Fire Fest Trail Half-Marathon - Valley of Fire (Clark County, Nevada)

 

I'm in Las Vegas this weekend to run my first trail half-marathon near Valley of Fire State Park. While I generally avoid trail runs (though I have run a few here and there), Valley of Fire is one of my favorite places and I couldn't resist the urge to do my first trail half in this otherworldly landscape. In fact, I had registered to run this race last year, but a series of mishaps both for me and a friend that was planning to run with me, prevented me from make the trip. I'm here now though and I'm looking forward to the run, though I'm not in the best shape and haven't been running regularly for a while.

The Fire Fest Ultra is a series of weekend races of varying distances, which kicked off early Saturday morning with a 100-mile Ultra. There is a race for pretty much every conventional distance between that 100-mile and the ever-popular 5k. My race (the half-marathon) doesn't start until Sunday morning. That should give me time to get acclimated and even enjoy some of what Las Vegas has to offer. 

After landing early Saturday afternoon, I grabbed my rental car and started heading out towards Red Rock Canyon on the western side of town. My intention was to try and find a route out to Brownstone Canyon, where I've learned of a magnificent pictograph panel. Unfortunately, it seems new construction has blocked every path I had wanted to explore. I think the only way to get to the site now is via a long hike out of Red Rock Canyon. That will have to wait for my next trip out this way, which is disappointing. 

I drive to the other side of town and drop my gear off at my hotel before heading out to the starting area of tomorrow's race at the Logandale Trail System. There I meet up with a friend who has driven down to support me and another of her friends for our respective races. After taking in some of the magnificent views, we head into town to enjoy a nice pasta dinner at Wolfgang Puck's Lupo. I like to load the carbs before a long race. The food is terrific and the company even better, but as I want to get a good night's sleep, we head back to our respective sleeping arrangements and call it a night. 

Arising early Sunday morning, I start gearing up for the race. Races in the desert are always tricky because of the huge swing in temperatures. Right now, it's around 38 degrees, but by the time I finish the race, it will likely be around 80 degrees. How do you dress for that? Layers! By the time I reach the starting area again, it's already in the mid-forties and I shed my down vest. I pull up next to my friend's van and she comes out to meet me. It's about twenty minutes before the scheduled start time of my race and I use the time to hydrate. 

With a simple countdown, we depart the starting area promptly at 7:30 AM. The sun has only recently come up and the colors of the red and orange rocks that spread out before me are just amazing. From the start line, the race descends down a narrow sandstone chute before dumping out into a sandy wash. From the high point, you can look down several miles into the fiery valley, though the race route will takes us on the other side of the valley sprawled out before us. 

It seems there are only a couple of dozen half-marathoners running today, but I know there are other longer races still in progress. This entire area, which is on the northern end of Valley of Fire State Park is unknown to me. I've explore the park itself extensively over the years, but I didn't even know this area existed. Much of this part of the park is used for OHV recreation and there are a lot of them out here. They are all pretty thoughtful though and do their best not to stir the dust for us runners.

There are abundant aid stations, which is always a necessity in desert races. Hard to stay hydrated when the sun and arid environment pull the moisture right out of you. I take a couple of gel packs for calories and drink a couple small cups of water at the 1.8 mile station. The trail surface is mostly loose gravel and broken sandstone, with some sand and solid stone sections mixed in for good measure. I'm feeling okay so far, but the surface is a bit challenging and I find myself walking a bit here and there . . . mostly because I haven't been training appropriately. 

Around mile three, I get a little confused on the route I'm supposed to take, but eventually figure out that I'm to head up a steep ridge and follow that south for most of the rest of the race. It has some undulating sections which are quite steep. At mile 4, I nearly faceplant on an incredibly steep downhill. From the top, I knew it was going to be sketchy, but I decided to go for it anyway. After only a few steps, I found myself running at full steam and doing my very best to stay on my feet. I've never been so close to loosing it without actually wiping out, but somehow, I magically managed to stay on my feet. With my heart pounding from the stress of the anticipated injuries I would have sustained on these rocks, I look back on this monstrosities and thank my lucky starts I made it down without falling.

From there, the race bounces back and forth between this high ridge and a lower gravel road, which eventually turns east towards the half-marathon turn-around point. Halfway done and I'm exhausted. That hill took a lot out of me. I really wanted to run this race for the scenery and I'm not all that concerned with my finishing time. The scenery doesn't disappoint.

The return is the same path I took to get here, though I manage to get of course at one point and end up adding a couple tenths of a mile to my overall distance. No matter. As the sun is getting higher in the sky, the air temperature is warming and more and more of OHV enthusiasts can be seen heading out into to the red hills. For me, I'm just ready to be done.

After seeing the turn back into the long valley I saw at the beginning, I start climbing my way back up the chute towards the finish line. My friends are at the top cheering for me as I run through the arch. They're quick to get me a Gatorade and some food, which is most welcome. I find a chair and relax in the glory of my accomplishment. A time of 3:41:41 isn't exactly a good for a half-marathon, even a trail half-marathon, but I'll take it. It was my first and I'm just glad to have completed it. I'm going to rest for a while and then head back to the hotel to clean-up. Dinner at Morimoto's awaits me as a celebration.