As mentioned in a previous blog post I am running the Savage 100 mile race in October. As I prepare to take on this challenge, I will be providing monthly updates on my progress. This is as much to hold me accountable to my training as it is for anything else, but I’m hoping others find this interesting and maybe inspirational as well.
In my post last week, I talked about my completion of the Border Route trail run/hike. This was a run my friend and I invented for an interesting challenge. Part 2 is all about the Pike’s Peak Marathon which was a completely different challenge.
Pike’s Peak marathon has an interesting history
The marathon is one of the oldest in the US, beginning in 1956. It was started by a doctor as a challenge to smokers and non-smokers to prove that smoking was detrimental your health. There were only 13 entrants (3 were smokers) and none of the smokers finished. I’m not sure exactly what this proved…
The race was also the first to allow female competitors, the first of whom finished in 1959. She was therefore the first female to finish a marathon in the United States and was actually in attendance on the day of my race!
Given it’s history and difficulty, Pike’s Peak marathon tends to attract some of the most talented trail runners in the world. It has one of the most sought after male marathon records set in 1993 (the women’s record was broken this year).
The course is very challenging
The race begins in the town of Manitou Springs, a small town just outside of Colorado Springs. The elevation in town is already around 6500 feet. The race begins by running for 1.5 miles through town before hitting the trail (even this part is hilly!). The trail is well maintained but is definitely a trail with everything you’d expect: gravel, rocks, roots, etc.
There is over 7800 feet over elevation gain on the way up which is over 600 feet per mile for an average 11% incline. To put this in some perspective, the average incline for most races in Minnesota where I’m from is 1-2%. The last 3 miles on the way up are above treeline and are particularly challenging given the altitude and constant switchbacks on the trail, some of which require using your hands to help climb.
Once you reach the summit at 14,115 feet (they advertise this everywhere), you turn around and go back down the way you came up. You then end up back in town with people cheering you on at the finish.
My experience on the way up
I did a little research of how to attack the way up ahead of time. This proved to be quite helpful. Once hitting the trail, there are a bunch of long switchbacks which are steep and where it is hard to pass. From my research they suggested to be patient here and not try to burn too much energy passing people. So I didn’t. It was also fairly clogged at this point so even if you did pass you wouldn’t get very far.
After the switchbacks the middle section “flattens” a bit (this is all relative). You are still very much in the trees at this point; it’s actually hard to tell you’re climbing a mountain. This is where I was able to run quite a bit. I also passed a good amount of people since the trail widened and the crowds thinned out. I felt great at this point since I hadn’t pushed too much yet.
Soon after, you reach the section above treeline. This is where the real fun begins! As I expected, this would quickly become a slow hike to the top. There are over 1,000 feet of elevation gain per mile over the last 3 miles up, all of which is above 11,000 feet. But the views are simply amazing! Plus, you can see much of what is coming up next which is both awesome and intimidating.
You also have to deal with the leaders passing you on the way down. This quickly became an adventure in itself. For safety reasons, runners going up are supposed to yield to runners coming down. The front-runners are running around 6 minute mile pace on the way down which is insane to see in person. Once I got closer to the top, the number of people coming down became more frequent which required much more stopping and starting. Here is a short clip showing some of this fun.
Eventually, I reached the top in 3 hours 53 minutes. This was very much in line with calculations I saw estimating it should take your marathon time plus 30 minutes to go up if you don’t live at altitude. Now, I just had to head down!
My experience on the way down
Once I turned around, I started flying. People had to get out of my way (a fun change of pace from the prior 45 minutes) and I felt great overall. This was the most fun section for me. I really had to watch my step given all of the rocks and steep drops but my previous trail running experience helped. I even bought one of the overpriced photos they take of you to remember the moment.
Once I reached treeline again, things were a little less fun. The water in my camel-back ran out with around 7 miles to go and I stupidly decided not to refill it and instead rely solely on aid stations. This quickly led to slight dehydration. It probably didn’t help that it got warmer and warmer in temperature as I came down. The temperature at the finish was around 90 degrees. I even tripped and fell once, though thankfully it was fairly minor.
I finished the down section in 2 hours 24 minutes which is on par with the estimates of the down taking ~65% of the time it took you on the way up. This gave me an overall finish time of 6 hours 17 minutes which was in the range of my prediction of 6-7 hours.
Final thoughts
The race proved to be more enjoyable than I expected. I wasn’t obviously bothered by the altitude and felt pretty good for most of the race. Anyone who is interested in trail running at all should definitely consider this race given it’s challenge and history. I would definitely consider running it again in the future.
It is important to challenge yourself throughout life. There were a lot of unknowns for me in this race: the altitude, the hills, the weather. But the idea of the challenge outweighed all of these risks for me. Next up, the 100 mile run!
