The goal to complete the Utah Grand Slam continues for me. August 21 was the Park City marathon, number 2 in the series of 4. This course is known in the running circles as the hardest one of all the UGS marathons. For a couple of good reasons, very long continuous up hills, starts at 6400 feet elevation, with a top of over 7000 feet, lots of trail running and of course it's 26.2 miles. I heard from several runners that you walk the uphills and run the down hills. Having never done this marathon course before this description scared me. In fact I was very concerned that I might not finish the course before it closed in 6 and half hours. But, I heard the scenery was really great. The views of the ski slopes and jumps craved in the green mountains sides was inspiring, when I had the courage to move my eyes off the dirt trail without fear of twisting my ankle. Start time was 6:30 and it was cool so, with a gentle breeze from the South. I decided to change into my long sleeve running shirt before starting, so I quickly swapped it and re-pinned my numbered bib in the parking lot. Just enough time for a fast picture before the starting gun. The start was great and I felt really good through the rolling hills going East about the first 5-6 miles. Then the course turned South and started a continuous gradual uphill on the old Union Pacific railway bed. This lasted about 5 miles right up the valley and the wind was now in our face, about 10-15 mph. Bummer, uphill and against the wind. After about mile 10 the course turned West and started into Park City. At the the half marathon distance I glanced at my watch. 2 hours 30, not bad considering the uphill and wind. Now the mountains were blocking the South wind. I started to talked to myself (what else are you going to do when you are running) with thoughts like, "ok, if I start walking this uphill part, then I will be rested enough to run the down hills at the end". Or, "If I double my half marathon time, then I surely can finish under 6 hours before the course closes". These, plus others rationals sounded very convincing, so I started walking. I finally got to a point where the volunteers were saying you made it to the downhill part of the course. Great, I'll start running again. Shortly I said "hey, whats the deal"? About 1 mile into the downhill, then there this like 45 degree straight uphill, like the kind you see in San Francisco, I said out loud, "you have got to be kidding me". Well after walking that hill I just sort of lost interest in running. However, you can still push yourself walking. I got to the point that if I made a 15 minute mile pace walking, I felt like I was really moving myself. I even passed a few "walk/runners" at 4 mph. At the 26 mile marker I still couldn't see the finish line, but I thought to myself "you have to run to finish, even if you can't see it". Two down, two more marathons to go. Park City now has the distinction of being my worse time on any marathon at 5 hours 42 minutes, but I expected it. I intend to do better at Top of Utah on September 18 and it's coming on this Saturday.
