great and I loved the pictures. I have one question though. What's the difference between a normal friend and an ultra friend?

From Maurine/Tarzan on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 13:31:01 from 63.255.172.2

Great job on the race, Davy, and great race report. Thanks for all the information and pictures. I'm glad the ankle is doing okay as a result.

From crockett on Mon, Jun 08, 2009 at 17:21:48 from 216.49.181.128

Twinkies, the difference between a "normal" friend and an "ultra" friend is: My ultra friends are very sick people. They enjoy pain and laugh at my pain. They have been there and know what mile 80 feels like. They don't bat an eye when they see you barf all over the trail. They just tell you to suck it up and quit being lazy. Great friends, couldn't do without them.

Add Your Comment.
  • Keep it family-safe. No vulgar or profane language. To discourage anonymous comments of cowardly nature, your IP address will be logged and posted next to your comment.
  • Do not respond to another person's comment out of context. If he made the original comment on another page/blog entry, go to that entry and respond there.
  • If all you want to do is contact the blogger and your comment is not connected with this entry and has no relevance to others, send a private message instead.
Only registered users with public blogs are allowed to post comments. Log in with your username and password or create an account and set up a blog.
Debt Reduction Calculator
Featured Announcements
Recent Comments: