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August 14, 2007
Top Of The World...
...In both a literal and figurative sense.
Last weekend I ran the Bridger Ridge Run. I had a fabulous time running, hiking, scrambling, and scratching my way along the Bridger Ridge. "The Ridge," as locals call it, is the mostly-above-treeline-often-knife-like top of the Bridger Mountains, which extend north out of Bozeman, MT. The route is rugged and technical, moreso than any other running route I've seen before. To get a feel for what the world is like way up there, go here, click on clients, then click on events, then click on the movie image to watch a clip of a movie made from the 2003 race.
Pre-race:
The starting line is way out there, at a place called Fairy Lake. Fairy Lake is about 15 miles out of Bozeman on a paved road, then 7 miles up a windy, rock-jammed Forest Service dirt road. I find the logisitics of getting 250 runners out into the middle of the wilderness to begin a point-to-point course pretty fascinating. Somehow, it all worked and everyone was seemingly in place when the race started at 7 am.
Mile 0 to Mile 2.3:
The race begins with a 2.3 mile, 1800 foot climb from the Fairy Lake Trailhead to Sacagawea Peak, elevation 9665 feet. The route switchbacks happily up through a mostly treeless valley, topping out at a saddle seperating Sacagawea Peak to the south and another peak called Hardscrabble to the north. At the saddle, the race route turns south and heads for Sacagawea's summit. I hit the summit at 47 minutes.
Mile 2.3 to Mile 7.4:
Logic would tell you that once you climb upon the ridge, you get to stay there, right? Not quite. From the peak, the route contours the ridge for perhaps a mile before it performs a literal nosedive back off the ridge and into the trees again. Ross Mountain, the next mountain along the ridge, is impassable for foot travel. So, the trail dives about 2000 feet back off the ridge with perhaps just 1 or 2 real switchbacks to ease this alarming descent.
Many people made this and the other wild descents at miraculous rates of speed using either highly honed skills or reckless abandon. I possess neither the skills to blast such a technical descent (Though I sure desire those skills for when I return to this race next year!) nor the desire to flail uncontrolled off of a mountain (Especially after I saw a woman take a fall hard enough to remove multiple inches of skin surface area from multiple body parts.), so I picked and poked my way into the downward abyss.
After this giagantic and awesome tumble off the mountain, the trail contours nicely for several miles around the flanks of Ross Mountain and into Ross Pass, where the first aid station is located at mile 7.4. Ross Pass, elevation 7680 feet, was a welcoming, sunny, green, glowing meadow, containing an array of exuberant aid station workers. It seemed a nice place to linger, but I looked at the big climb ahead and moved on. I passed through Ross Pass at 1:47 into the race (59 minutes for this section of trail).
Mile 7.4 to Mile 10.6:
Once departing Ross Pass, the route climbs steeply and quickly, about 1000 feet in a half mile, back onto the ridge again. This hands-on-knees climb is an aggressive one, but it was over before I knew it. At this point, the ridge is gnarly with rocks, and it's just plain tough (for me) to move fast.
However, it wasn't long before I could hear the whooping and hollering of people at the second aid station, and that buoyed me along the rocks quite well. The second aid station was located at the top of the Bridger Bowl Ski Area, elevation about 8700 feet. Here in the wilderness, atop a big old mountain, about 100 people came out to cheer on the ridge runners! I was so excited to pass through this aid station that I forgot to hit my split timer.
Mile 10.6 to 15.6:
This was my favorite part of the course, as we hovered almost exclusively on the top of the ridge, the views were incredible, the runners around me were friendly and talkative, and much of this section was runnable. Here's a photo of this section of the course, approaching Saddle Peak, elevation 9169 feet, which was an amazing place. While I was there, the weather was beautiful and sunny. But it's obvious that Saddle Peak is normally a harsh place to be as there is no living thing up there, save for a few hardy lichens.
The next peak after Saddle Peak is Mount Baldy, elevation 8914 feet, the site of the third aid station. It was also a party of happy, cheering people on Baldy Mountain. I arrived here at 4:19 into the race (for a time of 2:32 from Mile 7.4 to 15.6). That's a seriously slow pace! What happened? Did I wander off course or take a little nap? Nah, I never stopped moving. Go figure.
Mile 15.6 to Mile 19.7 (Finish Line):
From the top of Mount Baldy, the trail takes another one of its infamous, abyssmal, downhill dives to the trailhead and finish line, located at about 4900 feet elevation. I spent these last 4 miles and 4000 foot descent either being passed by those miraculously fast downhill runners or passing those with blown out quad muscles.
From about 1000 vertical feet above the trailhead, I could see and hear the finish line, and it was a lovely sight. Now, to just scale down this crazy trail and get there! I happily crossed the finish line in 5:12, and was greeted by a boisterous crowd.
Post-Race:
This is a wonderful race. It's also a fascinating race that requires a unique skill set for fast completion. The men's winner set a new course record in 3:06:and change, breaking his own course record, and winning for something like his 8th or 9th straight time. He clearly has the skill set needed for this crazy course. I very much desire some better technical terrain skills, and I want to come back to this race with them next year.
I had just a bit of soreness in the days after the race, but not much. This is surprising, what with about 7000 feet elevation gain and 9000 feet elevation loss over 20 miles. However, I've been using Ultragen for recovery, and this stuff is truly worth its weight in gold.
Posted by Meghan at August 14, 2007 9:50 PM
Comments
Awesome race Meghan!! Sounds amazingly beautiful...and is the case for all your races...amazingly difficult!! As if running 20 miles isn't hard enough! :) Hope the recovery is going well!
Posted by: Beth at August 15, 2007 5:26 AM
Beautiful course Meghan, and a great time.
Posted by: backofpack at August 15, 2007 6:00 AM
Oh, this brought shivers and smiles at the same time:) Memories...especially of the first descend. Awesome run, Meghan!
Posted by: olga at August 15, 2007 7:33 AM
Great race and a great report, Meghan!! What an impressive run, and it sounds like it was a great experience all around. I may have to get into this Ultragen stuff :)
Posted by: barb at August 15, 2007 8:34 AM
holy wow. that video looks fantastic! great job on the race. what an amazing adventure. i'm going to have to put that in my list of 'to-do' races!
Posted by: jeff at August 15, 2007 1:41 PM
Wow, that's great! Thanks for such a detailed report. The views are incredible. I need to run up there.
Posted by: JeffO at August 15, 2007 3:47 PM
oh, WOW! What a fun race! Fantastic race report, I loved it! This place looks incredible. And tough! Whew! That is rugged. Congrats on a great run!
Posted by: anne at August 15, 2007 7:25 PM
very very Cool race~
I watched that video clip... Amazing Views. Great report !
Thanks & Congrats on an awesome race!
Posted by: Bob Gentile at August 15, 2007 10:36 PM
This race goes on my "things to do" list. The video shows some potential for some nasty falls up on the ridge. Hope the woman you saw crash heals up well. Did she finish?
Posted by: eric at August 17, 2007 4:35 PM
Good for you, M, for tackling this hellishly beautiful course. And what a great job in describing it. Don't get too much smoke in your lungs! Everyone around here (sports team-wise) is opting for indoor workouts (maybe with an eye toward lawsuit-happy parents?) but that's only since we reached Stage 2. They had the girls running the hallways of the high school. I rather think the hard floor of the hallways is worse than an hour of wood smoke. But who the hell am I? So, way to go's all around.
Posted by: Kendra Borgsmokylungs at August 19, 2007 9:56 AM