Mogollon Monster Recap

[Listen to an audio version of this blog here.]

The Mogollon Monster is a 100 mile, point-to-point race near Pine, AZ, put on by Aravaipa Running. I first heard about the race years ago when a buddy of mine mentioned it, but I hadn’t thought about it since. After I dropped out of Kodiak and straightened out some lingering injuries, I knew I needed to try another hundred. Mogollon was a six and a half hour drive and a $400 registration fee away. I signed up first, then did a deep dive into the course, which was absolutely as advertised: rugged, technical, remote, demanding. This recap won’t be altogether comprehensive or detailed because I don’t remember much and the course details are already available here.

The course travels up and down the Mogollon rim six times. On paper, the course doesn’t look terrible-the climbs are never longer than roughly 2,000 feet, and the elevation never goes above 8,000. My breathing never felt strained, even at the highest elevation points. But I have never seen or experienced rockier or more technical terrain. The course made the mountains here in Southern California look and feel like a cake walk.

The race started at 6 a.m., and 163 people started. 108 would finish, 54 would drop, and one guy missed the 38 hour cutoff by a minute and forty seconds. The first 11 miles were arguably the most runnable. The race started…