McDowell Mountain Frenzy

"Hey look" Korey said while pointing out a cow leaping through some brush a few hundred yards in front of us.

"Nice" I responded. "I'm surprised we haven't caught up to backpack guy.." I said referring to the lone runner ahead.

"Me too" Korey replied.

 I took a drink from my handheld, there were only a few drops left. "When is the next aid station, do you know?" I asked. 

"There is supposed to be one at 11 miles.."

 I looked down at my Garmin; 11:35 miles. 

"I haven't seen a course marker for awhile...?"

...

When my buddy Korey Konga let me know he was coming down from Ashland to defend his CR at Aravaipa's McDowell Mountain Frenzy, I was super excited. Korey and I became fast friends during his short stint of living in Tucson. We both love to run, to race, to compete, to push ourselves to the limit and to never settle. 

Javelina Jundred was the first race that I started and failed to cross the finish line. I had a knee injury going into the race and eventually, I was forced to drop. I was extremely disappointed albeit immensely motivated. I had that nagging "redemption race" pulling at my strings..

I would have never made the decision to jump into a 50 mile race so soon (6 weeks after Javelina) had it not been for Korey running in the race. My legs were just fresh of feeling better and I was putting in some decent miles. I thought about going to the race just to cheer Korey on and hang out. But I am a competitor and for God sakes, I love to race! So I made up my mind and registered. 

The few weeks I had to prepare were very mediocre in regards to solid training runs or high mileage. However, the Sunday prior to the race I had a huge PR at TTR's Cowhead Saddle run. I gained a little confidence and began genuinely looking forward to the race. 

Kristi and I made a last minute decision to skip getting a hotel in Phoenix and make a (long) (really long) day of it. At two in the morning my alarm went off, obnoxiously jolting us out of a 4 hour slumber. "Ahh, why do I do this crap?" I thought to myself. I began daydreaming of getting back from the race and climbing right back into bed. "Everything valuable in life is met with challenge, I suppose" I thought as I packed my running gear and into a duffle bag. A little after 3am we hit the road. 

The drive to McDowell Mountain Park went very smooth. We have gotten all too familiar with this journey. Strangely, the last three races I've done have been at that location. I yawned my way there, arriving around 6:15 in the morning. 

It was cold out. Better yet, it was freezing out! I went to get my bib and immediately ran into Walker, who was there to help sweep the course and Steve Bagg, who was running the 50k. Pretty soon the man of the hour, Mr. Korey Konga, arrived. We all got to talking and catching up while trying not to catch pneumonia. After I finished fumbling around with my running attire, I squeezed a ClifShot down my gullet and thought "It's go time!" I was ready. Kristi snapped a pre-race pic of Korey and I and we made our way to the start.

Korey and I Gettin' Ready To Rumble

To say I was excited would be an absolute understatement. I was jumping up and down as adrenaline coursed through my veins. "This is gonna be a friggin' blast!" I shouted. "Hell yeah it is. We are going to go under 7 hours!" Korey exclaimed. Having never gone sub-8, this seemed ludicrous. But his confidence was rubbing off on me. "Maybe sub-7 is possible..." I began to think.

As we counted down I envisioned the race, the journey ahead. I said a quick prayer as we all shuffled out of the start. Another runner blasted by everyone and jumped out in front. Korey and I looked at each other and started to laugh. "Damn, backpack guy is doing 6:30 pace out of the gate.." Korey said. We would refer to him as "backpack guy" for the remainder of the day. 

From the very start of the race Korey and I rambled on and on, catching up on lost time. "Damn, backpack guy is already out of sight" I was in disbelief. "We'll catch him, it's just a matter of time" Korey replied. And I already knew we would. 

The single track trail was very runnable. We cruised with ease right around 8 minute pace. I felt great. My legs warmed up and I was feeling no pain. Korey and I both have big dreams when it comes to our running. We have that competitive nature streaming through our blood and share the desire to win races and get sponsors. And I firmly believe that we will both be successful in doing this.

"Cruising" ~ Photo courtesy of Aravaipa Running

Around 4 miles in we rolled into the Gate Aid Station. We chatted with the guys working the AS and quickly continued on. The sun was rising behind us, spraying bright orange rays across the desert floor. The air was crisp and it made for perfect running weather. 

Pretty soon we connected to the Pemperton Trail. I have become quite familiar with this trail. "Pemperton Trail. I have run over a hundred miles on this damn trail in the last couple months.." I explained to Korey. "I'm tired of you!" We seemed to have a very good rhythm going as we made our way to the Pemperton AS.

"Hey guys, you're only about a minute behind the leader!" The bearded gentleman working the aid station exclaimed. "Only a minute, we are gonna catch him soon!" I added. "I was abandoned at this aid station, I don't even know what I'm doing!" He informed us. After filling up my handheld we bolted out of there. "You're doing a great job!" I shouted back to him. 

"See you when you guys come back around!" I heard him say as we continued on. 

We remained deep in conversation as we trekked up the Pemperton Trail. "It's crazy that we are going to be running up that" Korey said as he pointed out Thompson Peak in the distance. "Yeah, it seems so far away.." I added. On we went. Mile after mile.

...

"Yeah, I haven't seen any course markings for a long time.." Korey also, sadly admitted. 

"Do you think we went off course?" I felt myself begin to panic. "Do you remember any of this?" I asked.

"It all looks the same. I couldn't tell you.." 

We both agreed that we were getting further and further away from Thompson Peak, that this was not the right way.

How far had we gone off course was the question. We turned around and started running 6:30 pace in search of our mistake. There were no other runners coming our way. We were all alone..

"How did we miss a turn?" I mumbled. Or not notice that there weren't any course markings. How?

"We must've just been bro-in' out" Korey said. He was right. We had been so wrapped up in our conversation that we completely stopped paying attention to anything else!

Finally we saw some mountain bikers coming our direction. "Hey, you guys seen any runners back that way?" We needed answers! 

"Yeah, waaay back there." His words were like razor blades.

Our race was over.

We continued back down Pemperton Trail for what seemed like an eternity. We were both in complete disbelief that we could have gone so far, so completely unaware of our surroundings. 

We finally reached the point of our mistake. There, virtually in the middle of the trail, were two signs with arrows pointing in the direction we did not go.

"How in the... How did we miss that?!" I cried. We had no one to blame but ourselves! 

Korey and I took our time getting back, prolonging our embarrassment as long as possible. We actually got over the frustration rather quickly and enjoyed running and shooting the shit. We discussed life and how running has helped mold us into better people. It turns out Korey and I have similar stories. We tried to see the "silver lining" as to why the race turned out the way it did and we seemed to enjoy just running. Running in it's simplicity.

Finally we reached headquarters and cruised on in. "No, not you guys!" Jamil shouted as we trotted in with our tails between our legs. 

This picture says it all!

Yep, us guys. 

It turned out to be a really awesome day hanging with some great people. I am glad I got to share some miles with a good friend of mine. You can't put a price on these moments, even if they don't go according to planned. 

Congratulations to the 50 mile winners, Harland Peelle and Maggie Beach. Way to rock it! And thanks to Aravaipa Running for continuing to raise the bar when it comes to putting on first class events. Well done as always.

Until next time....

Stay on the trail!

Walker and Myself Soakin' it in

The crew representing

McDowell Mountain McFailure (a little humor always heals:)