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Sent: Thursday, February 14, 2002 9:31 AM
Subject: Incline Club V6 LR #13
Happy Valentines Day!
The webteam is happy to announce the debut of the new club website! I won’t say a whole lot about what is there because you can just head over and see for yourself:-) However I should note that there is a “win a free hat” contest on the message board. http://www.inclinclub.com
One thing I do want to mention is the new IC contact board. Throughout the week I get several e-mails like, “Can you send me “X”s e-mail address?” I just forward the mail to the person and let them decide what to do. The contact board skips a step and allows for people to contact you but ONLY if they know your name and further your e-mail address will NOT be revealed therefore you still get to decide if you want to reply or not. However I realize a few of you might not like this. Just head over to the site and see how it is set up and if you don’t want this to be allowed for you simply let me know. Also because of this feature those who signed up with two names for one account (Joe & Jane Smith for example) may now get two newsletters. Just let me know if you want one of the versions deleted because I am sure some were just signing up for themselves.
Next, one of the neat (and somewhat unique) things about the Incline Club is the fact that it is a free club. The plan is to keep it that way! However the new site has some annual costs and to pay for it we have come up with something rather creative. On February 28th, at 6pm, I will be giving a talk at the Colorado Running Company on the discovery of Pikes Peak and the building of the Barr Trail. The second part of the presentation will be a Q&A on training for the peak races. The talk is free but donations to pay for the website will be accepted. PLEASE consider coming to the talk and making a small donation!
Finally let me again express my gratitude to the webteam: Connilee Walter, Fred Wright, Gordon Barnet, JD VanLancker, Mike Foster, Randy Lindsey, Robert Ronas, Sid Rubey and Stephen Mitchell. A zillion e-mails went back and forth and I think you will be happy with the results. Again that’s http://www.inclinclub.com.
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NEXT RUN:
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Sunday, February 17, 8:00 a.m. meet at Soda Springs Park
Run Ute Pass Trail and turn right and cross Hwy 24 and run Waldo Canyon loop in the clockwise direction. Cross back over Hwy 24 (be careful) and continue up LRR and return via the Barr Trail using the “J” pipe trail. 2.5-3.5 hours. If it would take longer skip LRR and return via the UPT.
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ICers WRITE:
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Dan Odell writes:
I plan to run the Hogeye in Arkansas on April 7 but can’t seem to get an entry form. I need an official time before the PPM fills up in early May; has anyone here run the Hogeye or have info to share?
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Brian Jones writes:
Any word on when the T-Shirts will be ready for sale?
(MC adds: We are hoping one of the first menu items to be added to the new site will be a permanent T-shirt order page! However right now the building of the website has put the shirts on the back burner. They are next and rest assured this mail is the place they will be announced!)
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Kevin Caffey writes:
Re: Frank’s question on being attacked by a cougar or bear. Three years ago there were several cougar sightings up above Barr camp in the winter, according to the caretaker at the time. You remember him, so take it with a grain of salt... but it might be real. However, in the winter if 1997-98 I used to run up on Almagre, and I ALWAYS ran alone until you started the club. Twice, I was “tracked” by a cougar for several hundred yards, both times without knowing it. I only found out by seeing the tracks (they have big feet) on the way down and following them. Also, a runner was killed by a cougar in Boulder 3 or 4 years ago. So I started researching the hunting habits of cougars for fun (also because the cougar is my patron animal). Here is a couple of suggestions I learned from reading, but I have no idea how effective they are since I never had to test them:
Avoid being cougar food by:
1) Don’t run alone. Cougars do not like noise and they definitely do not like crowds.
2) Cougars hunt early morning and evening only. They do not hunt at mid-day.
3) Unfortunately, cougars are not “dumb” animals. They hunt from behind and above (if possible) to surprise their game, typically mule deer. They hit the deer from behind and snap its neck with their powerful jaws. They do not give warning prior to attack, and are essentially silent. Keep your eyes on ground above you when on the trail, and trust your peripheral vision. If you see motion, turn to face it quickly because....
4) Cougars do NOT like to attack face on. In the incredibly unlikely event that you see a cougar, stop running. Face it. Lift up your arms and look BIG. You have no chance against a cougar (which have been known to bring down a full grown bull elk), but THEY do not know that! Be aggressive. Yell. I saw footage (mom vidoetaping) of a father who backed down a cougar that was hunting his small child. The man was maybe 20 feet from the cat, and had no weapons, but he was MOTIVATED.
5) Whatever you do DON’T run from it.... that is the equivalent of advertising yourself as a “blue plate special” to a cougar. They are at the top of the food chain in their environment, so they find it confusing if a large animal stands its ground and faces it. But if you run....that they understand. And they excel at speed work.
There is a company called “Counter Assault” that makes a special mace spray for large animals, proven to work on Grizzly bears (that large enough for you?). They apparently developed it for the Yellowstone Park Service. It is relatively light (compared to a gun), and can be easily worn on your belt or pack while running. Until I ran with the Incline club I used to carry it on my long back-country runs. Range is about 40 feet. One word of caution: this stuff is powerful. It will kill an average dog and can do serious harm to humans. It is about 100x your average mace in strength, though still capistan (pepper derivative) based.
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ICU (Incline Club Ultra) REPORT:
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Paul Sullivan reports:
We had two new guys, I think they were friends of Eric Gabe’s. They turned off at Williams Canyon. We departed shortly after 6:30 a.m. Keith, Rick, David Peak and I ran Rampart RR up to the Overlook and back down into Waldo Loop, hooking in at the top of the stairs. (Eric turned back about 3 miles from the Overlook.) I ran ahead (clockwise) in an attempt to catch you and the other frontrunners coming up from Williams Canyon. I saw 4-5 footsteps entering Waldo from Williams, but I was too late. I returned down Ute Indian Trail to Soda Springs Park. A little over 4 hours in all. I hung around expecting Keith, Rick and David to show up at any moment, but, amazingly, I think they tacked on Longs Ranch Road to make it a 5-hour plus run! (This after David paced an ultra runner in Texas for 40 miles last week and Keith bellyaching about his legs on RRR.)
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Keith Grimes reports:
As Paul mentioned above, 2 of 7 turned off at Williams, Eric turned around a few miles from the Overlook. Of the 4 of us that went onto the Overlook then back into Waldo, Paul WIMPED out and returned via Ute Trail. Paul mentioned something about getting back in time to watch the men’s figure skating competition. Rick, David and myself went up Longs. Two of the three followed Longs then down to No-Name Creek and back Barr Trail. One of us continued onto Bob’s Road then took Barr Trail to Barr Camp, then followed Barr Trail all the way back down. This long run ended up being around 33 — 34 miles with almost 9000ft of elevation gain.
(MC adds: Sorry for any confusion last week about the start time for the ICUers. They did not have any newbies for 2 months and decided to move the time up a half hour last Sunday. Of course Sunday they got several newbies and several more showed at 7:-( At any rate, Keith says “Most of the time we decide the “where” that morning. I can say we will be starting this Sunday at 7:00am. We will most likely run Barr Trail and possibly go explore some new trail, weather permitting.”
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LOST AND FOUND:
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One blue and black “OR” headband looking thingy is still lost but I should make it more clear that it has been found and if you lost it I have it!
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R REPORTS:
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Jennie Pierce reports:
Las Vegas Marathon — Las Vegas, NV — February 3, 2002
Las Vegas was my first marathon, and it was a good choice. The course was nice and flat with minimal up hills and a gradual decent (roughly 800ft. for 26 miles). The weather could not have been better on race day! It was in the 30’s at the start and topped out in the low 60’s for the finish. It was not the most scenic of runs, but at the time I could have cared less. I was pretty focused. For a first marathon I think I did a lot of things right, and maybe could have done some things differently.
Done Correctly:
* Trained about 70 miles per week with speed, tempo runs, and a long run each week. The rest of the days I just put in the miles. I tried to get a few long runs on flat pavement.
* I had great motivation from my husband Brett. He met me at the half way mark, at the 20 mile mark, and right before the finish line. I could not have done it without him.
* The usual pre race activities: hydration, good food, and rest. I also took three gels along with me for energy. I took one at mile 6, mile 12, and mile 18.
What I Would Have Done Differently:
* Done a couple more long runs on the road and reaching over three hours. I hit a wall at mile 23.
* I would have taken one more gel with me, and that might have saved the last three miles for me.
All in all, I had a great time and loved every minute of it, even the pain!
164 JENNIE PIERCE MANITOU SPRINGS CO 29 F 18 DIV 2 1:31:12 3:06:50
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Nancy Hobbs-Adams reports:
Jeff and I ran a low-key (popsicle stick finish and record your own time), handicapped, very competitive race with the Tamalpa Runners on Super Bowl Sunday. It was a 7 mile, 100 yard event starting and ending on road (maybe 1.5 miles on paved) and the rest on trail both single-track and fire road. The start was deceptive, flat then through a gated community and up, up, up. Lots more up once on the trail and then some downhill and then more ups and downs and ups! Pretty tough run. I was in the 12 minute handicap (first runner started at 44 minutes then progressed down to last runner — the fastest folks — at one minute) and Jeff in the 6 minute group. I ended up 60th (56:49/8:07), Jeff in 45th (49:19/7:03 pace) — he passed me about 2 miles from the finish. Our actual time finish placed us 11th (Jeff) and 40th (me) out of 110 runners. The event was held at one of the Tamalpa Runners homes — a gorgeous spread nestled in Mill Valley with a view of Mt. Tam from the outdoor in-ground pool and hot tub — you could even pick out the trails on the mountain. It was a fun run.
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Gary Hellenga reports:
I wanted to try to jump into a race while I was visiting New Zealand — not to make it a major event on my trip, but to just have a bit of fun in a new setting. Lynn and I had entered the Avalanche Peak Challenge on our last trip in Feb 2000, an event I had to drop out of, due to feeling lousy after the long flight. I wanted to do this event again, but couldn’t find any info on it (whether it was actually being held again, the date, etc.) from any of my Internet sources, so I found another event that fit my trip schedule best — the Buller Gorge Half-Marathon on February 9th in Westport. I e-mailed the race director with my entry info, and arranged to pay when I picked up my race packet.
My trip was primarily a climbing trip, and I spent a fair amount of time in the mountains. On the morning before the race, I hiked ten miles out of the backwoods of Arthur’s Pass National Park. At the trailhead at Kloydyke’s Corner, I came upon about 300-400 campers set up in the field. This was the overnight stopover for the competitors in the Coast-to-Coast race, a 238-kilometer biking, mountain-running, and kayaking race from the West Coast of the South Island to Christchurch on the East Coast. All new entrants in this race must compete in the two-day version of the event; those who meet certain time criteria can register to compete in the one-day version of the race in subsequent years. I’d really love to get into this race some day!
Anyway, I fought through the Coast-to-Coast support vehicle glut to reach the closest phone booth and tried to find a place to stay in Westport. Everyone just laughed — there hadn’t been any accommodations available for weeks, due to the event (there were about 3000 people in the half and full marathons — which is probably about equal to the total population of the town!). I ended up finding a room in the back of a tavern in a small village (about 40 people) about an hour’s drive from Westport. This meant I needed to get up about 5 AM for the 8:30 AM race, and I was definitely more tired than I would have liked when I got to the starting line. At least parking at the finish line wasn’t an issue — most people had stayed in places close enough to the finish to walk to the bus-loading station. We took buses to the start lines in the Buller River Gorge Scenic Reserve; the full marathon started 5 kilometers further up the Gorge than the half (the full marathon starts by running 8 kilometers east (away from Westport), then looping around at a turnaround point to head back downstream). It was a comfortable 50-60 degrees at the start line, but the sandflies were terrible. There were no portapotties — there were dug trenches surrounded by plastic sheeting off in the bush a couple dozen meters from the road. Interesting.
We started at 8:30, a bit late in the day, in my opinion. There was about an hour of waiting between when the buses dropped us off and when the starting gun went off. Once we started, it quickly heated up to about the mid-70’s; things got especially warm once we got out of the Gorge at about 10 kilometers, where all the shade disappeared. There were water stops every 3 or 4 kilometers. One thing I liked about the race was that they handed out sponges at each water stop, so it was easy to soak your head and neck to keep yourself reasonably cool — I’m definitely not a hot-weather runner!
I won’t go into details about my race — I had no race plan or goal going in, and didn’t track my pace through the race at all. I just wanted to finish and not kill myself. I really noticed my lack of training on roads as the race went on — I think it would have been much easier to do the distance on a trail. I came in within the top 10-15% of the finishers, and finished pretty strong, so I was happy with it. The event was well-run and there was a lot of comradery. The stadium where the race finished had showering facilities (hot water, even!) and an indoor swimming pool everyone was allowed to use. I was glad I’d taken the time to go do it, even if my results were pretty poor!
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WWW POST:
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2/14/02 The new club website was made public today! I want to thank the IC webteam for all of their help. Connilee Walter, Fred Wright, Gordon Barnet, JD VanLancker, Mike Foster, Randy Lindsey, Robert Ronas, Sid Rubey and Stephen Mitchell gave a lot of feedback and did a lot of work to make this new club site what it is. There were over 240 newsletters that had to be archived and hundreds of files that needed to be created. In fact, the site starts off with 285 html files, 111 gif images, 71 jpg images, 7 asp pages, 5 style sheets, 2 executables, 2 sound files, 2 databases and 1 idq index file. Not to mention the SkyCam! It has been a lot of work but it has been fun work and the IC webteam is happy to offer this site as a gift to the Incline Club on this Valentines day!
2/10/02 What started as a cold day turned into an awesome day for the 71 runners who came out for the Rampart Range Road, Williams, Waldo loop. The views from Rampart were stunning ! In fact every time you turned a corner you just had to say “WOW!” Williams also had some nice views with the sun bouncing off the canyon walls. Those that took the deluxe tour were treated to more of the same on Waldo.
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Go out hard, when it hurts speed up...
Matt Carpenter
http://www.skyrunner.com
Incline Club
http://www.inclinclub.com
Barr Trail Mountain Race
http://www.runpikespeak.com
Friends of the Peak
http://www.fotp.com
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