#coppercorridor

Race Wrap Up – Copper Corridor 50k

This may be a short race report and will get into that in a minute. It was a really good day out @ the Copper Corridor 50k this past Saturday. As always, thanks to the folks at Aravaipa Running for hosting another great event. Much gratitude to the staff, volunteers, aid station crews, other participants and the spectators that cheered us on (especially that last half mile 😊). Had a great experience running the trails out in Superior, ones that I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do so without this race being hosted there. Another big thank you to the town of Superior, AZ. The police force, sheriff’s, families, and the folks that came out to share in the festivities made for an even better experience.

This was a solo adventure but always appreciate the sacrifice Robin, Alaina & Isabella put in to help support me in chasing down these endeavors. They provided me with several words of encouragement leading up to the race and during the day so thank you family!! The pictures included were from my cell phone as things were getting ready to start and throughout the first third of the race. Aravaipa started this race back in 2020, with their inaugural one coming just before the world shut down. I had it on my radar to do at some point however life……. mainly Isabella’s gymnastics and Alaina’s soccer weekend’s typically took priority (wouldn’t change that either 😊). Plus, the Copper Corridor has been traditionally the weekend after Black Canyon 100k, which is one, if not the favorite race for me. Considering some events that unfolded with the soccer schedule and the 2024 race calendar, we were able to put our name in for this year’s edition and it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Up until this past Saturday, I had only driven through Superior, and it doesn’t take long at tall to do so. It is about an hour from our house in NE Phoenix, east of the city as you begin heading into the mountain ranges of Pinal County. It is a small, former, mining town with some very interesting, and cool history you can read in the link above. These were all new trails to me, but I was excited to adventure into the canyons here and around Picketpost Mountain after doing some race research. My thoughts going into the race were to get a sense of my endurance and fitness after working on building my foundation for what we have outlined for the spring and summer. The course had a lot of single tracks, some technical terrain, and a few good climbs but after a hard training weekend just last week, and not having any taper, it was leading up to be an interesting event 😊. The days prior life really took over with a heavy dose of work commitments and responsibilities as well as some other personal and family obligations and obstacles we were navigating through. Needless to say my mind wasn’t on racing so I tried to take the mindset of having gratitude to be able to get away from everything and spend some hours in some new mountains and trails. Fortunately, the aftermath of the prior weekends runs left my quads and I was feeling very good leading up to the start line.

Speaking of the start line, and seriously, the tininess of Superior, my parking spot, which was along Main Street where literally 100 yards from each other. That was a very nice perk 😊. The morning was very mild with a touch of a chill but perfect temps for running. As we all gathered in the coral, after listening to a few minutes of course instructions, we were off down the main drag heading towards Picketpost Mountain in the distance and a morning full of exploring. After the ½ mile on Main Street we dipped into a single-track trail that basically skirted a creek bed and were on this for a few miles until we crossed under Highway 60 and into more of a desert landscape. The first 1/3 of the race went by smoothly with a few short climbs and descents as we meandered through a riparian area, in and out of canyons. At this point, I was with about 7-8 other runners as we ran single file enjoying the scenery, some conversation, and the ideal AZ, February weather.

The second half of the race is positioned as the toughest with the most climbing, we get up to the highest part of the course, as well as the most descent. The majority of this middle 1/3 is also exposed but as you can see from some of the shots, it is very beautiful. Additionally, these 11 to 12 miles are the most remote on the course and there is no aid, so we had to stock up before heading out into this section. Considering these elements, my plan was to take it easy on the climbs and run the downhills and flats to be able to have something left in the tank for that final 10-11 miles back to the finish. Of course, my mind was also thinking about what type of problem solving would need to be done over the next couple of hours. This was my first race since September and though the training was going well, I didn’t know how my body was going to respond considering the prior weekend’s adventure and I showed up to the race with 30 miles on my legs from the week leading up.

Around mile 12, as we were descending into a canyon, I began feeling some hotspots on my feet, but thought I was too early to get blisters and my left knee started feeling a bit wonky as well. Neither of these were corrupting my pace, or my spirit so I made myself aware and moved on. About a mile after that I came upon my new friend Roy, from San Diego as we were working our way up a climb. He and I then proceeded to run the next 5 miles together, talking about running, racing, San Diego, his potential move to Arizona, family, and life all together. It made those five miles, and what were supposedly the most challenging miles of the course, click by seamlessly. As we crested the high point of the course, we were met with this long, steep, technical descent and for some reason I felt like bombing down. I was feeling really good, thanks to Roy’s company, I let the momentum carry me. For the next 3-4 miles I was moving well as the final big-ish, climb approached, leading up to the aid station before heading back into town. It was a bit weird since I was the only one at this aid station at this time but did have a great quick conversation with the volunteers, grabbed a quick snack, filled my bottles and dowsed myself with some ice water for the final third.

This last 11ish miles had some technical downhills, that were pretty steep, but followed by smooth single-track, pretty much until we got back into town. This was where I experienced something that was a first for me in these races. It was something I’ve always wanted to feel, but it had always escaped me to this point. As mentioned before, I had thought about that moment, that comes every race, when you pretty much get punched in the gut. Something, or possibly everything hurts; stomach goes south, blisters surface on your feet, your quads get trashed, and your knees feel like they are being smacked with a hammer. It happened in each race, and I’d be lying if I didn’t wonder when it would be coming during this one. Well, it never really came, other than maybe the last ½ mile before hitting Main Street again. This final third, running through these canyons, with some nice cloud cover in the sky, moving over water crossing, and clicking off the miles, I did feel like a little kid in a sense. It felt pretty fulfilling to be hitting the same mile pace at this point in the race as I was at the beginning. As a few of us moved from the trail to the suspension bridge and onto Main Street for the final half mile, we were moving at a great clip, with the view of the finish line ahead of us and the outside patio bars and restaurants lined with patrons cheering us along the way. We heard one guy hell, “it’s all uphill from here.” Well, he wasn’t kidding because that same section we started on, all downhill, led right back up that hill to the finish line. Fortunately, it was gradual and short, and it didn’t matter at all because we were crossing the finish line.