They say the first mile is always the hardest. Maybe sometimes it’s the first step. For the Black Canyon 100k I would say the first 8 miles were the hardest. I could also say that the first step was hard too. I signed up for Black Canyon 100k for several reasons. First, I love Arizona and had been wanting to run this race for some time. Second, it was on my birthday. I didn’t sign up for it immediately as I still had not run Moab 240 and really didn’t want anything on my race calendar until I had got through Moab and knew what state my body was in and me mentally. When I could finally sign up for Black Canyon 100k, I was pretty significantly far down on the waitlist. I don’t think I even told a lot of people I had put myself on the waitlist. A combination of me getting in my head that people probably didn’t want to hear what I was running next and that I might not get in. When the list started to move and it became apparent that I was going to get in, I started to tell people. I started to tell people but never planned for crew or anyone to come out with me. I honestly had no doubt about going there solo as I had been to Phoenix before and was pretty familiar with the area. I had ran races longer and felt I had a handle on drop bags with the idea of how to prep them not having a crew to back me up.

I consider myself a solo runner. I run solo a lot during the week. If I have my music, I am happy. I like exploring trails by myself with the idea that I don’t have to worry about what anyone else is thinking. I felt ready for the Black Canyon. I had run a marathon the month before and a month before that was Hellgate 100k. I wanted to beat my Hellgate time of 17:40 and be under 17 hours as that was the cut off to qualify for Western States Endurance Run (WSER). After Moab I really just wanted 2024 to be an off season and was hoping that Black Canyon would give me a qualifying time so that I would not need to sign up for another 100 miler in 2024 to keep my ticket active in the WSER lottery. I felt I could do this as I do LOVE the desert and really feed off the beauty of the land. What I didn’t account for was the weather.

Black Canyon 100k runs north to south from the town of Mayer Arizona to New River. The course itself is a net downhill as you run down through the mountains out of Black Canyon. The weather is significantly different in Mayer as it is in New River or Phoenix for that matter due to the starting in the mountains. The weather forecast was showing low 30’s with snow for the start. But as the day went on it showed a nice 50 degrees and sunny with it ending with the low in the 40’s. This is relatively manageable for a race.

The night before the race I spent a lot of time getting my drop bags ready. When I first arrived in Phoenix, I drove immediately to the race expo to get my bib. There was the option to drop bags off then, but I didn’t because I didn’t have them ready yet. I thought about getting them ready in the car but feared by rushing I would miss something. Plus, I wanted to charge my headlamps overnight. I rarely put headlamps in my drop bags as I have crew. I fear losing the drop bag and then losing the headlamp, so if I have crew, my crew has the headlamp. Out of extra caution, I decided to wait to drop my bags until the morning at the start.

Normal race anxieties fill in no matter how long you have been running, or what distances you have ran in the past. It didn’t help that it was raining the night before. I was also questioning myself spending my birthday in a different town, away from my friends and family back home. Even if I did finish in a good time, there would be no celebrating after the race. Just a celebratory sleep. Black Canyon is also a World Trail Major and it also offers a golden ticket into WSER if you are the top three in your gender. Thus, a lot of big names in trail running are at this race. Some of those self-doubts of “do I belong here” set in thinking about the race field I will see tomorrow at the start line. Those self-doubts look like, I should just skip the race. I can always say I wasn’t expecting snow, which if you know me, I am always prepared. I was telling myself to rest on my birthday. I knew deep down I wouldn’t not start but those are thoughts that try and trick you otherwise. I always must remind myself that despite being a slow starter, I can excel in the later miles. I was also looking forward to the later miles because at mile 40 was the first real uphill climb and I like hills. The course description of the race cautions runners not to go out too fast with the net downhill because of the hills at the end. Lucky me, I am not a good downhill runner and will not go too fast 😉.

As morning came, so did more rain. I got ready and calculated when it would be good to drive to the shuttles. As soon as I got into my car and loaded the map on my phone, I got an email. It was one of those emails you look forward to as a kid in high school, not as someone about to go run 62 miles in the desert. “2-hour delay due to inclement weather.” I think I read it 4 times before I decided to turn the car off and go back into the hotel. I could not sleep. I was awake. The only thing I could do was eat and rest. I re-evaluated my drop bags as I was happy that I still had them to make sure I had warmer clothes for the end sooner. I was also concerned with the later start, it would be a lot warmer, a lot faster than expected.

The report regarding the weather stated that it was unsafe for the buses to make it to Mayer High School for the start with the snow. Snow and rain also equal something else. High rivers. Yesterday I had the opportunity to go across a swiftly moving river to get to the one aid station. I figured that this river, this river that I would be crossing 4x in this race, would settle down over night. Now this river was going to be higher. Snow also does something to sand. It’s not the same as mud as you get when dirt gets wet. It creates this coating on your shoes, adding about 3 pounds that also prevents you from getting traction. All these obstacles would have to be addressed in this race of 62 miles.

The time finally came and the buses left to get to the start. The ride there was beautiful, as the green mountains I saw the day before where now covered in white snow. The sun was out and Black Canyon was showing off its beauty. The start of the race was a little hectic as due to the time change, the race directors decided that wave 2 & 3 would go together. I also found out that the track we were starting on was a dirt track, or now a mud track.

The race went off and any thoughts of remaining clean from mud were gone. The field made one loop around the track. There was maybe a mile on road before heading onto single track. This is where things got interesting as the ugly mud came. It was hard to get footing to stay balanced. It was hard to get traction to gain momentum. Some people fell and fell into cacti. I kept my pace as others passed me. This is where I had to remind myself that “the first mile is the hardest.” In this case, it was more like the first 8 miles. I really thought to myself that one of two things would happen; I’d either drop from the trail being this difficult or I would finish but not get under 17 hours. I was already thinking of races I could sign up for to get my WSER qualifier. I finally made it to the first aid station at mile 7.7. I was happy to shed a few layers as the sun was warming things up. I was also happy that it was at mile 7.7. I was even happier leaving the aid station to find that the mud was gone. Honestly the first 8 miles were the hardest in terms of managing the mud.

The next parts of the course were gorgeous. I didn’t need to focus so much on my footing as the mud was gone and I could run in the sun and take on the beautiful hills that made up Black Canyon. The trails did a nice gradual decent through switchbacks on single track which did result in a conga line but also made it manageable in terms of pace.

The next boost of the day came at the next aid station. There I heard someone calling my name. I was shocked because who knew me here?! It was Doug from Moab. Doug and I had met after Basecamp and ran until Indian Creek together. I saw Doug throughout the course and was happy to see him finishing as I was leaving the area. Here he was again in Black Canyon. We both set out on the trail together and just talking to a friend made the next few miles go by even faster.

Before Deep Canyon aid station, mile 31 there was our first river crossing. It was still daylight at this time. I saw the river and saw people going through. It was deep enough but not too bad. The cold water did not feel refreshing as advertised in the course description as it was no a hot day. However it felt good getting the first one done and knowing the aid station was close that I could change socks.

Leaving Deep Canyon aid station, I grabbed my warmer clothes, my big headlamp and set off for the harder part of the course. The sunset shortly after leaving Deep Canyon. The trail was on jeep road which was good to me gain some miles in the light. Just as it got dark the jeep road ended and the second river crossing appeared. I noticed the girl in front of me go in and not realizing she had fallen, thought the water was chest high. When she stood up, she warned me that it does drop down but she also slipped. I turned around and saw a headlight approaching me. I asked the kind trail runner approaching if they wouldn’t mind holding hands to avoid slipping. Thankfully they did and even better because we did slip but were able to stay upright.

I kind of enjoyed the night as I normally run a lot in the dark. I took off as the trails were runnable and I had new energy since making it past the halfway point. The next aid station was an out and back. As we were leaving the aid station, the volunteers were letting us know that the next section had the most climbing. I was a little excited because I like hills. After leaving the aid station and getting through the out and back, the trail led to another river crossing. Again, I found a buddy and we crossed together. I could see the lights now in the sky as the mountain was in front of us. I took off up the hill, not thinking twice if I was going too fast. I kind of laughed inside because I realized then that this is what I do. All the self-doubt the night before, the doubts in the beginning of wanting to drop because the trails were a mess meant nothing. I knew I would be strong in the later miles; I know I’m strong in the dark and even stronger on hills and this is why I do these things. It’s the moments like this when you overcome the self-doubt and realize you can do these things. I had also hit the halfway mark before the time I needed to finish in under 17 hours. Not only was I going to finish this race, but I was also going to finish in under 17 hours.

The next part of the course got increasingly rocky. This made running and making good time more difficult. I kept moving with a purpose that I wanted the sub 17. One guy I ran into who ran the race before told me I could at this pace, but I would need to maintain it. He also informed me that the trails do remain rocky, which did not help my time nor my tired toes. You kick enough rocks; your toes begin to hurt more than your feet.

As I was trying to make good time, I went down a switch back and noticed a group of people. This was our fourth and final river crossing. It was also the most swift moving one and people were nevous to cross it. As I was stopped, I made eye contact with a girl behind me who asked me if we wanted to buddy up and we did. Other females behind us did and as the four of us made it across we laughed saying “water friends for life!” I thanked Cara and we went on to continue to the next aid station. Another woman had gotten behind me at this point. We started talking. I had asked her if she wanted to pass me, and she said no as I was actually helping her keep a good pace. Her name was Amy and was one of the other women who crossed the river with me. Amy and I talked as we discussed our different adventures and how she got into WSER for this year. I stuck with Amy until the last aid station when there was only 3 miles left. Before I crossed the finish line, I could hear Amy and Cara’s names being called. It was nice that we all finished together.

Looking back on Black Canyon 100k I look at the self-doubt I had. The thoughts of whether or not I am doing the right thing. Taking chances. Overcoming difficult obstacles. In the long run, things worked out. I must learn to trust myself to make the right choices. I trusted my gut in the beginning with the drop bags and it worked out as the weather changed. I took a chance and did a race solo only to come out finding an old friend and making new friends. I was also able to finish in my goal time.

All in all, the takeaway from this experience is to not to be afraid of taking chances and trying new things. This is a little bit of a different write up from my previous races. I wanted to focus more on facing challenges, self-doubt, and trusting myself instead of the course itself. It’s a reminder that we don’t like to get out of our comfort zones, even when it is something we want to do or like. It’s easy to not do something but then regret it or put it off for the next time. Pushing yourself and following your drives you are what creates change. I might always have fears and self-doubt, but I have also learned that they are not going to stop me.