[Author’s Note: This is the fifth article in an 11-part series celebrating legendary aid stations. You can read about the series here.]
“Get the hell out of Brighton!” – Roch Horton, six-time Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile finisher.
Nestled deep within the coronary heart of the Wasatch Mountains in Central Utah lies Brighton Lodge, a sturdy wood construction on the base of the Brighton Ski Resort. Along with being the lodge for one in all Utah’s oldest ski resorts, Brighton Lodge has, for the previous 40 years, hosted the 70-mile assist station of the Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile every September.
My earliest reminiscence of Brighton was once I first paced and crewed a pal of mine, one of many Wasatch pioneers, Rob Landis, to his end in 2006. A traditional old style model ski lodge, on race day Brighton is remodeled right into a key assist station that gives runners with the ultimate stopping level the place they’ll revive and refresh earlier than they start the ascent up and over the ten,000-foot Catherine’s Cross.
The beginning of the 2023 Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile. Photograph: www.macklambertmedia.com
One of many challenges of Brighton, as is famous in Roch Horton’s quote above, is just getting out of the help station. Along with being a heat indoor assist station with a full-sized toilet, ample locations to sit down and even lay down, and even toothbrushes ready for runners to brush their tooth, Brighton has a few of the finest meals on the course. One yr at Brighton, I recall consuming a half a dozen McDonald’s model hash browns with salt and ketchup whereas I waited for my runner to reach, and one other yr, once I was working the race, I loved a freshly ready cheeseburger that magically appeared at my desk.
The volunteers on the Brighton assist station are a hardy lot and so they know the vital position they play in getting the runners out and in as effectively as they’ll. But, as one may count on from an assist station like this, there are various DNFs right here yearly.
Elizabeth Butler, the 2024 Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile ladies’s winner. Photograph courtesy of Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile.
One working example is the yr I used to be crewing and pacing my pal Rob Edde from Oregon. Rob was having an excellent race by the point he reached Brighton, however he knew he wanted to take a little bit of a relaxation there. One factor led to a different, and he ultimately discovered himself curled up in his cozy sleeping bag taking a nap. When he awoke, he confronted the cruel actuality that he wouldn’t have the ability to go on.
I walked with him over to the older gentleman who sat on the entrance door of the lodge. This man had the duty of checking the runners out and in of the help station and likewise recording any DNFs. When Rob approached the desk and introduced he was stopping, the person checked out him and gruffly requested, “What’s your motive?” Turns on the market was a column on his chart the place he needed to word the explanation for the drop and a few of the notes listed there have been medical, harm, abdomen troubles, and blisters.
When Rob addressed this query, he appeared off into the space, considered it for a pair minutes, and mentioned merely, “Lack of will.”
I think that through the years Brighton has seen greater than its justifiable share of runners who’ve merely misplaced the need to proceed. In any case, working 100 miles is tough, and at Wasatch at mile 70, it will get significantly onerous. On the legendary assist station of Brighton Lodge, the volunteers and crews do their finest to get their runners out of there, however typically the urge to stop will get the very best of them and so, like Roch Horton mentioned all these years in the past, it’s best to “Get the hell out of Brighton.”
Bottoms up!
AJW’s Beer of the Week
This week’s beer of the week comes from Wasatch Brewery in Salt Lake Metropolis, Utah. Polygamy Porter is a wealthy, darkish, chocolatey brown porter that’s one in all Wasatch’s best-selling beers. With the cheeky tagline, “Why have only one?” Polygamy Porter is as humorous as it’s tasty and properly value a strive the following time you end up within the Wasatch Mountains.
Name for Feedback
- Have you ever finished the Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile?
- If that’s the case, what are your recollections of Brighton Lodge?
Jose Cruz on his method to profitable the Wasatch Entrance 100 Mile. Photograph: www.macklambertmedia.com
