The Burn - Butterfield Canyon

Now here's a fun race. Gain 2300 feet in 6.5 miles, with some decent cash on the line. I'll give that a try, sounds like a good workout! Which it was. I had no idea the Salt Lake valley went so far.. West.. but I still made it with 5 minutes to spare before the race started. I warmed up by running from my car to the checkin van, got my number, and off we went! I was out front like usual but keeping up with me easily was Mr. Salt Lake Track Club guy and Mrs Olympic XC Ski Team member. They slowly pulled ahead after the first quarter mile, leaving me alone with my thoughts about the nasty hill to come. Without warning my watch announced the end of the first mile, in 6:58! A sub 7 uphill mile? That's crazy talk. But there it was, 217 feet gain. And the second mile was almost as good - same gain, 7:29. The third mile came in at 8:01 as the hill started to steepen a little (263). Then I started to feel it with miles 4 and 5 - 400 feet in 9:54 then a brutal 500 feet in 11:11. I probably should have kept running more but I had fallen barely into fifth place, and it was pretty tough. The sixth mile was also 500 feet at an 11:22 pace, but then the tailwind really picked up and was able to do the last .55 (200 feet) at an 8:30 pace for a total time of 59:21. The first two had come in 8 minutes (!) earlier and were on their way to Tooelle. After chilling in the 30 MPH wind at the top for about 10 minutes I decided I had better get moving on the return before I froze so off I went, a very pleasant 40 minute jaunt back to the bottom for the full half. A really fun race, definitely recommended. Although they should probably start the bikes 10 minutes earlier to be fair.