North America, The United States of America

Moab

January 26, 2019

Race Report: Arches Ultra

What a fantastic race. The course was mild, given this kind of distance. The 3,000 feet of ascent and descent was mostly rolling, as opposed to steep climbs and descents. There was one decent climb but it was short and even runnable if you are a beast. The course was mostly dry (or frozen) but completely exposed. I would guess 1/4 or 1/5 was mud, which was slow going for us. Others mucked through it with ease.

There was a ton of “slick rock” and we like this smooth but irregular running surface. These sections were our favorite by far, but others clearly hated them. We made up a ton of time on the slick rock that we gave right back slopping around in the mud.

The only difficulty is the course was somewhat vague at points. At least 4 or 5 times we found ourselves off the trail, in what felt like the middle of nowhere and looking around for blue flags. Each time we were able to spot a flag waving in the distance and find our way back to the trail.

We were both concerned about temperature, but it ended up being fairly mild, ranging from 20°F at the start to 40°F at the peak. The aid stations were well stocked and had very cheerful folks, which is to be expected at Mad Moose events.

All in all, it was a great race. #WouldRunAgain

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Race Website: https://www.madmooseevents.com/arches-ultra