Tortugas “A” Mountain 24 Hour Run

So, I did a thing. One I’ve never done before. I ran the Tortugas “A” Mountain 24 hour run in Las Cruces, NM a few weeks ago. I’ve never run a 24 hour race before because most of them are usually run on a track or short loop course. The idea is to run for 24 hours to rack up as many miles as you can. Running on a track for a day and night never really appealed to me, but this race was on a four mile trail around “A” Mountain. Well, I decided to give it a try and since I had recently celebrated my 58th birthday I set a goal to run one mile for each year on the planet. 

Organ Mountains as seen from "A" Mountain

The race was sponsored by the Southern New Mexico Trail Alliance who maintain the trails in this area and also organize the Sierra Vista Trail Runs. This race, however, was run "fat ass" style, “No Fees, No Awards, No Aid, No Wimps”. We started on Friday evening at 6pm going clockwise around the mountain and reversed direction on each completed loop. Runner wrote the time they finished each lap on a board posted at the start/finish area.

Tortugas Mountain as seen from the Organs

Tortugas means turtle in Spanish and the bump of a mountain protruding from the desert floor does indeed look like a turtle. Locals affectionately refer to it as simply “A” Mountain for the white A which stands for NMSU Aggies. In fact, New Mexico State University operates an observatory on top of the peak that is around 5000’ in elevation. The Tortugas Pueblo holds a three day pilgrimage for their Our Lady of Guadalupe Fiesta every December where they trek to the top of the mountain spending the day holding ceremonies. According to New Mexico Magazine, this is a recreation of an event in Mexico City in 1531 when “la Virgen appeared on a mountain to the indigenous lad San Juan Diego, forming an influential connection between Catholicism and Native spirituality.”

Read:  The Pilgrimage (New Mexico Magazine) 

Well, my plan was to run straight through the night and part of the next day without any long breaks to try to get 15 laps (60 miles). Some runners complete some laps Friday evening and then sleep in their tent, car or RV and then wake up early and run all day Saturday. The cool thing in these races is that you can come and go as you please during the 24 hour period. 

I am training for the Franklin Mountains 100K which is next month in El Paso, TX so I wanted to get in an all night training run. This race was perfect because I had a lot of company on the trail at night and could hit my ice chest and food after every lap. I felt safer on the trail since I am scared of the dark and you never know if there are cougars, chupacabras  or zombies lurking around the mountain. Not to mention that La Llorona, the Weeping Woman of the Southwest, will surely be inhabiting the area since we are so close to halloween and Dia De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead).

Is that her!

Anyway, about 40 runners started the race Friday evening by going down a steep path through a deep arroyo and then back up the other side. In less than a quarter mile we reached the main loop trail and began circumambulating the mountain in a clockwise direction. I mostly stayed in the back of the pack to avoid the crowd as well as let the front runners get eaten by a chupacabra or attacked by La Llorona first. What’s the hurry anyway, we are going to be out here for 24 hours!

The trail was mostly runnable, but I was surprised at the number of hills on the course. There were a lot of steep, but short elevation changes even though the overall elevation wasn’t very high. Before long we reached a rough part that paralleled a precipitous rocky gully on one side without much of a trail to run on. Having developed a balance disorder in my old age, this made me feel a bit uneasy. I was picturing myself losing my footing and falling off the cliff into the deep cut below. While it wasn’t that long of a drop, a fall would have definitely ended my run. I made sure to keep my gaze forward looking at firm ground instead of into the ditch below. I was much relieved when I was past this obstacle, but then it hit me: I have to cross this 14 more times! Oh well, it’s better than being terrorized by La Llorona, I suppose.

I continued along the trail enjoying the view of the jagged needles of the Organ Mountains which resemble the Dolomites minus the glaciers, of course. Once on the other side of “A” Mountain, I could see the towers and observatory on top of the mountain. I climbed another steep rocky hill and then came to the half way point where a table with a water cooler was waiting. After going down a steep eroded part, I ran through a sandy bottom and then climbed up again running past a boulder field. Once over the top of the rise, the trail became mostly smooth and easy, except for one steep somewhat treacherous part. And just like that, without much effort at all, I had completed loop one in about an hour. I wrote my time finished on the board and headed back out with my headlamp since the sun was setting. 

This time I went counterclockwise around the mountain which reminded me of a funny word, widdershins, that I came across in The Oak Papers by James Canton, a British writer. Widdershins is a Scottish word meaning counterclockwise or away from the sun. 

Google Arts and Culture explains:

The use of the word also means "in a direction opposite to the usual" and "in a direction contrary to the apparent course of the sun". It is cognate with the German language widersinnig, i.e., "against" + "sense". The term "widdershins" was especially common in Lowland Scots.

It just felt weird to travel counterclockwise around “A” Mountain. Most sacred objects and mountains are usually circumambulated in a clockwise direction. The most famous is Mt Kailash in Tibet where Buddhists and Hindus trek in a clockwise direction, however, adherents to Bön, the indigenous religion in Tibet, travel counterclockwise. While buddhists revere Mt Kailash as the abode of the deity Demchog and Hindus the home of the god Shiva, here on “A” mountain, on this particular night anyway, we just have a bunch of stinky runners and La Llorona.

Nevertheless, I headed widdershins on the trail as the air grew chilly and the wind picked up. I just kept putting one foot in front of the other and made steady progress. I reached the scary cliffy part again and navigated the obstacle in the dark, with just my little oval of light from my headlamp. Two down; 13 to go! 

When I neared the end of the loop and began the descent towards the deep arroyo, gusts of wind hit me hard in the face. It was completely dark by this point and I became really chilled. Temperatures fluctuate wildly in the desert because there isn’t any moisture in the air. I started to shiver as I finished loop 2 which took about an hour. I ate some food and added another layer before heading back out. 

Clockwise again, or deasil (sunwise, in the direction of the sun.) Sadly, there was no sun, but I climbed uphill for a while and then became overheated. It wasn’t cold any more. What gives! The weird thing is that the higher you go at night, the warmer it gets. Since cold air is more dense than warm air, the cold air sinks down to the lower elevations while the warm air rises. In addition, the east side of the mountain seemed windier on this evening. Perhaps, the much higher Organ Mountains create downslope winds that effect the weather here on Tortugas; I don’t know. Anyway, this made it challenging to regulate my temperature, but I was too lazy to strip off a layer because I figured I would be down into the cold windy air soon enough. 

When I reached a gravelly road that led to the top of the mountain I missed a left turn and kept going a little way up the road before realizing my mistake. The course was very well marked, but at night when you are on auto pilot it’s easy to miss the course flagging. Pay attention! I reminded myself. Lap three went by fast and, like the previous two, was completed in about an hour. Let’s see, only 46 more miles to go to reach my 58 mile goal. How hard could it be?

Lap four was cold and hot and I became really hungry so I ate some boiled potatoes, coconut date rolls, and an oatmeal bar when I returned. This lap took a little more than an hour.

 Lap five: cold, hot, windy, runny nose, chapped lips. Took more than an hour; my 4 mph pace is waning. Ate some more food.

Lap six: dark, quiet, golden 3/4 moon, surreal, very sleepy. Missed a turn, went 1/4 mile up a sandy road and realized my mistake. Turned around; all good.

After finishing this one, I walked to my car to get some chapstick for my dry cracked lips. I was forward thinking and also grabbed my sunscreen since I knew I would need it tomorrow. While walking back from my car, I was looking up at the dark sky when suddenly, a shooting star streaked through the night leaving a long tail in its wake. Beautiful! One of the great rewards of running all night is stopping occasionally to take in the star filled sky. Before leaving for the next lap I grabbed a mason jar of black coffee from my ice chest and downed about half of it. 

Lap seven: dark, dark, dark, mesmerized by the bobbing of my headlamp. Slow pace.

Lap eight: I’m a zombie in a trance.

Lap nine: Did I fall asleep while running? Is it morning yet?

Lap 10: The sun should be coming up soon. Maybe I’ll get a second wind. 

Yes! I enjoyed the sunrise on this lap. The warm glow of light on the mountains and desert lifted my spirits after a long, cold, dark night. When you deprive yourself of these comforts, you appreciate them that much more. Many runners had emerged from their cocoons and were back out on the trail. I immensely enjoyed seeing their shining faces and hearing their kind words of encouragement. This lap went by quickly.

Here comes the sun!

Lap 11: Knee pain, probably because I hadn’t run this far (40 miles) in almost two years. It was on the outside, so perhaps my IT band was tight. I’d had this pain before, so was not too concerned. I kept going, focusing on the parts of my body that didn’t hurt. As I was slowly plodding up a steep sandy road, a mountain biker chick came out of nowhere, rocketing full speed down the hill. She turned a corner and finally saw me at the last minute. “Oh shit!”, she exclaimed and then did a little maneuver to keep from barreling me over. “Sorry about that”, she screamed after passing me. I bet she bombs down that hill every Saturday morning without incident, but our paths just happened to cross at that moment.

Lap 12: Knee pain and now discomfort on the ball of my foot. Am I getting a blister? What can you expect when you’ve been running all night? Just another day in paradise, I remind myself.

Lap 13: The sun is getting high so I put on sunscreen. My legs are exhausted and I average about 3.3 mph overall. I’m closing in on my goal! Can I finish a couple more laps. 

I’ve forgotten about my knee and foot pain by this point. It’s still there, but my body has given up on trying to alert me that I should stop running. STOP RUNNING! It screams. I don’t listen; I’m too focused on my goal. If you run long enough, your body will eventually realize that you aren’t going to stop and the pain will subside, falling into your subconscious mind. Stay in the present moment as much as possible and don’t think about the miles ahead of you, but just the one you are in. Time magically slips by and, before you know it, you are at the next aid station or have finished another lap without having to do anything. 

Birthday party with trail friends

Lap 14: Stay in the moment! I meet some friends on the trail who give words of motivation. This inspires me to keep going. I’m still able to run flat sections and downhills, albeit with knee pain, but I walk all the uphills. 

Isela and Team RWB, still smiling

When I finished this lap my gps was at around 57 miles and I thought about skipping the last lap and just running another mile to reach my goal of 58 miles. That seemed extremely wimpy though and the fat ass race rule book clearly says “NO WIMPS!” Therefore, I kept going for my final birthday lap. It was tough, but my spirits were high since I knew I would most likely finish short of falling off the cliff into the rocky canyon, being bitten by a rattlesnake or attacked by La Llorona. 

Lap 15: The last lap was glorious; I got through the cliffy part without incident. I saw many runners out on the trail and had a lot of compassion for them since they were probably going to be running for another six hours while I would be finished shortly. I looked at my gps watch which read 58! I was grateful for the opportunity to participate in this run, never taking my health for granted. I relish every run, even the miserable ones, because it could be my last. “A” Mountain was a great place to celebrate my birthday and health. When I finished, my family was waiting there to celebrate with me. I covered 61 miles in 18:22. Maybe I’ll be back next year for 59 and you can all join me.

See you on the trail.