33/50 - Salmon Idaho Marathon

The Salmon River and me (not pictured) naked as a bird in its icy waters

"I'm gonna win, win, win. I'm gonna win in Hawaii, I'm gonna win in Arkansas, I'm gonna win in Oklahoma, I'm gonna win in Idaho. And some of you are friends and you are going to call and you're going to say, Mr. Brunette, please, we can't take it anymore, we can't have you win like this, Mr. Brunette, you're driving us crazy, you're winning too much, please Mr. Brunette, not so much and I'm going to say I'm sorry, I'm going to keep winning because we are going to make running great again!"

Salmon, in central Idaho, isn't the easiest location to get to but it sure is worth it! We flew into Salt Lake City and drove about 5 hours to Hailey, ID, which is located steps from the Sawtooth Mountains. Hailey, along with the towns of Ketchum and Sun Valley, make up the Sun Valley region. In short, it's beautiful.

After settling into The Inn at Ellsworth on Thursday, we found a brewery. Hailey, unlike Ketchum and Sun Valley, lacks that ski resort town appearance and instead feels like a small town that people have called home for most of their lives as evident by the cute elderly couple we spotted leaving the brewery in this 1955 Bel-Air on what appeared to be date night.

On their way to Make-Out Point, I'm guessing

Hailey also has one of the most impressive public skateboard parks I have ever seen

Before breakfast at the B&B, we enjoyed a hike up Buttercup Hill - a 20-30 minute steep hike to the top offering 360 degree views of the mountains, town, airport, and alfalfa fields (no potato farms spotted yet) below.

Mike "Buttercup" on top of Buttercup Hill

The drive to Salmon from Hailey passes through Ketchum and Sun Valley then traverses the Sawtooth Mountains via a steep and harrowing, at times one lane, dirt and fist-sized rock road (quite similar to the marathon's terrain, in fact) through portions of open range cattle farmland for 40 miles (who cares, not our "luxury sedan" - a Hyundai Elantra) before reaching the base of Idaho's tallest peak, Mt. Borah (elevation 12,662 feet). This drive leaving Hailey added 4 more hours to arrive in Salmon and STILL no potato farms. After checking in, we did find another brewery, then a place to have salmon... In Salmon.

Trail Creek Road through the Sawtooth Mountains

The Stagecoach Inn, located on the Salmon River, is convenient. The buses shuttled us from there to a one-room school house in Tendoy (birthplace of Sacagawea) for the race start (elevation 4,900 feet). The course is a rocky dirt road that winds along the Lemhi River around mountain sides, through cattle pastures and horse farms, and ends on the Salmon River in Salmon (elevation 3,900 feet). Though a mostly downhill course, there were two decent climbs (significant if you're from the midwest) at mile 7 and mile 15. 

This being a small race (about 150 registered marathon participants), there were 6 of us leading the pack, then Bob and me. Bob is a high school cross country coach and post-collegiate runner, two things I am not. At mile 5, he took off and I was left with that familiar feeling that 2nd place isn't all that bad... Until I passed him at mile 13. The second climb at mile 15 is an out-and-back leg where I was able to see a young kid closing my lead to about 30 seconds. I panicked. 

There is a certain motivation in knowing that there are runners ahead of you to pick off. In this case, there was a constant fear that I was that motivation for someone else. I would stop at every aid station, drink a water (and the occasional HEED - it's not that bad!) and look back to see where he was. I never saw him again but over the last 11 miles, I imagined hearing foot strikes and heavy breathing and envisioned my defeat. Holding this pace solo with no one to pick off and a race to lose was particularly difficult. Couple this fear with a dull, nagging hamstring pain from a past injury and constantly scanning the road for sizable rocks and I never felt comfortable until that last turn.

And the winner is... Actually, the guy who ran in jean shorts is winning at life.

As I made the turn and saw the finish line, I once again experienced winning without breaking tape; it's tradition now. An overall time of 2:51:49 earned me the course record for 9 years of this race's history. Great, now I'll have to defend that! All in all, it was a fantastic race and I'm glad that I'll have some lasting (hopefully) ties to it. The race directors and other participants were all extremely friendly and welcoming, and the course was beautiful. You can't ask for much more.

We mingled a bit, had some beers, then spun the idea of making it to Bozeman, MT for a marathon the next morning. Stupid idea, right? Thanks to our friend Michael who planted this idea just the day before, we contemplated every conceivable way to make this happen and still be home to get the kids before Monday morning. Ultimately, we passed because we couldn't find a flight home that would work, so instead we used that time to find a clothing optional hot spring! I've been looking for one of these in my travels for the past 20 years - not one of those man-made spots which are fed by hot springs, but real, remote, natural hot springs.    

About 45 minutes south of Salmon, off of highway U.S. 93, is an unmarked dead end road that leads to a trailhead. The 2-mile hike up to Goldbug Hot Springs that followed is a moderate hike that rises about 900 feet and ends at a grouping of about 10 hot spring pools being fed by hot and cold mountain springs. Due to its proximity to nothing, this was not a crowded site. Since these are public lands, hikers are free to set up camp along the trail and can also drop trou for a naked dip in the pools. We did, of course. After 48 marathons, this was the best post-run activity to date!

Clothing optional means SAYONARA SHORTS!

You know what's great about traveling without your kids? Everything. Thanks to grandparents (hi, Mom! You're wonderful!), we were able enjoy this hot spring on our way to The Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City (a must-stay if you're ever in SLC) for one more relaxing night and morning before flying home. Err, before going to In-N-Out Burger then flying home (no picture from In-N-Out because we couldn't wait three seconds to start shoving food into our mouths).

Whoever said America isn't great needs a weekend by the Grand America pool

Oh quit it, the kids also enjoyed us traveling without them