Antelope Island 50k

Here is an interesting recap of the race...

Lisa and I finished up work at 5pm on Friday, grabbed Chloe and headed south to Salt Lake City, Utah.  In the middle of the Great Salt Lake is an island called Antelope Island.  To get there we drove 8 hours to a Howard Johnson Inn (wouldn't recommend it) and slept from 12:30am to 5am.  At 5am we headed to the race on the island.  It was dark, snowy and the wind was howling.

To get on the island we had to drive a couple miles on a long causeway.

At first is was so dark we couldn't even see where we were.  I still had no idea what lay ahead for my 50 kilometers of running that morning.

There was plenty of snow.

At 7:45, about 75 of us runners were huddled up and freezing but ready to get started.

I guess someone ran with a dog?!

And we are off...

The first part of the course was  a steady climb up a set of switchbacks.  On the way up we spooked the buffalo and they stampeded right through the trail - forcing us to stop and wait.  I still can't believe how fast they are.

Within the first mile it was obvious that it would be a three man race.  Chris, Cody and I chatted for a while before I decided to increase the pace a little.

There was plenty of snow on the south side of the island.  I took a pretty mean spill trying to hit a 90 degree turn at speed.  Unfortunately when I fell, my clothes were covered in snow and I was soaking wet.   Not good when you are up in the peaks by the Great Salt Lake.

The island was surrounded by beautiful peaks.  It was very surreal.  I felt like I was back in Alaska.

Lisa took this glamour shot of Chloe.  We will add it to her winter collection.  Look at that swiss cross prominently displayed across Chloe's chest.  

Chloe did have her eye on those buffalo.

After 3.5 hours of running I finally made back to the start / finish line having run about 30 miles and 4000 ft of elevation gain.

Lisa didn't realize I was coming so the finish video is a little short!  She claims it was difficult with Chloe.  Poor Chloe - she just wanted a buffalo.

Here is an abridged version of the results.

Antelope Island 50K/100K Syracuse, UT Event Website Event Page 50km | 100km Saturday November 5, 2011 ALL <20 20-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+ ALL M F		Results 2011 Male Female Top Performances '11 Christopher Kollar (26) 3:37:48 '11 Chris Lundberg (28) 3:54:01 '11 Cody Draper (31) 4:08:31 '11 Nate Remynse (24) 4:40:20 '11 Zach Huseby (38) 4:46:25 '11 Ryan Faulkner (19) 5:02:34 '11 Jason Berry (38) 5:03:56 '11 Jeff Bollman (43) 5:11:17 '11 Justin Liddle (33) 5:24:23 '11 Scott Slusher (41) 5:29:42 Upcoming Events
Indicates member has uploaded their photo.	73 Participants
Place First Last G.P. Age Gender Time Ranking results   1   Christopher  Kollar  Missoula, MT  1 26  M 3:37:48 100.00 % results   2   Chris  Lundberg  Jackson, WY  2 28  M 3:54:01 85.18 % results   3   Cody  Draper  Logan, UT  3 31  M 4:08:31 90.95 % results   4   Gemma  Arro  Park City, UT  1 31  F 4:14:13 100.00 % results    5   Nate  Remynse  Sandy, UT  4 24  M 4:40:20 72.65 % results   6   Cherri  Marcinko  Salt Lake City, UT  2 41  F 4:41:05 90.44 % results   7   Zach  Huseby  Jackson, WY  5 38  M 4:46:25 76.04 % results    8   Ryan  Faulkner  Provo, UT  6 19  M 5:02:34 71.98 % results   9   Jason  Berry  Salt Lake City, UT  7 38  M 5:03:56 73.32 % results   10   Coni  Horndli  Salt Lake City, UT  3 33  F 5:04:33 79.27 %

For finishing I earned this huge coffee mug and because I won I will receive a wooden sculpture of an antelope.

Some parting shots of the scenery around the Great Salt Lake.

Now what everyone has been waiting for... Chloe gets her bison.

Then Chloe gets tired and is out for the count.