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PIKES PEAK ASCENT AND MARATHON
The La Sportiva GoLite Running Team had another great year at this epic event, with strong finishes at both the Ascent (held on Saturday), and the Marathon (Sunday).
THE ASCENT
Lisa Goldsmith won for the 2nd year in a row. Last year Lisa beat out Cindy O'Neill by 38 seconds, in a hard-fought last mile. This year Cindy ran almost four minutes faster ... but so did Lisa ... so the gap was exactly 38 seconds again! Lisa had maybe a three minute lead at Barr Camp, but as often happens, as the air got thinner the pace got slower; she had been doing more quick and short training in preparation for the upcoming world Trophy Race. Cindy caught sight of Lisa doing some hiking on the upper sections, and was encouraged to make a surge, but a strong power hike is often an effective method for maintaining pace at altitude and Lisa held her off again for a 2:46:07. Anita Ortiz, 42 of Eagle, was third in 2:48:56. Cindy also turns 40 next year ... where are the "youngsters"?
Scott Elliott is an eight-time Ascent Winner, and took all of last year off due to injury. He started training at the late date of April 1, employing his usual focus/determination/fanaticism. With such a minimal base, and not doing a single preparation race, it was very unclear what his result might be in this pivotal event. Scott ran his own race, and with only a mile to go, top mountain racer Simon Gutierrez had at least a one minute lead. But Scott had been training specifically on the mountain, running to the summit on a weekly basis, and that showed as he closed to within 14 seconds for the closest finish in Pike Peak Ascent history.
Bronwyn Morrisey ran to an excellent 7th, and Peter Vail was a solid 11th.
Both Simon and Scott broke the previous Masters Course Record - 2:18:06 for Simon, and 2:18:14 for Scott. Lisa was also just off the Women's Masters CR, with a great 2:46:07, as the over-40 group dominated ... "experience" really mattered on this day!
THE MARATHON
Pikes Peak was this year's World Mountain Running Association Long Distance Championship. That meant some top Europeans entered the race, including the 2nd and 3rd place male finishers from last year's Championship, all of whom wanted to test themselves on the Big One. What the European presence really meant, was it drew Matt Carpenter - the course record holder and the man who "owns" Pikes Peak - back out to defend his home turf.
Matt asserted dominance from the start, ran alone the whole way, and busted the previous day's Master Ascent Record by 10 minutes on his way to his 2nd fastest Marathon ever, and of course the fastest Masters Marathon time - 3:33:07.
Galen Burrell had won this race two years ago in a contested finish, then took second last year in the closest Marathon finish in history - an 11 second gap, after a race of almost 4 hours. This year he was looking forward to ending any questions with a solid performance, but then was hobbled with nagging injuries the entire spring. Somehow staging a miracle recovery (unless you don't consider extremely hard work and perseverance a miracle), he also ran mostly alone, arriving at the top 10 minutes behind Matt and 10 minutes ahead of everyone else, for an exceptional 3:45:41 finish. His time on just the ascent was exactly the same - to the second - as his frequent training partner, Scott Elliott from the day before.
Bernie Boettcher was a strong seventh place - second Master after Matt - helping hold the European
runners to 5th, 6th, and 8th places. The announcer mentioned that this was Bernie's 205th consecutive race in 205 weekends since he turned Master. He was also the official starter for the Ascent race (and the local newspaper wrote an article comparing him to Forrest Gump!)
In the Women's Marathon, Lisa Ledet dropped her PR by a massive 18 minutes to take a strong 6th place, winning the Masters division by an absurd 48 minutes! She had the 4th fastest downhill time of any Master, behind only Matt, Bernie, and one other male. Emma Murray of Australia prevented a Masters sweep of the four titles by running one of fastest female times ever, 4:21:09. She arrived 2 weeks early to acclimate, and trained for two months in a high-altitude tent in preparation. It showed.
Pikes Peak remains a classic. Uli Steidl came out three weeks in advance to acclimatize. With a 2:14 marathon and many national trail victories in the 50km/50mi range under his belt, he looked to be a strong contender. He did get under 4 hrs for 4th place, and commented regarding Matt, "I knew there was no way I could beat him on that mountain."
Galen's strong showing after three months of wearing an ice pack on his leg was remarkable. As the I-Ching says, "Perseverance Furthers". His comment was, "This year was all about the process - learning what it takes to be fully committed to a goal day in and day out - and focussing on that instead of the end result. I am still amazed that it actually worked! The only two things that bothered me about it are the injuries (surprise surprise) and the fact that it's such a selfish endeavor. I learned a lot about running and myself but had to put a lot of other things on hold. The goal now is to find an approach that is more balanced and sustainable for me (to avoid injuries), without sacrificing the focus and commitment... I'm excited to continue the evolution!"
SELECTED QUOTES
The best information on Pikes Peak is Matt Carpenters website.
Bill Wright:
A race isn't about having fun. It is about pushing your limits. If that isn't painful, then you aren't pushing your limits. As Matt Carpenter says, "When it hurts, go faster." You should finish these races completely spent and in need of medical attention. You should be carted away in an ambulance with an IV in your arm. If you want to just run up Pikes Peak with a smile on your face, then do it with a bunch of friends and not in the middle of crowd of strangers.
So, why race if it is so painful? Because it is fun and introspective to plum the depths of your abilities; of your mental toughness. I'm curious to see what I can do if I push hard. I'm curious to see how I'll respond physically, mentally, and emotionally when I have pushed myself as hard as I can. Plus, all trail running isn't misery. Most of the training is enjoyable running in the mountains. That's the time for fun. Why does anyone have fun in a race? It should hurt. Or are you just out for a nice supported trail run? That's different than a race. Racing is pain. Don't sign up unless you're willing to bleed.
(LATER) It's silly and stupid to think I'll do this race again. It destroys me and I'm just not tough enough. And apparently I'm too lazy to have the will to prepare for this race. I didn't do my homework for this race. I deluded myself into thinking a few trivial trail runs below 8000 feet could prepare me for something like this. I'm too stupid and lazy for this race.
Hans Zimmerman:
As I crossed the finish line, volunteers ripped off my tag, pressed a little medal into my hand, and asked me if I was OK. I lied and said yes, so they would let me stagger away to lick my wounds in private.
Lisa Ledet:
The last mile going up and the last mile coming down are extremely difficult both emotionally and physically. But you do finally get to the top, and then you get to start back down, which is fantastic. And then you do get to the finish and then you get to sit down, which is even more fantastic! It's an amazing race.
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