03 June 2014

Sun Mountain 50k - photo report

There will be few words about this race, but loads of photos.

After Boston (and a little rest), my focus quickly turned to the big climb coming up at the end of the month. So the last month has been spent playing around in the mountains. 

I signed up for a couple mountain races in May to help get back into the swing of things. The Sun Mountain 50k has been on my to-do list for a couple years, so it was nice to finally get out and see those trails.

I won't go into too much detail about my race. My legs felt good, and the trails and views were beautiful. The Rainshadow Running folks put on my kind of event: low-key; high beauty; fun and often tough courses; and great post-race food, music, and company. 

I ran conservatively early on and was probably somewhere in 15th-20th place around the halfway mark. I was able to hold my pace, which meant I started picking off others who were starting to crash as the day went on. I felt strong the last 10 miles and surged ahead for a 4th place finish. (results here)

I hope to make it back next year.


With Brendan, a former Pullman Beer Chasers

Race briefing:
 "Try not to get too distracted by all the beautiful wildflowers."

Start
(photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Start. A burst of color.

Losing ground on the leaders already.

Lots of views like this all day.

Plenty of views like this.

Dozens of meadows like this.

Early on.
(photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Trail. Rock. Dirt. Flowers. Mountains.

Worth stopping to take a quick photo.

Running happy around mile 20.

Seriously, there were a ton of views like this.
I caught up with Brendan around mile 25.

Pano near the midpoint of the final climb.

Final descent. Only a few miles to go.
(photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Feeling great on the final descent.
(photo by Glenn Tachiyama)

Finishing.

Crossing the finish line.

Done, and done.

15 comments:

  1. Lovely pictures, looks like a beautiful race.

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  2. Looks like your running is going well! I like your pics from this race, too. Keep up the good work!

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    1. Thanks, R. Feeling good so far this year (knock on wood!).

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  3. Great job!!! It is really beautiful there!

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  4. Replies
    1. Almost makes you want to take up trail running, huh?

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  5. Great job, great trip. The 4th pic from the bottom is incredible. Proud. :)

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    1. Thanks, Sweets. Yeah, that was a great pic from Glenn. Definitely a keeper.

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  6. Great run and lovely photos! Well done!

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  7. Scott, I was up there too...not quite as fast. Such a great course. Just wondering: did you run with a camera and if so what is it? Wondering if there is a super small high quality digital camera for photo blogging like this.

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    1. If the trails are in cell range, then I'll usually just carry my iPhone since it doubles as an emergency tool. If I'm out of cell range, then I'll leave the phone and run with a little Sony Cybershot DSC-WX50. It's more compact than the phone and the image quality is a little better. (I've used ultracompact Canon Powershots in the past too that work really well.)

      I carried the iPhone on this race.

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  8. Nice! I have yet to try to race on a trail. It's been a while too that I joined any race whatsoever. Being a mom really is taking a toll on me. I'm always accompanied with diapers and dirty clothes! lol! Your pictures just made me miss the excitement of crossing the finish line with your friends and family cheering from you. Thanks Scott! Keep it up!

    Meg

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