Leadville Trail 100 mile running race
August 16, 2014, Leadville, Colorado
My alarm went off at 2:30am. After a quick shower and some oatmeal I was
dressed and ready to roll. Tanya and Ian
loaded up the gear for a massive day(s) crewing for Chris and I.
We arrived at the start line at 3:45am
and lined up around 5th row. The energy
of the field was incredible. 4am and the
shotgun went off. The first few km's are
downhill as we exited town. I took the
time to look back and saw a snake of headlamps stretched out in the dark. Up ahead I could see the leading lights up
the road. It was an incredible feeling
to have this race actually starting.
Chris and I had planned on running together for the first half. We averaged ~5min km's for the first half
hour. With the downslope it was a good
starting pace. In no time we were at the
dam and turning right up a short, steep rocky slope. I was passed by about 10 guys up this slope. The
hill ended and we entered the trail surrounding Turquoise lake. I cruised along with a group of about 10 guys
doing just over 9 min miles. The pace
felt good, I was eating well, the sky was still dark, the single track was fun
(lots of little ups and downs)... All was going well.
The sky started to lighten up as we ran
into the May Queen aid station (1:58, 13.5 miles, and 43 place). Tanya and Ian
were waiting for us with fresh fluids. I
filled up, gave Tanya my headlamp and we were off towards Sugarloaf pass. Almost immediately after leaving May Queen we
turned onto the Colorado trail. It is an
amazing bit of trail that totally reminded me of running in Canmore. There were roots, rocks, twists, turns... loads
of fun. We popped out of that trail
after a few miles and started climbing a gravel road which then turned off onto
a steeper, rocky fire road. The slope
was steep enough that we power walked.
There were a few guys running, but not us. Eventually we rounded the top at a bit over
11,000 feet. Down Power line trail we
went. At first it wasn't too steep, but
by the last couple km's it was a nasty downhill with tons of washout. The mountain bike race went down this trail
last week; I was much happier doing it on foot.
A guy watching said we were 62 and 63 place. We chuckled at this info so early in the day.
After a short jaunt on a paved road we
made it to Outward bound aid (aka a Fish a Hatchery) (4:04, 24.5 miles and 60
place). Tanya and Ian were again there
with smiles, fluids and good vibes.
After a refill and a porta-poti stop we were off. The next 2 km were through a cow
pasture. The grass was cut, but the
footing was, well, like running through a cow pasture. I was happy to have that end. I had picked up a peanut butter and banana
sandwich at the Outward bound aid. The
thing took me almost an hour to eat. It was
like paste in my mouth and almost impossible to swallow. Not good.
The course follows a paved road for a few miles, then follows a pipeline
right of way, the whole time going slightly uphill. Chris and I trudged along. We slowed for a few walk breaks, but kept
plugging forward.
Eventually we hit the Half pipe aid (5:02,
31 miles, and 51 place). There is no
crewing here, but we did have drop bags.
A volunteer helped my re-fill my hydration pack and we were off
again. By this point I had eaten 3/4 of
a pb sandwich plus about 1 gel and 1 bag of stinger blocks per hour. Not bad for food, but I had wanted a bit more
in me... Ahh well. After Half pipe, the
trail keeps going up, but not crazy steep.
However it was steep enough that we had to power walk a fair
amount. Mentally, this part was very
hard. We had already covered a lot of
distance, but we still had a ton to go.
I was feeling tired. While there
was never a question of stopping, I was becoming very scared of what I still
had to do. Eventually we hit the top of this part
(Elbert). The trail turned into a
beautiful flowy single track which was a ton of fun. It took us down around 1,000 feet into Twin
Lakes.
Twin Lakes is a beautiful town and the
aid station was my favourite on the course ( 6:49, 39.5 miles and 52 place). You make a grandeur entrance to the station
via a steep rocky trail. Tanya was there
with my fluids and food. I had planned
on eating a bagel w/ Nutella, however after the previous pb sandwich debacle, I
only took gels, stinger blocks and a snickers bar. Some more sunblock and we were off. Immediately upon leaving Twin you have to
cross a grassland area with a bunch of bogs and a river. The bogs were almost knee deep in places and
there was no avoiding soaked shoes. You
finish off this part with the river crossing.
There was a safety rope which was very necessary as the water was knee
height and flowing pretty fast. The
water was also refreshingly cold. I
splashed a bunch over my head.
After the river the trail turns upwards.
With wet feet we started the climb up to Hope pass. Twin lakes is 9,200 ft while the pass is
12,600. The trail is steep. The air is
thin. The trail is steep. Chris and I trudged up the trail at a steady
pace, but not blistering fast. A couple guys
with hiking poles went by. I was
envious. I doubt poles would be any
better for me, but anything looked good at that point. I decided it was time for some serious fuel
and opened the snickers bar. I took a
bite which proceeded to turn into a Carmel paste in mouth. I couldn't swallow the damn thing. I spat it out and gave up on that
pleasure. Heading up Hope was as I
expected. It was steep and hard. However, I found myself really enjoying
it. I felt strong and my legs felt good. I mitigated the lack of real food with more
gels and stinger blocks.
About 800 ft shy of the top of Hope there
is an aid station (8:47, 45.1 miles and 38 place). The food and drink is carried up to the aid
station via llamas. Those were
incredibly strong animals as they carried a ton of stuff up there. At this aid I grabbed a glass of water and a
cup of soup broth. In and out quickly we
continued the final bit up. This part
was tough. There were some rock stairs
which were gruelling and the grade continued to be steep. However, like everything in this race, you
eventually make it over. The next part
of the course is a 3,000 ft drop down the south side of hope pass. I took this section very slowly, mainly due
to a) a goal to conserve my quads and b) I am not a great descender. It took about 10 feet into the downslope
before Chris started to pull away. We
would be going solo now. We made in
almost 70 km together. I wasn't too far
into the descent when the race leaders were coming back up. I gave each one a "good job" and
every single one gave an encouragement comment back to me. What an amazing group of competitors. After dropping 3,000 feet the trail turns off into a single track which takes you
into Winfield. I really struggled at
this point. I was tired and had some
twingy calf cramping.
The Winfield aid station is the half
way point (10:05, 50 miles and 41 place).
The first thing you do is weigh in.
I was down 5 pounds on the day.
They said no problem. The guy
beside me was 15 pounds down. They took
him to a special area to make him get his fluids back up. I spent a much longer time at this aid. I ate a cup of soup broth, a cup of Ichiban
and drank three cups of coke (mmmm, my secret weapon). I refilled my fluids from my drop bag and
started my trip back. I made in about 20
meters before I remembered I needed gels.
They were worth turning around.
After a good fuelling I was back onto the lower single track. I was running better and had more
energy. The best part was that my legs
felt great. I had not beaten them up at
all yet. Once the trail turned back up Hope
I felt I was in a groove. I was moving
well, passing a few people and saying good job to everyone coming down the
trail on their outbound voyage. I was
able to re-catch some of the people who had passed me going down this
hill. This time I was not feeling
jealous of anyone's hiking poles. I
liked the choices I had made. One other
item to note here is that runners are allowed (actually encouraged) to have a
"Pacer" run with them for the second 50 miles of the race. Being as
Chris and I only had Tanya and Ian down with us, we had to forgo the
Pacer until the final aid station.
After 4km of climbing and ~3,600 ft of
elevation gain I hit the top of Hope (again).
Over the top and down the 800 ft to the next aid I went. I tried to be more aggressive going down, but
it wasn't working very well.
At the Hope aid (11:53, 54.9 miles,
place unknown as the timing mat missed some people) I had another cup of soup
and two cups of coke. From there I
continued my descent. Wow, it was ugly. I was slow, clumsy and slow. It felt like a parade of people passing me
the entire way down. Even though I was
frustrated with my running, the trail itself was gorgeous. At the bottom of Hope I hit the river and
bogs again. Feet are now soaked and
muddy.
Right after the bogs is Twin Lakes aid
(13:35, 60.5 miles, and 44 place). Tanya
had the perfect set up for me. She sat
me down on a lawn chair, swapped out my wet shoes/socks for dry ones. What an incredible feeling. My pinky toes both had big blisters, but we
left them to pop on their own. Tanya had
pizza and a huge coke for me. I devoured
them both.
Off I went with a full pack
of fluids and gels. The trail goes up
and up from Twin. The first few km are
hiking speed only, but it then tapers off a bit. With the food in my belly I am feeling
good. And, the best part, my legs are still
not hurting at all. Up over Elbert and
then it was a nice easy downhill grade.
What was a tough grind on the way out has turned into an amazing section
coming back. I ran the entire way
through Half-pipe aid (15`33, 69 miles, and 43 place), through the pipeline
right of way and almost back to Outward Bound (fish hatchery). Only the cow pasture and the fading light
slowed me to walk those 2km.
I entered outward bound aid (16:42, 75.5
miles, and 42 place) and was happy to see Tanya and Ian. They told me Chris was still doing great and
left looking strong. At this aid Tanya
dressed me for the night. Despite my
protests she made me put on a warm top plus my running jacket and gloves. I thought it was overkill... an hour later I realized that Tanya was
right. After more pizza and another
bottle of coke I was off. I had been waffling all week as to what headlamp to
use. A uber lightweight one or the one
that can light up the entire bloody mountain.
Being as I was still going solo I took the big boy, and I loved it. After a couple km on a road the trail turned
back to the Powerline climb. I was
feeling really good thanks to the pizza and coke and pushed it up the 1,000
foot climb. I caught a few runners with
their pacers. Again the cheering and
support that all of the racers gave each other was amazing. At the top of Powerline I had the good fortune
of catching two guys who were good going downhill. I followed their path down the steeper rocky
section down Sugarloaf pass until we hit the gravel road. They stopped for a breather, but I kept running. The final part of this descent felt like
home. I was able to run the technical
singletrack at a good pace and was loving the trail. It was pitch black, my headlamp lit up the
trail, the roots and rocks seemed to be perfectly placed for me... I was having
a blast and flying through the trail! Best
of all, I was about to get my pacer.
The final aid was May Queen (19:32, 86.5
miles, and 31 place). I arrived here
about 30 min ahead of my fastest estimate.
My amazing crew was ready for me nonetheless. Tanya had another bottle of Pepsi and a cup
of soup for me to eat there. She
reloaded my pack with fluids and then changed roles to pace me in for the final
13.5 miles. For the first 4 miles I led
through the single track around the lake.
I hiked the up hills and ran the rest.
Tanya`s presence and company skyrocketed my emotions. Once we came to the boat launch Tanya could
sense I was getting quiet. She stuffed
some licorice into me and then moved to the front. For the next 4k I simply stared at her shoes. I don't remember much, but she kept the pace
high and we burned through the distance.
Once you leave the lake it feels like you should be done. But you are not. What was effortless downhill 22 hour ago is
now a never ending uphill grade. Tanya would
only let us slow down if it got really steep and we ran almost all of it. About 3 km from the finish we caught up to a
familiar gate. Chris and Ian were
grinding up the final climb as well.
What an incredible way to finish the race. Chris and I have run and biked countless km's
together over the past three years and here we were back together within a
spitting distance of the finish. I
couldn`t have asked for a better ending.
The finish line was beyond words. I had a stupid grin that I couldn`t get off
my face.
22:09`23, 100 miles, and 27 place.
Words cannot express my gratitude to
Tanya for everything she did during this race for me. Chris had an amazing race which I am super
proud of. This 100 mile voyage wouldn`t
have even started if not for inspiration from Ian`s Dad, Don Watts who raced
Western States 100 in 1986. I was
honored to have Ian with us.
Now its time to get back on the bike.
.JPG)
