Draper Challenge 15 Mile Trail Run

Race report for the Draper Days 15 mile trail race on May 28th

Up at 7:00 am. Ate a banana for breakfast and geared up. Out by 7:30. Feeling ok. It was a challenge to get through my Thursday run. I’ve been doing consecutive tough runs every Saturday lately. I’m hoping I’m building strength instead of heading towards an injury. The weather is partly cloudy and mild. Trails are
mostly dry with patches of mud.

A bike race started at 8:00. Runners had a group start from the equestrian park parking lot at 8:30. There are 4 race distances: 4, 7, 10, and 15 miles. The trails are in Corner Canyon around and behind the Draper Temple—where I ran 15 miles a few weeks ago. That took me 3 hours and resulted in a nice sun burn.
Knowing the trail climbs for the first 3 miles, I started off slow. Impossible to know how you’re fairing with everyone running different distances. I didn’t want to get caught up with the 4 milers going out too fast.

Mile 1 9:59
Mile 2 11:23

I didn’t carry hydration with me since they had plenty of water stations. Long climb up Lower Canyon, Ghost Falls, and Brock’s Point trails. I was able to run the entire way up on fresh legs.

Mile 3 11:28
Mile 4 8:51

I knew that Clark’s Trail was a long stretch of downhill into Bonneville Shoreline Trail, and that it was full of rocks, roots, sharp turns, and patches of mud. Exactly what I love, but early in the race. I decided to take it as fast as possible since I wouldn’t be able to make up the time later in the race, even though it would mean trashing my legs earlier than I prefer. I had a great time blazing down the trail passing quite a few people.

Mile 5 7:27

The 10 and 15 milers continued on the rolling BST behind the temple, heading SW along the mountainside. The 10 milers had a turnaround point up ahead, so there was a lot of two way traffic on a narrow single track trail for awhile. A lot of the people I thought I was racing against passed me going the other way.

Mile 6 9:29
Mile 7 9:31

The 15 mile course continued on BST until I think we broke off onto Hollow or Oak Creek. This had some nice downhill sections, and I caught the pretty girl I’d been following for several miles. We got kicked out onto a surface street for about a mile to complete a loop. Not fun running in trail shoes on asphalt.

Mile 8 8:32
Mile 9 7:37

We took a small trail from the road that led us back up to the BST—more climbing. I had 2 guys on my tail that I had passed earlier, plus the cute girl. My legs had reached their breaking point by then, and I was struggling on the uphill. I kept them at bay until about mile 11 when they both passed me. Stupid uphill.

Mile 10 10:07
Mile 11 11:17
Mile 12 10:48

We had a short but nice downhill section that took us across the Lower Corner Canyon Trail to an out and back section along the northern section of the BST I think. There was more climbing here which I pushed through as best I could. I had managed to get within site of the 2 guys who passed me earlier and I didn’t
want to lose them again. I shadowed them through the turnaround and all the way back to the main trail down the canyon.

Mile 13 9:19
Mile 14 8:49

One of the guys stopped to get a drink at the last aid station. I skipped it and passed him by. Only about a mile of downhill left. Pushed as hard as I could to catch up to the other guy who had passed me at mile 11. It took until the tunnel under Highland Dr. where we were running through darkness side by side at full speed. I rounded the corner just ahead of him and powered up the steep hill to the parking lot for the final 100 yards into the finish line. I think I broke his spirit, because I finished 13 seconds ahead of him. Sorry 27 year old Tim Thorley of Washington, Utah. He was a good sport about it though.

Mile 15 6:48

Cooled down while they awarded medals for the other races. Chatted with some of the other runners and snacked on bread and pastries. Turns out the top 2 finishers in our race were a couple girls from Park City who destroyed the competition. They finished the out and back section before we even got there. I guess there was some debate as to whether they had completed the entire course, but in the end they were awarded 1st and 2nd. (Their times were 1:49 and 1:55. The fastest male was 2:13)

My time was 2:20:59.3, a 9:23 overall pace. I burned 1620 calories and consumed 3 gels during the race. The aid stations only had water. That banana lasted me the whole race. My fastest pace was 4:37—during the last mile, as usual. I came in 6th overall, 4th out of the men, and 1st in my 36-49 age group. I lucked out,
because the age group below me was 19-35. Hooray for being old! They gave me a ribbon and gift card to Applebees for $20.

Really fun race and it was awesome that the weather coorperated with us. If you haven't run the trails in Corner Canyon, you should schedule a visit soon. They are great.

I also want to give a special shout out to Don, Mark and the Fleet Feet Running Group for helping me train these last couple years. Come join us for some Saturday runs.