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Kodiak 100k-7th

https://racinggrandteton.com

44th lap is the charm. Couldn’t have done this without the homies. Connor Burkesmith Alex Rienzie Justin Burgan Sam Schwartz Ian Hosek nate bowser 

Thanks for the inspiration and focus, Andy Anderson

If you want to skip to just the race and not hear about the backstory and thought process- I'd recommend scrolling down.

Woke up race day to the literal cutest Husky in the world snuggled up next to me. Ain't no snuggles like Dashimo snuggles. If you ever get the chance to meet him, you'll probably want to steal the little guy. Back off! Anyways... the plan was to start at 7:30am, but I didn't get out of bed for a bit longer because of Dash. Hard to say no to cute.

It was pretty special driving to Lupine Meadows for the last time of 2024. I've been making the commute from Togwotee Pass all summer long and it's breathtaking and beautiful pretty much every single time. I'd be lying if I didn't say I teared up a little bit feeling all the feels of finally giving this thing a shot after spending 4 years thinking about it. I was starting to get annoyed by everyone asking "What's your fastest time so far?" considering I had not yet had the confidence or fitness to go for it until now. I knew from the first time I sent it up the grand with Vints ✔️ that this goal was going to take a while to achieve. The first time I summited back in 2021, I ended up going up this rock 17 times that year. I didn't think Andy's time was legit. I thought it had to have been impossible and that his old school watch must be wrong. Or maybe that I wasn't capable of doing this. Regardless, I respected the mountain and the time enough that I told myself I wasn't going to race it until I knew this route 100% and had 0 questions of whether or not I was going "The Right Way". I told myself that I'd have to be SO comfortable with the route that I wouldn't waste an ounce of mental energy deciding where I was going or what direction I was headed in. 

Thanks to that focus and determination to spend as much time as possible dialing in the route, I literally started to dream about this route. I can close my eyes and see all of the rocks that I used as course markers, the goat paths, the small twists and turns of the trail, and each and every hand hold I needed to ensure quick and safe travel up and down the Owen Spaulding. To be quite honest- I became obsessed with this thing. I've talked about it openly for years,  even though some people thought I was crazy. When I say I haven't stopped thinking about this FKT every single day since I ran the Teton Crest Trail, I'm not lying.  There were plenty of times I'd stop my watch during bike rides at exactly 2:53:02 to look up at the Grand and know that I had to be up and down it in that time. I've had the splits memorized since Andy gave me his in summer 2023. 

Coming off an achilles injury that lasted July 2023 through June 2024, I didn't know if I'd be able to get in shape in time for a weather window to workout. Thank god for biking... the 15-20 hours a week of biking during the late spring/early summer really paid off and I'm happy I took the time to do it and stay fit. Thanks to some amazing humans that helped me recover and get the achilles in check (Andrew Mayer and Jen Kunzman) I was able to start hiking and slow jogging again in July. I spent a solid 25-30 hours a week hiking, scrambling, and doing some light jogging. I think the amount of time up high on feet was a huge contributing factor to being able to have the strength to move efficiently on this route. Once I was able get the achilles fully healthy, I started doing time trials on some of the shorter uphill efforts around the Tetons. Mt. Glory, Taylor, and Grand Targhee. I feel like this was a really good stepping stone into not only feeling confident with the health of the body, but also getting used to going all gas no brakes on the ups, and then immediately turning around and blasting straight down. These little efforts definitely gave me some massive confidence going into the grand.

ANYYYYWAAAAAYS- Onto the day of.

Warmed up around the Moose ponds loop after an extremely healthy breakfast of Snickers, Redbull, and 3 ibuprofen. I also started drinking a healthy ratio of Skratch the night before and the morning of to prime the body for the main fuel source of the attempt. Literally no idea if that makes sense scientifically, but I don't care. I've been doing that for a long time and will continue doing that 🤪 A few days prior to this attempt, I had a weird calf spasm that kind of put me in a state of high alert and caution. I wasn't sure if it was going to hold up through the run and was definitely a bit nervous. It was like... 95% during the warmup.


Got some strides in and a few minutes of a solid tempo effort before setting off from the trailhead. I wanted to make sure that my breathing, heart rate, and sweat rate was high from the get go. I knew that I couldn't waste any time right off the bat.

7:45AM. Go time, baby! CLICK!

Luckily it was a bit brisk out so I didn't have to worry about over-heating on the uphill. First mile- 7:28. Perfect. The goal from Lupine meadows to the beginning of the boulder fields at Garnet was to be close to Andy's time of 38:00 minutes. I didn't want to start out too hot and get burnt by the moraines or lower saddle, so I had to play this thing pretty cautiously while also making sure to take advantage of all the "speed gifts" ( Peter Fain )

About 2 miles in was when I first started to have negative thoughts. I don't know why it happened so early- maybe to give me a reason to back out before it gets hard, or maybe to give myself an excuse to not hurt. Whatever it was, I told myself that there was no way I would let my friends down who woke up at 3am to get to the top of this mountain to help me achieve this dream. The fuel from miles 2-4 was the love I felt from my friends being there to help.

38:10- Garnet and the start of the boulder fields. Perfect. Right on pace with where Andy was when he got the FKT. I was actually ahead of where I thought I would be. The calf felt fine, the energy levels felt good, and I felt as though I could have gotten up there quicker If I wanted. Things are good. I used the cues of "quick, light, and nimble" to navigate through the boulders. By the time I hit the meadows and the split, I looked down at my watch.

44:07- Garnet Meadows. Ahead of goal pace, and ahead of Jack's pace to here. Whoopsies... I was trying to keep it conservative and not get out that fast. But then I thought to myself... DUDE. You feel really good right now and are AT or ABOVE FKT pace. Keep it up!!!

The next section is a bit tricky. There's a LOT of different ways you can go to get from the meadows to the lower saddle. The caves and the moraines pose a lot of challenges and can be mentally draining if you don't know where you're going or feel comfortable with your route choice. This is the #1 place where the advice I received from Andy came into play. "I didn't choose any specific route, I just made sure to keep moving uphill efficiently". This section requires a lot of attention if you're going to go for this thing. It isn't necessarily about going the "right" way. It's about moving towards the goal without expending any mental energy. Keep grinding upwards without thinking about your next move.

I hit the first stop for water right at the caves. Quickly pulled my handheld out of my belt and refilled, and kept trucking along. As I "slowly" hiked through this section, running anything I could, I heard a familiar voice cheering up above me. My dude Justin Burgan was hanging out up high with his camera and cheering me on. He was in the most perfect place to keep my spirits high and keep me moving efficiently. At this point, I could look up and see the lower saddle and know where I was headed. Things are looking good!

1:18:48- Lower Saddle: Holy shit batman! You're ahead of FKT pace!!! Andy's split was around 1:20, so this felt pretty damn surreal. I was definitely tired, but this was the first time I started to realize I was 100% in this thing and had to keep grinding no matter what. No more negative thoughts.  I knew I had some raw emotion in my back pocket as a source of fuel and energy, and I knew that now was going to be the time to use it to my advantage. 

This section from the lower saddle to the OS was the hardest part of this run. I wish I had a microphone on me...  that would have been absolute gold. I was grunting, screaming, panting, cursing, and making all sorts of other weird noises to get myself through. Whatever it takes. This is also the section that requires the most route finding, and the section that I was unfortunately unable to time trial before the run because there was never a good chance. I firmly believe that if I spent a bit more time moving fast through this section that there's another 2-3 minutes that can be taken off from the LS-US. There were one too many times that I had to stop for a second on this section and give myself pep talks and time to recover, refresh, and keep going. There were a LOT of grunts happening here... 

1:44:08- Upper saddle: Shit. I'm starting to lose time to Andy here... I need to be at the top by 1:48, but I've never done this section in less than 7 minutes. FUCK. I'm falling behind, hurting, and things are starting to fade. What's happening? I hit the Belly Roll in a bit of a negative state. Thank god I saw Sam Schwartz here. He was screaming at me and cheering me on, holding groups back from moving through the OS and making sure that I could keep going without losing anytime. Frickin G. I knew I had to make up time, but this was also the most dangerous section to try and pick up the pace. 

I made it through the belly roll just fine and got to the double chimney. Unfortunately, this is the part of the route that was still holding ice and snow from the storm the week before. There was definitely a huge possibility of slipping here, so it was necessary to balance speed, grace, and being exhausted while trying to stay dialed and move quickly without slipping on ice and suffering a possibly heinous injury or death. I actually almost slipped going through the double chimney here, losing a left foot while trying to reach up towards my hold. Luckily, I didn't totally eat it and was actually able to capitalize on the slip. Instead of feeling any type of anxiety or fear, I used that slip to narrow the gaze and completely dial into the rock and separate what was bone dry and what was ice. Luckily for me, Connor Burkesmith was at this section to give me the heads up on whether or not there was any Verglas. When he saw me coming through, he yelled that everything was good and that I could keep going. Thank god! No slipping on ice and falling to my death today, yippee!

I remember looking at my watch around this section and seeing it say 1:47. Fuck. I need to somehow get all the way up there in 1 minute to be on pace... I think this attempt might be over? I slowed down for just a moment, before kicking my ass back into gear and remembering my goal of trying to hit the summit and down in under an hour. This thing isn't over just yet. I kept grinding, following my path that I knew I was headed towards and kept moving as efficiently and smoothly as possible up at 13,700 feet. I hit Sargent's without a hitch and just kept climbing. I looked up at one point to see a group of 10-12 people up on top of the summit, cheering, screaming, and yelling for me to keep going. Not gonna lie, that was pretty huge for me. I rounded the last rock and slapped the summit block.

1:52:20- Summit. Well... I told myself that it might be possible to go under 1 hour from the top down. If there is ever a time to do it... giddy up.

I've been waiting YEARS to race this section. The summit to the lower saddle. This is the type of terrain that really defines what it is to be a mountain runner. This is the real frickin deal. LETS. FUCKING. GO.

At this point, I slammed the 5 hour energy that I had brought with me and tried to regroup and really dial in. I had some negative thoughts at first, but told myself I may as well lay it all out there and put myself in contention to get this thing. I flew down towards the catwalk, making questionable choices and being absolutely reckless. I was jumping down sections that if I made one mistake or caught one toe, death was surely imminent. I didn't really care at this point. I wanted this thing so bad, this was literally the only option.

I hit the catwalk and saw Connor. I yelled out "1:52:20, we're cutting the switchbacks!". He yelled back and told me to do what I had to do. I scrambled between the catwalk and the double chimney, avoiding ice and being absolutely reckless. I got through to the belly roll and saw Sam on the other end. At this point, I knew I had to commit 100% to this or I was going to have to come back and do this again. It's now or never. I looked at Sam and all of a sudden got EXTREMELY emotional. I yelled out to him, tears forming in my eyes, "DUDE! I THINK I GOT THIS!" and started screaming down towards the lower saddle. He was yelling behind me, cheering me on and giving me a huge burst of energy.

What followed was the most heinous, ridiculous, and reckless downhill of my life. I was dialed.  I wish we were able to have a drone, because I think that downhill from the summit to the lower saddle will go down in my mind as one of the most beautifully put together runs I will have ever done. 

2:07:00- Lower saddle. What the actual fuck? Am I losing my vision or am I reading this right? Did I just hit that last segment in under 15 minutes? Jesus... HOW? Out of all the times I told myself that I could get from the summit to the lower saddle in under 15 minutes... I'm not gonna lie, I didn't know if I actually believed it. Call it wishful thinking, manifest destiny, or just pure luck, the biggest rush of energy I've ever experienced took over. 

"I think I fucking got this thing."

I blasted down to the fixed lines, not even running, just surfing through the steep, loose, rocky terrain. I hit the fixed lines and threw myself down to the bottom. I lost the footing a couple times, but luckily had enough left to catch myself from ever going too far over my skis and eating it. 

Getting through the moraines and down to Garnet Canyon isn't really difficult or route findy, but does require a maximum amount of concentration. If you don't focus on every step and keep moving forward quickly and efficiently, you're going to lose time fast. You have to focus on quick feet and never look up from the path you're taking. This is the place where the ankle tape and sleeves come in handy. If you make eye contact with anyone or look away from the goal, you're going to eat it. FOCUS is the main goal here.

2:24:00- Garnet Meadows. This is when I knew I kinda had it in the bag. All I had left to do was avoid a fall, a cramp, running into a hiker/climber, getting tripped, running into a grizzly bear or a moose, or any other random unforeseen event. Should be easy? 

All that was left is 4 minutes through the boulder field, and then 24 minutes down to the bottom. It's FKT time, baby!!! Let's. Fucking. Go.

I hit the end of the boulder fields at 2:29:00. I have 24 minutes to get through the last 4 miles of hikers. This is when I knew I had a really tough decision to make- whether or not to cut the switchbacks. 

This is a conversation that I had with a lot of people. It's a hot topic of conversation surrounding this route and something that definitely gets brought up a lot. I've gone back and forth on what I would do, but I felt at peace when I had a conversation with Andy about this exact subject. He gave me permission, saying that the route is up for interpretation and is about whoever can get up and down the fastest. To add to that, I had the unfortunate reality added to the mix of having to make this attempt on Labor Day. That wasn't planned nor wanted. It was unfortunately forced due to weather constraints and was possibly going to be the last day I could go for it. Running up the very last uphill of the route, I made the decision to cut the last switchback and avoid the Congo line of hikers that would be heading up Lupine Meadows Trailhead. If I had to make this choice again, I would 100% make the exact same choice. If anyone has a problem with that, they can go ahead and tell Kilian Jornet Burgada that his time doesn't count, and then they can go run this route to the best of their ability and beat all of our times. Or fight me. Whatever.

Anyways... at this point, I knew all I had to do was finish. I kept the foot on the pedal and kept going. Grinding, grinding, grinding. Every single step was focused and deliberate. There was 0 room for error and I couldn't roll an ankle or get tripped up. I was counting down the miles in my head.

1.6 miles. Don't trip down this technical section, be cautious. You've got this.

1 mile left. Unless you run an 8:30 mile... this thing is yours. Bring it home.

.5 miles left. Across the bridge. Down the steps. Around the corner. Home free.

Final straightaway.... you fucking did it dude. You fucking did it.

I turned that last corner and brought it home. Leading up to this run, I had this vision in my head that if I made it in record time, I would probably burst into tears and get emotional, balling my little baby eyes out. Somehow though, I was just overcome with joy. I had spent all that raw emotion during the run and quite literally had nothing left to give. I felt an overwhelming amount of peace wash over me. It's finally done... I did it. This idea of the Grand Teton that I put in my head four years ago had finally come true... I had finally achieved this goal that I originally deemed impossible. 

Well anyways that's it. I've never written so much for a race recap in my life. If you read all this, thanks. I appreciate you and appreciate that you care. 

Thanks for reading!

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