Bryce Canyon - the good, the bad and the ugly

Bryce Canyon was my first time doing a race with Vacation Races. Of course, since this was the first time the 100 was held since 2022, I wanted to do to that distance! An early season 100 would be good and a nice learning opportunity for a third attempt at Tabeguache later. But I was a little hesitant about doing that long a distance with a company I knew nothing about. Got all kinds of reassurance in the various FB groups, so went ahead and signed up. Besides, I couldn't beat the early bird price for the 100 either! Overall, it was a great event, well organized and a nice challenging course. I do feel a little disappointed that we didn't get to see the real 100 mile course, but not sure I'm disappointed enough to go back! I would however recommend the race, but with some caveats as always

The Good...

    The pre race communication was very clear and easy to understand. The race guide was set up so you could read it all but then just print out the information relevant to your distance. There were clear, color coded maps, the elevation charts and what was allowed for crew/pacers/drop bags reiterated for every distance. We got the email warning that we might not have the normal course with plenty of time to adjust plans for crewing and drop bags. At the expo, the bib pick up and shirt pick up was smoothly run. There were large flags telling you what tents were handling what jobs. The volunteers had all the pertinent information, or were able to get ahold of people who knew for questions that were outside their scope. Th drop bag turn in area was very well marked with distance you were running and which aid station the bag was going to. There was also plenty of room between the aid stations markers so you didn't have to worry that the pile of bags would overflow into the wrong aid station. 

Course Marking through the campground. Every intersection had flags and arrows like this

    On course, the marking was great. I never had any concerns that I was going the wrong way or off course - and that was from someone who'd never been in the area before! They had the course marked Thursday as well so we were able to scope out some areas Thursday afternoon and Friday morning. Every intersection was clearly marked with arrows and additional flagging and there were also signs telling you if you were going the wrong way. They even had a wrong way sign in one of the cow trails that crossed the course near the end of the loop! The aid stations were very well stocked with a nice variety of foods, including warm food/liquid at most of them near the end of the race. They also had these really cool water drop locations with huge water fountains in sections that needed a little bit of support due to heat and exposure, but not enough for a full aid station.

One of the major turns where the courses split. No getting lost here if you paid attention! And the brown sign on the right of the photo also had directions and distances to points

The pre-race driving instructions for crew were also clear. We did drive to the two aid stations Nick was going to be at on Thursday so there were no questions come race day. 

The Bad...

As with any corporate race organization, there will be some measure of commercialization. The largest tents in the expo area were the VR merch tents. I can't really complain - they were also the most popular tents! And it wasn't like some other big corporate races I've done where you have to go through the merch to either get out or get in. It would have been nice to have had some of the merch like the stickers in the registration packet like other races do. It also would have been nice to have had the 100 mile sticker available this year! I know that renting the outhouses and having that much potable water is expensive. And that we were on private property for the camping. But really - $40 for parking in a dusty, windblown field with no shade at all? It was convenient to just roll out of bed, walk to the outhouse and be right on site for the race, but that was about it. I've seen photos of prior years and realize that we got lucky with the "light winds" and weather conditions. But, we were quite happy that we'd decided to camp elsewhere Thursday night so Nick could ride Thunder Mountain Trail. That campground was quiet, shaded and had very nice showers.

    In all the pre-race communication, there was nothing regarding driving to the aid stations and to slow down and not dust the runners out. Coyote Hollow aid station (mile 25/72 for the 100, 25 for the 50 milers and 19.4 for the 60k racers) had shared access on the dirt road. It was the only aid station on the adjusted course that had shared access. And the first loop, when we were mixed in with the 50 milers and 60kers it was a shit show of epic proportions. We were on the road for about 1.5 miles - I did not see a sign where the course merged with the road warning drivers to slow down, all that common sense stuff. And believe me - NO one was slowing down. I had more dust in my face on that 1.5 mile stretch then anywhere else in the course. The crew driving up and down the road were more focused on either getting in and getting parking (another shit show as cars were parked about a mile down the road on both sides...) or getting out so they could get to the next aid station. No one was paying attention to the runners on the road at all. The sad part is, there was an aid station with crew access 6 miles prior to Coyote hollow for all distances. And another one in 8 miles for the 50 milers and us 100 milers. So really, on that first pass, the ONLY racers that should have had crew there would be the 60k runners. That was their last crew point and it was about 20 miles to their finish line. Instead, everyone was trying to get there and as such, made that section the worst of the race in terms of safety.

The Ugly... and a bit of a rant

    Remember those nice neat piles of drop bags? Well, they all made it to the aid stations and I had the stuff I wanted. But... There was no organization at all with how the bags were set up within each race area. They were literally still in the piles like the morning before! Which wouldn't have been an issue if there had been a volunteer at the piles, looking for bags of runners as they came in. Which where was not. Which meant at the first location I had a drop bag, I spent about 5 minutes searching in the pile for my clearly labeled bright green bag - walking through cheat grass to get there because it was a tight location. At least those bags were at the aid station proper! At the next aid station I had a drop bag at, they were across the parking lot from the actual aid station, again with no one helping to find the bags. So you had to walk across the parking lot, find your bag, walk back over to the aid station to refill stuff and then walk back to the drop bag area when you were done. 

    But wait! It actually does get worse. Once I had my drop bag, I had no where to work. There was nothing set up and designated as a location for going through drop bags - just the aid station tables with food and fluid coolers. So I was digging through the bag, trying to spill things without being able to set anything down. It was more an issue at the first location as it was still in middle of all the races and fairly crowded. The second aid station where I had a drop bag was just 100 mile runners at that point so there was a little more room. But again, no table to work on. 

    And it gets still worse from there... Not only was there no place for me to set things down, but at all but one aid station, the volunteers were less then helpful. At several they weren't even helpful at all! At one, all of the chairs in the shade were occupied by texting teens who didn't seem inclined to move at all. Good thing I didn't want to sit down... Also, if you are volunteering at a race and you see a runner trying to fill a soft flask with soda, one with water and then getting electrolyte mix in a third, would you at least ask what you can do to help? Or even better - you'd probably ask what the runner needs when they get into the aid station! You probably wouldn't wander around for a few minutes not doing anything, then sit down in the chair behind the food tables and just stare as the runner struggles to get things done. I am not joking. At the first location where I had a drop bag, I was trying to get my snacks for the next long leg, fill water, get soda and refill electrolytes. I was also trying to do that while holding my poles, my vest, the three soft flasks, and my drop bag because there was no place to set anything down. Not once did anyone offer to help - and there were plenty of volunteers standing around! I was so frustrated with the lack of help and the time spent digging around that I just returned my drop bag to the start/finish line instead of saving it for the next lap. I didn't want to deal with that nonsense 50 miles later when I was that much tireder. At the second drop bag location, where you had to walk across the parking lot from the aid station to get the drop bags, I had even less help. The volunteer basically made sure I came in from the right direction and then sat down and stared. 

    I can't say if that's a reflection on the volunteers or on the education provided by the race however. I didn't use the two aid stations where Nick was crewing, and the other aid station was rocking. Asked what you wanted, got things for you, did as much as they could to get you back on the trail as quickly as you wanted to get back on the trail. Those ladies were awesome and had all the aid stations been like that, I would be raving about it - not ranting. 

Overall, I had a great time at Bryce - even with the hiccups above. I'm not sure I need to go back to Bryce again - but I will entertain another VR ultra even in the future if the timing works out and the course looks fun.