2001 Incline Club V5 TH #17 LR #36

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Incline Club V5 TH #17 LR #36

Sent: Wednesday, July 25, 2001 3:36 PM
Subject: Incline Club V5 TH17 LR36

Hi ICers,

Now here is one way to empty out a mailbox — post a whole month’s worth of R reports!!! There are a lot of them for sure so I won’t take up any more space and let you get right to them:-)

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Thursday, July 26, 5:30 p.m. meet at Soda Springs Park.
Warm-up to Hydro Street. 30 minute tempo run up the Barr Trail. Easy down. 5 X Hydro Street hill. Cool down back to park.

Sunday, July 29, 7 a.m. meet at the Pikes Peak Hwy Toll Booth.
Carpool to Elk Park. Run over to Barr Camp then up to the top. 2 — 4.5 hours.

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Dave V writes:
I have yet to join the Sunday morning group, but plan to soon. My team is looking for age 40+ members for our third go at the Colorado Relay. I met some Incline Clubbers there last year and I am sure they will tell you what a great trip it is. Mostly road, but some great trail stuff over Georgia Pass; last year I got to run down Vail pass in the moonlight. Several people are out since last year for various reasons; I think we have been the only masters team that last two years, guaranteeing that we win something, but the best part is the party in the park in Glenwood Springs.

Briefly, we leave Idaho Springs Friday morning, September 14th, and arrive in Glenwood Springs Saturday morning the 15th. Some people stay the weekend, some take off. We may need 5 additional people (male or female) for our 10 person team. Check out Colorado Outward Bound Relay .

If there are interested folks out there, just email me at (e-mail address removed for www posting).

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Robin F writes:
My competitive running hit an all-time low this past Sunday. I had registered for the Barr Trail Race. I never wrote down the date on my calendar. I had been reading your updates, and remembered that it was a few weeks before the marathon. Imagine my surprise on Monday morning to open the paper and see your success in a race that I was looking forward to running. I have been beating myself senseless ever since Sunday. I may have to change from Robin F to Robin “L” <--------LOSER! ! !

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Randy L writes:
I ran the Elk Park run last Sunday 7/15 rather than the BTMR. It was my last chance to do the top half of Pikes Peak before the marathon :-(, and before Mt. Fuji this coming Thursday 7/25.

I was quite amazed and gratified to hear all the excitement on Sunday at Barr Camp, well before I got there. There was a bigger crowd there than during the Pikes Peak races, and very enthusiastic. I got a quick hello with Laura and Tom K between runners. They were max busy, but I think loving it. I must say the other IC’ers I saw, who were running, were looking considerably more frazzled at Barr Camp than during a normal workout. This is a good sign! Way to push yourselves!

I’m adjusting to Japan time and (trying to adjust to the) humidity. Ran along the Tamagawa (river) in Tokyo today for about 1:30, and must say it was very difficult to finish, with the heat. But you gotta hand it to these organized, driven Japanese. They’ve marked out a 10.5 km course along the river, with carefully painted lines and numbers every 100m (both directions!). Talk about a pacing opportunity. When the going got tough I could turn my attention to (attempting to) calculate my time per 100m, 1km, 5km, 10km etc. Never got desperate enough to try converting to miles however.

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Here is a re-post of the URL to the recipe for your own energy bars that Sid R posted a couple of e-mails ago. The first time it did not have a “www” so it did not work. www.sportquest.com/recipe.html.

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John O writes:
The Colorado Running Company will be having Happy Hour on Thursday evenings in July and August. Happy Hour will be from 5pm-7pm. Beer and wine will be available to those who are of drinking age. Bargains will also be served up for those attending. Come by for a little Summer fun.

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Tom K writes:
Laura and I chose the lesser of two evils (???) on Sunday (7/22/01), and ran the round trip from Elk Park, in lieu of a round trip training run from the Manitou Springs. We did this run 3 or so weeks ago, and had some silly expectation that it might have gotten easier in the intervening weeks. Laura had done a 5 K race on Saturday (Women’s Distance Festival), and I had done a 1 hour run with some tempo thrown in, so we weren’t real fresh to begin with. We did take your advice though, and went easy on the section from Elk Park to Barr Camp. I was kind of forced to in a way, as the pack frame that Larry M asked me to carry back to Barr (it had been used to carry the BTMR clock back down) would knock me in the head if I ran too fast. On the positive side, the frame also forced me to run with good posture (a straight back).

Also taking your advice, we did somewhat of a time trial from Barr up to the top. My time from Barr to A-frame was around 34 minutes, and from there to the top around 58 minutes. Laura finished a few minutes behind me, but I think she was suffering the effects of the previous day’s race, and would have been right with me on a normal day. We spent a few minutes at the top, including a visit to the EMT’s to get our blood Ox level and heart rate measured (my blood ox was 84%-86%, and HR was around 80 bpm).

On the way down, we spent 30 minutes doing trail maintenance on the top mile, mostly with Craig (the “walking man"). Most of this was small rocks and trash, but Craig and I did move a couple of good size boulders that had recently washed onto the trail. Credit Laura and I with 30 minutes each for this week (we’ll make up more time over the next few weeks).

The smart thing to do would have been to finish the run at the top. The rest of the run back to Barr, then from there back to Elk was a long, slow slog. I think we both bonked a bit, and we had only downed 2 Gus a piece over the 5 hrs 41 minutes we were out (this time includes the 1/2 hour of trail maintenance). Eating properly during a longer run can really make a difference, a lesson I learned from my ultra-training. It took us about 1 1/2 hours to get from Barr back to Elk Park, versus the 57 minutes it had taken us to go the reverse directions at an easy pace earlier in the day. Though I think this is a tougher run because of the time spent above 10,000 feet, I also think it was less damaging than a round trip from the bottom would have been.

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Richard B writes:
Thoughts on my first Colorado hill race (BTMR):
- Got up at 3:00 am (I live in Aurora)
- While driving to Manitou Springs I pulled off the highway near Greenland to look in awe at the night sky. I haven’t seen so many stars since I was a teenager. Living near a big city washes out most of the beauty of the night sky. If it wasn’t so dangerous it would be fun to run trails at night above treeline.
- Picked up my race packet at 5:45 am in Soda Springs park, stretched and warmed up on my way to the COG - I got to the trailhead early enough to use the bathroom without waiting in the long lines.
- Stretched and warmed up some more and thought how the guy in the colonial suit was going to stay cool in the hot sun
- Lined up for the 7 am start and took off at the fast walk behind the huge crowd of runners.
- The Incline club training has really paid off for me this year. I was able to pass others fairly quickly in the first 15 minutes. Who would of thought I could have progressed this far since I left the roads and took up trails back at the end of February?
- Other than training on Barr trail with the Incline club and the handful of training runs to Barr camp I didn’t have much to gauge what my time of arrival at Barr camp would be. I estimated that if I could arrive before the 2 hour mark I could finish the race under my goal of 3 hours.
- I’m glad I carried my Camelbak because the aid stations were few and far between for me.
- Every race ought to be staffed with enthusiastic young people. When you are nearly twice as old as they are you can draw upon that to keep you going when you feel like sitting down and eating a pizza and drinking a six pack.
- The return trip was fast and hot. I pushed myself a little faster than I should have and I’m surprised that I didn’t take a nasty fall. I can attribute it to my training runs on the trail with the Incline club and my careful foot placement.
- Thank goodness for that last aid station near the top of the W’s. Two cups of cool water over the head was enough to make it down through the blast furnace.
- The hill on Hydro street was a nice touch. I race like this wouldn’t be the same with a wimpy flat finish. My only complaint is that it should have been longer to make the finish even sweeter.

- The end result: My finish at 2 hours, 59 minutes and 2 seconds (Under my goal time and a major accomplishment for someone who couldn’t run a mile at 5,200 feet a year and a half ago when I moved here from Portland Oregon.)

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Gordon B writes:
In this my first BTMR I ran a PR (1:28) to Barr Camp and finished 2:19:48 ahead of my projected goal of 2:30:00 which was good enough for fourth in my age group. I was pretty jazzed about the whole experience. Can’t wait for next year. Again I just want to personally thank you Matt, without running with the Incline Club, and your training expertise and patience I wouldn’t have made it past the third switchback! Now, if I could just find the sixth runner in the tee-shirt design...

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“R” reports:
Scott R writes:
It has been a long time... However, I completed the Kendall Mountain Run last weekend at was a really good race in prep for the PPM (for those of you doing it). There were only about 100 or so folks that raced, but that was plenty especially when you consider the scramble at the peak. The course was dry and very tough. The race begins at approximately 9,300 ft. in Silverton, and once out of town, starts heading up a steep jeep trail. You cover almost 4,000 ft. in 6.5 miles up to a little over 13,000 ft. (with the last 100 meters or so being an extremely steep scramble to the top). The race was well done and everyone was extremely friendly. If you can find the time next year, the beautiful drive alone makes the race worthwhile. It’s a great race that will test your high-altitude fitness and makes for a fun replacement to the Sunday climb to the top of Pike’s Peak. I hope to be back running with you all soon.

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Laura K reports:
Oh, so it doesn’t count if someone else mentions you in their R report to get your *, you have to do your own report...
Summer Roundup 12K — 7/8/2001 — This is one of those races where it helps to know the course. For the first time I think, I actually had some basic race strategy and it worked. Before the race, Tom K and I talked to Maddy for a few minutes and she showed us her pacemaker. I was wondering how she would be feeling during the race. That was evident after the first 1/2 mile! I wanted to hold back on the first half of the course because I knew what was coming. I run that loop in Bear Creek Park very regularly. I’ve run it fast and I’ve run it easy so those hills don’t scare me. I think I was in 3rd or 4th going into the park. Thanks to the mental and physical strength gained by training on Barr Trail, I was able to finish in 2nd in 50:34. That was the first time I’ve been able to do a “come from behind.”

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Mike L reports:
Summer Round-up Trail Run
My goal was to get under 50 minutes (I did 50:48 last year). I went out too fast at GOG so I decided to start easy and get my rhythm and then pick up the pace. It worked well until the big hill where I slowed but maintained my cadence. My finish was fairly strong but not good enough to make up for my slow 6th mile. I didn’t make my goal but I beat last years time finishing in 50:37. Overall, I felt pretty good about the race.

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Larry M reports:
I couldn’t find my pick so I ran the Summer Roundup 12k? 8 miles — it was marked in miles. Weather was nice. Trail was real lose sand. Upper Barr Trail is better. For a change I started off at a nice pace, just a little slower then last year’s pace. Well that shirtless old man (Don R) got ahead of me again, but I passed him at two miles. However I forgot it was a 8 mile race. Well, about half mile down the trail the shirtless old man passed me again so this time I just sat back and waited. As we passed by Wally-mart for the second time I noticed he was getting closer. Another Paramecia race? (outkick the shirtless wonder at the end). Well, moving into the rolling hills he got real close so at six mile mark I passed the shirtless wonder again and pushed it as we headed for the barn. As far as results all I can say is I won my age-group. A little slow and a little older. PPRR needs to get a good finish and result program. There was a lot of Incliners at the race! No way I could write all your names down but lots of you had on the shirts and won awards. Way to go Incliners!

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Dave R reports:
Summer Round Up 12K Trail Run
Goal time: 55 minutes, actual 57:45 (11th of 58 in age division)
Things done right:
— kept an even effort through the various terrain and then pushed the last 1.5 miles
— well hydrated
— did some speedwork sessions for the past two months Things done not so great:
— needed more hill/strength training as I slowed too much on the steeps
— realized a little too ambitious with my goal time

The race began, like last year’s, at a fast pace. I thought the volunteers were great at the water stops. Saw lots of ICers. I basically held my pace for most of the race and into the hills about mile 5. I then slowly started picking off those in front. Just hanging with the rest of the IC shirts was the goal, but that helped me keep passing runners the last 1.5 miles. Spoke with Louise E and others afterwards. Was very satisfied with my finishing time and felt I gave it all I had. Next year, though, I will do more IC runs as I’ve only run with the group twice on Thursdays so far. So mark me up for an “R” for a Sunday run. It was hot but fun!

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Linda R reports:
I just realized that I should submit a “race report” for the 7/8 Roundup because it was a 12k trail race (I was thinking it had to be over 13mi). So, here it is.

I thought at first I would be sent home because when the volunteers held up the pace per minute signs, there wasn’t one that applied to me! But being the “race rogue” that I am, I firmly entrenched myself toward the rear with the others who had a “yea, my time’s not up there either” look and figured I’d fit right in. This my was first time for the Roundup and before the race I couldn’t see how we’d end up over on Cache La Poudre St. based on where we were starting. I had no idea there was a trail that went under I-25! That’s pretty handy.

At any rate, I enjoyed learning of a new route to run since I work downtown and tend to go north into Monument Valley instead of south. The run itself was great, except of course for that last *#@!@*^%** hill toward the end! But I trudged up it in true Incline Club fashion....okay, well maybe not in the Incline Club fashion YOU’RE accustomed to, but the only fashion in which I could muster since I haven’t been a faithful club attendee, which was painfully (ah say PAINFULLY) obvious at that moment! I briefly thought of asking Dr. Rocket for some advice on the best way to tackle this hill, when I realized he was probably at the finish line about then!

Anyway, once I did finish and after standing under the water sprays for a little while, I spotted Larry M., who, of course, debated with me as to whether it was hot during the race! I’m sure you know his position was that it was, indeed, NOT hot that morning, neverminding all the sweaty, aromatic bodies lingering about, waiting for their awards.

Well, I did have a good time but remember feeling rather disappointed thinking that I had to forgo my “*” that Sunday. However, all is well now that I realize that is not the case!! Oh, by the way, Robert did volunteer for that race — does that count? : — )

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Brenda W reports:
Summer Roundup 12k at Penrose Stadium July 8, 2001
Brenda Walton Memphis, TN age-43

It was a wonderful Sunday morning, I would say 300+ runners attended. The temperature, well need I say more. It was hot except for the few shady areas along the creek. I finished 3rd female overall, first old lady. The hills basically kicked my booty on mile 6. I don’t know what my finish time was because the computers were not working and they did not announce them. The overall women’s winner was Maddy T. and Peter Flemming won the men’s race with a new course record of 41:15 I do believe. Being a flatlander and only here to train for the summer, I find it very hard to breath sometimes. I can hardly wait for Pikes Peak Marathon. I wish everyone the best at what they do.

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Robin F reports:
Summer Round-Up 12k Trail Run

On Sunday, July 8, I was able to wake up early enough to make an appearance at Penrose Equestrian Ctr for the 12k jaunt through trails of the city. Temps were avg or slightly below under beautiful CO skies. There were lots of fast runners. I was not one of them, but I saw some before they took off down the trail, then later as they ran past me in the other direction.

This is the only race I have done since last year’s marathons, so I had little expectations. Last year I finished this course in 57:27. This was my only reference before getting to the race. Along the way my mind was preoccupied with calculations of how long 12k was in miles (the course was marked with mile markers, not km’s). I crossed the line at 59:02. Respectable, but I am still wondering where they added 95 seconds of length to the course since last year. It seemed to be the same course, but then I would have finished at the same time, right?

Next race: PPM. Gotta find that 95 seconds if I am going to beat last year’s time.

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Tom K reports:
OK, so I guess urban trails count. Here is my “R” report for the Summer Roundup, Sunday, 8 July, 2001.

This was the 2nd race in the Triple Crown series (I missed the Garden 10 miler due to tendentious). The 7.5 mile course started and finished at the Penrose Equestrian center, and ran through Bear Creek and Monument Valley Parks. About 6.5 miles of the course were on dirt trail, with the remaining 1 mile on pavement (mostly getting to and from the trails). The first 4.75 miles were flat, the section between 4.75-6.25 miles was mostly uphill, and the remaining section was mostly downhill. There were 339 male finishers, and 170 female finishers, for a total of 509 runners completing the race.

The weather conditions for the 7 am start were warm, but since we were shaded from the sun for most of the first part, it didn’t feel too bad until the last section where we were running through the exposed part of Bear Creek Park. I was still getting over a little “mystery bug” that had kept me feeling extremely fatigued over the previous week, but considering that, and the tendentious that had kept me out of any serious training over the past month, I felt pretty good, put in a quality run, and had a pretty decent race. I finished in 49:35 which put me 24th overall, and 1st in the 45-49 age group. The overall men’s winner was Peter Flemming who finished in a course record time of 41:15. Laura K was the 2nd overall female finisher in a time of 50:34. She finished behind the amazing Maddy Tormoen who (running with her newly implanted pacemaker) bested her last years time for a new female record of 48:35.

In summary, it was a good race, and a course that offered both a flat fast section and a hilly challenging section. But if you’re looking for a few extra roots, rocks, and several thousands of feet of vertical gain to challenge you, stick with the BTMR (the best little trail race in these parts).

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Fred W reports:
I ran the Grand Prix 12 K Trail race today. Tough last two miles but I got an age group win. No official times available due to a computer glitch!

The Incline Club was well represented, and gave an excellent account of itself. A number of age group wins and places, and good overall places in the open division. Amongst those I saw were Kees (3rd o/a), Louise (another excellent time), Larry M., Glen A., Ben, Dr. Rocket and his good wife, and numerous others I recognize but am unable to put names too (another “senior” moment!).

It must have been beautiful on the mountain today.

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Kees G reports:
SRU12K: I’ll make it short since you will get a million of these... I guess the Americans were being beaten for this race with two foreigners in the top 3! I was 3rd but actually one minute slower than I had expected. All in all not too bad since I was feeling tired doing my warm up... not a good feeling considering the race still had to start and that there is a nasty hill for about a mile around mile 6. Running and tapering wise I did roughly the same as before garden of the gods, but I didn’t do enough sitting on the couch and eat bonbons in between. The incline shirts were cool as usual, and people were telling us that they (or we?) were cool, and were asking how to get them (the shirts... I assume...). I don’t know if we made a good impression by pointing at the “when it’s hard go out and speed up” but I think people got the message!

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Steve S reports:
I just wanted to make sure I got my “R” for the Summer Roundup. 57:42, which was great for me. I love powering by flatlanders on the uphills and crushing their egos late in the race after they passed me on the flat section of the previous mile. You rarely see somebody later in the race after you drop them on a hill. Your pacing tips helped me during the race such that when the last two miles came, I had enough overall energy and juice left in my legs. Thanks. I even felt good enough that I didn’t kick at the finish to save my legs for the BTMR. The 20 seconds I might have shaved off my time weren’t worth it. I can make that time up (and more) during the PPM.

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Kelli L reports:
AATRA Mountain Athletics Trail Running Challenge Series # 1
Deer Valley Resort, Park City, UT
Sunday, July 1, 2001
6+ miles / Mixed climbing and descending, lots of singletrack. Biggest climb was at beginning of race. One gradual ascent was on pavement. Finish was a singletrack, switchback descent into expo area. One aid station on course.
2nd overall female/44:13
7th overall race

This race was fun and fast. It was held in conjunction with the National Off-Road Bicycle Association (NORBA) National Championship Series (NCS) event in Park City, Utah. This is the first time that a trail running race has been held at an NCS event. It was cool to see some of the PRO mountain bike racers and the Outdoor Life Network commentators jump into a running race (at a bike event!). I was at the event for work, so I decided to jump into the race on Sunday morning. I didn’t know who would be racing, but a fast female runner showed up from Colorado. It made for a good race and I was happy with my finish. The race began with a mile-long climb (approx) in which I was the first woman to the top. The girl who finished in first took-off once we crested and flew on the descent. She put a slight gap on me, but stayed in my sights until the last descent of the race. I could bridge some of the gap on the climbs, but not enough to catch her. Overall, it was a solid race for me and I felt good about my effort. The event was well-run and the course was well-marked. It was cool to finish in the expo area of the mountain bike venue, with professional announcers giving commentary. I would recommend racing in one of these events if you have the chance. The prizes were nice, too. I won $ 75 for 2nd and a pair of Timberland trail runners. There were cash purses and Timberland shoes for the top-three men and women (125/75/50) and Timberland shoes for age-group winners.

The next venues in the series:
Mammoth Lakes, California July 22
Mount Snow, Vermont Aug. 19

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Non “R” reports:
Women’s Distance Festival 5K — 7/21/2001 — I was not fresh for this race, having run as hard as I could the Sunday before from the top of the Incline to Barr Camp carrying the BTMR stop watches, then doing 30 minutes of 1 minute hard/1 minute easy the Thursday before, not to mention this was a 5K — I don’t get warmed up anymore before at least 5 miles...but I like the race so decided to do it — only girls run and only guys help and they get shirts that read, “I Love Fast Women.” Tom K was a wonderful athletic supporter that morning. I was 5th or 6th for most of the race, but again, calling on that strength from running up Barr Trail, I finished in 3rd, behind 2 women who run for a university in Chicago (19 and 22 years old), another “come from behind,” finishing in 20:13. I invited those women to come run on the Peak with us on Sunday, but they never showed... hmmmmm.

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Anita B reports:
Just wanted to give you a “ non-R” race report. On Saturday, July 7th, I did the Leadville marathon, which I thought was tougher than Pike’s Peak, mainly because of the rocky, unstable footing going downhill.My downhill descent time was actually 19 minutes slower than the uphill portion, which went to the top of Mosquito Pass,then turned back around.I don’t want to embarrass myself too much by giving my time, so I’ll just say that I came in 4th,(to last). But it was fun, tough, hot, dirty, the views were great, the aid stations superior, and the race was well organized.

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David W reports:
I got back from Seoul, S. Korea (ROK) Sunday (1 July) morning and I’ve run in the area a couple of times. I had only run once in 18 days whilst in the ROK and twice upon my return. I had a voice mail waiting for me asking if I wanted to go up to Leadville for the Leadville Trail Marathon. Friday (6 July) early evening at 1815 hrs (6:15pm for those unaccustomed to the 24hr clock) I decided to head up to Leadville. Evidently I wasn’t thinking, I thought even out of shape that I would be able to pull in a 4-4.5hr marathon time...hhhhmmmm. It wasn’t till I was at the starting line facing in a Northeasterly direction, almost the exact opposite direction of the start of the Leadville 100. I realize this was going to take me a little longer than 4hrs. The race began at 0800 hrs(8:00am) with the first 4 miles up hill mostly over mining roads (gravel). Got to the first manned aid station was a bit of a reprieve from the constant climb. The race had some spectacular scenery and wound thru some old abandoned mines as we made our way to Mosquito Pass 13,188 ft the turn around point. I got to Mosquito Pass in 3.5ish hrs. Being an out and back course rest is down hill from there. My leg/Quads held up fine, and I had a really good day out, beautiful weather. I thought it to be a pretty tough course even if I’d been in shape.

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Bill R reports:
Race: Snow Mountain Trail challenge
Race Date: Sat, 7/7/01
Location: Snow Mountain Ranch, 11 miles north of Winter Park, CO
Distance: 1/2 marathon, marathon, double marathon
Weather: varied — nice, hot, heavy rain, hail, lightning

After reaching the ripe old age of 45 the end of June, I decided to mark the occasion with something I hadn’t done before. Naturally, I thought of doing my first ultra marathon. Checking the ultra running calendar, I came up with the Snow Mountain Challenge. It turned out to be a great choice.

Snow Mountain Ranch is a 5000 acre YMCA facility located 11 miles north of Winter Park. The race had beautiful scenery, the weather was... interesting, within driving distance of Colorado Springs, and best of all (for me, anyway) the course was a 13.1 mile loop that was well marked and darn near impossible to get lost! Also, there was plenty of time to finish the race — no matter which event you entered, you had 12 hours to complete it. There were some unlikely “runners” doing the 1/2 marathon and marathon.

The 13.1 mile race course had four water/PowerAde stops, three of which had gels and assorted goodies. It was mostly trail winding through the Ranch, generally flat with one steep 1/2 mile incline, a couple of muddy swamps, lots of trees and nice mountain views. Friendly volunteers and YMCA personnel manned the water stops.

The race started at 8am and it got pretty warm by 11am. I understand quite a few people bailed due to the heat. Having spent the last five years in Phoenix, the 80 degree temp seemed quite comfortable to me. It cooled off a lot around noon with thunderstorms. The last five to six hours of my event had intermittent driving rain and pea-sized hail (ouch!). There was also quite a bit of lightning, fortunately not too close. There were something like 30 double marathon starters with 12 hardy souls finishing and almost 300 folks finishing all three events. For results and photos (one photo of yours truly) go to Scott Weber’s web site, www.coachweber.com. Weber sponsors several events in Colorado and even coaches ultra runners.

I took it pretty easy since this was my first ultra, drank plenty of water, ate along the whole race and never bonked. Aside from one small blister and minor leg muscle cramps, no problems at all. The winning ultra time was 6:57. I came in at a blistering 11:16. (Hey, don’t laugh... I finished!!)

I thought it was a great race and I had a good time. Best of all, I finished my first ultra! Let’s see... When’s the next 100 miler near here?

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Tom K reports:
Laura and I (and several other IC members) also ran the Palmer Lake to Monument 4 miler (actually, slightly longer than 4 miles according to Dave Jones) on the 4th of July. It started in Palmer Lake, ran along the flat-downhill New Sante Fe Trail, and finished in Monument. There was a record turn-out of racers, over 450, on a hot 4th of July morning. I was the 10th finisher overall in a time of 24:56. Jarred Scott (now running for CU Boulder) was the overall male finisher in 20:15. Laura was the first overall female finisher in 23 minutes something seconds. Other IC members that I know ran it were Rick H (3rd overall, he ran it on a whim after doing the track workout the previous night), Bev Z, Eck Z, Hans Z, Neal T (12th overall?), Teresa T (1st female masters finisher), and I know there are other IC runners I am missing who ran this fun, fast race. Some of us stuck around afterwards for the parade and other festivities held in this fun, small town atmosphere.

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John Ge reports:
The following doesn’t qualify for a “*” or an “R” but it might be of some interest ...

June 30-31, 2001
Leadville Trail 100 Training Weekend

This wasn’t a race and I’m sure no one saw me on Pikes Peak this past weekend but the following may be of some interest, especially for those considering the Leadville 100 for sometime in the future.

For quite awhile I vacillated between “you’ve got to be nuts” and “wonder if I could do that” when considering Leadville. A couple months ago it became a goal to attempt it in 2002. When I heard about the training weekend put on by the race organizers it sounded like a good way to get some idea of what to expect next year.

Roughly 50 miles and more than 8,000 vertical feet later ... I’m tired, but my enthusiasm for an attempt has if anything increased. On Saturday we ran from May Queen Campground to Twin Lakes, a distance of 26 miles. The run took us over Sugarloaf Peak and the shoulder of Mt. Elbert before dropping into Twin Lakes. Compared to IC workouts it seemed a fairly moderate run. The climb up Sugarloaf seemed particularly easy but then, it was early in the training weekend and I wanted to maintain an easy pace. I arrived at the fire station in Twin Lakes 4:55 after the start. There we were treated to a catered barbecue provided by the race organizers.

Sunday was much more difficult. The run would go from a mile or so west of Twin Lakes to Winfield and back. The route takes you across Hope (some call it “Hopeless") Pass not once but twice for a total distance of about 24 miles. “Hopeless” Pass lived up to its billing. From Twin Lakes to the top of the pass was for the most part too steep for me to run, especially after running 26 miles the day before. The Winfield side of the pass is steeper yet and it was hard work to keep moving let alone run. Before we started the run that morning I was told that for those unable to finish the Leadville 100, Winfield is by far the most common place to call it quits. Now I understand why.

Winfield is the half way point for the Leadville 100. It’s hard to say how I’ll feel next year when I’m facing not just the second crossing of Hope Pass but also the additional 40 miles from Twin Lakes to the finish line. One very good thing about this past weekend is that it has given me a much better idea of what to expect. For anyone considering the Leadville 100, the training weekend is something I highly recommend. It is well organized, there are a lot of good people involved and it is even fun.

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WWW posts (Back to the last e-mail that included them) 7/22/2001 59 people, most of whom started from Elk Park, made their way up the mountain today. 8 of us went on a Bottomless Pit GPS truck recon and while there also found the mine that I have been wanting to find for years. It was a great weather day and after the run many did a least one bag with others working on the trail. As usual however the weather changed and we got out of there!

7/19/2001 There were 49 of us today. Those of who raced the BTMR did a recovery run of 15 minutes of 1 minute easy, 1 minute harder. The rest did 30 minutes.

7/15/2001 86 ICers either ran or volunteered at the 2nd annual Barr Trail Mountain Race. Some great times were turned in with 7 top 10s, 7 more top 20s and about 35 placing in age-groups. It was awesome to see so many Incline Club T-shirts:-)

7/12/2001 46 of us did a small time-check tempo run from the start of the BTMR to the end of the first switch-back. I was odd indeed to finish a Thursday feeling this fresh:-)

7/8/2001 While a bunch of the club was running (and kicking butt) at the Summer Trail Round Up 12K 33 of us were running on Pikes Peak. Some major trail construction was done on our top mile. Several of us started at the mile marker and worked our way up the trail. We made good progress on the really rocky section on the big traverse. Meanwhile up top a bunch more garbage was collected and removed from the top. Finally the last of the snow was gone from the Barr Trail:-)

7/5/2001 47 started a 30 minute tempo run from the BTMR start line so we could get our splits down before the race next weekend. Most of us also worked a 5-10 minute section of downhill hard as well. Of course Hydro hill repeats finished off the workout.

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Go out hard, when it hurts speed up...

Matt Carpenter
www.skyrunner.com

Barr Trail Mountain Race
www.runpikespeak.com

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