Antelope Canyon

Making new friends is always a benefit of stage racing and at the Grand-to-Grand Ultra last year I made many.  Several were interested in doing the Antelope Canyon Ultra for fun and it quickly became a reunion event.  Everyone was intent on the 50 miler or 55K so I threw in with the plan of a long training run.

As it turned out this event is a great train-up for the MDS!  While there was little elevation change to speak of (coming from the mountains) the 50 miler course offered 12 miles (19+ km) of single track, 8 miles (13 km) of broken slickrock and 30 miles (48 km) of nothing but soft fine SAND.  The scenery was absolutely gorgeous too!  The 50 and 100 milers offer the added benefit of allowing you to run through one of the most iconic slot canyons in the world (in addition to two others).  Thanks to Ken Letterle for taking the time to snap the pictures below.

Antelope Canyon

I decided to break in the new MDS shoes and use the race gaiters for the event.  This was a very wise decision since I didn't have to stop to empty my shoes several times like most racers.  It was also refreshing not to have to run with the pack for a bit!

NO Pack - Oh what a feeling!

While the course was difficult, it was also fast.  All the G2G'ers exceeded their expectations and pulled down some great times.  Post race pizza and beer at the finish line hit the spot and old stories were rehashed as we caught up with each other.  The next day we were off to the four winds and our own race schedules, I'm sure we will see each other soon!