Leadville Trail Marathon

Leadville Trail Marathon

I was ready… as ready as I could be. I had been nursing a cough and cold for the previous week and was almost over it. I did not know what to expect health wise going into the race. I figured I’d just try and run my best… and be sure to podium. The race was finally underway. I started controlled but still felt feeble, unable to push any harder. Mike Aish soon had the lead with me in hot pursuit. I’d run as well as I could.

For the first 90 minutes I ran controlled and in a comfortable 2^nd place. At the base of Mosquito Pass I maintained my speed, trying to gain a little on Mike. At the top of the pass I glanced at my watch. It read 2:01:??. Solid. I raced down with a good lead on 3^rd place. At this point the race was over. Mike did not slow down and I was unable to make up any more time. He finished breaking the course record, meanwhile I finished with a  PR of 3:39:36, 6 minutes faster than last year… a pleasant surprise.  

Sage Burner 25K

Back home and another race! A week after Transvulcania was the Sage Burner 25k. Low key and fun I was ready to race. I went out with Brian Smith who quickly took the lead and pushed the pace. I was not going to stay with him with his blistering pace, it was too fast. I let him go and hoped he was indeed going too fast. I followed but slowly lost time to him. By 50 minutes into the race I was about 1 minute back. But I was no longer losing ground. It was my turn to run the second half of the race faster than Brian. I felt great and started pushing the pace. By 1 hour in I could see I was making up ground as we started up a steep hill. I drove up the hill unrelenting. Sure enough I caught Brian at the top of the hill and 1:10 into the race. At this point I knew I would win the race. Mentally I knew I would. But there is the saying, "don't count your chickens until they are hatched".

It was now my turn to push the pace. I picked it up doing several long surges until I had a 2 minute lead on Brian. As the course was slightly different and longer I wanted to run as fast as I could to get the new course record. I knew I would be close to breaking 2 hours on this nearly mile longer course. I pushed and sprinted and finished winning in 2:00:22. Results can be found here: http://sageburnertrailrun.com/2015-sage-burner-trail-run-results/

Great fun run that I have to run every year. Check it out, well worth it with the miles of awesome winding single track, great people, and awesome after party.

Transvulcania

Canary Birds a chirping. I was flying into La Palma in the Canary Islands... not to be confused with Las Palmas in the Canary Islands. To complicated matters I was flying into Santa Cruz de La Palma, and not Las Palmas de la Santa Cruz. The steep volcanic island poked its head out of the water shrouded in mist and mystery. I was here to run the Transvulcania  a 47ish mile run. I landed and was unsure what I would do next. I had to somehow find my hotel, get my race bib on the other side of the island and get back to my hotel, eat dinner and go to bed. Luckily i found a race official who gave me a ride to the hotel and explained the bus system. I got on the right bus and headed to the other side of the island. The bus raced up the volcanic cliffs and through the misty humid air. Visibility was poor as we went from one dense cloud to another. Finally once we were over 3000 feet up the bus dove into a tunnel and went straight through the mountain to the western side of the island.  A mile away the west was entirely different. We emerged in a bright forest with the sun beating down, no mist or clouds were here to block the intense heat. It turns out this weather phenomenon allows much to grow on La Palma, the mist is collected from the east side of the island, piped throughout the island to different communities and then doled out in turn to the farmers and residents. I quickly collected my packet and hopped on the bus for the return trip to the east side of the island again. Once there I ate dinner and went to bed. The race would be early the next day.

This photo shows the clouds on the eastern side of the island.

A note on the race: it is incredible. Incredibly steep, incredibly long, incredible views, incredible course, incredible ecosystem. The runners start at sea level run up a 5,000 foot volcanic peak on the island, drop a thousand feet then run up to the high point of the island: Rocque de los Muchachos at 7,943 feet. The total elevation gained is at least 13,000+ feet. Upon reaching the high point the runners circumnavigate the volcano, which happens to be one of the largest calderas in the world. Then the runners drop to sea level and gain 1,000 feet over the last 3 miles to the finish.

I sat shivering waiting for the start. It was still over an hour until the start of the race and I had nothing better to do than wait and shiver in the cold black breezy morning air. At last the race started and it started fast. With a thousand people all pushing and pulling to get the best place. 400 feet into the run the route narrows down to a 3 foot wide trail. I to sprinted, mostly controlled to get a decent spot. I was about 50th place, perfect. Now it was time to run.

Josh Arthur was there and we ran together content to see who would fall apart in front of us. Then we could move up. This was the plan. The miles ticked by and at last we found ourselves summiting the first of the 2 volcanic peaks. From our vantage we could see the whole island. I took in the view for a smattering 1.2 seconds and then off I went. By mile 20 I could tell I was sluggish. The time change and lack of sleep were taking a toll; still I intended to run solid and make up ground. I went through the approximate mile 25 aid station and grabbed a little food and water and left in less than 30 seconds. Great transition.

The next aid would be in 3-4 miles I would need to spend a little more time there. I grabbed a fruit to go, some sort of interesting melon, it tasted good but also somehow off. I ate it and within 5 minutes my stomach fought back. I had to stop and puked up the mess along with much needed water. I drank my last few sips of water and sat then walked for a few minutes to regroup. I was out of water. I asked a few bystanders how close the next aid station would be. It was 2 miles at first, then a mile late it was 3, then 4. The more I asked the further the distance grew. The aid station was expected by all but was cancelled for some reason. As the sun's intensity grew more and more people dropped from dehydration. They even ended up bringing water up in a helicopter to aid the dehydrated runners. A bystander gave me an apple piece and another gave me 2 ounces of coke. I ran on dehydrated but determined. Finally after 2 hours with limited liquid and over 10 miles and 3,000 vertical feet, I finally made the aid station. I stopped determined to rehydrate and drink as much as possible. I left after downing over 75 ounces in 6 minutes. I felt a little heavy in the stomach and off balance only able to lightly jog, but so much better. After 10 minutes I had digested the liquid and was back to running. I soon topped out at the high point on La Palma at 7943 feet, and of course drank another 30 ounces,
It was time to race downhill. I was feeling hydrated and ready to race as I started my decent. It was one of the longest downhills I’ve ever run: 8,000 feet straight down. I finally hit sea level and stated the 1000 foot ascent and over 3 miles to the finish, I felt good but still no way to make up for the time lost earlier in the race. I finally finished in 96^th place in 10:23:36. You can look up results here: http://transvulcania.azurewebsites.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/clasificacion-ultramaraton-2015.pdf and the main website is here: http://transvulcania.com/events-item/ultramarathon/ .

The race was over, but I still had to find a way to the other side of the island: to my hotel and eventually the airport. I could wait 5 hours for the free bus or hitchhike. The choice was obvious. I walked about 5 minutes to a better hitching point and waited. 10 minutes later I was picked up. My driver was probably a secret agent as he flew along the road taking short cuts and nearly going airborne with great precipices next to us. I thank the secret agent and all of La Palma, what a great race!

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 2^nd 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

Updated Race Schedule:

I've spent the last few months doing many things: a few of which are eating, sleeping, working, teaching, training, miscellaneous actions and contemplating. The question remains... "contemplating what?" Well, a great many things but I’d like to draw our attention to races. I decided in January to race a lot this year. By a lot I mean double the races from any other year. Here is the list of 20 remaining races:

May 3^rd Cimarron 50K, Gunnison, CO

May 9^th Transvulcania Canary Islands 73k (45 miles) Spain

May 16 SageBurner 25K, Gunnsion, CO

June 20^th Leadville Marathon, Leadville, CO

June 28^th Mont Blanc 80K France

July 4^th Mount Marathon Race: Seward, AK

July 12^th Leadville 50, Leadville, CO

July 18 Kendall Mt Run: Silverton, CO

July 19^th Power of 4 50K Aspen, CO   

July 24^th Speedgoat Vertical Mile, Sandy, Utah

July 25^th Speedgoat 50k, Sandy, Utah

July 26^th Speedgoat Quadbanger, Sandy, Utah

August 1^st Tushar Sky Marathon 26: Tushar Mountains: Utah

August 15^th Pikes Peak Ascent: Colorado Springs, CO 

August 16^th Pikes Peak Marathon: Colorado Springs, CO 

September 5^th The Rut 25K                 Montana

September 6^th The Rut 50k                 Montana                    

September 12^th Imogene Pass Run: Telluride, CO                

September 19^th Run Rabbit Run 50m            

October 3^rd Flagstaff 55k: Flagstaff, AZ                     

It should be interesting. I’m officially entered for all but Imogene (the race does not open until later in the year). If anything I’ll hopefully race myself into shape. 

Weird Race: Desert RATS Trail Running Festival: Fruita Marathon

Quick update for everyone: I ran the Desert Rats Trail Running Festival Fruita Marathon yesterday. This is a great spring race which offers the marathon as well as the 50k and the 50miler too. It is run on mostly single track with great desert views of the Colorado River and nearby McInnis Canyons. Unfortunately because of all the rain the organizers had to do a last minute course change to avoid the majority of the single track. We were to run two “A” loops and one short out and back. With the severe weather and the high mountain snow and with highway 70 closed for most of Friday due to the snow the race had a smaller turn out than normal.

I was ready for a good solid effort. I wanted to run fast! The race started and I put in a high tempo out of the gate. Mike Ambrose from Breckinridge hung on for a mile and then backed off. By mile 3.5 at the aid station I was a ¼ of a mile ahead of him and he was another ¼ mile ahead of 3^rd place. Now was the time to keep pushing I was racing myself.  

I left and followed the race flagging out onto a 3.6 mile loop (Rustlers). Unbeknownst to me and everyone in the race this was the wrong way. The flagging had not yet been adjusted. I ran the loop and came back to the initial aid station. They said we were all going the wrong way and directed me back to another trail. Was I now in last place? I did not know. As it turns out the majority of the racers followed the flagging and therefore added on the loop.

I got on to the trail. Mike had by this time caught up we ran together for a minute. From high on this trail we could look down and see most other racers on the wrong loop. Well, I guess we ALL had to do the wrong loop. I left Mike and followed the flagging, the wrong flagging once again and after 20 minutes ended up back at the first aid station… AGAIN. They told me once again to follow the loop. I knew that was pointless and I knew we were supposed to end up back at the start so I ran back to the start.

When I got there I showed the race directors where I had run and it was decided that it was more than the “correct course”, therefore I was ok. They sent me back out on course to start my 2^nd lap. As I left I saw Mike finishing his 1^st lap. Once again I was ¼ mile to ½ mile in front of him. I ran the 2^nd loop with little problems. The race crew had put up new signage and taken down the old flagging. I finished and added on the short out and back to finish and win the race. Weird day, but everything worked out in the end! 

Salida Run Through Time Marathon

This Saturday I raced the annual Salida Run Through Time Marathon (SRTTM). This is a fantastic early season race that I run every year. As always it was cold at the start, the numb lung burning cold that you know will disappear once it warms up. A lot of familiar faces were there: Nick Clark, Jason Koop, Justin Ricks, Josh Arthur, Ryan Burch; a practical homecoming. We started off at a controlled casual pace, no one wanted to race this early when the temperature was still hovering below freezing. No one wanted to take off except for a rabbit. The rabbits name Dan Barteletti . The chase pack consisted of Josh, Nick, Justin, myself, and a few others. We weren’t too concerned about Mr. Rabbit. Nick and I talked about how this was his 7^th time racing at SRTTM and my 8^th time. We decided to compare finishes for the last 7 years and add them up. Note: we did not include my 1st year as a dozen or more racers ended up going the wrong way because someone had moved the flagging on the course. 

Whoever had the lowest score would win. I did this today and put a graph together. Nick won: 16-19     

                            Year:          09,    10,    11,    12,    13,    14,     15                Total:

Timmy Parr         Place:         1,        1,      1,      7,      4,      3,       2              = 19

Nick Clark           Place:         3,        3,      2,      1,      2,      2,       3              = 16                       

Our pack started up S Mountain with Dan’s lead at about 30 seconds. Josh led the chase up S, but overall we just relaxed and cruised up. The next section, a circuitous single track took us rolling north. I took the lead just to help make visibility and footing easier. The pack group chased on until the road. We hit the road at 60 minutes. The pace was good. Once on the road our pack disintegrated as we tried to chase down the rabbit. The road continues up a steep incline for over 4 miles. After fueling up I was ready to participate in the chase. I set an up tempo pace and soon caught up to Dan, he was paying for his early lead, but would manage to recover and still get 4^th.  Surprisingly I had dropped everyone but Justin. He and I kept the pace up and reached the turnaround (12.8) in 1:35.

Justin took the lead as I followed trying not to lose any ground. From mile 14 to 17 we hung together as we plodded through either muddy or unsure footing in foot deep rutted out crusty and icy snow. Once through the snow Justin took off and I did not see him again. The snow and icy conditions had slowed us up and although I wanted to run faster it was too much effort in the snow. I ran consistently trying to maintain. I ran in the Hoka Huaka. http://www.hokaoneone.com/  They are light weight, yet they offer a traction, durability, and a stable shoe. This became my mantra for the rest of the race. I felt ok but as I raced I could feel my energy slowing waning. I had to maintain. I ran back the last 4 miles trying to stay consistent. I couldn’t see Justin and figured he was long gone. I came through the last mile trying to push it till the end. I ran 3:18:41, good enough for 2^nd place. http://www.salidarec.com/ccrc/index.htm

Next up: 2015 Moab Spring Running Camp, followed by the Fruita Marathon.