Pilot Hill 25k: My Run at Wyoming’s Oldest Footrace
Today, I had the pleasure of participating in the Pilot Hill 25k, Wyoming’s oldest footrace, which first took place in 1970. The adventure began when my friend JZ mentioned during our Spanish Conversation group that he was planning to do the race and invited me to carpool with him if I was interested. JZ is an inspiration to me, as he is about to turn 71 next month and still takes on tough races. Just last year, he completed an extremely challenging 60 km race in the mountains at altitude.
Initially, I wasn’t too keen on the idea since I decided a couple of years ago that I didn’t particularly enjoy off-road trail races due to my propensity for tripping and falling. However, I realized that my falls almost always happened after 15 miles. Given that the Pilot Hill 25k was only 15.5 miles, it would end near that threshold. Plus, I hadn’t participated in a race in Wyoming since 2006’s Rocky Mountain Double Marathon, and I hadn’t done a run over 10 miles since a DIY half-marathon in Dublin, Ireland in February. So, I decided to enter this race as a training run.
JZ picked me up in his Mercedes-Benz SL550, a sleek and powerful two-seater that I had never ridden in before. We drove from Fort Collins to Laramie on a cloudless morning. At the race start, there wasn’t even a hint of wind. My goals for the race were simple: to get in some good training, avoid injuries (no falls, scrapes, or blackened toenails), and have fun.
To prevent skin dmaage, I opted for a long-sleeved shirt and longer shorts instead of my usual race-day attire of a singlet and shorty shorts. I applied multiple layers of sunscreen on all exposed skin. I am glad I took those precautions considering the complete lack of clouds the entire morning, and also noticing that a runner already had gotten very sunburned on the back of her arms and upper back in the second half of the race.
To prevent toe and toenail issues, I wore toe socks for the first time in a race after successfully trying them out a few days prior. Some runners swear by toe socks for eliminating bloody toenails and blisters.
I also heel-locked my Saucony Kinvara 13 shoes, again with the aim to prevent blackened toenails. However, the shoes loosened slgihtly by the end of the race, so I should have cinched the laces even tighter.
Not related to injury prevention but for convenience, I tried out some “bib snaps” I recently found online for less than $2 instead of using safety pins. Count me as a fan.
This year’s race had a record turnout of 122 participants. I started mid-pack and, since I wasn’t aiming for a full-on race effort, kept my heart rate in high Zone 2/low Zone 3 (over 132 bpm) for the first quarter of the race. Then it stayed in the 140s until the halfway point.
The course became steeper as I approached the visible radio towers at the top of Pilot Hill. About a mile from the summit, everyone within sight ahead of me was walking due to the steep grade, and I did quite a bit of walking too. I grabbed some gummy bears at the second aid station but made a wrong turn afterward, continuing straight instead of turning. Fortunately, a volunteer chased after me and corrected my mistake before I was 100 meters off-course.
I mistakenly thought the aid station marked the top of the hill, but there was a three-kilometer loop to run that continued upward. Just as I finished this portion, I heard JZ call my name—he was just starting the loop and later said he was 18 minutes behind me at that point.
From there, the race was almost all downhill. The views of the valley near Laramie–while treeless–were quite beautiful.
Although I generally dislike running downhill off-road, the single- and double-track sections weren’t too technical, and I managed to pass many people. I stayed cautious on the rocky, technical parts, slowing down considerably, but fortunately, there weren’t a lot.
Remembering three past races where I tumbled to the ground within the final mile, I remained careful until the end, though I was able to pick up the pace to 8:10/mile despite the air no longer being still. In fact, the last few miles were into a direct headwind.
When I finished, I felt I still had some energy left but definitely got a good workout. At the finish, I saw my friend Mike, a speedster I hadn’t seen since the 2017 Horsetooth Half Marathon, where he was pushing his kid in a stroller, and I could barely keep up with him uphill. He shared that his son, now 9, recently ran an 8-minute mile, and his daughter is really into mountain biking.
JZ finished shortly after I finished chatting with Mike. We enjoyed the post-race food, including coconut juice, bananas, trail mix, Lara bars, and La Croix. Other runners enjoyed cans of beer. We agreed it was a good race, although JZ had a couple of leg cramps on the drive back, which I could totally relate to from past experience. Those cramps can be very painful and take a while to unseize.
When I got home, I was pleased to find no tan lines, bloody toenails, or blisters, so my precautions paid off. While I still wouldn’t say I’m a big enthusiast of trail running races, it’s good to step out of one’s comfort zone occasionally. And it was certainly excellent training!
Race Data
Total distance: 15.5 miles (25.0 km)
Total time: 2h41m50s (10:26/mi or 6:29/km)
Overall place: 50/114
Division place: 14/22
Men: 39/72
Official results
