Death Valley Marathon and 30k

Last weekend, I took the afternoon off at work so Josh and I would make the trek up to Death Valley for the marathon and 30k races. I was running the 30k and our friend Sada ran the marathon. Josh got the job to drive me around and be moral support for the weekend, plus he got to explore somewhere new!

Friday night, the drive was interesting. I bought chains just in case (plus they will be useful for going to Bishop). We got most of the way up running into just rain and clouds. Lots of clouds. The mountains we were about to drive through were getting snowed on.

As we drove along highway 190, we could see the weather ahead of us.

See that fog/cloud bank ahead? As we approached, the car in front of us simply disappeared in less than a second. Josh realized what happened and slowed down a ton which was smart because as soon as we hit the fog, we had visibility of about 5-10ft on mountain roads. The car ahead had panicked and pulled off to the side of the road. The rest of the drive was slow but beautiful. In between passes, we found a turn out and realized we had pushed the brakes a little too hard. The last 9 mile descent was a combination of pushing the engine too hard holding the car back instead and using the brakes. Finally, we made it to the Stovepipe Wells resort and checked into our deluxe room! Josh cooked pasta dinner with the coyotes in the parking lot outside our room to make pasta, salad, and bread for dinner. Perfect pre-race food!

To get to the race on time, we had to get up at 5:45am. This is not normal waking up time for either of us. Somehow, we both got up and started the drive to Furnace Creek where the race headquarters were. We saw Sada as soon as we finished parking. She was getting ready for the marathon while I was still running around in normal clothes. After I checked in, Josh hung out at the car during the runner's pre-race meeting. The race director was pretty entertaining but got the important points across (the prize purse was literally that...a purse...empty). Eventually, most of the runner's boarded the buses to the race start. The start was at Westside Road since the Titus Canyon Rd course was closed due to ice and flood damage. Apparently it was almost impassable. The Westside course was much, much different...flat along the bottom of the valley. Josh found a parking spot at the race start, still half asleep.

The starting line was pretty much in the middle of nowhere, with a few tents and porta-potties set up.

It turned out that in the middle of nowhere I still know people. Aside from Sada, there were a couple of other recognizable faces at the start. We somehow ended up pretty much right on the starting line, and off we went into the desert!

Some people didn't like the new course, but I enjoyed the views. The terrain was a lot different than the original course (a LOT), much flatter and in the middle of the valley. It was kind of nice though to run a flat course, something I haven't done in a LONG time. It made it easy to talk to other runners. Another girl, who introduced herself as Sarah, joined Sada and I (I was running with Sada until the 30k turn around). So the three of us ran along together for the first 9 miles. They went by pretty fast but I never felt very good. Still, I've run enough races that its usually ok. At the turn around point, Sada continued while Sarah and I turned around. We realized that the two of us were leading the women's race. The next bunch of miles were perfect for lots of conversation about work, running, etc. Finally, we hit the last aid station at 15 miles which also happened to be the longest training run I had done (and one of the only training runs). The last couple of miles were just uphill enough to make life not so fun for someone who hadn't run that far in a loooong time.

In the end, I was one second under my "goal time" (only because it was the winning time last year) and second woman overall (Sarah came in first).

I really enjoyed the course and the distance, although I'd train more if I had to do it again and wear five fingers instead of shoes (bad, bad idea to switch to shoes after not wearing running shoes for months). There "road" was dirt and kind sandy-ish in places. Good thing it wasn't pavement or I would have been in big trouble. Josh met me at the finish line with clothes and food! Yay Josh! The next activity was waiting for Sada to finish the marathon and cheer on everyone in between. It was great to watch people make it up the never ending seeming last hill. Sada finished third woman in the marathon and won her age group! Congrats!

We hung out for awhile after the race and talked to other runners. Finally, Sada wanted to get food and Josh had been asking me for awhile when we'd get lunch so the three of us drove back to Furnace Creek. Sada checked into the hotel for another night (good plan!) and ended up going to sleep instead of getting lunch. Josh and I decided to drive all the way back to Stovepipe Wells for lunch and it was well worth the drive. On the way back to Furnace Creek, we stopped at the Mesquite Flat Sand Dunes. It looked like it was going to rain so we brought rain gear and started to walk to one of the sand dune peaks. Eventually we realized we had actually walked all the way across the dunes to the desert on the other side.

It also started raining. Bringing rain gear is awesome. We were happy to wander along in the rain, enjoying the scenery.

We made it back to the car in the rain and continued our drive back to Furnace Creek. Josh and I were too tired to drive all the way back to LA so we decided to stay with Sada. On the way back to the hotel, Josh wanted to check out some old ruins on the side of the road. It turned out the ruins were an old Borax factory called Harmony Borax Works. They had a cool walking path around it with displays that explained what it was about. Even though it was still pouring rain, we took the walk and read all the information about the ruins. Rain pants are amazing. So is walking around Death Valley in the rain.

Our next stop was the race awards ceremony at Furnace Creek. Josh left halfway through but Sada and I hung around until it was over. With pizza for dinner, we were ready to go to bed and fell asleep by 8:30!! Ha ha yay going to bed and getting up early. Having a hotel room for a second night was a huge relief. There is something very satisfying about actually getting to rest after pushing myself running.

Monday morning was an early morning...we got up at 6:30, packed, said bye to Sada, and drove over to Stovepipe Wells for breakfast. Dad and I had eaten breakfast there last time I was at Death Valley. Their blueberry pancakes are amazing. Before we got to eat, the drive over was spectacular. The sun just rose and a storm was clearing, so the ground had golden streaks stretching from one side of the valley to the other where the sun broke through the clouds. The colors changed constantly, and a rainbow showed up that touched down to the ground on both ends.

The atmosphere in Death Valley is hard to explain, but Josh and I had a great time on my return trip there. Finally, we finished up breakfast and said goodbye to Stovepipe Wells.

To get back to LA, we decided to try a new route through the south end of DV. Surprisingly, this turned out to be a good decision time-wise. Plus my car didn't enjoy coming through the pass on the way there and this way we could avoid it. The road was flat and empty, and everyone was going at least 85mph. "Everyone" consisted of the four or so cars we saw in 50 miles. The drive also included Trona and some crazy salt flat factories. Josh managed to drive all the way from DV to LA (he wanted to do it), which was good for me. Somehow, we got back to LA before noon on Sunday! We sorta attempted to go to the climbing gym but neither of us really had the energy. Instead, we ended up at Denny's for a banana split lunch. :) And I even managed to make it to church!

Death Valley was amazing...I'm not a writer so I can't even start to get it across. The race was great...expensive but worth it. Give me beautiful scenery in an amazing place over a fancy t-shirt and race expo any day...thank you Death Valley race people! Plus, I learned that a 30k race doesn't really feel much longer than a 5k...either way its kinda painful. YAY GOOD TRIP!

Josh and I got a bunch of pretty cool photos which are on Flickr here.