A few weeks ago, my running friend approached me and asked if I would be interested in running the Jim Bridger Trail Run. I was unsure as I had not been running much with just getting back from Nepal and having been sick for the week after getting back. I kicked my running back up a bit to see if I felt good enough to take on the race in 3 weeks. Another one of my friends heard us talking about this and was encouraging me to run it with him. I spent a few weeks toying with the idea and then had a great 5 mile run one morning. I knew the first friend that approached me wasn’t going to be able to do it because she wasn’t getting out to run and would most likely end up working that day. I called my other friend and told him that I was in. I continued running around town just to make sure that I could at least do the mileage. I knew I could run the distance, but what I didn’t know was whether or not I could do the elevation.
Race day came, my friend picked me up and another friend ended up joining us. It was the two guys, one in his 20’s (Colter) and the other in his 50’s (Jeff), and myself. It was already pushing 75 degrees, so I brought a water bottle to carry with me during the race. My favorite thing about races is not having to carry my own water. There were only two water stops on this race and I knew that I would need more than that. The race didn’t start till 10:00 am as we all hung out already getting hot. We lined up and were off. Colter took off as Jeff and I hung back and ran together. We ran down to a little private dirt road that they had opened up just for the race. We made our way from the Sypes Canyon Trail Head over to the Middle Cottonwood Trail. This is where we started to begin our 2,000 ft. plus climb up the Bridger Mountains. It was a nice gradual incline and I was feeling great. I set a good pace as we climbed. This was my first Montana trail race, I had done the one in Oregon a few years ago, but it was nothing like this. I saw a few people I knew on the trail that were just on a hike. It was fun to see them. I kept on running up the mountain, but I was starting to get tired. We crossed a few creeks and I was enjoying the shade as the temperature continued to raise.
We got to the spot where we met up with the Bridger Foothills trail and the trail became steep. I was out of energy. Three miles of run uphill at a steady climb was already taxing my body and then we came to this. Jeff just kept on going and I couldn’t keep up anymore. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with him. Everyone was walking at this point. Everyone else could just walk faster than I could, at least it felt like everyone could move faster than I could. I still had about 3 miles of this uphill climb to go. I ran when I could, walked and drank my water. I pushed on. It was the perfect time to talk with a few people. I let several people pass me which normally would make me a little sad. In this race, I didn’t care. I had not trained and definitely didn’t train for the elevation climb. I was just happy that I was surviving.
I finally made it to the top of the hill where the second water station was located. This meant that the rest of the trail was downhill. My legs were sore, but I ran the best I could. It was a little slow moving, but I didn’t want to fall as a few people had done already. One lady fell in front of me and beat up her body a bit. There was a good mile of this section that was mostly in the sun. It was hot and I was ready to be done. I kept going and was finally at a somewhat familiar spot. I was descending down the Sypes Canyon Trail where I had only gone hiking once before a few years ago. It was nice to have somewhat of an idea where I was. I ran a good one to two miles of this section by myself. I could hear some people in the distance, but couldn’t see anyone till I reached the last hill. The great thing was that I could see the finish from the top. I knew that I was almost done, so I went on.
My friends and Brent were waiting for me to come in. I probably didn’t look as excited as I normally do when I finish a race. I was out of energy and hot. It was in the upper 80’s at this point. I am use to running in 50-60 degrees. This was quiet the jump for me. I crossed the finish line and headed straight for the water. We all hung out for a while and at the lunch that was provided and stuck around for the raffles prizes. We didn’t win anything. It was almost 2:00 by the time we left. It had been a great run. I hope this inspires me to get out on the trail more. Jeff told me that I am a born trail runner. I guess I will have to try this out!
Results:
Age Group: 19 out of 30
Overall Women: 62 out of 108
Overall: 144 out of 205
Time: 2:22:45:4 (Maybe the longest and slowest 10 miles of my life, but it was also the hardest. I am happy that I survived!)
