Denverdave
Resident Ragamuffin
I was in a trail relay race this weekend. Well on Friday - Saturday.
The race was in Snowmass CO. About a 3.5 hour drive from Denver and really close to Aspen. It was a team relay. We had 8 people and the race was about 120 miles. We started at 4:30PM on Friday and finished at about 12:30PM on Saturday - so 20 hours. There were three 'loops' and each runner ran each loop once - but not consecutively. The base we camped at was at 8000 feet and the highest point in the run was just over 9000 feet. It also rained on and off all race and was a bit cool (low 40s) in the evening. I was also a good 20 years older than everyone else on the team.
I was the 5th runner and ran my first leg at about 7:30PM - so still daylight out. It was a 4 mile run that did a bit of climbing. I am not really in race shape and it showed. Climbing hills at 8000 is lung busting in great condition. In just good condition it kicked my butt up one side and down the other. I had no GPS watch so I have no idea what my time was on that leg - but not good. I attempted to sleep a bit once it got dark but it was noisy and everyone was using their flashlights against all the tents. So maybe 30 minutes of sleep.
My second leg was at about 2
0AM. Yep - trail running in the dark. This loop was 3.8 miles and had a fairly steep climb for the first 1.5 miles. It was a tough run. My lungs were shot pretty quickly, but I felt a bit better than the first run. I got rained on a little bit and the trail was somewhat muddy. About two miles in another runner looked at me with their headlamp on and I lost my night vision for about 5 minutes....not fun. I tried to sleep again after this but my sleeping bag is wimpy so no sleep, but I was able to rest up some.
My last leg was at about 8:30AM or so. 6.7 mile loop. The first 3 to 3.5 miles are almost all up hill. Over 1000 foot of elevation gain. Right up the side of a mountain. Quite steep for the last 3/4 of a mile. I used my hill climbing technique I learned (run 200 steps, walk 100 steps) and it worked great until the last really steep part. The view on this trail was spectacular. The whole valley was below you and it is really green from all the rain. when it is clear you can see the back of the Maroon Bells, but it was rarely clear at all this race. But despite the length and climbing this was my favorite loop of the race. I finished about 10 minutes faster than I thought I would.
Despite the weather it was a fun race. The rain made some of the race legs no fun, but it was a great group of people to run with and the Snowmass area is so incredibly beautiful.
The race was in Snowmass CO. About a 3.5 hour drive from Denver and really close to Aspen. It was a team relay. We had 8 people and the race was about 120 miles. We started at 4:30PM on Friday and finished at about 12:30PM on Saturday - so 20 hours. There were three 'loops' and each runner ran each loop once - but not consecutively. The base we camped at was at 8000 feet and the highest point in the run was just over 9000 feet. It also rained on and off all race and was a bit cool (low 40s) in the evening. I was also a good 20 years older than everyone else on the team.
I was the 5th runner and ran my first leg at about 7:30PM - so still daylight out. It was a 4 mile run that did a bit of climbing. I am not really in race shape and it showed. Climbing hills at 8000 is lung busting in great condition. In just good condition it kicked my butt up one side and down the other. I had no GPS watch so I have no idea what my time was on that leg - but not good. I attempted to sleep a bit once it got dark but it was noisy and everyone was using their flashlights against all the tents. So maybe 30 minutes of sleep.
My second leg was at about 2
0AM. Yep - trail running in the dark. This loop was 3.8 miles and had a fairly steep climb for the first 1.5 miles. It was a tough run. My lungs were shot pretty quickly, but I felt a bit better than the first run. I got rained on a little bit and the trail was somewhat muddy. About two miles in another runner looked at me with their headlamp on and I lost my night vision for about 5 minutes....not fun. I tried to sleep again after this but my sleeping bag is wimpy so no sleep, but I was able to rest up some.My last leg was at about 8:30AM or so. 6.7 mile loop. The first 3 to 3.5 miles are almost all up hill. Over 1000 foot of elevation gain. Right up the side of a mountain. Quite steep for the last 3/4 of a mile. I used my hill climbing technique I learned (run 200 steps, walk 100 steps) and it worked great until the last really steep part. The view on this trail was spectacular. The whole valley was below you and it is really green from all the rain. when it is clear you can see the back of the Maroon Bells, but it was rarely clear at all this race. But despite the length and climbing this was my favorite loop of the race. I finished about 10 minutes faster than I thought I would.
Despite the weather it was a fun race. The rain made some of the race legs no fun, but it was a great group of people to run with and the Snowmass area is so incredibly beautiful.
