Pikes Peak Marathon
Recap - Sunday Aug 16, 2015
Arguably, the hardest marathon in North America and not one
I ever look forward too. But it had been
a few years since my pathetic past performance at this marathon, and it was a
chance to get together with old teammates, whom I had done Primal Quest with
back in 2003.
Training is always tough for this marathon, as living and
training for me at 650 feet above sea
level really doesn't prepare oneself for a marathon that starts in Manito
Springs, elevation about 6,800. Of
course that's just the start, as one has to run up the Barr trail, at an
average grade of 11.5% to above 14,000 feet.
Then one must then turn around and run down to the finish. Footing is treacherous, and I have always
managed to take at least one good spill coming down (usually several). The finish line has its share of running
wounded, and they have a nice triage tent set up where the first thing they do
is spray your wounds down with Betadine.
Yikes!
I flew into Denver, where Michele, a good friend and adventure racing team mate
for years lives. Dan, my other teammate flew in a day later. We all drove up to Manitou Springs for the
pre race registration, and checked into a motel right across from the race
start. The race is capped at 800
runners, and most seem to be from the area of Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs, or other higher elevation
places.
After a couple days of sightseeing and just chilling, it was
time. I had a game plan this time of
watching my heart rate, and keeping in zones during the ascent. I know my heart rate max's out at 178, and I
wanted to keep myself in my Aerobic zone (under 160) for the ascent portion,
with the exception of the last couple miles.
I knew the elevation and diminished available oxygen would probably make
me go anaerobic near the top. The race organization now uses chip timing, and a wave start system staggered at 1 minute
intervals. My wave start was at 7:03,
but since Michele and Dan had later starts,
I started back with them at 7:06AM.
Our wave was off, and the 1st mile is through Manitou
Springs, on roads with gradual elevation gain until it passes the Cogs Railway
and onto a spur trail that will get us to Barr trail. Things get a little steep here, and the
physical absurdity makes most experienced normal people start walking. My heart rate was hovering near my self imposed limit, and I adjusted my
pace accordingly, backing my pace down when my heart rate got to high. I had written down the aide station locations
and mileages to make the ascent portion more of a series of milestones, and not
one big ascent. Occasionally I got hung
up in some slower groups, and passing is sometimes next to impossible until the
trail widens up. I was feeling strong,
and even above treeline, found myself passing
where I could.
I normally go into
an altitude coma around 12,000' where I have serious trouble thinking (not to
mention breathing) but I was feeling great almost all the way to the summit and
turn-around. Michele and Dan whom were
ahead and now on the decent (runners coming down have to pass the runners
coming up, which makes for some pretty close calls) Both passed me (Michele,
ahead of Dan, which goes to show you that Michele living and training at
altitude was a benefit for her!) I hit
the summit turn around, and looked for Michele's husband whom was going to hand
me a pair of biking gloves to use on the
downhill when I fell. Cripes, he was
nowhere to be seen, so I started down knowing that when I fell, I was going to lose
some skin on my hands. The next few
miles down is a challenge as you get caught up in runners going uphill, as well
as downhill runners that do well on the uphill, but are a bit timid to open it
up on the descent. About treeline I was
able to open it up, and pass at will except when it was really rocky. So far, I had not taken a spill, although a couple people
whom were running at my pace and we were talking... went down. I hung around till they got up and said they
were okay, but they backed their pace down and I never saw them again.
The field really thins out on the descent, and you only see
one or two people ahead of you through the forever series of switchbacks. I was
feeling pretty strong until about 3 miles from the end, when I hit my
wall. The temperature was starting to
warm up, which may have been a factor. Strange
how you can be running down hill, and hit the wall. But your actually braking with your quads on
the descent, so it's not like your actually getting a free ride down. I have
always said that the downhill is more punishing on your legs then the
ascent. With about 1 mile to go, you break out of the
trail by the Cogs rail way, and it's a mile to the finish line on the road....
down a grade. Now my feet were feeling
really good till now, but with each foot impact on the hard road, I knew it was
going to cost me a toenail or two at the end.
But if you run marathons, or adventure race that is usually a common
occurrence. I was actually starting to
suffer, and was passed by a few people on the road section. But the curve in the road was there, and I
knew the finish line was just around the bend.
Sucking it up, I made my finish look strong, but it came with a price of
just about collapsing into the arms of a volunteer. I was ushered to the a chair to sit down for
a few minutes while I held a bag of ice to my neck. After a few minutes, I was fine enough to
walk out of the finishers tent and find Dan and Michele. Michele, finished about 6:29, Dan about 6:45,
and I finished at 6:50. Not my Personal
best, which was 6:29 but that was when I was 44 back in 2002. Let me tell you, I was quite happy with my time this year, as
back in 2002 I had altitude sickness so bad, I suffered beyond my ability to
describe here.
So, Michele, Dan and I walked across the street and cooled
our legs off in a mountain stream. I
have to admit I really enjoyed the
challenge, and we talked that we will come back in 2017 and do it again. Now I just have to think how to get some
altitude training in....
The 60th running of the Pikes Peak Marathon was held on
Sunday August 16 2015. The Ascent race,
where runners run to the top and finish, is held on the Saturday before. (They are bussed down) The field is limited
to about 1600 starts for the ascent, and 800 for the marathon. You need to have a qualifying time to
register, and they are serious about this.
People lose their registration fee, and get banned from future races for
trying to pull stuff. If you're
interested in this race, check out their website at http://www.pikespeakmarathon.org/
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