Saturday, July 4th, was the fourth running of the Kelly Canyon Trail race and for this year they added a ten mile course. This was my first attraction to the run. Kelly Canyon is one of the many races which make up the Trail Runner – La Sportiva Trophy Series calendar. This and knowing the strength of some Eastern Idaho runners, I was anticipating a good turn out and a strong field. I would be disappointed.
Information upon registering was limited. I had to contact the organizers for things like directions to the start. I make notes of things like this because I will be race directing two runs in 2010. Upon arrival, the start / finish area was organized as runners started to arrive. I was told a briefing would happen fifteen minutes prior to the start, and sure enough it did. All three distance groups were briefed on their course. As I looked around at the different groups, there were maybe 30-35 runners in total.
We toed the line right at eight o’clock with myself, La Sportiva teammate Luke Nelson, and Pat Bragassa taking point. The opening mile or so headed up and Luke and Pat instantly took the lead. I fell into my own rhythm and let them go. They quickly gaped me but I was playing the patience game. Once the opening single track climb was behind me the course turned onto a double track. Running alone, I stayed steady and before I knew it, I caught a glimpse of Luke but he was alone. I kept telling myself to be consistent and he will come back. I didn’t see Pat, either he turned on the five mile course or he had pulled away from Luke. As I gained on Luke, the course took a turn through a gate onto a single track. But our course flagging didn’t exist. Instead, it was marked with the five mile color. I saw Luke go straight where there was no flagging, I chose to take the right following the flagging. I yelled to Luke and he came back. We the bombed the single track downhill and finally came to our course markings, reassuring us that we were on the correct route. Noting the time, I mentioned to Luke that I thought the course was short. We were approaching the end and our time was smoking.
Luke and I would continue to run together following confusing course markings. Luke is a really strong climber and would pull away on the upshots and I would reel him in on the descents. Luke finally got a good gap on me at the final climb which was a gnarled service road dropping runners onto a cross country section overgrown with high grass. We were told to be careful of these sections as they contained hidden hole and rocks. Great, ankle tweakers! As the finish was quickly approaching, I ran out of course to bring Luke back to me. Pat would take first, Luke would take second at :54:05 (i think) and I crossed with third at :54:25. We questioned the distance and was informed that the course was cut back to 8.7 miles due to a washout the week before. I think the course was even shorter than that but the RD said it was measured.
I was pleased with my run. More pleased not to have any knee pain. Really happy to awake on Sunday morning with no knee pain! I was not pleased with the poor/confusing course markings and the lack of turnout (although it was July 4th). Oh well, it was just great to be able to get out and race! It was nice to see and run against Luke (he is becoming quite a strong runner). We hadn’t run together since last years Elephants Perch Backcountry Run. We will have the opportunity to run against each other again at the Jupiter Peak Steeple Chase and the Shop to the Top (both races part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup. It will be fun! Until next time – get out and do something!
Gear for the day:La Sportiva CROSSLITE shoes w/deFeet trail 19 socks, Sugoi 42K short, Sugoi team shirt. Prerace fuel: 1st Endurance EFS drink and a GU shot. Post race recovery drink: 1st Endurance Ultragen Cappuccino.
