Bair Gutsman

Yesterday I ran the Bair Gutsman....well mostly walked the Gutsman. This race is my Nemesis!

Before I go into more detail about what happened let me tell you about this race. You start out at the church on Mountain Road in Fruit Heights elevation about 4500. You run on Mountain Rd, which is paved for about a mile until you get to the trail head. At first it is just a slight incline until you cross the stream for the first time. Then you realize that maybe you have made the biggest mistake of your life by entering this race because for the next 4 miles you climb steadily without much of a break. There are points that it is so steep you have to use your hands and pull on branches and rocks to get yourself up the hill. You trek through a Fern patch where the ferns are as tall as me and thick, (This is where most people get lost). Then you finally break through the Forest and have one of the prettiest views you will ever see. Most people feel relief here but what they don't understand is that you still have to go through the scratchy bushes where your legs get so cut up that you want to scream and you still have to go up Death Row which is so steep that most people can't do it without stopping several times. Once you get to the very top (which is by the Weather Golf Balls on top of the mountain in Farmington if you need a reference point.) Now you run for a mile along the mountain ridge looking both down into Farmington and the Great Salt Lake and Morgan Valley and you can even see East Canyon Dam. Then the race goes for 6 miles down Farmington Canyon to the finish...Normally but this year was different!

Look at the elevation change!!!!!!!!

The first year that I ran it, I was in decent shape but I had NO idea what I was getting into. I didn't take water or food and was a bit cocky about it. The Mountain sure taught me a lesson. I ran the race with Greyden my son, Nina Hill Brostrom and her friend Kyle Nordfors. About 2 miles in I started feeling sick to my stomach and throwing up! I had no idea what was in front of me so I kept going...Throwing up all the way up that mountain. Once I got to the top of Death Row the search and rescue guys made me stop so they could check my vitals, they tried to get me to let them take me down the mtn in a 4-wheeler...NOT A CHANCE! I had gotten up the mtn, I could certainly get down the mtn even if I had to crawl to the finish. Nina and Kyle stayed with me the entire time and we did finish. I cried at the finish though...I had never done anything that hard in my life. The slogan of the race is "Conquer Thyself" which I definitely did that year. It took me 4 hrs and 11 min. There were 59 Women that ran and I came in #42 at least I wasn't last!

So of course I had to run it again to have a better experience and to prove to myself that I could do it. I was in probably the best shape I had ever been in leading up to the second year. I was invited to go and run the Northwest Passage Ragnar Relay in Seattle with friends the weekend before the Gutsman. I thought well of course I can do that. Not thinking that 20 miles and running for 2 days straight with no sleep plus a flight just a few days before the gutsman would affect me....It DID! I was so tired running the gutsman the second year that I was lucky to complete the race in 3 hours and 20 min. Though I was very disappointed! There were only 46 women that even ran the race that year, I came in 22cnd. Like I have said before I am very middle of the pack runner. This year I talked Greyden into doing it again.

The third year I was not in good shape because I had broken my foot 6 months earlier and had hardly ran but I was not going to miss the race. This year there were 86 women that ran it and I came in #39 with a time of 3 hrs and 32 min. Again Middle of the pack. But I was truly happy to just run it with my foot having been broken. I talked Joey's cousin Doug Fadel into running with me this year.

This year they changed the race course because Farmington Canyon is closed. So you went up the same way as usual, ran up to the check point by the white towers on top of the mountain and then you went back the way you came up! Very steep but I actually liked it better this way. I had told Joey a few months ago that I would stay with him this year. As we started up the Mountain, I felt so good that it was really hard for me to stay with him. Usually as I am going up the mtn I don't feel near that good. As we got to the top of the mtn. I still felt amazing not even a little bit tired. As we started down the mountain I would run a ways and then wait for Joey, still feeling amazing and about 1/3 of the way down he started really struggling and cramping so I quit running ahead and stayed with him. I am glad I was able to support him and stay with him but I also am really sad that I felt that good for once on that run and couldn't go all out. We finished around 4 hrs and 50 min. Barely before the 5 hr cutoff time. I haven't seen the official results yet but I am sure that I am last or nearly last for the women.
Today as I got up I am really not even sore and normally after the gutsman, every muscle in my body hurts and I can barely move.
Now I can't wait for next year to conquer that mountain and myself! I am going to finish in the top 10 maybe 15 for women. I just have to keep myself in shape for it!
More photo's of the race from various years...