I participated in the Hidden Peak Challenge a few weeks ago. I've never had much interest in running but last July I tore the volar plate ligament in my ring finger while climbing my old nemesis, "Body Count," in American Fork Canyon. With a part time splint, knowing I wouldn't be able to climb for at least a few months, I decided to dabble in running by joining this race with my brother Mark who has become an avid mountain runner over the last couple years. It's a "6K" but with 3,000 feet of elevation gain to the top of the Snowbird tram. The most appealing part for me was that it's all uphill and therefore easier on the knees. Can't complain about the beautiful setting either. Mark was aiming to run the course in 45-50 minutes, which is really ambitious even for him. I aimed for an hour which was equally ambitious for a twig-legged rock climber like myself. I trained for about 6 weeks, practicing on the actual course a few times.
Mark and I warming up before the race
Starting Line. About 100 people participated
Britt took this while riding the tram up
Mark was shocked to have one of his legs go numb early in the race, forcing him to walk part of it. He thought that loading exclusively on simple carbs the day before was to blame since he always eats whole grain foods. Lesson learned, don't experiment with your diet right before a race!
Mark finishing in 0:58:50, 1st place in Men's 20-29 division
I started out feeling good and then really started to struggle on the 2nd mile. For the remainder I felt light headed, like I was on the verge of passing out. I finished with a time of 1:07:38, 4th in our division. Then I spent a half hour walking in circles, fighting off the urge to throw up! On a practice run on the same course I had done it a minute faster and felt fine after finishing, so I'm not sure what happened this time. Anyway it was a neat experience. I'd probably even do it again if I got another hideous finger injury!
Yours truly getting passed in the final stretch
