Cloudcroft 53k Race Report

White Sands off in the distance.

This is the only race I had on my calendar this year that I was 100% committed to. It worked out just right with our move and giving me enough time to get in 50k shape. My training has gone well with good workouts and consistency, and I felt fully prepared for the course. This was perhaps the easiest a 50k has ever been for me. Don't get me wrong, it's still hard, I had a few low spots, but I cruised through this one without much issue. As far as the course goes, the most challenging thing for me was the elevation. It is a beautiful fun race, and I think it deserves a lot more love than it gets.

Here are the course details: 53k (33-ish miles) and ~5000 ft of vert. High point just over 9400 ft, low point just a hair below 8000ft. Average elevation is 8900ft, with a significant portion of the course staying above 9000ft. It only has one large climb of about 1300ft over 1.7 miles, one big descent of 1500 ft over 3.9 miles, and the rest is rolling with some moderate climbs and descents. It starts and finishes in the town of Cloudcroft, so a little bit of road running, but it's mainly single track with a mix of nice trail and technical rocky sections. The weather is generally a nice 50-70*, but it is "monsoon" season in this region, so rain and thunderstorms are a possibility.

Caltopo elevation profile

Hotels in Cloudcroft were relatively cheap and easy to find, so we drove in from El Paso on Friday night. It rained pretty hard as we drove up the mountain on Friday, but we got some amazing views as we rolled into town. Race start was 7am on Saturday morning, it was a little bit cool and humid, but still t-shirt weather. Not a ton of people at this race, so easy to get to the bathroom and very low-key at the start line.

The course is a lollipop style with the majority of the out and back section on the Rim Trail in the Lincoln National Forest. Once the race begins, it doesn't take long to make it through town and hit the single track. I rolled through the 1st aid at mile 3 and linked up with another runner for a while. You get some amazing views of White Sands and the desert floor some 5000ft below before you tuck into the pines. From mile 4 to 14 you have long gradual climb with a couple steeper sections hitting 9000 ft by the mile 6.9 aid station. I felt pretty good through most of the first 14 miles. My back and hammies were a little tight, but I was on the fast end of my race plan for the 1st half of the race. Effort wise, I felt smooth and easy. Recent rains had the forest looking green and pretty, temps were perfect, making for very enjoyable running. I was chatting back and forth with a couple runners as we leap frogged on the climbs and descents, occasionally running together for a while, enjoying all the good stuff that comes with trail races.

I had to take a short break at the mile 13 aid to get some mud out of my socks. That was my first stop, but I kept it quick and moved on. Other than a little scare when I mistook a cow for a bear, I just rolled along in bit of a tranquil autopilot mode. Mile 15-16 the altitude started to get at me. I began having a headache and felt like I was struggling. It took me a while to remember we were over 9000 ft., and I just needed to dial it back and relax. It was good timing to hit the long downhill. The farther down the hill I got, the better I felt. That descent is about 4 miles altogether, with half being on nice runnable single track, and half on a two track road that is very rocky. You can bomb it, but it is rough on the ankles. Right before the bottom I caught one of the runners I was chatting with earlier and walked a minute with him. He rolled an ankle and was struggling a bit.

As soon as you hit the bottom you make a right turn and start a steep rocky climb. My general strategy was to keep it chill till I hit the top at mile 20, and then give it what I had for the last 13 miles. The climb is 1300+ ft. in just under a 1.5 miles, so quite a chore. I felt good and was able to catch a couple more runners going up. A lady caught and passed me right towards the top when we hit a spot of pavement. It was nice though, I figured if she was running it I could, so I ponied up to a shuffle for the remainder of the climb to the mile 20 aid where my family was waiting.

I had started to get a little crampy, so I pounded some pickle juice and took a salt pill. The aid stations were all well stocked with everything you could need. I ate some watermelon and oranges, and took my collapsible cup full of coke with me as I headed back onto the trail. I was pretty happy with how I was feeling and got myself into a nice rhythm heading back to town. My knee was starting to bug me forcing me to stop and stretch around mile 23. The woman who caught me going up the hill passed me again. I followed her for a couple minutes, but she dropped me up the next climb (and put 20 minutes on me by the end, tough run by her!). I started having headaches again when I tried to push, which kept my pace in check, but I was moving well.

By the time I got to the mile 26 aid I was still within my planned window, but on the slow end. I find there's a point in every ultra where I get excited because I know I'm going to finish, and that always makes me happy. The volunteers at that aid were fun. I had to pound more pickle juice and coke while they filled up my bottles, but I bounced out of there quickly and in a good mood. There's a nice downhill after that aid station that carries you for a couple miles. From there you hit the last significant climb. It's not a terribly steep climb, but I ended up hiking a lot of it. That was the only point where I felt bad. The sun was getting to me there and I overheated some. My stomach got cranky and I slowed down a lot, but only for about 1.5 miles into the last aid station at mile 30. Thankfully, my wife had my ice bandana there. I took a couple minutes to eat and cool off in the shade before the last 3 miles into town.

The ice bandana ended up being a life saver. My stomach calmed down and I got back to running. I knew there was someone closing in on me, and that helped push me into the finish. Those last 2 miles were tough though. I was hoping to be able to have a strong finish, but it ended up being more of a trot and a lot of self talk. I finished in 6:52 (13th place), just a few minutes off my predicted 6:45. I figured anything under 7 hours would be a good day, so I was pretty happy with it.

The cool thing about this race is, I got what I wanted out of it. My whole mindset during training was that I really want to be able to enjoy these this one, and that's what happened. I wasn't worried about pacing, I knew I was fit and I was not going to have to worry about blowing up or GI distress (which gets me a lot in 50k's). After a few years in Austin, I'm so grateful to be back in the mountains. I thought about that a lot during this one, and really tried to take everything in and appreciate each moment.

As mentioned, I highly recommend this race. The organizers did a great job, aid stations were great, the volunteers were awesome too. The course is very pretty with some amazing unique views you won't see anywhere else in the world. I'll definitely be back!

Huge thank you to my girls for coming out to support me. It's always so much more fun to have ya'll there!

Thanks for reading!

FF