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Yesterday was the hottest Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k of the four I have run. And the hardest. Sometimes you give it your all and your all is not quite enough. Made it much farther than last year, under worse (hotter, dryer, dustier) conditions.
It was already in the mid-70s Fahrenheit at the race start, spiked into the 80s and 85+ from mile 4 onward, hitting highs in the low 90s. I had somewhat prepared for the heat, with a hydration plan & practice, and a cooling outfit including an ice-bandana.
I made it up almost 4000 feet of elevation gain from the start to the picturesque “Stairway to Heaven” ladder (newly replaced this year!) up to Washeshu Peak (~2700m above sea level, 8868' according to my Garmin) and across the plateau at the top.
After the crux of the race I hiked / slow-ran down the steep descent, making it to about mile 7.8 (more than halfway!) at the Siberia aid station. Missed the cutoff by a few minutes and got pulled. From the start I pushed perhaps the hardest I have ever pushed at Broken Arrow, found new limits, and felt like I left it all on the mountain.
I have some ideas for what to improve, given similar conditions. Still reflecting on lessons learned. This was my fourth overall attempt, and 2nd DNF at Broken Arrow.
Broken Arrow Skyrace 23k results so far:
* 2026: DNF at ~7.8mi Siberia Aid
* 2025: DNF at ~4.6mi Snow King Aid
* 2024: 6:52 finish! https://tantek.com/2024/176/t1/finished-broken-arrow-skyrace-23k
* 2023: 5:22 finished adjusted 23k course (due to high winds): 2 loops of 11k https://tantek.com/2023/178/t1/june-trailrunner-ultrarunner
I will return for the 2027 Broken Arrow Skyrace.
#BrokenArrowSkyrace #skyRace #trailRace #mountainRunning
Before the race: https://tantek.com/2026/171/t1/once-more-brokenarrowskyrace-23k
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Tomorrow morning
once more into the woods
up the rocks, onto the ridges
@brokenarrowskyrace.com
Goal: finish 23k
Live stream: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeYQprW-4u4
#BrokenArrowSkyrace #skyRace #trailRace #mountainRunning
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signed up for @brokenarrowskyrace.com (@BrokenArrowCA) 23k #skyRace on 2025-06-22!¹
This will be my third #BrokenArrow race.
Goals: finish strong, beat last year’s time.
The race sold out within 10-15minutes of opening this morning. Here’s how it went for me:
09:00 Pacific time registration opened (I had two laptops ready, reloading every second)
09:06 I completed registering but it redirected me to the home page (not a confirmation). I thought it had canceled my registration, so I kept trying. The #UltraSignup site flow was sufficiently broken that I didn't know I had successfully registered.
~9:15 I was able to check my online UltraSignup profile and see the 09:06 registration.
09:25 Received email confirmation of registration.
You can still register for the 23k waitlist: https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=117118
More Broken Arrow races and distances (e.g. 46k, VK, 18k, 11k) registrations are opening the rest of this week, every morning December 10-13.
See the https://www.brokenarrowskyrace.com/ website for details for each.
Previously, previously:
* https://tantek.com/2024/176/t1/finished-broken-arrow-skyrace-23k
* https://tantek.com/2023/178/t1/june-trailrunner-ultrarunner
¹ https://www.brokenarrowskyrace.com/23k
#23k #trailRace #RingDasBell
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Finished my second Broken Arrow #Skyrace 23k¹ yesterday in 6:52:44! #RingDasBell
This year’s #BrokenArrowSkyrace² 23k was actually that distance! I ran 23.3km with 4557' vertical climb! In contrast, last year’s "23k" race³ was rerouted (due to weather conditions) last minute to two laps of the 11k course, where my actual distance was 18.87km with 4905' vert.
I have been looking forward to this all year, to climbing the infamous "Stairway to Heaven" ladder to the top of Washeshu Peak (8885'/2692m elevation) for the first time (since last years’s race had to skip it).
This year’s Broken Arrow is the start of the Mountain Running World Cup⁴. It’s a rare sports event opportunity to compete with the best in the sport, to literally run the same trails they do, on the same day, with the same start (there are no waves), and finish line.
Lots to write-up, for now, I’m grateful for the experience and accomplishment.
Super grateful for everyone who came out to cheer and especially my coach whose training and guidance got me here.
A few notes:
Great lining up with so many friends.
Hot day. Filled my ice bandana at the first aid station (Snow King) which made the rest possible.
Steady hydration & fueling.
Fueling timeline notes (times are my H:MM race clock times from the start)
0:00 start
1:45 ate Picky Bar
2:00 finished Tailwind in 500ml bottle
2:08 Snow King aid station, refilled bottles one with water and the other with mandarin Tailwind, filled ice bandana with ice, picked up a few Spring Energy gels
3:15 ate Awesome Sauce gel
3:45 ate Awesome Sauce gel
~4:30 left Siberia aid station with refilled ice bandana, bottles, a few Spring Snacks, ate potato chips, a watermelon slice, salt+nuun add to one water bottle, mandarin Tailwind in the other
5:05 ate Awesome Sauce gel
5:35 (-13:39) left Julia aid station with another Spring Energy gel
6:03 ate Awesome Sauce gel
6:52:44 finish
Lots of incredible views along the way. The air was clean and quite breathable even nearing 9000'. Felt a bit slower but kept going within my capacity.
Kept an eye on the time remaining before cut-off compared to my distance and vert climbing remaining and pushed steadily when I could.
Finished with just over 7 minutes to spare before the official cut-off, to friends cheering on all sides. Saw and hugged my coach after ringing the bell at the finish.
What an experience.
#BrokenArrowSkyrace #trailRace #trailRun #trailRunner #runner #running #trailRunning
¹ https://www.brokenarrowskyrace.com/23k
² https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=106489
³ https://tantek.com/2023/178/t1/june-trailrunner-ultrarunner
⁴ https://worldathletics.org/news/preview/mountain-running-world-cup-2024-opens-broken-arrow
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