Probably my biggest single goal for the summer was to run my first 50-mile trail race. Well it didn’t take long (three days into the summer to be exact) to fulfill that goal at the San Juan Solstice 50 in Lake City. Though a complete whirlwind, it was one heck of a day out there.
After securing a spot in the lottery in January I began ramping up the miles and vert throughout the winter and into spring ski season. Then it was on to the Dirty 30 in early-June, which is perfectly placed in the calendar as a “training race” being exactly three weeks ahead of the San Juan Solstice. A few more big days in the hills after the Dirty 30, including a run of the Barr Trail on Pikes Peak (which somehow was my first time up that route), and I finally felt “ready” to give the SJS a go. Keep reading…
On June 3rd I ran in the 9th annual Golden Gate Dirty 30 trail race. It was my second “ultra” race and one I could definitely see going back to run again in the future. The event is so well executed thanks to a crew of awesome volunteers and one very dedicated race director, it’s tough not to view it as one of the premier 50k races in Colorado if not the country.
Truth be told the Dirty 30 was intended to be a tune-up race for my first 50 miler at the end of the month – the San Juan Solstice in Lake City. The Dirty 30 is a tough course and a perfect lead-in to a mountainous 50 miler like the SJS. Snaking up through the hills of Golden Gate Canyon State Park near Blackhawk, the course racks up 7,300 ft of elevation gain over the 32 mile distance. Keep reading…
In mid-October I ran in the 3rd annual Indian Creek Fifties 55k, the final race of the year in the Human Potential Running Series and a big goal of mine for the summer.
As anyone reading this probably knows, Colorado plays host to several dozen trail “ultras”, a few of which can take a couple tries to secure a spot in (the San Juan Solstice comes to mind). Dabbling in the sport more and more has only increased my interest in potentially trying a few of these events at some point in time. And like anything in life that’s hard, the best way to work towards a seemingly impossible goal is to break it up into many smaller, more manageable goals. Well, along those lines, there was no better time than this summer to start thinking about signing up for a 50k race. Keep reading…
Earlier this month Anna-Lisa, Jax, and I made our way down to Salida where I ran in the 11th annual “Run Through Time” trail marathon. This race, which features both a half and a full marathon course, is Salida’s biggest running event and has been held in early-March every year for the past decade. Because of the calendar date and elevation of of the race, runners never quite know what they’re going to get in terms of conditions on the course until a few days prior to race day – anything ranging from dry, 60 degree blue bird skies to snow covered trials and sub-freezing precipitation and winds. This winter has been an interesting one, with the majority of Colorado holding near 100% snowpack despite nearly a month of high pressure and warm temperatures in February that had many of us wondering if winter was officially a dud. Keep reading…
