As I was reviewing our plans for our vacation to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, I idly looked up races in Wyoming. To my surprise, I found a half-marathon in Jackson Hole on Saturday June 8, remarkably coinciding with our plans to spend June 7 - 10 in the Grand Tetons. A week earlier, I jokingly mentioned this to Tucker Running Club member Katie Vernon, and learned that the Jackson Hole Half Marathon was on her "bucket list" of future races. She said "you have to do this race!"
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| "Because if the elevation doesn't take your breath away, the incredible scenery will!" |
Nonetheless, I resisted advance registration for two reasons: 1) I didn't want to tie up our vacation around a half-marathon if it might knock something more unique from our agenda, 2) I was nervous about running at over 6000 feet altitude, and 3) I wasn't properly trained for a half-marathon, not having run more than 10 miles at a time since completing the Publix Atlanta Half Marathon in mid-March. But after spending a few days at altitude, I felt fine, without difficulty running a couple of short runs earlier in the week. On the Friday afternoon before the race, we had enough time to drive to Jackson to intercept the 4 - 7 pm window for packet pickup, so I registered on-site.
The temperature prediction for the race start at 8 am was near the freezing point, with overnight snow flurries ending by daybreak. Fortunately I had packed my cold-weather running gear, minus a pair of gloves, which we purchased at a local market, in front of the fruit and vegetable section, next to the rack for bear spray, and one row from the semi-automatic pistol. When we awoke on Saturday morning, light flurries filled the air, and continued to fall throughout our hour-long drive to the start of the race.
The race course was a bicycle pathway connecting the Jackson Hole Ski Resort at Teton Village (the newer, high-end resort) to the Snow King Ski Center within the city of Jackson (the historic resort). We actually started a few hundred yards south of the entrance to Teton Village, which seemed strange at the time, but after the race I realized that was needed to make the distance work out. As I warmed up with short jogs along the bike path, I heard a name that seemed familiar: the race coordinator was a woman named Pam Reed. It wasn't until after the race that I realized who she was: Pam Reed has won the Badwater Ultramarathon three times, twice finishing faster than all of the men. This is a 135 miles uphill from Death Valley to base camp at Mount Whitney, in some years run in 135 degree temperatures. I had recently read "Running Man" by Charlie Engle, and he mentioned her name a few times in the book, including thanking her in the acknowledgements.
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| Running through snow flurries in mile 1 |
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| Miles 0 - 6: Teton Village to Snake River |
Due to the cold temperatures (but for me a wonderful break from Atlanta summer), many runners stayed warm on buses parked on the shoulder of the road, disembarking only a few minutes before the start. Suddenly the bicycle trail filled with several hundred runners. I was much too close to the front of the group, and there were too many other people for me to move back. My strategy for the race was to simply run easily and enjoy the views, and not worry about my time. We started at 8:00 am on the dot. The bicycle trail was fairly crowded and I just settled in with the main mass of runners. We were running into the wind and snow flurries were landing on my sunglasses. The altitude didn't seem to bother me, as I knocked out mile 1 in 9:00 minutes. Then we got into a section that was protected by trees, the group of runners had stretched out a bit, and I found myself running at an 8:30 pace. I already knew that the race course would be gently downhill for the first five miles, and just let myself run.
But then midway through the second mile, I checked my watch and noticed that my heart rate had skyrocketed to 185 beats per minute. I didn't feel like I was over-exerting. And then suddenly, I did. The bicycle path appeared to my eyes to be heading gently uphill! Definitely an optical illusion, since I knew that we had driven uphill in the opposite direction to get to the start of the race. But it felt like we were running uphill for the rest of the race. At that point, I started with a 3:30 minute run / 30 second walk pattern, and that helped me get my heart rate down to a more reasonable pace. Bonnie was stopping at every mile marker to cheer me on. While I appreciated her support, by the mile 3 marker, I was beginning to feel the altitude, I wanted to slow down even more, but didn't want to look bad when Bonnie could see me. At the first water stop, she told me that she was driving into town and I would next see her at the finish. (Don't tell Bonnie, but I was secretly relieved, now I could just run as slow or fast as I wished.)
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| Elevation vs. miles. However it didn't feel downhill by the end of mile 2. |
By this point the snow flurries had ceased. While the temperature was still cold, the sun lit up the morning. I was wearing two layers, the race kit that I typically wear in a January race in Atlanta, so I was comfortable. On one short bridge over a little creek, there was a little slush on the surface, but that was the only frozen precipitation on the entire route. Now I enjoyed seeing the south end of the beautiful Teton range to my right, as the mountains were largely obscured by snow and fog earlier in the race. And on we ran for about 5-1/2 miles, through another water stop, approaching the town of Wilson. I was pleasantly surprised to see that the bicycle path passed under the roadway. And then ahead of us was a pedestrian bridge over the Snake River! There were a few dozen spectators in this area. The river was flowing swiftly and fairly high under the bridge, full of recent snowmelt.
By this point I had slowed below a 10 minute / mile pace, but tried to keep my heart rate no higher than about 160 beats per minute. After crossing the Snake River at mile 6, the bicycle path paralleled the highway from Wilson to Jackson. At the next water station, I saw a road sign reading "Jackson, 7.5 miles" and wondered how we would get to a point south of the town center in only 7.1 miles. Near the end of mile 8, we encountered the first real uphill section. I shortened my run segments to 2:30, and increased my walk segments when needed. I was a little disappointed to need 11:30 for mile 8, but afterwards saw that the elevation gain was 76 feet. Cresting the hill, I could tell that we were truly heading downhill once again, but couldn't turn over my legs fast enough to take advantage of it, barely faster than an 11 minute / mile pace. After another underpass taking us to the south side of the road, the bicycle path left the roadway to cut across a field, with a fence separating us from a large ranch to our right. Now I realized how we would get into Jackson, by this "short cut." It was the first time that I had run past dozens of cows in a race! To the left, a large hill separated the path from the city of Jackson. A few runners stopped to take photos, but I kept moving forward.
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| This well-run race had at least 5, maybe 6 water stations. |
Midway through mile 10, we passed the hill and entered the outskirts of Jackson, in a residential neighborhool. A young boy called out to a woman running near me "Mommy, you're winning!" At that moment I would have loved to have seen Bonnie for similar encouragement. She slowed down for a moment to talk with her son and his father, then picked up her pace to move ahead of me and soon out of sight. For me, I was dealing with a slight headache, which I attributed to altitude. It didn't get any worse, but I didn't try to run faster either.
On a couple of occasions, the bicycle path crossed city streets. However, there were a couple of volunteers at each intersection to stop traffic, while cheering us on. In mile 11, the pathway paralleled Flat Creek, passing over the creek on several small picturesque bridges. Unfortunately each little bridge was an uphill struggle! But I really enjoyed seeing the undeveloped forest to the right of the bicycle path. This stage of the race route had some of the best aspects of a trail run, without worrying about tripping over roots.
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| Miles 6 - 13.1, Snake River to Snow King Ski Resort |
Shortly before the mile 12 marker, the bicycle pathway turned into the right lane of the neighborhood streets. I was nearly out of energy. What I didn't realize was that the route was truly uphill from mile 11 to the end of the race, gradually rising about 100 feet over this distance. This wouldn't seem like much except that the altitude was a challenge. I felt like I was in miles 21 or 22, whereas I was actually only running miles 11 and 12, just a bit faster than 12-minute miles. Nonetheless the volunteers were very encouraging, and I tried to keep up a decent pace. At that moment, I was really glad to have the experience of a few marathons, drawing on that mental toughness to keep moving forward.
The last stage of the race was on Snow King Avenue. Passing the mile 12 marker (which felt like mile 25), I resolved to pick up the pace as best as I could. That proved a considerable challenge with the 70-foot elevation rise, but determination kept me moving along. I even passed one person. And then I heard the sounds of people cheering from Phil Baux park. I couldn't see the finish line until about 1 block before the end, but turned on a decent amount of speed, running around an 8:40 pace for the last 0.1 mile. Indeed both the excitement and the struggle felt like the final yards of a marathon. One right turn into the park, a 100-feet dash to the finish, and DONE! A volunteer handed me a medal before I could slow down, and there was Bonnie waiting to record the finish!
I was smiling but it took a few minutes for me to catch my breath. I felt a little unsteady at first, but after downing a bottle of water, my equilibrium had returned and I even enjoyed a couple of slices of cheese pizza at the post-race party. Official time: 2:16:58, averaging a 10:27 min / mile pace, although that wasn't representative of most of my miles run this morning.
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| Snow King ski run behind me, nearly free of snow in June |
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