Did you ever have a bucket list race? A race you’ve always wanted to try but the stars just never aligned for it to happen? The Broken Arrow Sky Race has been that race for me since they starting racing in Squaw Valley. It usually falls on or around Father’s Day or near Squeaker’s birthday, but not this year. This year, the timing was perfect.
When I told Vans about this race and my intentions months ago, he was all for it. Then I discovered there was also a Broken Arrow kid’s race AND a Big Blue Adventure Mountain Bike Race all within the same weekend. The stars not only aligned, they were calling us … to Tahoe! So off we went!
The Broken Arrow Sky Race series starts on a Friday with a VK (Vertical Kilometer) race, followed by Saturday with the 11k race and a 52k race. The series ends on Sunday with a 26k and the kid’s race. All throughout the weekend are vendors, music, beer, food and just a ton of super fit active happy people.
We arrived late Friday evening. Vans went and did his crazy mountain bike race (his first major one since his collar bone accident in February) on Saturday while the kids and I soaked up the excitement and energy in the village. It was fun and gave me a chance to chat with a lot of 52k finishers about the course as this was 100% a snow year and running was not going to be easy peasy way up high on the mountain.
Come Sunday morning, my nerves were getting to me. After having talked to so many about the snowy conditions, I was a bit nervous. Just a week before the race I had suffered from either a terrible bout of allergies OR a nasty sinus cold that tried to make its way into my chest. I had a few asthma attacks that week as a result. Regardless, trying to breathe had been rough and I took a good week off to let everything settle.
I did not take any photos at the start of the race. I was too much in my head and watching those around me. When they counted us down and sent us on our way, I had a smile on my face eager to see what the day would bring.
The first few miles of the course I am familiar with. That single track in the photo above I have run before during our family time in Tahoe. It’s gorgeous but because of the snow, it’s been a while since I’ve run on it. It was as soft and as beautiful as I remember.
Then we started climbing. They wasted no time with that elevation gain in this race. I tried to settle into a decent pace but those around me were pushing pretty hard. I wanted to as well but my legs and lungs had not quite adjusted yet to what I was asking them to do.
I did make a promise to myself that every peak I crested, I would stop, turn and take a photo. It made climbing those giant mountains, a little more fun.
There were 424 people running this race so it was a bit of an adjustment trying to maintain space on the trail. The initial climbs were all a conga line of people. Many had trekking poles which created space and passing issues trying not to get jabbed in the knee cap. Though I wasn’t really passing many at the beginning.
Every turn we made, brought a new climb. The red arrows in the photo above, if you click on it, you’ll see tiny specks … those are people, lines of them climbing. I was headed their way.
All you could really do is put one foot in front of the other and move. We had not even hit the snow sections yet. You can see at the top of the photo, that’s were the snow really started to play a factor.
Cresting that first major climb provided your first glimpse of Lake Tahoe. The runners behind me saw that I turned and took a photo and they turned and exclaimed, “Oh wow! Look!” That made me smile.
My breathing had some what regulated by now but my legs and body still felt unsure. I thought I had been in pretty good shape prior to this race but sky running or mountain running in snow results in you using a lot of extra energy to stay upright.
I had been enjoying my time so far and finally made it to the “rope” part of the course. I had seen photos of this section all throughout the weekend but they didn’t do this section justice. I killed a lot of energy here.
The rope was hard. There were tons of us on it and if one person fell and moved the rope, it sent a domino effect downward. I could barely hold on. I kept falling. Finally, I let go of the rope and just crawled on my hands and feet up the snow as best I could. It was a mix of snow and rocks so every so often an avalanche of rocks would come down and someone would yell, “Rock! I can’t stop it!” and we’d look up and try and catch whatever rock was rolling towards us. It was brutal.
And it was relentless. Your arms and legs were tired from the rope climb only to turn the corner and have to climb again, but without a rope.
We were getting closer and closer to the top! There are only 3 aid stations in the race. The first one is called Easy Street and is at mile 6. I didn’t really stop but said thank you and hello to all the volunteers. After Easy Street, we started climbing KT-22.
Then we started moving towards the top of Squaw Peak heading towards the most infamous part of the race, Stairway to Heaven.
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The Stairway to Heaven ladder is awesome! Total drop offs on either side and you scramble across a rocky ridge line just to get to it. I had a smile on my face from ear to ear when I finally reached it.
After you reach the top of the ladder, you are finally blessed with some downhill running into Shirley Basin. It took a while for my downhill legs to return after so much uphill but I made it to the aid-station called Siberia. Aptly named because this aid-station is at the top mountain where most of the snow is located as well as tons of skiers and snowboarders out enjoying the day!
It was a hoot trying to run on the snow while a skier (in shorts and a tank top) was whizzing right by me wishing me well in my race. I would smile and say thanks and focus my attention on trying to find the race flags that were spiked into the snow. It was so crowded at the top that I couldn’t rely on looking for a runner in front of me, nor did I want to in case someone went off course.
The way down into Shirley Canyon was both a blast and a pain the butt, literally! The snow was so deep and slippery that really the only true way to go down, was on you bum!
The grove on the right hand side of that photo was the bum slide. I went down that! It was fun but definitely cold! My backside got a little frozen but I laughed the whole way down. You can see video of me sliding down on my Instagram Page.
However, after you slide/run/fall the whole way down into Shirley Canyon, you have to turn around and climb right back out. At first this seemed like a downer but watching everyone else slide down on their bums next to you laughing and having a blast, made climbing up (and falling up) the snow, that much better.
When you’re back at the top, you run through the snow to High Camp. I didn’t even stop at the aid-station at High Camp (mile 11.5) because I knew that some downhill followed and I was hoping, it was without snow!
I was partially right. There was still quite a bit snow on the beginning portion of the Thunder Mountain single track that leads down to the village as well as water and tons of deep mud puddles. We’d run a bit on the fire road and then be whisked onto the single track and forced to climb just a little bit more before finally being dumped onto the wide fire road that leads directly to the finish line.
Once I hit that, I just ran. I passed a bunch of people but my legs were so grateful for the downhill knowing that there was finally no more uphill to battle other than having to jump for the famous bell at the finish line.
I did it! My jump wasn’t so graceful but I rang das’bell as they say! I couldn’t stop smiling. My kids had been higher up on the fire road and cheered me on as I had come down the hill.
The girls could not wait to tell me all about their own sky races! I was so proud of them. They ran up hill, around and then down the big fire road to the finish and hit the bell too!
We shared our trail run stories, enjoyed some otter pops that were being handed out at the finish line and soaked up the energy that continued to flow through the village.
At the bottom of your race bib are some tickets that included two free beers (including Sufferfest, one of my favorite companies) and a ticket to the buffet at Fireside Pizza!
Knowing that it was almost 100 degrees back home, none of us wanted to leave. We relaxed, ate, listened to music and talked to people the rest of the afternoon. It was perfect. I forget sometimes how rejuvenating it is to escape as a family for the weekend, even if we’re all racing! 🙂
Have to give a big shout out to this guy. He got the girls to their race start, cheered them on and checked us out of our room all while I was running up a mountain. Afterwards he lugged all my bags so I could change out of my wet stinky clothes.
Vans WON his race category (single speed) at the mountain bike race on Saturday too! Super proud of him. His road to recovery has been slow but steady and I am happy to see him back on the bike.
Overall, I am very happy with the Broken Arrow Sky race. It was a well run fun event. It isn’t easy no matter what distance you try and do. I am happy we decided to come up as a family and experience it together. I conquered a Bucket List item and made some great family memories.
Happy Trails!
~Trailmomma
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