A big Thank You...
Exhausted doesn't even begin to describe it.
So after the race I just needed a little breather. Catch up with my family, work, organize my garage back to a manageable level of disorganization (how do you fit 50 coolers in one garage???), get drop bags back to people, and in general...digest just what happened, what went right, what went wrong and where do we go from here.
So before we go anywhere else, I have some huge thank you's to give out. (Not in a particular order)
Jeff Jones - Jeff is a local ultrarunner here in Phoenix with the WMRC (Wednesday Morning Running Club) that I met when I first started running here. Jeff has the same yearning for the off the beaten track trails and a love for the Superstition Wilderness we both share. Out on a 50M course in March 2010, 17 hours into a brutally difficult 50 mile course he devised, I brought up my latest obsession in finding a 100 mile route through Arizona to show off the diversity of the state. I had been digging through various maps for weeks and running into road block after road block with all the protected areas here. Jeff immediately said he had the route and the next day it was a flurry of emails between us. This went on for months and months with Jeff producing what would be 98% of the current course (I had to remove a descent of the Myrtle Trail at mile 88. You're welcome.)
Jeff's enthusiasm, support and guidance was essential in this race going from a pipe dream to reality. Cliche as it sounds, it would not have ever happened with out him. He's as much a part of the Monster as anyone and deserves a great deal of credit for any success the race has.
Jay Danek & John Vaupel of Trailrunningclub.com - Jay & John, also members of WMRC and local ultrarunners with access to email spent years listening to me talk about this race and provided so much feedback, constant encouragement and advice throughout the process. Jay paced me for the first 50 miles of my attempt at running the course straight through in May this year as well as numerous other runs throughout the year when I needed someone to protect me from Bigfoot attacks. John ran with us with every opportunity and more than once talked me back into the motivational state needed to tackle another big project within the planning stages. Both Jay & John took the entire weekend of the race and volunteered for multiple aid stations for excessive hours and never complained once. They are great friends and without them it would have been very difficult to get this together.
Joe Galope - Joe is the RD for the Zane Grey Highline 50M race that shares three aid station locations and sections of the Highline trail with the Monster. When Jeff and I first started the planning process I was concerned with his potential reservations on being on the Highline but Joe has been nothing but incredibly supportive and shared with me the planning process of the Zane Grey in April and allowed me to shadow him throughout his race giving me invaluable experience for our coming fall event. Throughout the summer Joe was always there to help answer questions based on his race directing experience and the use of some of his equipment saved me from having to buy 100% new gear the first year.
Noah & Jeanine Dougherty - Noah is my younger brother and his wife is Jeanine. Noah from the start latched onto this idea and has been steadfast in encouraging me throughout and keeping me on track in getting all the tasks done. The week of the race Noah spent a massive amount of time with preparations with me and race weekend he and Jeanine worked four aid stations and not sleeping for over 40 straight hours. Amazing.
Wednesday Morning Running Club - WMRC - I'd probably be doing some other sport by now if I hadn't tracked this group down online and showed up one Wednesday morning at 5:15am to run with them. Since then I've met some incredible people in ultrarunning and a group with an impressive resume in ultra running that has set the tone for my goals since I met them. Mark Cosmas, James Bonnett, Jamil & Nick Coury, Rudolph Palmer, Danny Speros, Jay & John, Gavin, Grandpa Jim and so, so, so many others I'm sure I'm missing. From training runs to volunteering to course marking. If you are ever in Phoenix for any reason on a Wednesday...we meet every single week at 5:15 at the top of Squaw Peak Drive in the Phoenix Mountains. We encourage all visitors to come out. Please join us: www.wmrcphoenix.blogspot.com
Honey Albrecht - Honey is the "Trail Mom" for just about everyone in the Phoenix ultrarunning scene. Honey ran 60+ miles with me on the course in May, as well as well over a hundred other miles throughout the summer and course marking for the race itself. Honey listened to me talk about this race from Day 1 until the day it concluded at hour 36. Without Honey I know I couldn't have done it.
The Pinchot Cabin Aid Station Queens - Kate & Lindavan - These two ladies...I don't even know what to say about these two. They took hold of this race with a passion I was challenged to keep up with throughout the year. They were SOO excited for the race and running the Pinchot Cabin AS it was a constant recharge just getting their emails. Their experience in the area, managing other aid stations for races, and general knowledge of ultrarunning helped so incredibly much in taking on a million of the tasks that come with planning. They brought a level of reassurance throughout the planning process and I know it was 10x more organized simply because of these two incredible, wonderful, selfless ladies.
My wife Jen - Jen, for those of you that may have met her at the race, is a pretty cheerful woman. She was even cheerful two weeks after she gave birth and I was in Pine running 30 miles all day. Then again for the next 9 straight weekends...
Or I was on the home computer for 9 straight hours taking a PTO day from work to get maps done for the race. Or using a full weeks vacation to prep the week of. Or the countless other hours of time spent on the race all summer while she stayed supportive the entire time. Had she not been so supportive, loving, and energetic I don't see how it would have ever happened. Jen was excited for the race as much as I was and while she's not even a runner she really latched onto the project and was a huge, incredible help. I love her even more as we experienced this together.
All of YOU - You runners are why we did this race. We did this race so people could experience what we find so special about Arizona. I was so excited to meet so many of you that we had talked on Facebook or via email on questions about the race. Seeing all of you put in big training runs and seriously train for this race is exciting to see and motivating for the race directing process in making sure the event is as prepared as possible. Even with the miscues and challenges experienced this year the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and what seems to be a huge return rate expected for 2013. I certainly hope so and I'm as excited as ever for that to happen.
2012? What Went Right? What Went Wrong?
For those that were not there we had four areas of concern in course marking that was a challenge for some or most or a few of the runners.
1) Mile 16 - Turkey Springs Trail intersection with West Webber - This intersection was at the near bottom of the long descent off Milk Ranch Point and Aid Station #2. Runners were intended to go straight through to Geronimo AS. To the right and almost backwards was the West Webber Trail final climb up the Rim at mile 96. As the turn up West Webber was clearly marked and the trail headed straight down had the ribbon wrapped/stuck behind a branch it wasn't as obvious. So a bunch of runners went right which was the wrong way. Some noticed it shortly and turned back, others went a mile to the base of the climb before realizing it and two runners continued to follow the ribbons and climbed the entire Rim...
The runners that continued straight were those that listened to the pervious AS instructions, remembered the course description or actually were carrying the written course descriptions from the website. So this cost many runners an extra 1/4 up to several extra miles of running and time. For 2013 we will be 100% sure this won't happen again and will have laminated posted signs and probably a giant massive wall of some kind to keep people from going the wrong way. We're on this one.
2) The Climb/Descent up Washington Park - This was a very short 2 mile climb to the Rim Road #300 that took runners to Houston Brothers Aid Station. While most runners made this without any challenges some really struggled with markers (we believe many of our blue/wrong way markers were removed) and also along the #300 with a need for more confidence markers. For 2013 we'll have additional markers along this section leading up and down to make it more clear and will check it the day of the race to make sure hunters don't pull anything down. Along the #300 we'll have more laminated directional signage at the top of the climb and mile marker at each of the 4 miles to the aid station turnoff.
3) Washington Park to Hell's Gate - This section was "hellish" for many, taking 2:15 to 4 hours for most to cover the 5.5 miles. It was very overgrown with chest high grass, rocks buried in grass making it impossible to see what you were stepping on and reflector tape was too minimal. Simply put, it was too hard a section and needed even more improvement than we put into it. It is historically a very challenging section of Zane Grey as well but thats done during the day, with short grass, and only 17 miles on your legs. Not chest high grass, 51 miles on your legs and in the dark. So since we can't change the mileage or darkness, we'll do something about the grass and markings. The Highline Trail is a National Historic Trail and deserves better maintenance than it gets. We aim to get the forest service more involved in the spring of 2013 and have more official reflector markers on the trees, and hopefully approval for trail work that includes erosion control bars and other steps to improve the long term nature of the trail. Given that last step has to go through some government tape we'll wait to see what the forest service says. The trail is hard, rocky and challenging by nature, that is not going to change. But we can at least improve what is there and take some of the guess work out of it.
4) U-Bar Trail - Some runners noted that the U-Bar trail leaving Buck Springs Aid Station was missing markers. This was marked excessively the prior weekend by flags, reflectors, ribbons, both orange and blue. There is no reason this section received any challenges in route finding as I know for a fact it was marked like a highway. It is commonly hiked and used by hunters so its possible it was vandalized. I have no other explanation as to why it would have been a challenge so we'll readdress for next year in trying to mark this section closer to the actual race date.
Those challenges contributed to some runners inability to reach aid stations by their cutoff dates and others it was only a temporary hindrance. What we did have was an excellent group of volunteers that put in so many hours in making this all happen. The course was incredible in its beauty and was even more challenging to the overall group than I imagined. I knew that people would think it was difficult but not to the point that some of the out of state runners did. I haven't seen so many runners come into mile 26 of a 100 looking so beat up before and it progressively got worse for many of them. The rocks, undulating climbs and altitude and heat all took their toll. Runners left with an impression of Arizona I don't think they were going to get when they came in. One quote from a seasoned ultrarunner who dropped late in the race said,
"I ran HURT, Angeles Crest and Cascade Crest 100 this year. This is harder than all of them."
Another said, "This race is for the elite of the elite."
While the last one is a bit much (we had 2 first time hundred finishers out of nine total finishers, albeit both were Arizona natives familiar with the terrain found here) it does lend to the overall feel I think the course lends to. It's very difficult, very challenging and not for the faint of heart. It's beautiful, diverse, and rugged throughout the course. The Aid Stations were great and received a lot of wonderful comments from everyone and going forward into 2013 we have a great foot forward in making this race something really special in the coming years.
Plans for 2013?
We're coming back in 2013 for sure. We will likely move to a traditional Saturday start and due to that probably an earlier start like 6am. That will be determined later on but in what was an attempt to avoid the hunters major elk season starting on Sunday this year we still ran into challenges with them all weekend. We can't go earlier in the month due to the excessive heat but possibly one week later over Columbus Day weekend. However, the holiday weekend just has more hunters. With the Friday start we were unable to obtain HAM radio volunteers as they were working on Friday and also were committed at a race the following day in Phoenix and the previous weekend in Flagstaff. In 2013 we should have all three of our races spread out in consecutive weekends and planned out to have HAM radio staff with us for runner accountability and we'll continue to work with/through the hunters out in the general area during the race.
The course will likely remain the same from start to finish with the only real changes being in course clearing/marking. Some comments were made about what some deemed an unnecessary final 1 mile into the town of Pine. I disagree and think when the race really takes off with more entrants that final mile will be a great part of the race. The few finishers we did have, we had a lot of fun at the finish line watching them for that 1/2 mile right through town cheering them on. With more runners, and more finishers that environment becomes very fun and energizing. If we have under 40 starters again in 2013 we'll consider just keeping it at Pine Trailhead for the start and finish but as of now I think it's best to keep it all the same and finish in Pine.
We will not be a Western States or Hardrock 100 Qualifing race until the 2015 WS Qualification period per their RD. Hardrock is more challenging and takes at least 2 years of being an established race before being considered. So in 2013 we will still be a 4 point UTMB race but unfortunately not quite ready for WS or HR.
We will have training runs throughout the summer of 2013, anywhere from 20K to 50K's, in hopes of encouraging more runners to experience the trails up there. We're also working with Volunteer AZ and Arizona Trail Association among other organizations to improve and provide some man-hours in improving the trail for the 2013 race.
Ultra Running Magazine Submission
Organizing a first year mountain hundred is not an easy task, nor one that I would even recommend to anyone I know. Especially one that takes place over 100 miles away from your home requiring a great deal of time both in the car as well as on the trail. The planning, the time, the energy, the financial burden. It accumulates quickly and a task that should not be taken lightly. Yet ever since running my first Zane Grey 50 Mile race a few years ago I’ve been enamored with the Mogollon Rim area of Arizona. Coming into Payson, Arizona, 90 miles north east of Phoenix, you crest the hill and you see the 2,000 foot cliff covering the entire horizon. In fact, the Rim covers over 200 miles of central and eastern Arizona from Sedona all the way into New Mexico providing the southern edge of the Colorado Plateau. While running the Zane Grey 50M you get a feel for the rugged nature of the area, tucked under the Rim that constantly looks down on you as you wear down after the seemingly never-ending up’s and down’s of the Highline Trail. After a long run with 3rd generation Arizonan Jeff Jones he’d helped create an entire 106 mile course traversing the 2,000 foot Rim and covering some of the most beautiful, scenic and incredibly challenging terrain of any race out there. Jeff’s passion for the area was contagious and we worked hard on the details over thousands of emails. After running the course section by section, piece by piece and in one fell swoop, it knew it was a course that destined to be one of the toughest races in the country.
Race day finally came on September 28th and at 10am 37 ultrarunners started off up Pine Canyon Trail for the start of what was almost two years of planning. Permits, insurance, equipment, buckles, shirts, course scouting, course marking, thousands of miles of driving, hundreds of hours in the car, hundreds of miles running the course…it was a long awaited moment almost instantaneously fulfilling every challenging moment to that point. Thoughts and worries raced through my head as the lead runners headed up the switchbacks and into the trees. “Will the volunteers get everything set up alright?” “Will the hunters take down any markers?” “How are people going to handle the trail?” “Will they think it’s too hard?”
Temperatures looked to be ideal, barely 80 degrees at 5,300 feet and never got much below 30 degrees at almost 8,000ft at coldest of the day. As runners made their way up the Rim and the 2,800 feet of climbing before the first aid station volunteers took off for their respective stations and prepared for the runners. The runners would come in groups, led by Aravaipa Running founder and local running stud Jamil Coury tearing down the mountain and across Zane Grey’s infamous Highline Trail. Word would reach us all soon enough that many runners erroneously took the hard right turn back up the Rim instead of heading straight down to mile 18 aid station. Both directions were marked and proved confusing for many, delaying some in reaching the next aid station. An unfortunate beginning for some (and one surely corrected for 2013) but those that planned ahead in reading the detailed course description or carried one, took the right path down the mountain and came in with a bit of a lead. Jamil would take off for Washington Park Aid Station and never look back on any competition. From mile 18 to 106 Jamil dominated the competition, passing cutoff racers by 40 miles at one point and finishing in an astonishingly fast 22:24, nearly six hours faster than 2nd place finisher Andy Pearson from Santa Monica, CA.
Runners coming into the mile 27 Aid Station Washington Park were beat up. Now not even 25% into the race many were taken back by the technical nature of the trail, the up and down challenges of the terrain and the sheer number of obstacles (see: ROCKS) along the way. Many seasoned runners came into that section beaten, but not broken and headed back up the Rim for their 2nd of four different climbs up the Rim. After a 2 mile rocky ascent to the 7,800 ft Rim runners headed for 4.5 miles along the Rim Road, a stretch of forest road hugging the sheer cliff that shows off views that cover almost a hundred miles. Beautiful doesn’t cover it. Stunning isn’t close. It’s simply incredible and something to see for yourself.
Entering the Houston Brothers trail at mile 33 runners are treated with some incredible single track through forested trails under the cover of the largest Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. Just a couple hours ago runners were covered red rock sandstone, cactus, lizards and snakes and now are in thick forest with pine, maple & oaks with elk in every direction. Looping through the Pinchot Cabin Aid Station, named after the great conservationist Gifford Pinchot, runners were treated to some incredible enthusiasm by Pinchot Cabin aid station volunteers, manning a set up I was envious of after seeing all their gear! Runners caught up with the Fred Haught Trail which continued the fun, fast single track all the way back down to the Rim Road and a descent down into Washington Park.
Not having any historical data on cutoff times our 106 miles and 23k of climbing was set at 36 hours. With many miles of fast running on the Rim, 22 combined miles of forest road and 1.5 of pavement 36 was determined to be a fair time, averaging out to a 20:17 minute mile over 106 miles.
Some would beg to differ later on. Coming into Washington Park Aid Station for the second time through runners had reached 50 miles and were not even halfway through. 106 miles wasn’t some maniacal mind game to be played on everyone as some test of “toughness,” but instead just a result of the layout of the land. So coming into mile 51 wasn’t quite the psychological hurdle many wanted it to be. They were beaten, the rocks had broken down many and it had slowed some to a walk. Heck, MOST were walking. The drops at Washington Park kept coming. One after another stated they were dropping. Uninjured but not wanting to go on. One particular quote from a runner coming in just under the cutoff, “Well…I had a wonderful time…but I’m done.” Pleasant, complimentary but done for the day and ready to fight another someday soon. Four runners came flying in under the 3am cutoff time for 51 miles but several came in over an hour later. The sharp descents, rockiness of sections, and climbing made it difficult for people to stay on pace. Adding to it was the moderate for some, severe for others, 5,000-8,000 feet in elevation and continuing on to what was the “harder” half of the race, was too daunting.
We were down to 22 runners out of 37 starters by the 51 mile mark. Through the next 5.5 miles to Hell’s Gate Aid Station we lost another one, a hellacious section of high grass, big rock, creepy dark high desert with random elk, open range cattle and black bear scattered throughout the area. Many struggled to break 3 hours on this section and the follow up emails kept coming weeks after the race. What was low grass on this section in April during the Zane Grey Race was waist to chest high during the September race after summer rains grew all vegetation. Monsoon rains washed out the ground cover so only softball sized rocks remained exposed, top that off with doing it at night, with 51 miles on your legs and what is a difficult section anyway? It was brutal but somehow Jamil still ran it faster than anyone else by over 60 minutes…
Runners left the comfy confines of Hell’s Gate and proceeded 1.8 miles east to the Myrtle Trail, a 1.3 mile climb nearly straight up the Rim almost 1,300 feet up. Over rocks, trees, branches. The trail is there, it’s just a challenging terrain to traverse at night, on the edge of a cliff after everything you’ve been through. But the reprieve is at the top, a nearly 4 mile road run along to the oasis of Buck Springs Aid Station. Pacers along for the ride runners popped into the camp for some hot soup, grilled cheese and went right back out into the full moon and the dark, dark forest of the U-Bar trail.
Which brings to light the “Monster” of Mogollon Monster. When designing the course, knowing the area, the terrain and seeing the mileage and climbing…it was on paper a true “Monster” of a course. It’s the Mogollon Rim. Mogollon Monster. I thought I was so clever. I brought it up to Jeff and he shot back there already IS a Mogollon Monster, in fact it’s been around since the early 1900’s and is well documented around the area as our own local Bigfoot. After hearing this tidbit I spent the next several months scouring the internet (always a reliable source of information when searching for mythical bigfoot creatures…), talked to locals in the area and looked through old Payson Roundup newspapers for stories. They are everywhere. “Finding Bigfoot” on Discovery Channel recently taped a show in the Payson area where 200 residents showed up, this is in early 2012, to talk about their stories and sightings of this bigfoot. I stayed at a B&B in Payson in April and when I brought up our upcoming race in September and the name and asked if he’d ever heard of the actual Mogollon Monster creature. There was a brief yet noticeable silence and then he started to tell me a story about his brother who was camping up near the Buck Springs Cabin (Aid Station at Mile 65) and the 7’-8’ “something” that was standing in the trees 30’ away from their campsite in the late afternoon several years prior. They couldn’t explain it, it wasn’t a bear, elk, mule deer or cattle…it was huge and didn’t make a sound. I couldn’t help but take notice of how serious he was in retelling the story and at the same time think, “What the heck??” So while I’ve never seen anything out there, out on the U-Bar Trail, the most remote section, the darkest forest, I can’t honestly tell you I wasn’t thinking about the big guy on a few of those solo scouting runs up there….
Yet many runners wouldn’t even touch the U-Bar Trail. Many more would drop at Buck Springs AS mile 65 and we were quickly down to only 16 going on to Pinchot Cabin Mile 71. After Pinchot we’d lose 2 more as runners shuffled down in the growing daylight back to Houston Brothers AS before the last drop back into Washington Park AS and mile 85. Here we would lose three more to time outs, our final female runner in Deva Lingemann running out of time at mile 79 and ultrarunning legend Dan Brenden timing out for the first time in his incredible career. After seeing Mark Hellenthal drop at 65 for his first drop in 18 successful hundreds, including the Grand Slam this year, and several other very tough and accomplished runners and Dan reach the end of the trail for a very rare drop I started to doubt the course, the time limit cutoffs, the trail’s technical nature.
That is until we started the final push for the finish. Only eleven runners out of 37 starters reached the 3rd trip through Washington Park AS and mile 85. Only nine continued on towards the finish. Finishing up the course required a 9.5 mile return trip across the Highline Trail to Geronimo AS at mile 94. Leaving mile 94 runners entered the lush forest of the West Webber trail and a wicked climb up the final trip to the top of the Rim. Runners Garmin showed a 1,007 foot climb near the top of the Rim. At Mile 99.
Pushing on to the top, the sun coming down for some, others would be caught in a remote late afternoon thunderstorm (just want 2nd Place finisher Andy Pearson wanted after climbing that beast and hitting mile 100…) but most would be caught at the top of the Mogollon Rim at close to 8,000 feet in the trees and crossing the 100 mile barrier. Most races you’d be done here but unfortunately you’re on a cliff and all the food is down in town…so….back down the mountain! The Donahue Trail is rocky, always has been rocky, probably always will be rocky and it’s a rocky finish down to the Highline Trail for one final time. Crossing the last two miles of runnable downhill into the Pine Trailhead parking lot, the start of the race 104.5 miles ago…the bar door is calling and runners cross under the tunnel, through the woods and the final mile through the small town of Pine, Arizona, right past the Sidewinder Saloon, past the small shops and old buildings to the cheers and encouragement of the volunteers and families.
We sat at that finish line waiting for runners all day, knowing we were down to the few remaining tenacious bunch. Jamil had finished before 9am that morning, even changed an old ladies tire out on the course at mile 30 (true story) and drove back down to Phoenix after winning to put on his Javalina Night Run with his brother Nick that evening. Aside from that we saw Andy Pearson come charging in for a second place finish, running solid all day in his New Balance 110’s, something I thought would have been suicide on that course but one that Andy proved me wrong with. Jerome Jourdon of Phoenix finished in 3rd place to round out the final 3. We saw 1st time hundred miler Marius Toma come through in 31 hours for 4th place, proud as he should be. Shane Peltonen, Danny Speros, Rudolph Palmer, Alex Kaine & Deron Ruse all made it in, Alex and Deron just under the wire in the final 20 minutes before the cutoff. Seeing those runners coming down that road, still running after so many others stopped their day for one reason or another, and seeing that smile as they crossed under our finish line, truly makes every minute of preparation worthwhile. Then seeing so many runners who dropped earlier in the day still come back to the finish line to cheer others on is another testament to this sport and what makes it so great.
So in the end we had 9 finishers out of 37 starters in our first year. Despite planning as much in advance as I thought I could we still had some “first year glitches,” many of which are easily rectified and will be addressed based off the feedback from every one there. Could the course have been marked more clearly in a few sections? Of course. A few more “confidence markers” on the short road sections? Sure. Was the Hell’s Gate section a little too hard? Maybe. Was the cutoff of 36 hours fair? I think so, especially for those that DID make it to the finish and when we correct the few challenges we did have. The volunteers we had were absolutely incredible, working insane hours, never complaining and jumping from one aid station to the next to help out wherever we needed it. Asking someone to go out into the woods for 2 straight days without sleep while helping others isn’t always the easiest sell but it was for this event and we had some incredible volunteers, backed up by all the great comments from runners on the aid stations and volunteers working it. I was lost without their help, dedication and hours of enthusiasm.
I’ve been asked a lot if I plan on doing this race again next year. From one runner after another, even those that were sent off course by over-markings, or less than stellar markings in specific sections, the feedback has been incredible and there is a lot of “revenge” sought to be had in 2013. (There was after-all not a single female finisher)…We may not have a huge field, “elites” or major sponsors but we do have passion for the sport. We’re two brothers, our families, and all of the local ultra-community pitching in to help wherever they can. The Wednesday Morning Running Club of Phoenix, Zane Grey RD Joe Galope, Jeff Jones, Jay Danek & John Vaupel of Trailrunningclub.com, Tucson Trail Runners, LindaVan & Kate at Pinchot Cabin AS, and SO many others that put on this low key ultra…its is a community that puts on these events with the passion and enthusiasm that started this sport when there were so fewer races. We’re not looking to have hundreds of runners, a lottery or cash purse, just those hardy few runners that are up for a race with the challenge we are providing. 106 miles. 23K of climbing. 2.3 million rocks. And maybe…just maybe…a Monster sighting.
So we’ll be there, back out on that same beautiful Mogollon Rim next year. You can count on it.
2012 Race Reports
http://www.aravaiparunning.com/2012/10/05/the-moments-i-live-for-part-ii-mogollon-monster-106/
Andy Pearson - 2nd Place Finisher - http://ievenranthisfar.tumblr.com/post/32740158102/a-monster-of-a-second-place-finish-at-the-inaugural
Alex Kaine - http://advanced-campaigning.com/runningonallfours/2012/10/02/the-mogollon-massacre-a-tale-of-survival-from-the-first-running-of-the-mogollon-monster-100/
Heather Lightfoot - http://raceinpieces.com/2012/10/02/mogollon-monster-100-race-report-part-1-2/
Vanessa Runs - Trailrunningclub.com - http://www.trailrunningclub.com/blog/2012/10/03/3-things-that-rocked-the-mogollon-monster-100/
Virginia Happy Trails Running Club - http://www.vhtrc.org/news/node/794