Saturday morning dawned to cloudy skies and dry roads. The start was cool at about 31 degrees, but
minimal wind and no precipitation. A few
miles into the race, the clouds were starting to part and I was wishing I had
brought disposable hat and gloves so I could ditch them at an aid station when
I got too warm. About 2 miles later, the
flurries started. Within a couple of
miles after that, we were grinding our way up a snow-covered gravel road, with
the wind blowing snow in our faces. By
the time we got to the high-point, at around 9,000’, we were in full-blown
winter conditions. There were 2-3” of
fresh powder on top of a layer of old snow.
The wind was blowing and the snow was coming down pretty steadily. I’m guessing the temperature was in the upper
20’s.
After the half-way point, we turned off the gravel road and
onto some narrow jeep trails. This is
where the cold was a huge benefit, as we were winding our way through some
boggy areas that would have been incredibly sloppy, were they not frozen solid. There were sections of ice and deep packed snow
under the 3” of fresh powder. Running
through this section with a couple of other guys was actually pretty enjoyable,
though visibility was diminishing, given the frozen eye lids and lashes.
At about mile 18, fatigue took its toll, and I stumbled on a
downhill section. I caught my left toe
on some crusty snow, went down, did a quick tuck-and-roll, bounded back up in a
ninja-like move, and kept on running without even slowing down. Not a scratch, but enough excitement to get
the adrenaline going.
I passed a few people between miles 13 and 20, but not as
many as I had hoped. By the last aid
station at 23.7, there were a couple of guys a few hundred yards behind, and no
one ahead. At this point, feeling pretty
tired, I figured that I would just cruise into the finish. But, with 1.5 to go, I heard footsteps right
on my tail – some guy who I had not even seen before, so he must have been
speeding up for some time. And behind
him were a couple of guys that I had previously passed.
Well, I knew I wasn’t going to have the race that I had
hoped for, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to let myself slide back a few more
placings in the last 1.5 miles. I kicked
in the last of my reserves and one guy stuck right on my tail for the next half
mile. By the time I hit the final flat
section, he had fallen well behind, and I was able to cruise to the finish 30
seconds ahead of him. A great
finish! And despite my mediocre time, I
felt good about finishing strong.
Instead of the typical Gatorade, this race served Acli-Mate. It’s much milder on the palette and I find it
easier to drink than full strength Gatorade.
The one problem is that, unlike water, it seems to flow right through
me. I had tested it out at the gym a
week prior and found that I had to take pee breaks every 30 minutes. During the 4:32 marathon, I had to stop 3
times! I guess it’s better than being
dehydrated.
This was also the inaugural race for my new Dirty Girl gators. I think they probably kept a
good bit of snow from getting in my shoes from the top. They stayed on with no issues and I never
felt their presence.
Garmin Connect
Garmin Connect
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