Saguaro National Park Labor Day Run - 8 mile - RunOther

I went into this with no expectations or goals other than to simply get through it. I knew I would be slow, and I knew that I would have to walk quite a bit.

We ran off with the pack when the gun sounded and I was immediately passed by everyone around me, and continued to be passed by countless runners for the next few miles. I think I *maybe* passed two or three people at one of the aid stations. Aside from being slightly put off by the fact that I was running but still being passed by everyone, I was feeling good. I ran every uphill and never stopped running until I got to the base of the big hill at about mile 3.5, then started walking to get up the climb, feeling pretty good about being almost halfway done.

About midway up hill to the water station, I started to feel really hot and lightheaded. It hit me really fast and I almost felt like I couldn't stand up anymore. I briefly stopped twice to put my hands on my knees and try to cool down, but there was no shade anywhere and the sun just felt like it was hitting me in the head with a hammer. I knew the water station was close, so I forced myself to keep walking, but MAN it was rough. As soon as I got to the water station, I flopped down to the ground and sat on my butt... a park ranger came over and brought me some water and a cup of Xood, asked me how I was doing, checked my pupils to make sure I wasn't dying or anything, and told me that they could have somebody come to pick me up if I decided not to continue. I insisted that I felt good, my legs felt good, I just needed to make my head cooperate with me. It was so frustrating to sit there and watch people come up the hill and pass me. After drinking about 5 cups of water and throwing 3 more on my face/head/back, I decided to give it another go. Mr. Park Ranger told me that he was radioing my number to the next station and that they'd be watching for me. I probably lost almost 10 minutes between staggering up the hill and sitting at the water station.

I left the station walking, with a full cup of water in my hand. I walked almost the next mile, sipping on my water and trying to stay as cool as possible. Finally around mile 5 I was able to pick up my pace and start jogging again. By this point, a lot of people had started walking the course so I was actually able to pass most of the people who had passed me at the water station. I felt surprisingly decent, and was careful to walk most of the uphills so as not to get too hot again, and definitely walked the last two water stations and poured lots of ice water on myself. The rest of the course was pretty uneventful, I was just trying to stay consistent and get through it. I was able to pick up my pace and pass about 5 people in the last few hundred yards, so despite being almost at the very back of the pack, I came into the finish feeling strong.

I probably should have carried a water bottle with me on this course. I figured that water every 2 miles would be plenty, but obviously I was wrong. I think I would have been much less likely to overheat if I had been able to splash myself with water while running.

Drank my body weight in water, attempted to wash my face and arms as well as possible in the bathroom sink to get rid of all the salty sweatiness, walked around for a few minutes, then headed home.


Heat + not enough water. I need to figure out what exactly happened, because this normally isn't such an issue for me. I also need to run more miles, and more regularly.


I wasn't planning to do this race until about 24 hours prior to the start, and considering that I haven't run much lately, and have only ever run this distance once before, I'm not too upset with how I did. The fact that I'm not very sore right now probably means that I could have pushed myself harder, but considering my issues with the heat, I'm happy just to have pulled through and finished.

I love Saguaro Nat'l Park, and this race was a lot of fun. It's beautiful and a challenging-yet-fun course. The volunteers were great and a special thanks goes out to the unnamed park ranger who looked out for me at the mile 4 water station.