In the interest of time, I will set a goal to recap a couple races, with the added bonus of an awesome training run. That sounds like fun...or PHUNT, which was my first race for 2016. This is actually the third or fourth time I have signed up for this early-mid January race, but the first time I actually made it there. Earlier on this blog I chronicled waking up at some obscenely early hour, laying in bad and listening the wind howl, picturing getting lost on this somewhat obscure trail, and rolling right back over.
That was a couple years ago, and although I tell myself I will run it every year, it just never happened until this year. I'll blame it on my ERR friend Chad, whom I coerced into not only running with me, but driving AND waiting for me to finish!
You have to love a race where the RD sends you off while perched on a 12 foot ladder screaming in a bullhorn as Highway to Hell is blaring over speakers.
This race used to be run as a "fat ass" but it has become much more legitimate in the last two years, and was full out professional this year! There were logo embroidered items to buy at the start, give-a-ways from Gore-tex, and pretty damn good swag for finishing. The course is a double loop, and from the chatter among frequent Phunters, the course was extremely well marked compared to its former days of a low key "you're on your own" kind of race. About 3/4 of the field of 400 decided to only go out for the first loop, which, of course none of the 50K runners knew until we saw all their celebratory whoops and high fives at the end of the first 25k! Uhhh, maybe we should not have tried to keep up with them all on the first loop (whoops).
Oh well, it was nice and serene on the second loop (read: didn't see a soul) but luckily the pithy signs kept my spirits up.
The weather was incredible for the first loop, and only as I got further into the second did the temperature start dropping and wind start to pick up. I had been running with just a light shirt, but had to stop and put my jacket on for the last 6 miles or so. The race had a cut off of 8 hours, and I made sure I was going to make that. I wasn't rushing, just running comfortably, and had a really nice day out there. With about 3 miles to go I decided to give it an extra push, and finished in 7:49 or so. Chad was waiting for me to finish, and broke the news gently about the lack of lentil soup left. Oh well, incentive to go faster next time. He was a swell race buddy, and that became more evident when only about a mile into the drive home, I had to make him pull over so I could puke. Luckily we were close to a rest stop, and even more lucky, we actually made it there. So a not so great finish to a great race, but a fun day none-the-less. Not sure I will risk the January weather again, but for this year, it was a winner.
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