2020 Sheep Mountain 50k Race Report

• Race: Sheep Mountain 50k
• Distance: 50k officially, but 33.21 miles according to Strava (which remember, no one cares about, as Sherpa John is always so quick to remind us)
• Vertical Gain: 5,685′
• Route Track: https://www.strava.com/activities/3849749898 (Making everyone at HPRS ashamed of me by posting this, I know.)
• Time: 6h 19m
• Results: http://ultrasignup.com/results_event.aspx?did=70093
• Runners: Zambo, Benners, Lord Helmut
• Date: Saturday, August 1, 2020

I thought about starting this trip report by adding up how much money I’ve spent on races this year, almost all of which have been cancelled. But then I realized I don’t actually want to know the total.

First it was the Dirty 30 in May (pretty early on in the pandemic, so understandable, I suppose). Then it was the San Juan Solstice in June (second year in a row for that guy, oof). Then it was the Devil on the Divide in September (seriously, F Clear Creek County for that one). Suffice it to say, COVID has not been easy on the wallet for those stubborn enough (i.e dumb enough) to try to do what is arguably the single most anti-COVID activity (health wise, at least) in existence: running trail races.

Thankfully, however, we still have Sherpa John Lacroix, who, as Brian put it (as only he can) is the “only RD with testicles this year.”

I’m not actually blaming any of the other RD’s for the cancellations; I know it’s been a huge challenge to try to make these happen. But there just seems to be a dogged stubbornness which John brings to the table that shines through in situations like the present insanity. Despite the innumerable complications of trying to pull off a race in the midst of a global pandemic, we all saw firsthand how well executed it can be done, while still taking all the precautions, making things safe, and offering an awesome run. Suffice it to say, we’re all very thankful for John’s unique approach which allowed this race to happen.

Anyway, this is our recap of said run: the 2020 version of the Sheep Mountain 50’s.

These races start and end in the ‘classic’ Colorado town of Fairplay. The course runs west out of town via county roads before ascending into the alpine via the broad western face of Sheep Mountain (12,818′). From there, it loops around the woods beneath the peak via miles of single track, before eventually making its way back to the start via the county roads again. It’s a bit of a random area, but one we were all eager to explore.

The Sheep Mountain 50k course. Thanks to COVID, this was actually one of four distances offered this weekend, the others being a half marathon, marathon, and 50 miler.

A quick word on Fairplay.

I realized that while I have driven through it probably 1,000+ times on many sojourns up to the mountains, I had never actually stopped to spend any extended time up there (sans the occasional stop for gas and / or an early morning dump, which always somehow felt appropriate to leave behind in South Park). For this race, I arrived a few days early with the family and stayed just outside of town, which gave us a chance to explore a bit.

A few important lessons learned from that experience:

1. Fairplay actually has a really, really cool old west museum: the South Park City Museum. Highly recommended – especially for kids.
2. The town park and schools are also pretty sweet. It’s cool to watch your kids bomb down slides in the middle of a vast open expanse at 10,000 feet.
3. I’m 99% sure the sole purpose of the traffic light in the middle of town is to spite Denverites by causing massive traffic delays on Sunday afternoons. Not sure I blame them.
4. If you want to feel like you’re living in a real life South Park episode, go stay at the American Safari Ranch for two nights.
5. Don’t ever, under any circumstances, take your family to Blue Lakes on a summer weekend afternoon.

Anyway, arriving early allowed me to go to the packet pickup on Friday night before the race. Temperature checks, a verification wristband, socially distanced sign ups, staggered start times, and masks all around instilled quite a bit of confidence in the race’s safety. As would be a theme all weekend, I was very impressed by the intentional thought and procedures implemented by HPRS to keep everyone safe and playing by the rules.

On the morning of the race, our start times were staggered. But it actually ended up working just about perfectly. Brian had to get up early with the 6:00am crew, and Ben and I were both slotted into the final time of the morning at 6:30.

The ten minute interval start times actually made for a really relaxed, enjoyable starting line. No rushing for the port-a-johns, no crowded starting lanes, and no sprinting off the starting line in an effort to not get stuck on single track.

Another really nice thing about this race was the opening miles. Although beginning on county roads isn’t quite the ‘mountain’ experience one might expect at a race like this, the gentle grade, smooth surface, and super spacious roads were actually a really nice way to start. I’ve abused my calves more than enough over the years trying to go from hours in a car into an immediate 3,000’+ climb, so the gentle beginning was much appreciated.

Cruising along the county roads while Sheep Mountain looks on. Ben and I both remarked at how the subtle downhills during this part of the day would become murderous later in the afternoon. But no need to worry about that quite yet.

Eventually the course turned onto some 4wd roads, getting more and more rugged as we went.

All in all, the trip to the first aid station went about as smoothly as one could hope for. We were setting a good pace, but not too crazy as to burn out later. And I’m always amazed at how good conversation can make these early miles fly by.

After a quick refill at the Horseshoe aid station (all of the aid stations were fantastic, BTW), we were on our way on the road up towards Mt. Sherman before eventually turning south to begin the first real climb of the day.

Ben jogging along the Leavick road as Horseshoe looks on. The last time we were up here was on a 2013 winter ascent of Sherman. Funny how priorities change as time goes on.

Crossing the creek and finally getting onto some single track.

The segment from Horseshoe to Brown’s Pass (miles ~7-13.5) was easily the best of the day.

After crossing the creek, the trail meandered through some low boulderfields before eventaully making the long, big climb of the day up Sheep Mountain. That stretch goes clear into the alpine on a wonderful trail up high. The day was bluebird perfect without being too hot. Ben and I both felt really good too, settling in to a fast but controlled climb all the way to the high point.

Crossing one of the low boulder fields early in the morning.

Getting higher and higher. The course goas all the way up above 12,400. It felt really good to be moving fast in the alpine.

Feeling it.

“Best of the Mosquito Range.” – Lord Helmut

Just past the high point and beginning the long descent. The trail passed tantalizingly close to the summit of Sheep Mountain – just a few hundred feet or so. Had this been an unclimbed, ranked 13er it might have been much harder to pass it by. But as it is, now we know a good trail to go back and get it someday.

Around the high point Ben and I started doing some math in our heads. We figured if we really motored the rest of the day, we had a shot at going under 6 hours. We both felt great, so we resolved to keep pushing it and see where we landed.

That started with bombing the long downhill to the second aid station (Brown’s Pass), which we were able reach in great time.

We encountered a wild Natron along the way. Brian was lookin good, but muttered something about a Mexican burrito and the need to take a huge crap. Go figure. Anyway, after chatting for a few minutes, we kept pushing on the long downhill.

The stretch from the 2nd aid station to the 3rd was a fast three miles via more downhill and county roads. The open glades and meadows were great.

To me, the crux of the whole race was the stretch from the third aid station (Pasture) back again to the fourth (Horseshoe). This tough 8.5 mile stretch winds through the woods on single track with plenty of sneaky climbs interspersed to make it pretty challenging.

Ben was feeling pretty dang good on this section and did a lot to press the pace. I still felt good also, but I found my abilities to climb just weren’t quite as fast. The legs felt fine, but my lungs were definitely feeling the altitude on the uphills. I think with a few more days of acclimatizing this section would have gone a whole lot faster. But as it was, I still felt we were able to cruise along pretty diligently. Our strategy was for Ben to drag me through these uphills and then I’d drag him on the flatter stretches at the end. All in all, the plan seemed to work pretty well.

Neither of us got too many photos on this stretch, but hey: one generic pine forest is just as good as another.

Benny making his way back across the low boulder field just before we crossed the creek again.

By the time we got back to Horseshoe, we knew that the 6 hour mark might be juuuust out of reach. We couldn’t remember exactly how far it was back to the start, but we knew we were pretty close.

But regardless of the clock, we were both feeling really positive. Usually at this point in these races you’re squarely in the pain cave, sulking and suffering all on your lonesome during the brutal finishing miles. This race was different. We were doing it together and felt about the same, which was to say, pretty dang good. We also felt we had paced really well and had just enough left to make a strong finish. Plus we were together, which was a welcomed surprise to both of us. It felt really good to operate as a team for one of these races.

The only thing left to do was summon some hutzpah and grind out the finish.

Katie and the boys set up an awesome cheer station just outside of Horseshoe!

Top 3 moment of the race for me, easy.

As expected those “subtle downhills” from the morning turned into a suffer fest on the way back. There were at least 3-4 more uphills than we remembered, each of which was not so fun.

The good news was we were able to run out the entire thing, making really fast work of it too, frankly. The overall female winner passed us at one point (she was crushing, despite accidentally running an extra couple of miles) as well as another guy on a fast finish, so it was nice to get pulled along by both of them.

I was able to put some of my flat speed to use here too, helping push us along the cruiser roads.

Almost there now. We were also thankful for the clouds and breeze which came in, otherwise the heat would have been quite a bit more miserable.

The finish line evenatually came, as it always does. In the end, we finished with a time of 6:19. We ended up missing the 6 hour mark by a decent margin, but (according to Strava at least) we did hit the unofficial 50k mark right around 6 hours, so I’ll take it. I think with another few nights at altitude we could have made better work of the 8.5 mile crux, and maybe made it.

But oh well. In the end we were good enough for 6th place, which felt great. Realizing the actual winner of the race finished a full hour and twenty minutes ahead of you is enough to make you realize times shouldn’t be stressed too much anyway. The whole thing felt like a big victory.

Made it. Thankfully we were able to finish just before a windstorm nearly took out the arch.

Great race, buddy!

Unfortunately, there wasn’t quite as much rah-rah at the finish as usual, but that was perfectly understandable given the circumstances. I think we all just felt really grateful we had gotten to do the race at. It had been managed top-notch from start to finish, and I couldn’t have been more impressed with the HPRS planning and staff.

In fact, I felt safer at every stage of this race than I do going to just about any store these days. The nice thing about ultra running is the risk of running into mask-less, angry, overweight Boomer Karens with a political axe to grind is essentially nil. Add in the fact that ultra runners were “socially distancing before it was cool” and you have a recipe for success.

A huge thank you goes out to all the folks at HPRS for making it happen, and so successfully. It really goes to show that a little bit of planning, wise forethought, and dogged determination is worth 100x whatever cockamamey plan the government whips up to “keep us safe.” Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for taking wise moves to mitigate health risks. But I think this race proves it’s possible to still do what we love without being reckless.

Anyway, all that was left was to celebrate. Brian finished just a bit after us, leaving plenty of time to kick back at the truck and get on with the most serious business of the day.

“This was my favorite pic.” – Lord Helmut

Quite possibly the most Colorado photo of all time. Nice work gents!

Thanks for reading if you did. Happy running!