Rattler 50km

Since the snow has melted, my runs have included less and less running as my routes of choice gravitate towards rock scrambling and speed hiking up steeper than reasonable running grades. I ran around 10 times a legitimate run where I didn't have to downshift to a lower gear to spin up hills. Still, I'd put in a ton of miles and vert over the last 4 months. I had more than enough fitness for a 50km distance, but did I have the physical and mental fortitude to push for 4 to 5 hours?

The weather report was looking terrible, or fun depending upon your perspective. 50 degrees and raining; which I thought played into my favor remembering a great run I had on Pawnee-Buchanan in similar conditions (which may be the best run of my life). The race setting was Palmer Park which is sort of a peculiar area as it is a full on mountain environment with super technical trails, but its in the middle of Colorado Springs, a decently large city.

View of Pikes Peak from the park, unfortunately we did not run on this nice smooth dirt road.

Race morning came and it was thankfully a perfectly cool and dry morning - shorts and a t-shirt with gloves and arm sleeves which I took off an hour in. The start was super informal, no one even got out of the warmth of their cars until 3 minutes before the start. I think a lady just said "3-2-1...go!" and off we went. I ended up taking the lead for the first couple miles, going a bit fast with a 7:50 first mile which included a 200ft climb. Oops!

The very small start...and oh my god, a heel strike. Shame. First place was the guy in the grey tank on the right.

After the first aid at 5 miles we a hit some pretty bad mud which supplemented your shoes with a couple extra pounds. At this point we had a group of 3 (or 4, but the fourth fell off at some point). Even about this early, I could tell that the guy in front of me was running very strong and the guy behind me was just hanging on to the back. Some miles on and we began climbing what allegedly is referred to as the "mini-incline". I hiked half of this, which felt finally natural versus all the actual running. From here it is a net downhill to finish the first 25km lap so we let gravity take hold as the three of us exchanged leading.

Getting more spread out heading into lap 2.

Heading into lap 2, two of us ended up getting a decent gap between us and third. 5 miles in I was 15 seconds back. My second trip through the mud took a huge toll on my hamstrings and I slowed considerably. 6 miles later I was 7 or 8 minutes back. I still couldn't see 3rd behind me, but I didn't want to risk it, so I focused on picking up my pace any time I felt it faltering.

Coke, chips and get out. I ended up not carrying any water (which was awesome) due to the cold temps.

I came into the finish at 4:34:10, good enough for 2nd place. I was 8 minutes behind 1st (I think). 3rd came in another 8 to 10 minutes later, followed closely by 4th. Strava says 30.1 miles with 4,300ft, This was by far the hardest I've ever pushed a long run (something longer than 10 miles). I think I could have maybe pushed a little harder (but when isn't that true), but I'm not sure I quite had enough to have had a chance at getting first. From the brief conversation I had with 1st place, he will be running Western and Hardrock, which are two weeks apart. Yikes!

Finishing up.

Chatting with 1st and catching my breathe just after the finish.

It was a small race without an overly competitive field for sure, but I'm pretty happy with the results. The course, while not having a lot of vert on paper, is almost always going up or down short rocky steps in the bluffs, making for a tougher course than one would initially believe.

Hooray for sodium!

Example of a safe, reliable and responsible way to transport a mattress heading back to Boulder.