Mischief fails to spoil race
IVINS - Clear skies didn't stop someone from apparently trying to rain on long-distance runners' parade Saturday by changing race signs that sent race participants in the wrong direction.
The runners in the Red Mountain 50K, a race about 31 miles long, were generally nonplussed but happy by the time they reached the finish line in Ivins, however.
"(It) is kind of unfortunate, but it's OK. Things worked out," Ari Theodore of Little Cottonwood Canyon, Salt Lake City , said. "I got more bang for my buck."
Many of the race's fastest runners put in an extra half mile to four miles after a directional sign near the ninth mile was moved and chalk arrows were erased and replaced with new arrows indicating an unscheduled right turn, race director Jeremy Frehner said.
"(The race) is just such a grass-roots thing, when we have those elite runners out in front and they get (detoured) a mile ... it's just crazy," Frehner said, indicating there was no way to adjust runners' recorded times at the finish line to reflect what they had actually accomplished.
"Unfortunately, a lot of people have run a 60K today," he said. "I don't want to cast blame. ... (But) if they (the culprits) think it's funny or accomplishing something with doing something that malicious, where they put people's lives in danger, they need to change."
The course began by following 12 miles of public-access trail from the junction of state Route 18 and Pine Valley Road before joining the paved road and wending around the Gunlock Scenic Byway.
Shortly after mile 9, a pair of chalk arrows directed runners to turn down a dirt trail where horses were running. The trail eventually ended up a hill at a T-shaped junction without signs indicating where to go next, said Krissy Moehl, a Seattle resident who is one of the world's top-ranked ultra-trail runners.
While some runners turned one way and others went another, Moehl turned back toward the aid station at mile 9. Along the way she met another runner who had done a trial run on the course.
"He said, 'I don't remember crossing this river,'" Moehl said.
The runners were able to help direct later racers in the correct direction, but Moehl estimated she had passed about 50 runners on her way back down toward the aid station.
"Which is scary for a race director when you've got all these runners going off different directions," she said.
"Everyone had a real good attitude. They still finished and it was still a really beautiful day," said Bryce Thatcher, who is one of Moehl's corporate sponsors.
His wife Melanie said Moehl jeopardized her lead to help correct the situation, including the time she spent standing around discussing options with other runners. Moehl still finished first in the women's category, however, with a time of 5:04:01.
Moehl also completed a rim-to-rim-to-rim run with a friend Tuesday at Grand Canyon National Park , running 42 miles with an elevation change of 11,000 feet in 9:12:29, breaking the previous record of 9 hours and 25 minutes.
Scott Dickey of Murray was the first man to cross the finish in the 50K, with a time of 3:36:21, which would give him a pace of 4 minutes and 20 seconds per kilometer.
"I was just looking for a 50K that was kind of fast," Dickey said. "I ran a 50-miler a couple weeks ago. ... It was OK but wasn't as fast as I wanted to do. I was pretty sick about six weeks ago with pneumonia ... so I wasn't 100 percent."
Jim Magnan of Tucson, the men's winner in the 30K race that began west of Veyo, said he learned of the race over the Internet and bargained with his wife to participate in conjunction with a Santana concert she wanted to see in Las Vegas.
"We're just kind of squeezing all the living we can into one weekend," Magnan said, indicating the couple had also visited Zion National Park a day earlier.
"I'm preparing for a 50K in Yosemite the first Saturday in June, and I wanted to run something different and interesting," he said. "This was really easy on my mind. ... I carry a camera and I probably took 20 pictures along the way. ... I was just looking to run in some pretty country."
Magnan finished with a time of 2:18:44.
Tanna Bayola of St. George was the women's top finisher in the 30K, with a time of 2:36:01.
"I do a lot of cross-training," she said. "I just want to keep running, keep a smile on my face. As long as I'm smiling, I'm going to keep running."
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