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Show -- Competition, recreation and fitness t Review W August 6, 1986 .Wednesday ID u Bair Gutsman Runners begin their ascent. r. One rule of the Bair Gutsman is you have to get lost at least once, or youre disqualified. that runs in the Wasatch Runner warns, If you have to ask, this race is not for you. Trust us. Even the best runners can run only about half the time during the ascent. Weve never had anyone yet who ran the full length of the said. race, Barnum-Reec- e The race begins on pavement, but after easing nearly a mile up the streets of Fruit Heights.the runners bolt from the public access to Bair Canyon, take to the dirt trail that crosses a little ravine and then disappear into the undergrowth for the next four miles and 4,000 of vertical rise. Even the best runners can run only half the distance up the mountain while they pick their way between boulders, across creeks, around marshes and through the impenetrable oak. Once the competitors are lucky enough to break through the scrub oak they are come face to face with Death Row. At the bottom of Death Row it looks like its clear sailing you can see the top of the mountain. But the incline invites cause to razy Bobs Bair Gutsman Mt. Memorial Classic is not a race for the faint of heart. Its not even a race for the strong of heart, if thats all a competitors got. miles The Gutsman is of self abuse that causes even experienced mountain runners to wonder why in the world they would ever agree to run it, let alone pay for the privilege. Actually, run does not describe the action performed on much of this course. Bushwhack is a better term. There are no trails, unless you count the ones the deer blaze ev11-pl- us ery fall. There are rocks, dense thickets of scrub oak, creeks, and the infa- mous Death Row awaiting any who dare take up the gauntlet. 1 always tell all the partici- pants before the race that if they dont get lost at least once during the race, then they are disqualified, race director Richard said. Once on top of the mountain, the. race course follows a road to the finish line. Photos by Rodney Wright f--i'-- :Y Story by Gary Hatch y' 5? f - ' v 'J V ' s 7 jjjw yw ffi-- f r ,y Mm s o ' t,4 y ' ' ! r 0.9 $" aMM fu V rA 4 V'. . . :Vi ; ' - Saa , , A vX r,:b- ' - - -- !i v X. L . - .i 'AJ b -- Mlv; ' ?- 4 14 -- 4 : V ' sr'WY. MXM - x - "V , pause. From there on, the last six miles, it's all down hill. But the pounding the runners legs take on that part of the course makes it no easy task either. There are two kinds of people who run the Bair Gutsman: those who are serious mountain runners and those who don't belong here. Theres no middle ground, Barnum-Reec- t Dense scrub oak is hard on the shins (left), which is one reason people wonder why they ever entered the race in the first place. During those moments when disorientation sets in and a runner cant find his way out of the overgrowth, the important thing he needs to remember is keep heading straight uphill. If you keep heading straight up you at least know eventually you'll break out of it. If you get into any of the side canyons, you get in a lot of trouble, said race winner Tom Borschcl, who completed the course in just over an hour and fifty minutes. The race is not for the inexperienced runner, although some do sign up every year. Barnum-Recc- e discourages all but serious mountain runners. The advertisement for the race said. e It started years ago and is Utahs oldest mountain race. Jan Cheney.a former Davis High runner who wanted some- said. .? , . C When a competitor is alone somewhere on the side of the mountain in a thicket of scrub oak so dense he cant see two feet in any direction, and he realizes Barnum-Reec- c was serious, only then does he begin to appreciate what this race is all about. Weve considered starting the race at the base of Farmington canyon and just running it up the road to the top, but then we realized wed be defeating a big part of the purpose of the race, : 1 5 thing more past high school, first conceived and directed the race. But it has been directed by Barnum-Reece the past few years. It is one of the steepest races in the U.S. with a 4,000 foot vertical climb in the first four miles. It used to start at the Rock Loft, a privately owned fruit processing plant, but starting line was moved this year to an LDS church building at 901 South Mountain Road. The Crazy Bob's part of the title comes in memorium to deceased brother, Robert, who held the Bair Gutsman among his favorite races. . i t I |