ZION 100km Not for the faint of heart!

ZION 100km it just sounded like an incredibly beautiful trail run in a State I have never been too, add that it was my birthday and I had my husbands blessing it really seemed like an awesome idea!

COUNT DOWN

 After traveling 460 plus miles in the car with my friend Ray who was designated driver we made ZION in early afternoon. Time to get our race gear ready and to go to the packet pick up to collect race number and final instructions. I had a slight head ache but nothing too major, at the packet pick up there was fresh home made pizza made to order for all the runners and the location was a private residence surrounded by the walls of ZION.

all smiles before the event

Race morning arrived quickly and we arrived at the park to check in at 5.30am, semi darkness and lots of ultra runners full of energy filled the starting area, I tried to blend in and not get nervous, my goal was to finish and hopefully not take a spill on one of the down hills....

ZION 

The race began!!! there really is not a lot to say except it was 63.5 miles of breathe taking beauty...of single track running with rocks and boulders.....did I forget to mention about the marvelous uphills that seemed to climb to heaven! with vistas so beautiful it was difficult to imagine so many people live on this planet!!

Long Climb to Gooseberry Overlook.

The aid stations were all well stocked with just enough of everything that I am sure no runner lacked anything! The volunteers were all friendly and willing to help you get your race needs and move on to the next trail adventure!

The first station was at mile 10.6, and I had ran on a lot of single track, oh my favorite kind of running (note sarcasm) but I had witnessed a wonderful sunrise and red streaked sky, had found a toilet at mile 5 and had not fallen on the rocky trails.

On leaving the first station I headed out on a nice fire road to Gooseberry Overlook it was around 9 miles away and the weather was perfect conditions, I ran with a few other runners, it was nice to idle chit chat and enjoyed the company. Then ba boom an uphill and I am talking uphill, I jogged until I could not get my footing on the loose rocks, I power walked keeping my heart rate from exploding my fear of heights was in check and at the top of the climb was the 2nd aid station which I would see 3 times over the course of the day.

Gooseberry Mesa

On leaving the 2nd station I became physically challenged!! As the single track seemed to mix with sand stone and boulders, I was following white dots and could not get into a rhythm as my rock hopping skills are sketchy and was super observant so not to get lost but the turn around was AMAZING the view was just out standing!!!

  Gooseberry Mesa

I weaved around the mesa for an eternity and cannot tell you how excited I was to see mile 31 were I had my drop bag, I sprayed my legs with Kool n fit and refueled on a Hammer bar I was half way into this adventure and a nice 6 miles of fire road was ahead!!

The next 30 plus miles I went to a place I rarely go in events, I faced some fears I ran up some trails I would never do in training,I became mentally drained with single weaving tracks and the quietness was deafening!! I did not run with music as running on single track needed all my concentration! I glanced from time to time to my Polar monitor and was amazed to see my calories at 7,000 at one point I kept dreaming of my breakfast!

Eagle Crags mile 44

AT mile 41 the race director put in a rather nice steep 3 mile up hill, I actually enjoyed the jog up this fire road and was so happy to see the aid station. I restocked on water and Hammer Gel and enjoyed a small piece of Cheese burrito. The down hill was steep so I opted to carefully jog and give out high 5s to other runners!

In my mind I only had about 20 miles left I was so happy as I ran along a rolling trail I was with a nice group of female Ultra runners and passed the Grafton Cemetery unfortunately we never ran through the ghost town where westerns such as Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid were filmed!

Grafton Cemetery...the stones were ingraved with Killed by Indians ....etc..

Then suddenly the reflective ribbons disappeared....and then my jaw dropped as I saw ribbons going up the third major climb of the run! It ascended 1000ft in less than a mile and although I could have passed out with the dizzying view and drop offs it was a privilege to run this section which is protected by the Grafton Heritage Society.

At the top of Grafton Mesa I lost it mentally as the single track played tricks on my sense or direction, it weaved back and forwards dropping down and climbing up again, by this time I had ran out of water and race nutrition to keep my moral high I joked with the other ladies with me. I have never been SO happy to see an aid station as I was when I saw Grafton at mile 52!! 

I stopped filled up my hydration pack, took my endurolytes, race caps and anti fatigue caps, had a few cups of Hammer Heed and began to feel much better and very excited at the prospect of nearly being finished. I left Grafton eating a new Hammer Vegan bar as it was un uphill climb and did not want to run out of energy on the final stretch!

I really wish I had had a friend with me on this final 13 mile stretch as it was just a LONG fire road with the walls of Zion surrounding my shadow! I kept it together willing myself to keep moving forward I really needed to be down the final climb before darkness fell.

Affectionately named Goosebump I had already climbed this earlier in the day now with tired legs I had to descend the 1200ft drop just over a mile...

I started the final descent in day light/dusk and ended that nightmare in complete darkness talk about facing your fears one slip and I would not have been writing this report! Yet two other runners went by me with no problem.mmm...

Grafton trail

I went down EXTREMELY cautiously, my head lamp lit up the trail if you could call it that, a buzzing insect was having a field day around my light beam which attracted bats I did not dare swipe at them as needed to get to the road...the final two miles was just like a comedy strip...well now it is...no one around, bats and buzzing insects and at one point I though I saw the Grimm Reaper as the shadows were playing tricks on my vision! 

FINALLY the road I was nearly in tears I was going to finish the Zion 100km standing up and not on a stretcher I had only fell once the entire time and I was heading towards the Park Road I had finished in exactly 16 hours!!! 

At the finish line I enjoyed some great potatoes and actually felt great as was SO grateful to have finished!!!

 Hammer Nutrition went really well......Skin Protection Ocean Potion and Kool n Fit to spray on my feet !

The RACE DIRECTOR Matt! Did a great job with the trails and making sure every runner was accounted for.

 My Cascadias proudly with the ZION 100km medal!

Ray finished in just over 14 hours and he ran a little with Pam Reed it was cool to meet this Ultra Star and here her adventures.

OHANA from Ultraman Hawaii.

Breakfast!

Was very humbled to have finished such an amazing adventure. Very grateful to Hammer Nutrition, Brooks Running, Rudy Project, Ocean Potion, Swiftwick socks, Kool n Fit, Polar heart rate monitors, my friend Ray Mena and my husband who supported the whole adventure It was a great way to celebrate 49 years old! Definitely the hardest trail run I personally have ever done and probably the most satisfying finish!

A little elevation profile around 6,000 plus feet of climbing...

When training can quickly go wrong!

6 Days until Zion 100 km run or 62 miles....what to do...do I taper, do I watch a movie, do I clean the home? mmm what about an easy 16 mile run?

The day started out well, my ultra running friend Ray wanted to run about 16 to 20 miles nice and easy before 100km run at Zion....okay there is no such thing as an easy long run when you put the words San Gabriel Mountains in the mix!

The plan was to run to the Bridge to No Where as Ray had never been up in that area, my husband thought it was not a good idea as there are more Boulders to hop and streams to cross than there are trails to run but we went any way!

When we arrived at the trail head, there was a LOT of foot traffic congesting the trail as they were people booked to Bungy jump, so as it would take a long time to pass everyone we decided at the last minute to head up to Heaton Saddle which according to the map was 3.5 miles up.....

OKAY ALERT IN BULLET FORM

• No one knew we were running to Heaton Saddle and we had no cell service
• There was no other runners or hikers on the trail
• Yucca was over grown and some of the trails were washed out....
• No water except for what we were carrying.

The views were spectacular, the trail was not easy it climbed and then dipped then pitched up to the next peak! The altitude kept creeping up with each new peak conquered. Having never been on this trail before we really were running blind, were did it go ?were did it end? was it out n back or did it make a big loop?

Then there was the over grown foliage which was unforgiving!!Soon we began to think of Black bears and Mountain Lions and what we would do if we encountered some wild hungry animal. Yet it would not be the wild life that would worry me the most but the terrain!

we were still going forward 5 miles some where we had gone past the official turn around point which was not marked and now heading up to 4900 feet forget about trail it was just loose sand and rubble and very slippery. I had now resorted to crawling on all fours in a desperate attempt to keep connected to Mother Earth!! Add to that my fear of heights and you should get the picture....WHAT THE HELL WAS I DOING AT 4900FEET!!!

I came to a stop and told Ray he could go on ahead I was done and not going any further up the trail or remnants of a trail, I was really out of my comfort zone, so I stopped and relaxed, ate a Hammer bar and drank my water pondering on how I was to get out of this little mess!!! and waited for Ray to finish exploring the trail...

We finally made our way back, inch by inch down that slippery declivity I really thought I would never see Al again, when we finally connected to the single track trail again I nearly cried in disbelief! Despite the beauty of the Mountain it also was not forgiving or kind to the unprepared and ignorant!

In times of pressure humor would be my best friend! here I am crawling to the next boulder wondering were water is and my hair already greying from over exposure to the elements!!!

SERIOUSLY

• have a plan and stick to it! Had we had an accident that day we would have been lucky to have been rescued quickly as no one knew we had changed running route!
• When running in the mountains it is advisable to carry a little first aid kit,
•  I fell twice and was lucky I did not cut my wrist wide open!
• carry a small knife, a small fire arm or spray really if a bear or a mountain lion had been threatening we had nothing to defend our selves with!
• plenty of water and plenty of food to fuel the run better to have more than less.
• Sunburn hurts take plenty of sun screen I had on Ocean Potion.

We were running for a total of 7.30 hours, walking jogging crawling call it what you will, we also reconnected with our original plan to to Bridge to No Where, again lots of boulders and river crossings, 

Interesting enough after sharing my adventure with Al he told me we were near the Allison Mines and on looking at the site again we could have done a 13 mile loop..........
here is a link to a site I found about the Allison Mines and hike.
http://www.dankat.com/advents/almine.htm

I was very grateful to see the river and be able to see lots of other hikers and runners on the trail, while we only covered 16 miles we had a total time of 7hrs 30 mins on our feet! 6 of those on a trail which was really off the beaten path!

Be careful when you go running in the Wilderness, it is easy to get lost, loose track of time and make one wrong move and be the subject of a Search and Rescue. We were lucky that nothing happened past Heaton Saddle I did run out of water but we were a mile to the river....

I wanted to share as no matter how fit you may think you are nature does not care and accidents easily happen when you get tired and are in unfamiliar territory!

Happy Trails..

Still running Happy and resting for my event with my little min pin Hammer who was also grateful I came home in one piece!

Team Relay part two!!!

No I did not do a team relay with Macca, But he was a super nice guy and he really wanted his photo with Hammer my min pin before he went to set up his bike at Bonelli Triathlon by Tri Events... I was super happy to see him racing here I have a lot of respect for Macca and love the way he talks and races!!

Before I could race I set up my booth for POLAR USA and also Hammer Nutrition. With help from my husband AL and Montana.

I also took lots of Ocean Potion Suncare to share with the athletes very important to protect the skin!

AL and I went to transition we were ready to Rock n Roll, he was all taped up from yesterdays crash, but we would try to do our best
SWIM : I swam my heart out and in the process was swam over, pummeled, dunked but I kept on swimming forward I just had to survive. As I neared the finish I went to stand up and immediately fell down I think I found the ONLY rocky hole at the shore!
T1, I ran up the carpeted hill which ended at the timing mat, I than ran over the asphalt to meet Al give him the timing chip and he was off on his two laps of the road bike.
BIKE: Al cycled in incredible pain but put in two smoking fast circuits on the bike, he rode consistent and was able to finish with out any mishaps.
RUN : 5 km run I set off feeling good, I cheered every runner I passed and said great job to runners that past me! All I knew was I could not stop I had to keep up a good pace.

  

It is ALWAYS a fantastic race when you make the podium, we took first place in the relay championships and of course we shared the Podium with Hammer our Min Pin!

Was a great day at the races, enjoyed watching the childrens championships, meeting Macca and spending time with AL and Montana.
I also spent a lot of time educating athletes on Polar Heart Rate training and also the Hammer Nutrition Vegan Bars!

Life is good!

Catching up with the Worlds Oldest Triathlon Series.....

 A few years ago I wrote a nice report about the Bonelli Tri Events series. It is now in its 31st year and Carolyn Wolk is proving to be an out standing race director in her own right.
In 2013 the April event had a fantastic turn out and the very impressive Chris McCormack turned out to race. Celebrating his 40th birthday he would have been 9 years old when the series began! He won the race and was a really nice and genuine athlete/person. He posed for pictures, and waited for the first So Cal Youth to cross the line. He answered questions and raced a smart and extremely fast race.

Macca meets Hammer my running mini pin!

 So if you are looking for a great race with attention to detail which attracts World Class triathletes in a fantastic venue then look no further Carolyn has that race! 

 

 

ABOUT TRI EVENTS

Catching up with Bill Fulton at The Worlds Oldest Triathlon Series
by Suzy Degazon
The year is 1982 and a young Bill Fulton the owner of "The Complete Runner" store had just been asked if he knew any one that could put on a 10km road race at Bonelli park. Although he had no prior experience he said that he could do it! While he was trying to plot out a 10km course he realized that there was no natural out and back course in Bonelli Park for such an event, yet as he looked out over the Dam trying to envision the road race Bill remembers
"I just got a flash that Bonelli Park would be a great place for a triathlon, it's got unbelievable ambience. I had put on foot races but the triathlon was the sport of the 80s and I wanted to be part of it"
Which would have been a great idea yet Bill had never seen a triathlon let alone produced one. Yet the next day he was telling every- one that he was going to put on a triathlon event at Bonelli Park! It was not long before a nationally recognized Triathlete by the name of Mark Montgomery was walking into Bills shop asking what he was thinking! Viola History was beginning!
Bill took Mark to Bonelli thinking he would say it would not work, quite the opposite Mark saw what Bill envisioned and on April 17th 1983 they produced the first of 3 triathlons at Bonelli Park. It was in their eyes the perfect venue for the ultimate triathlon course. In the middle of LA they had a Lake which was easily accessible on top of which was calm and no waves, a bike course which was rolling hills and no left turns to navigate against traffic and the run which was a mixture of cross county and beautiful scenery certainly not boring; it was as if they had been given the perfect triathlon course on a platter!
Bill remembers well that first triathlon in 1983, he recalls standing at the Lake waiting for the athletes who were all standing in the transition area near their bikes he went up to the area and shouted out that he had hired a Sherriff with strict instructions to shoot any -one stealing anything from transition and the race began!
Bills attention to detail earned him the nickname of Mr. Bullhorn as on race day he would be out there with his Bull horn sweating the details which attracted repeat customers. Back in the 80s the distance was a 1 km swim, 40km bike and 8km run it was made up of 3 races and in order to be the Los Angeles Champion the athlete had to finish all 3 races and have the lowest point total. In the first few years the event was held there was a lot of triathletes that would show up to race but when Mark and Bill upped the antes and offered a prize purse of $12,000 then a lot of triathletes showed up at a chance of the green stuff!! Scott Molina & Joy Hansen won it in 1986 each winning $1500 a piece! Athletes from eight different countries & around the USA participated in 86; Allison Roe of New Zealand placed second in one of the races and was a former world record marathon holder!
Bill and Mark wanted the athletes to come out and try to improve their swim bike and run time over the 3 events!
There has been many elite and famous athletes to grace the starting line of the LA Bonelli series, Mark Montgomery went on to win it a few times, while in 1988 Kenny Sousa who was the top biathlete of the year began his career helping Mark Montgomery put on races and before learning how to bike competed as a runner on a triathlon relay team. In 1989 Nancy Vallence made her breakout in triathlon by beating Colleen Cannons course record at Bonelli park by over 3 minutes! Headlines in tri news were Scott Molina versus Mark Montgomery and Allison Roe versus Joanne Ernst! Or Tom Gallagher and Janet Greenleaf (the then swim coach of Mission Viejo Nadadores) win series championship! Other notable triathletes include Joy Hanson, Jacqueline Shaw, Michael Durkin, Ken Glah etc. Perhaps one of the most famous names would be Emilio De Soto 11, who came 2nd in 83 and went on to win the overall series 3 to 4 times competing maybe over 75 times at Bonelli, his fondest memories were times spent with all the Fulton family! Who still great Emilio and his father as family! More recently athletes such as Michelle Jones, Jonas Colting, Nicole de Boom, Julia Swail to name but a few!
It impacted Bills family life very favorably, his wife Joan with children Caroline, Anne and Chip were all involved from the beginning with the organization and even today he has his grand- children involved and the same volunteers from 29 years ago!
Things have changed a lot in the triathlon world since 1983, his daughter Anne recalls having to cut and paste all the individual names to a piece of card board for the results in 1985 they had spent a long time correcting the positions and went to put up the results and the Santa Ana winds came through and took all the names like confetti and sprinkled them all over the grass!!
In 1987 Bill was presented with a scroll from the County of Los Angeles as in only 5 years the Los Angeles Triathlon series which was launched at Frank G Bonelli regional park in 1983 was enjoyed by athletes across the nation had grown so quickly it had been televised to Millions of Americans as part of Strohs American Race Challenge and races across America program which brought nationwide attention to Bonelli Park! Added to that Triathlon magazine & Triathlon news two very well respected sporting news publications reported that the Bonelli series was one of the best triathlons around and called it one of the top eight great triathlon races in the nation!
It was at an event in San Diego in the late 80s when Bill heard a Triathlete voice frustration that he could not finish a triathlon in less than 2 hours that Bill began the 1:59:59 club; he wanted to honor the athletes that could meet this challenge! Soon the club was becoming so large due to the triathletes getting stronger and faster each year he even added a 1:49:59 club and yes a 1:39:59 club!!
For the past 29 years Bill Fulton has been a pioneer of the race directing world, he also founded the Catalina Island Triathlon and held that event for 7 years, his children still remember sailing over to Catalina with athletes such as Mike Pigg and having MOET Champagne sponsor the event, Bill also produced triathlons at Big Bear and several foot races. He was definitely ahead of his time for innovation. His biggest reason was to support his growing family. As well as the Los Angeles Triathlon series they also started the Tri Express series which his wife Joan was responsible for naming. This would be a shorter triathlon for athletes wanting a sprint course. At the end of the year in the Fall they would have the B.O.D (Bonelli Olympic Distance tri) or the express called Steamboat. The reason they called it Steamboat was because Robert Fulton discovered the Steamboat and when Bill was a child the kids thought he had invented the Steamboat!
It is now 2011, I personally have been at the April event as a relay team; We won the mixed relays and my runner was my mini pincher who was fully registered and had a blast! The May event I entered as an age grouper and the race venue has moved back to the North shore of Bonelli were it originally started in 1983, the course is still grass roots, non -stressful, friendly vibe. As for a non- athlete the course is spectator friendly! It has a super relaxed setting were spectators can mingle with the athletes afterwards and watch the run and bike course and still be close to the finish line.
There are new faces on the circuit; kids like Zane Grenoble 10 years old who won his age group in April and then Dillon Nobbs who won overall the tri express division at 15 years old! Dillon is actually coached by Dave Ruby a long time competitor and past express champion at Bonelli himself… These are the future of the sport it keeps growing… Junior divisions, USAT rankings who knows baby Emilio De Soto may follow in his fathers and grand- fathers footsteps one day at Bonelli!
In 2012 the event will mark its 30th Anniversary and continue its streak as the World's Oldest Triathlon series. The events are held in April, May and June. The Championship races start out in April with a 500 meter swim, 23.3km bike and 5km run, In May the race consists of 1km swim, 26.4km bike and an 8km run. It tops out in June with a 1.5km swim a 40km bike and 10km run. Meanwhile the tri Express series is a 300km swim, 13.3km bike and 5 km run for all 3 races. Once an athlete has won the Championship series they are exempt from any future entry fees!! I really love the volunteers who usually are the Newport Beach Sea Scouts Ship 90, La Verne Boy Scouts Troop 419 & Diamond Bar High School!
The back drop of the San Gabriel Mountains and the Bonelli Park just make it an ideal destination for a triathlete with family to visit! So while they are racing the family can relax and there is plenty of places to stay locally and eat.
The new race director is Carolyn Wolk daughter of Bill, Carolyn is equally as passionate about giving the athletes a memorable experience which is why they have a saying that reads Tri Events is "Open to take criticism from our athletes and partners in order to "get it right" minus the corporate red tape." They also moved the race back to the North Shore of Bonelli were it all began 29 years ago!
It goes with- out saying that Triathlon has evolved over the years they still try to keep the grass root feeling of the triathlon but unlike the late 80s, areo bars, wet suits USAT are now the norm, disc wheels and carbon bikes!…rules rules and more rules follow the sport of triathlon! To be nostalgic in the 80s triathlon was not an elitist sport, there were no tri shops and tri clubs to join and the races were just about having fun and keeping fit!! If you had a bike a swim suit and running shoes you were set!! The Tri Events and Bill Fulton have tried to keep the old fashioned feel for the sport here in Bonelli park, so if you want to be part of History the series will be 30 years old in 2012!
This year Joan Fulton passed away but her memory remains through this beautiful series of racing.
Suzy Degazon (Ultrawoman)
www.suzydegazon.com

When racing goes wrong...Xterra Bonelli April 6th.

Al and I before the swim

SO my day began well, we loaded up the truck and headed over to Bonelli. We were so excited to race this as a team, Al had started cycling this year after an awful freak accident had his left leg broken in 3 places 18 months ago.

swim chute

My light blue cap ...adjust my goggles the air horn went off and the half mile swim began. All I had to do was keep out of the batting ring swim to a large yellow buoy, turn around and swim back to the dock....

passing the timing chip to AL

The swim went as expected. fast arms and bobbing colored hats ensued, some swimmers in panick mode and swimming on their backs before even half way, aggressive swimmers swimming over me and managed to get a good slap on my head as I neared the shore, drank a little water but made it, did a mad dash to the transition gave the chip to AL and he was off.

While I was refueling for the planned hilly and challenging 3.2 mile run my husband was having a few problems of his own, I began to worry when I had not seen him on his first 7 mile loop...

He had taken a nasty fall 6 miles into the first loop, his tire had been slashed by a rock, he ran all the way to transition to get help then to his truck to get a spare tire..

Unfortunately all wheels are not made the same and he had lean t his wheel the week before to a pro mountain biker and used a different cusp, which he had forgot to put back on...needless to say that was the end of the ride! We went to the Incycle mechanic but no spare wheels, 28 minutes cycling 6 miles covered ...

Instead of a podium spot he took a top seat at the First Aid tent, he was frustrated about the situation as he had trained hard and felt great but on a happier note he had no broken bones the damage was to the wheel not to human bones.

I was allowed to do the fun in officially it felt good to run off our disappointment but great to know AL had no broken bones...

 My husband greeted me across the line, we may have been unofficial, but we will both live to race another day...

We left the venue and I left me precious SOS "Survival of the Shawangunks" triathlon towel! Just so much going on I did not think to go back to transition....Hope I get it back.

Spent the afternoon at the bike shop INCYCLE repairing the front wheel and getting his road bike in good condition.... we will repeat again tomorrow!!!!!

our photographer Montana did an awesome job.

the missing cusps!

while we did not officially finish something much more important was happening as the Blazeman Roll and the War against ALS was prominent. As one of the athletes friends had been diagnosed with ALS and was racing all the Xterra events and would give his bib number to his friend and they would both do the roll together over the finish line. Brought tears to many of the spectators and athletes too.

The event put on by Renegade Racing was EXCELLENT. Plenty of course marshals and plenty of well placed signs we will do this event again.

Thanks for reading....its not the result we wanted but that's racing for you.