Wednesday, May 6, 2015

Cimarron 50K

I wanted to give everyone a quick update about the Cimarron 50K I ran on Sunday. The race starts at the top of Cerro Summit about 15 miles to the east of the town of Montrose. The race is part of the new Ever Run Racing Series. Check out the website at http://www.everrunracing.com/#!cimarron-50k/c44d .

My goals for the race were simple: go out, race hard, don’t race too hard, place in the top 3, and run about a 3:45. I drove over the night before and camped out at the start. The earth rotated and sure enough the sun came up. It was time for a nice 31 mile run. There were about 80 racers and some good competition. The race starts out up a slight hill and rolls along. We went out controlled and Justin Ricks and I took the lead. We gradually warmed up and increased the pace until by 3 miles we were rolling along at an up-tempo solid pace. Justin was able to drop me as I tried to maintain pace hoping to run consistently and potentially catch him later. It was not to be.

The views were tremendous. We ran towards the snow covered San Juan’s. Uncompahgre dominated the view. Its stark north sheer face cut straight down into the earth beckoning adventure while mocking any who dared try. Perhaps another day I thought. Today was a day for racing. I ran on consistently hitting near 7 minute miles on the rolling terrain. I reached the half way mark in 1:50:10 only 4 minutes behind Justin. Now was the time to catch him. But it was not to be. I cruised back towards the start/finish line finishing in 2nd in 3:43.


Overall: a solid race. I felt great during the race and did not beat up my body. I raced in the Hoka’s Huaka  http://www.hokaoneone.com/ . I’m rather addicted to this shoe for racing. It provides just the right balance of cushion, grip, and stability. A good thing to because I’ve got such a quick turnaround. I fly out tomorrow for the Canary Islands to go race the Transvulcania. Check it out: http://www.transvulcania.com/index.php/en/modalities/regulations-2015