For those looking to step outside your comfort zone, the good folks at Racing Underground have just the race for you.
Yesterday I raced the Mt. Evans Ascent. 14.5 miles starting at 10,600’ up to 14,264’. I live and train at 6000-ish’, most races I do are lower elevation so I knew this would be tough. Prepping for this race I focused on running up hill as much as I could, even did a couple of training runs up to 12,000’ and still never felt ready, but when the go goes off all the worry goes away.
Mt Evans has been a bucket list race of mine for about 10 years, this year I finally decided it’s now or never. After having a great 100/100 winter challenge and a few late winter/early spring road races my running is spot on. Although I’m fighting a case of high hamstring tendonitis…
Having run a couple of training runs up to the 6 mile mark of Mt Evans Road I was very comfortable and knew just how to pace this part of the course, peg HR at 80%. The next 5.5 miles were relatively uneventful, almost serene as my pace and cadence were metronome-like. The final water station at 11.5 miles is where everything seemed to go weird, not wrong or fall apart but weird. I took a cup of water whomever handed me and a gel. By the time I downed them and got around the bend to the next switchback I was unbelievably light headed and my hearing seemed to disappear. I could see cars passing along side me, but couldn’t hear them. The next two miles were run on pure instinct. The final mile was pure survival mode, thinking to myself, “just don’t fall over…oh hey there’s a mountain goat in the road, he’s not moving and I can’t stop…WTF?”
On the final switchback I could see the finishing arch over my right shoulder and starting hearing my wife’s voice yelling my name, but still couldn’t hear the car next to me, “thank god she’s here” is all I thought over the final 100 yards or so.
the final tally, 2:18:11 for 1st M45-49 and 21st OA. Which really surprised me, I swear there was 100 runners in front of me. I had to stop to pee at the 3-mile mark (in hindsight, 2 cups of joe was 1 too many) and figured a ton of folks passed me by at that point. Learned a quick lesson here, there is no catching back up to where you were when at 12,000’ running up 5+% grade.
I really want to do this race. I had knee surgery a couple years ago so I’m getting back to normal. It looks awesome in a very painful sort of way… Was Revel full coming down the mountain at the same time?
That race sounds awesome…do you have a Strava link? I’m interested in traveling out to the race for next year. Does it fill it up fast? Any convenient places to stay near start line?
I was excited to read your report as I had done the Mt Evans race back in 1983. But I was disappointed that they moved the start and cut the race to half the distance I raced, 28 miles starting in Idaho Springs at 6500ft. Then I saw your time of 2;18 on the shortened course and thought, thats pretty slow. Then I realized that you ran the race!!! I did the bike race they had up there every year, the Bob Cook Memorial race. We would do around the same time as the runners it looks like, top guys under 2 hours, the rest of us just over.
Good job, having to sprint against guys in your break at 14k feet is no fun at all. They had catchers and oxygen at the finish just to make sure guys would not pass out and fall over and crack their skulls. I remember that I could not get out of the saddle once I got to where you actually started, terrible quad burn. I don’t imagine running is any more fun…
I was surprised to read that this was a running race, too. I’ve been wanting to do the bike race - it used to be back-to-back with the Pike’s Pike bike climb, but they moved one of them.
That race sounds awesome…do you have a Strava link? I’m interested in traveling out to the race for next year. Does it fill it up fast? Any convenient places to stay near start line?
My Strava link
I believe the race typically sells out a week or two before race day, not a big field. I think this year was just under 400 runners. As for lodging, the closest is Idaho Springs, but honestly, Denver is about an hour away. Evergreen would be a good choice too.
Actually Monty, my legs felt pretty good. The only time they burned was when I made an unscheduled pit stop at 3 miles. I thought I might be able to catch back up to the group I was with, not a chance! today, the day after, physically everything feels great.
The Bob Cook Memorial Hill Climb still runs every year. It’s on my bucket list as well, though after running up Mt. Evans the ride might have dropped to the bottom of the list!