Jessie Brewer's Staging Area

The elevation made the course difficult for all of us flat-landers, but the trail was not too technical, and there were only two areas with serious inclines, Red Canyon being the more challenging of the two. I enjoyed the single track the most and I was thrilled with the Thunder Mountain and Red Canyon scenery. My lack of training due to recent injuries and calorie intake struggles prevented me from finishing the 100-miler, and I stopped at 50 miles, knowing I wouldn’t make the cutoffs through the night. I am happy that I was able to experience every part of the course, since it consisted of two repeat loops this year due to residual snow at higher elevations. I didn’t receive any swag, but the t-shirt was awesome. In nearly all of the other ultras I have run, aid station volunteers assisted with refilling runners’ empty containers, but this practice doesn’t seem to be part of the process for Vacation races. I wish I had known because it means more time spent in aid stations if you lack a crew like I did. The course was extremely well-marked with only one exception: the return from Red Canyon, at the bottom of Thunder Mountain. There was a sign for 60k runners, but nothing for the 100- and 50-mile runners returning from Red Canyon. At least there was a “wrong way” sign leading back up Thunder Mountain, which left only one option, which was to take the 60k route. This is my first experience running with Vacation races, but I loved it and I will be back for more races in the future.