--- id: "2022-sedona-red-rocks-stage-race-ultra" title: "2022 Sedona Stage Race Report" description: "Race Report for the 2022 Red Rocks Stage Race in Sedona, AZ. I finished the 50k Saturday, 50k Sunday version second overall in a little over 11 hours total." pubDate: "2022-04-09T00:00:00.000Z" tags: - "run" - "race report" - "ultramarathon" - "50k" - "Sedona" - "Arizona" syndicate: false canonicalURL: "https://justin.poehnelt.com/posts/2022-sedona-red-rocks-stage-race-ultra/" relativeURL: "/posts/2022-sedona-red-rocks-stage-race-ultra/" markdownURL: "/posts/2022-sedona-red-rocks-stage-race-ultra.md" --- tl;dr I finished the [2022 Red Rocks Stage Race 50k/50k](http://www.trailrunningescapes.com/) in second place overall. 🏅 Picturesque Sedona made for a great backdrop if you can look up while running the very technical trails. [![Looking west from Little Horse Trail near Chicken Point in Sedona, Arizona](https://justin.poehnelt.com/images/chicken-point-sedona-az.jpg)](https://justin.poehnelt.com/images/chicken-point-sedona-az.jpg) Looking west from Little Horse Trail near Chicken Point in Sedona, Arizona ### Saturday 50k - West Sedona[](#saturday-50k---west-sedona) The first day started out in West Sedona, on trails such as Girdner, Snake, Cockscomb, Mescal, Chuckwagon and Aerie. These trails were more runnable than those during the second stage on Sunday. Knowing that this was a two day event, I started conservatively and finished about 20 minutes behind the leading group of three runners. Even with the easier pace, I still struggled in the heat and walked it in on the last mile of Girdner. [strava activity](https://www.strava.com/activities/6921842674/embed/6921842674) ### Sunday 50k - East Sedona, Village of Oak Creek[](#sunday-50k---east-sedona-village-of-oak-creek) The second day was on the other Side of Sedona starting off the Baldwin Loop and heading east on Templeton trail. Not only was I sore from Saturday, but the trails were much more technical, leading to a finish time nearly a hour later for the same distance. **I think everyone got lost at some point!** I missed the short out and back to the aid station at Yavapai Vista (3rd aid station stop). Ran that part out of order when I got there again at mile 25ish, but that meant I had a 12 mile section without aid and ran out of food/water. To clarify, I was never really lost (I put many of the trail signs up at the junctions a decade ago), I just had no idea which way the course was! [strava activity](https://www.strava.com/activities/6927645717/embed/6927645717) ### Overall finish[](#overall-finish) It was a small field and my 4th place finish on Saturday and 2nd place finish on Sunday netted me a 2nd place finish overall a few minutes behind the leader. :2nd\_place\_medal: Next up: * [Cocodona 250](http://cocodona.com/) May 2-??? [2022 Sedona Stage Race Report](https://justin.poehnelt.com/posts/2022-sedona-red-rocks-stage-race-ultra/) © 2022 by [Justin Poehnelt](https://justin.poehnelt.com/) is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0