A little over 3 weeks later, Covid-19 seemed to shut down the United States. Races began to be cancelled more and more frequently and travel became uncertain due to the severity of cases in different areas. I had put off detailed travel planning until I knew for certain we would be able to travel. I had planned a big family trip to the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas for March and ended up having to cancel all of those reservations two days before we were supposed to leave due to the virus and I didn't want to have to go through that again, if at all possible.
Slowly the world began to reopen but with restrictions. On May 25th, we received the good news that the trail run would be held. This meant I had less than 5 weeks to get our two week trip planned. I began to follow the states that we would be traveling through on social media so we would be aware of their virus protocol. Thankfully, none of the states we were traveling through required a 14 day quarantine upon arrival. It also helped that we had recently purchased a tear drop camper and would be staying in campgrounds and not hotels.
We made reservations at Westerner RV Park in Monticello. https://westernerrvpark.com/index.html It had great reviews and was only 20 minutes from the start of the race. I would highly recommend it to anyone traveling through that area. We were able to pick our own site so we chose a shady one across from the bathhouse and laundry area. There were only 2 bathrooms but both were spacious and clean and we never had to wait to use one. Our site was close to the road but the noise was not noticeable and the view was great.
After getting things set up, we began researching lunch places that would allow dine-in. We decided on The Granary Bar and Grill which was less than a mile from the campground. http://granarybargrill.com I had a build-your-own panini with steak & blue cheese and Mike had a turkey, bacon, & guac wrap, both came with a side of red fries. The food was delicious and the portions large.
After lunch we still had a few hours before packet pick-up so we drove out to where the race would begin. This helped ease any concerns we had on finding it race morning and to confirm the amount of time that it would actually take to get there from the campground, which allows me to sleep as late as possible.
We returned to the campground and walked to packet pick-up. This gave us a good two miles, round trip, to stretch our legs. Our packet was in a draw string bag with the Mad Moose logo and included a t-shirt, Bears Ears trucker hat (which I love), event stickers, and our personalized bib. Now that we had our packet, we began to get all of our gear and nutrition ready so that we would not have to worry about that in the morning. I was ready to relax and try not to think about tomorrow because I was beginning to get anxious.
Thankfully, we both slept well and after our breakfast of a Boost and English muffin with jelly, we were headed to the race. Because of coronavirus, social distancing rules were in place so that the race directors were able to host the event. The 50 mile portion had been cancelled and only the 30k & 50k distances were being run. The 50k racers started at 6 a.m. with five racers starting every minute and then 30k racers at 7 a.m. following the same guideline. There were protocols set up for the porta-potties and aid stations as well using orange cones spaced every 6 feet so runners could keep the appropriate distance.
The first five-ish miles were on dirt and paved roads. The trail portion of the course began after the first aid station. The trail portions included the Robertson Pasture and Spring Creek Trail. https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7021933/robertson-pasture-trail-20 https://www.trailrunproject.com/trail/7021934/spring-creek-trail-159 We saw some of the most amazing views along this trail, including views of Canyonlands National Park. Not only that, the trail itself was like a magical scene from a Disney movie. There were large areas of wildflowers, tall Aspen trees, deer, and every color butterfly you could imagine. The pictures do not do it justice.
I think this is about the part of the run that I began to think I was never going to reach the top of this 6 mile climb so I was considering jumping off and just rolling back down to where I started. This Alabama girl had experienced all the elevation she needed for one day. This is where Mike came to my rescue. All along the course he would say "You're doing great" and "You got this" but at this point I was feeling hangry and tired and words were not working for me but he never quit encouraging me and was patient beyond measure because I was not being nice in return. We FINALLY reached the second aid station which signaled to me that I would survive the rest of the course. I drank some ginger ale and grabbed a bag of chips and felt revived. I was able to go back to running more than walking and when we reached the paved and dirt trail portion at the end we ran almost all of that to the finish. We were handed our finishers medal, still in the wrapper, and Mike grabbed a chocolate milk and I chose ginger ale again and we headed towards the truck. Races aren't near as exciting at the finish when social distancing is being enforced but it was worth it to get to do the event.
All in all, the runcation part of our vacation went well. I survived my first ultra trail run, thanks to Mike, and we were pleased with the event, the campground, and our choice of restaurants.
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