The alarm clock on Sunday morning went off at 4:00 AM. I immediately nixed my plans to run over to the start of the race, and went back to sleep until 5:00 AM. When the alarm clock went off again, I lay there for a few minutes trying to decide if I really wanted to get up and go do the race. Heading downstairs, I ate a bagel and a banana, trying to get some fuel in me with enough time left over for it to get into my system before the race started at 7:00 AM.
I drove over and parked at Memorial Park at 6:00 AM, and ran up Ruston Ave. for a warm-up. At the starting line, I found my fellow Attack Pack members; Josh, Ramsey, Carey, and Scott
. We hung out and got close to the starting line just a few minutes before the race actually started. I have found it is some much better to be at the front of the race, letting other folks pass you rather than having to fight your way forward through the sea of humanity encountered at a typical Pikes Peak region running event
.Heading up Ruxton Ave. from the Cog Railway depot, the road gets very steep for a short time. I was quickly reduced to a walk, as I have never quite had it in me to run this section. Beyond that we ran/walked up onto dirt road and then the trail that eventually intersects with the real Barr Trail. Kristy and her niece were waiting at the intersection in order to cheer us on. Upwards through the W’s, we ran and walked. I managed to get ahead of everyone else from the Attack Pack by running in some areas that I would have normally walked on a training run.
However, the race isn’t just to the top of the W’s, and Carey reeled me back in and passed somewhere between No Name Creek and Barr Camp. Along the way, we encountered several nice aid stations that local high school running teams had set up. Ramsey wasn’t too far behind me at Barr Camp, and it wasn’t long before he passed and then I was in 3rd place. Ramsey is typically one of the faster racers in our group. At the start of the race he admitted to having been sick the night before and was still feeling quite poorly even then. By Barr Camp though, he must have sweated out all of whatever had been ailing him because he was in fine form, rocketing back down the trail.
After Ramsey passed me, I decided to pick up the pace a little and started to lean into my running, with a short, quick cadence stride. Normally I am a hesitant downhill runner, especially wanting to save my knees for the Leadville 100. Also I have taken several epic tumbles this past year during training runs. Today, I decided to let it fly a little more than usual, praying to God for a safe passage. Somewhere, as I got into the top of the W’s I caught back up with and passed Carey, as she doesn’t like downhill running either. We ended up stroking it back down to Ruxton Ave. and finishing pretty much together. Kristy and her niece were still waiting at the trail intersection and cheered us on again as we blazed by, heading to the finish.
Coming down Ruxton, I really started to turn it on after I had hit the pavement. Usually going down the steep part of Ruxton is harder even than coming up it. I had it in mind to sprint to the finish. So, I was pretty surprised when I was directed back uphill to finish in the parking lot for the Barr Trail trailhead. I guess the race director wanted to make sure there was one final sting in the dragon’s tail!
Ramsey finished in 2 hours 26 minutes. Carey and I crossed the line at 2 hours 29 minutes. Josh was pretty wasted by the run and finished a few minutes later. We all stuck around and waited for Scott to finish. Then Josh, Ramsey, and I ran back down Ruxton to where we had parked our vehicles at Memorial Park. It was a good race and one I will probably do again. Now I am looking forward to a rest day tomorrow before getting back to more training.
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