September 12th, 2009. Abbe and I drove to Price, UT on Friday night, 09/11 and got there shortly before they closed the packet pick-up which was outside the doors of the CEU Prehistoric Museum in Price. It was dark, but the folks at the tables were still in great spirits and more than willing to answer any questions. After a night's sleep we drove to Huntington, UT city park so I could catch the bus. She went back to the motel to get showered and breakfast. The marathoners caught the bus and made the short, 2-mile trip to the starting line which was literally in the middle of the road, seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Much to our surprise the starter informed us that it was the first day of the antelope hunting season and to watch our backs. Good thing I didn't wear my fake antelope antlers. Anyway, it was pleasantly cool at the start. Small crowd for the full marathon and we thinned out pretty quickly. The course was not technically difficult and was pretty desolate. If you like crowds then you should definitely avoid this run. This was out in the actual middle of nowhere (I think I saw a sign saying exactly that), no real shade to speak of until we ran past a few trees in the canyon. At one point I almost stepped on a small scorpion. I met a few nice folk with whom I ran a few miles. The first six miles were a little slower than my normal pace and since I was feeling pretty good I decided to pick it up and finished the first half at my normal half split (2:33). When the course was about to enter the canyons I had to make a pit stop and then had after a few hundred yards had to go back for a second round. During those few minutes it felt like the temperature jumped about 15 degrees. All of my running in the canyons was by myself and only saw a couple of other runners the whole last nine miles. I did make the very short detour off the rode (about 20 yards) to see the dinosaur footprint and the petroglyphs, which was really cool. However, the heat was beating me up. I walked more than usual and then all of mile 23. At one point I started to question my own sanity and choice of hobbies. My spirits were buoyed when at the aid station at mile 23 I was able to put a cup of ice in my cap to help cool down. I was able to jog slowly the last two miles and at the very last station dumped several cups of water down my back. The sound of claps and cheering the last hundred yards almost helped me break into a sprint, but since I didn't want to go back to Huntington in the nearby amulance I kept the slow pace through the finish line and ended at 6:03. That was the longest I've ever run in one stretch. We waited for a few more runners before our bus drove us back to the city park where Abbe had been waiting patiently for me to arrive. The run was beautiful and the support crew was really great. In spite of the size they were very well organized and did a super job. I hope they keep this race small because if the weather is like this every year and they keep growing they're going to need many more ambulances and I don't think there are enough in the county to handle the business. check it out at www.littlegrandcanyonmarathon.org.
