Dizzy Goat 12 Hour Trail Race

Dizzy Goat: The 3:45 am alarm came way to early yesterday, but out of bed I roll, lather on my Squirrels Nut Butter, get dressed, brush my teeth, and away I go.  I was actually smart this time and pack my gear the night before.   Ohhh wow almost forgot, I brewed 1/2 pot of coffee for the 1:45 minute drive.  So with coffee in hand, I head out.  You know you are up early when watch the sun rise as you approach your Destination.  In this case, Schramm State Park for the 12 hour Dizzy Goat Trail Race. 

Temps were pretty great for this time of year.  65 at the start; high of 82, but man was it humid!!  Anyway, heat doesn't bother me, so on the the start, picked out my tent spot, set up in a few minutes and I'm ready to roll!

I felt great when we started and saw my friends Jeff and Jenny Merrick before the race. It was a treat to see Jeff going for his first 12 hour and longest race to date (ended up being 18 miles longer that his previous 50k distance, he crushed it!) 

Smiles Around ..even after 49 miles!

This race was a 3.25 mile loop at Schramm Park, with 600 feet of elevation change on each loop.  Once you come across the finish line, they switch your green or pink wrist band for the alternating color, then you turn around and complete the loop in the opposite direction (Hence the name DIZZY GOAT).  It's a way to see people all the time and experience the loops (and What the Hill section) from two directions.

Everything started out great, with my Spry vest the first two loops, then I switched to my UltrAspire 550 handheld as a pack was not necessary.  This bottle rocks!  Most of the day I forgot I was holding it.  You slip your hand through and it just hangs there, no gripping, no squeeze, nothing (in fact sometimes I would get to the aid station 1/2 through the loop without drinking anything lol).  Then I got scolded by the aid station folks :-)   Speaking of which, aid station volunteers are so great.  Pretty much every Ultra I do is filled with awesome volunteers.  For now, I have to give the Motivation Aid Station crew (most of which were out there all 12 hours) my vote for #1 aid station I've ever experienced.  They change their theme (music, decorations, food, and yes their clothes) every 3-4 hours to keep things hopping.  There were jamming, joking, and jabbing all day.

Motivation Aid Station

Runners Heading into Motivation Aid

OK back to the loops, rinse and repeat for 7 more loops. Loop 8 would get my 26 miles and I wanted to hit that mark by 6 hours (finished it in 5:40).  I knew now the 13 required loops for finisher medal was in the bag, barring some injury or major wipe-out on the roots (which there were plenty of).  Loop, 9, 10, 11 and then I had the great privilege to have my brother Jim stop by for some company/pacing for 2 loops!  What I treat.. we had a good time, walking, jogging, and talking.  This made the early to mid afternoon go by much quicker.  Thanks and love ya my bro!

Jim Tagging Along for 6.5 miles woohoo!

 Bam 12 & 13 now in the bag.  With 2.5 hours left, I knew I could press on for 2 loops to get 15 in and 49 miles.  It was time to bring out the tunes and I was getting tired, the sun came out, and oh my goodness so did the humidity!  My new favorite soundtrack is from the motion picture "The Greatest Showman".  I played the entire thing twice through, did a little singing on the trail, and came through for my final lap of 15!!  I had 22 minutes to spare, but not enough time to do number 16.

But hey; 15 loops and 49 miles was A-Ok for me.  Sometimes you just have one of those days when everything goes according to plan?  That was this race: No falls, no injury, felt good all day, saw friends, ran with my brother, met some incredible Ultra Runners on the trails, and had no issues with my knee!  It was a win, win, win, win all day!!!

Here's a few shots from around the loop. Incredible trails, G.O.A.T.Z does an amazing job with their races! 

 

 Be sure to check out the companies who's gear gets me through every race.

http://www.squirrelsnutbutter.com/
https://ultraspire.com/
https://www.altrarunning.com/
https://www.injinji.com/

Spry Review

As I've been thinking about shifting all my adventures to blogging, I realize the need to talk about the gear I use first off.  What keeps Jeff going? Apparel, Gear, Fuel, etc??

For this week I will start with one of my awesome partnerships I have. www.ultraspire.com The hydration packs, belts, handhelds, and bottles they have are 2nd to none.  They also carry a unique line of running "lighting".  Their light belts are bright, efficient, target key trail sections, and mostly to me, they don't bounce around on my head all night. (why because they on your waist :-)

I have been using the Spry, a very minimal pack for almost 5 years now.  Every version is great with little improvements and tweaks here and there, none bigger than when they switched the 2.0 to the bungee cord for securing the vest.  The brand new 2.5 is no exception, the addition of the 2nd bungee lower strap is great!  These packs are light weight, do not bounce, and will work for most distances (I have used them for 26.2, 50k, 50 miler, 100k, and R2R at Grand Canyon.  Check the link out below

Link to Spry 2.5

 

 Here is one of many shots I have wearing my Spry from the Dizzy Goat 6hr 2017. 

Look forward to wearing the Spry in 3 weeks for 2018 Dizzy Goat 12 hour rail run

Grand Canyon R2R

So a long time bucket list item was to do a R2R at the Grand Canyon (with next bucket being R2R2R).  Well as of May 23, 2018 my R2R bucket item is DONE.  As part of a great vacation with Nicky (partly to celebrate our 25th Anniversary), we headed out on a road trip from NE to AZ to visit my parents, then over to Flagstaff for a couple days to Run the GC with my friend Matthew N from Florida.

All smiles before we start

I could go into gory details of the run, but let's just say I had a wonderful day and saw some some unbelievably beautiful scenery.   To sum it up better than writing, check out my 6 minute youtube video, showcasing The "Canyon Adventure" . 

Gear used (I run light)
Ultraspire Spry 2.0 with 1 lr bladder, and 1 Ultraspire 250 bottle; Oakley Trail Lens Sunglasses, Altra Olympus Shoes, and squirrels nut butter shirt and more importantly anti-chafe (that stuff is awesome!)

Enjoy and may this video inspire you to get out and Run the Trails!

Grand Canyon R2R May 2018

Looking back at the North Kaibabd

Coming Soon for June 2018 Race Report for the 12 hour Dizzy Goat Trail
Dizzy Goat