Logan Peak Run: Recap of my first trail racing experience
Posted July 17, 2007 at 08:45 AM by Paul Peterson
Section: News, Race Recaps, Trail Running, Ultramarathons
I have lost count of the total number of road, track, and cross country races I have participated in since I began running at age 12. My best estimate is somewhere between 250-300 races. However, my total number of trail races is a bit easier to tally: zero. Yes, although I frequently do training runs on dirt single-track, I have to admit that I was still a trail race virgin at age 28.
That changed a few weeks ago when I completed the inaugural Logan Peak Run, a trail marathon in the local Bear River Range outside of my town in northern Utah. I convinced my training buddy Cody to sign up for the race with me, and our plan was to run together the whole way and simply finish (while hopefully having some fun in the process).
I picked a tough course for my indoctrination into trail racing. Initial measurements reported the route to be 25 miles in length, but the race director suspected it was actually longer due to switchbacks and other features that are difficult to measure on a topographic map or even with a GPS unit. The course starts at 4900’ elevation and maxes out at over 9700’ on Logan Peak. The cumulative total of climbing and descent was over 7200’. I suspected that I might be a little in over my head.
For this first edition of the Logan Peak Run there were 27 runners, a good turnout considering the race director was shooting for only 20 runners. But several of the participants were seasoned, decorated trail runners, so I knew stealing a win as a road-runner in this field would be out of the question. I knew I would be out of my element. But beyond competition, I was looking forward to the trail, the scenery, and the company.
Start to Mile 4.5 -The race started promptly at 6:30AM. The first part of the course left a city park and immediately entered the Bonneville Shoreline Trail (BST), a mountain-front trail that intermittently stretches across over 90 miles of Utah’s Wasatch Front. There were some immediate rolling hills. Cody and I found ourselves in 4th or 5th place by the time we departed the BST at the mouth of Dry Canyon, around Mile 1. At Dry Canyon, the race really begins, as there is non-stop climbing to Mile 4.5 on rocky single-track.
We started ascending Dry Canyon and caught a few people. However, we would get passed whenever I stopped to take pictures. I figured as long as I was going to be up that high, I should bring my camera! It was a slow grinding climb (3000’ in 3.5 miles), and we were glad to see the first aid station. Mmmm...trail mix and pretzels. Mile splits were first 4 miles were 9:45, 12:31, 14:41, 16:02. This includes stops, as I wouldn’t stop my watch when we took breaks.
Mile 4.5 to Mile 11 - After departing the aid station, the course turned off of Dry Canyon and onto the south portion of the Syncline Trail. Finally, we got some relief from the constant uphill. Terrain was variable - flat, up, down. But in general, this portion of the race was really nice. Despite being a local, I had never been on this trail, and was treated to some great views of my local valley (Cache Valley) and the surrounding canyons.
Cody and I were holding steady somewhere near the Top 5 for position. After a couple miles of single-track,
the race merged onto the Welches Flat jeep trail, which wraps around the north side of Providence Canyon. Near Mile 10 we were discharged onto another jeep trail at the top of Providence Canyon, above the old rock quarry. Terrain was still quite variable, but the route featured much of uphill that required walking. Once again, we were quite glad to see the second aid station, near Mile 11. This station featured even better food, and we took a 5-minute siesta during which we focused on cramming food down our mouths. Coming from a road racing background, I must say that trail races really know how to do aid stations right!
Mile splits for this stretch were 16:50 (includes stop at first aid station), 9:05, 7:59, 13:55, 10:09, 14:23, 16:45 (includes stop at second aid station).
Mile 11 to Mile 16 - This segment was an out-and-back to the namesake of the race: Logan Peak. We faced a 1000 overall vertical ft climb in 2.5 miles to reach our destination, which for all intents and purposes served as the halfway point of the race. As usual, we were walking the uphills, and running the best we could on the flat and downhill parts. The hardest factor was that the peak was in view the entire time, but we had to circumvent a ridge to get up on it first.
I was planning on doing the “Rocky” dance at the very 
top of Logan Peak, but after the final quarter mile shuffle up to it, I didn’t have the energy to jump around, make jabbing motions, and yell “Yeah! Yeah!”. Instead I just filled up my water, ate a Gu, and talked to the volunteers. Several people passed Cody and I during our aid break on the peak, since we were once again spending too much time eating, chatting, and taking pictures. Everyone else seemed focused on running or something. I was amazed at how fast most runners passed through the aid stations. There is a definite skill and strategy to this, one that we had not yet learned.
Finally, we started back down Logan Peak, back to aid station #2. We passed back several people, and also got to see the runners behind us who were at various points of their ascent up Logan Peak. It was nice to see the whole field and give them encouragement. Trail races are laid-back events, and it was cool to give and receive smiles from our competitors. This downhill stretch was a welcome relief after the long climb, and we made it back relatively quickly to the aid station at the beginning of the out-and-back. Once again we stopped for trail mix, cookies, drinks, etc, etc. Several people passed us back. I took their picture.
Mile splits for this segment were 14:36, 19:53, 8:07, 8:52, 14:02 (includes aid stop).
Mile 16 to Mile 22 - After we were finished at the aid station, we continued on the original jeep trail. Terrain was undulating (a pattern for this race). Walk, run. Walk, run. I was still feeling pretty good, thanks to the frequent and long aid stops. Around Mile 18, we turned left onto the northern segment of the Syncline Trail, and started traversing the south rim of Logan Canyon. Views were fantastic, and I had never been on this stretch before. Highway US-89, the route to Bear Lake, Jackson Hole, and Yellowstone, was about 4000’ below us.
After a couple miles on the Syncline Trail (on which we were moving at a good clip), we caught up to runner ahead of us who had come to a stop at a junction in the trail. We soon saw the dilemma. There was a race sign pointing right, and some flagging on the right junction, but all common sense told us “go left”. We decided that someone was playing a mean trick and that going right would take us off a cliff, so the three of us agreed to go left. We soon saw flagging again on our chosen course, and were 99.9% sure we made the correct decision. We found out later that some random vandal turned the sign around and messed with the flagging to be a wise guy.
Cody and I ran with the other runner for several miles and chatted a little bit. Even with conversion, this stretch of single-track dragged on and on, and I kept expecting to see Dry Canyon again “any time”...but it never came. Cody and I eventually passed the other runner, who had decided to walk more than we wanted to. Finally, we came to the nose of the ridge and started winding back down to Dry Canyon. Hurrah, no more uphills! On this stretch we passed a runner that we remembered seeing in the Top 3 earlier in the race. That was satisfying; we were tired but not slowing down at all. Some of our road marathon fitness was indeed carrying over to the trails. We soon made it to the Dry Canyon aid station, the same station that served as our first stop nearly 4.5 hours earlier.
Mile splits for this segment were 12:01, 9:58, 11:37, 13:41, 12:04, 14:24 (includes aid stop).
Miles 22 to 26.5 (finish) - We didn’t linger as long at this final aid station, as we wanted to finish off the race before it got too hot. Moreover, we didn’t want anyone else to catch from behind as we snarfed food. Cody and I started the final segment down the trail, beginning our 3000’, 4.5-mile descent. Gravity was working better than ever as a method of running, but my feet were protesting heavily from 20+ miles of battering on rocky terrain.
With about 2 miles to go, I was really smelling the barn, but momentum was halted when my foot hit a big rock at 7:00/mile pace. Gravity + steep downhill + lots of rocks is a bad combination, and I took quite a tumble. I think I absorbed most of the fall with both shoulders, as they really hurt afterward. My left palm got bloodied pretty good, and my right calf cramped up at same time. I peeled myself off the rocks and took a quick assessment: scraped hand with a flap of skin hanging, but nothing deep. Shoulder hurts, but not dislocated. Calf is starting to unlock. Nothing to do but start running again. We found our groove within a few minutes. And I was happy to draw a little blood in my first trail race.
Near the bottom of Dry Canyon we passed another runner who had previously been quite a distance ahead of us. Always a good thing. A random hiker at the bottom of the canyon yelled at us that we were 4th and 5th. We didn’t believe him. We exited Dry Canyon with a mile to go, and climbed back up onto the Bonneville Shoreline Trail. The rolling hills of the BST were most unwelcome, but we were almost there, and my legs still had some pop. We made the turn off of the BST, back onto the grass leading back down to the park.
Cody and I sprinted to the finish after nearly 27 miles and 5.5 hours of running. Cody finished a couple seconds ahead of me, and we took 4th and 5th overall (the random hiker was right!)
Mile splits for this segment were 9:01, 7:33, 8:30 (with tumble), 7:56, 3:06 (11:08-pace).
Our official times were 5:29:31 for Cody and 5:29:37 for myself. Leland Barker, winner of the 1999 and 2001 Wasatch 100, had the winning time of 4:52:55. Third place was only 5 minutes ahead of us, and 6th place (the top woman) was a mere two minutes behind. We were exhausted, but pleased with how we chose to spend our morning!
I learned several things during my first trail race:
- There is an art to walking. Watching the top runners early in the race, I noticed that they would walk wherever the uphill grade warranted. Sometimes the walk break would only last a few seconds, sometimes several minutes. The experienced were very efficient with their energy expenditure.
- There is an art to refueling. The top runners were in and out of aid stations extraordinarily fast, yet made sure they were well-hydrated and fueled.
- Study the course before the start and carry a map. Fortunately, I was fairly familiar with the area where the course marking had been vandalized. Not everyone was so lucky, and some lost some valuable time heading the wrong direction. There is a much more personal responsibility involved in trail races than in road races.
- Watch your feet! I still have some scabs and sore spots from my superman dive near the end of the race. I was fortunate to have no deep cuts, dislocations, or broken bones, considering I landed full-bore on a bed of rocks. Slowing down a little while I was running fatigued would have paid off.
- Road racing skills do not transfer over to the trails. I was “out of my element” when it came to technical footing, extreme uphills, and extreme downhills. Trail running is a different beast than road running, and I respect trail racers immensely for the skills they possess.
- Fitness is fitness. Despite being ”out-skilled” by my competitors, the fitness I had acquired through years of road marathon training was adequate for me to not just survive, but finish strong in a trail race. The ability to efficiently burn glycogen and fat is key for all types of endurance racing.
- Aid stations at trail races rock! Every station was essentially a buffet line. They turned out to be a bit too good: according to my GPS watch, I spent about 42 minutes stopped. I suppose if we hadn’t have taken so many breaks we could have placed higher...or we might have run slower!
- Trail races are fun! I don’t think I’ll ever be as good of a trail racer as I am a road racer, but I’ll surely come back for more! The people are great, and the scenery and sheer challenge are unparalleled. Trail racing can bring a fresh new element to even the most hardened road warrior.
Tags: bear-river-range, cache-valley, first-trail-run, leland-barker, logan, logan-peak-run, race-recapalign="right", race-report, trail-race, trail-running, ultra-running, ultramarathon, utah
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