Grandmasters 100
February 28, 2025
33:15
78th hundred
Rocks, deep sand, sunshine, rocks, deep sand, ATVs, rocks, more f in rocks, deep sand, wind, ATVs, dust, more deep f in sand, rocks, etc. You get the idea. My biggest aha from this race is that I am not signing up for Badger Mountain 100K or 50 miler as I gag at the thought of the jeep trails(sand) and McBee(rocky).
The Grandmasters race is called that because you have to be over 50 years old to sign up. Lots of gray hair was on the course. Grandmasters is in Littlefield, Arizona which is right next to Nevada so we stayed in Mesquite which is about 90 minutes from Las Vegas, 5 min drive to start. Sue came with me to run her own race and mess with me, I mean take care of my sorry ass when I finished. She does both well.
The course was a 6 mile out and back to a 19 mile loop called the Thelma Louise loop. You ran out, did the loop twice and ran back to start for 50 miles and then repeat. On the Thelma Louise loop is the place where people drive off a cliff. There are several headstones and along the fence lots of bras and other things are hung. Besides the Joshua Trees that is all there is to look at. Cool sunrise and sunset and lots and lots of stars and planets to gaze at night.
I knew this was going to be a rough one for me as I had just finished Jackpot two weeks earlier. But what the heck, why not. I felt good through the first 30 miles then things slowed down. It got hot, no shade on the course and I over heated and my stomach went south. What to do? Slow down and drink everything. It helped to get some ice around my neck but it was hot so it would be a long day and night and into the next day. I used my most important mantra, infinite patience and steely determination.
When night came it was a relief and I felt like I could run a bit better but it only lasted for a few miles. Got a wee bit lost finding the tunnels that go under the freeway back to the start. Had to yell at myself to pay attention to the markers. The course was well marked. But I just wasn’t paying attention. I was a little bonked or bonky from eating so little in the heat. When I got to the start finish I had pizza and my sweet tea and that helped me get going on the second fifty.
So I managed the night, it was warm enough for shorts and a long sleeve shirt for most of the night. When the wind got wild I added a fleece which was just right, fortunately I had put it in the right drop bag. At the aid stations they have RVs. So the aid station people can hide out from the wind and use the stove and microwave for hot food. I took advantage of this and ate more overnight. I had warm pizza, mashed potatoes twice and cup o noodles. Still probably didn’t eat enough.
When daylight came I was on my last loop and it was still gonna take a while. By now I was just trying to get calories in so I wouldn’t bonk. Cookies to the rescue. I had some cool little lemon wafer cookies and then they had cake Oreos, which I’ve never had. Any kind of a cookie with some kind of filling went down easier because of the dryness. So basically the last 20-25 miles were slow with lots of ATVs driving by trying to feed me dirt. There were likely 40-50 ATVs in packs of 8-10. Some would drive slow and even stop which was sweet while others would blow by and dust you. During the last mile there were huge jeeps. For these I had to step off the road and there was no room for little o me. During the last mile, that is when you do not want to stop, you want to be done. I may have cussed a little. Ugh.
So powered by cookies and dirt, Sue met me at the last hill and I trudged up that to the finish. Sue brought me lemonade which was wonderful after finishing. They gave me some nice finisher gear, a jacket, a dry bag, a buckle and a mug. Wow. We left shortly after that because I needed food. Stopped for a snack on the way back to where we were staying. Showered slept two hours then went out for more food, slept four hours, ate more food, then slept more and now I feel a wee bit normal.
I saw many hallucinations in the daylight. Like creepy crawlies moving across the rocks during the last six miles, probably from looking at those dam rocks for so long. I saw parked jeeps moving when they weren’t. Just weird shapes of things with the Joshua trees. All good fun but geesh, so glad I wasn’t driving. Only a few wee blisters on my pinky toes as they weren’t recovered from my last race. They actually did really well. I cut out my shoes by my pinky toes and wore them the whole race and am amazed that there was no sand in my shoes.
Probably won’t do this again, although it would be good try when I have fresh legs. Just don’t like the rocks and sand and obstacles that keep you from running well. Give me a rails to trails course any day. Positive attitude and no falling for the win. Thanks to Sue for help and hilarity, fun to giggle and talk serious stuff as well. Looking forward to many more adventures.