Pikes Peak Ascent Race Report

Subtitle: Into Thin (and Thinner... and Thinner...) Air

On race morning, the alarm went off at 4:45. My first thought was, "Why is my alarm going off this early on a Saturday?" And then I remembered and I was up. Dan and Noah came with us to see us off (thanks, Dan!). Debbie, my PPA running buddy, showed up just after 5 and we were on our way to Manitou Springs by 5:20. The sun came up and the weather was absolutely perfect by the time we got to Manitou. Debbie and I picked up our race numbers and checked our gear for the top of the peak. We posed for a few pics and it was time to go!

I usually do my race reports by the mile, but you can't really do that for Pikes Peak because the miles are drastically different. Skyrunner.com has a Pikes Peak pace calculator that breaks it into sections and gives you times to shoot for based on your goal, so that is how I'm doing the race report. My goal times are in red. The first time was for a 4:30 ascent and the second time was for a 5:00 ascent. Here we go...

Ruxton: 5:56-6:36 This is the section that goes to the turnoff at Ruxton Street on our way to the trail. I finished this section in just over 4 minutes. I probably should have run it slower, but I was really excited. It is only a gentle upgrade.

Hydro Street: 17:01-18:54 From Ruxton to the turnoff at Hydro Street, you get your first taste of real uphill. I reached Hydro Street in approximately 15:30. I was still running a little faster than I maybe should have, but I was proud to be ahead of goal pace.

Top of W's: 54:16-1:00:18 The W's are one of the steepest sections of the trail and Matt Carpenter (a famous trail runner who has won this race a number of times) says that you really need to conserve energy here. I sort of did, but probably not enough. I about flipped when I looked at my watch at the top of the W's because I was still a full 2 minutes ahead of my dream time goal. I was actually a little frustrated by this section because the trail was really crowded with runners and I couldn't get around anyone because the trail is so narrow.

No Name Creek: 1:19:07-1:27:54 Running 3 minutes ahead of 4:30 pace!!! I felt absolutely great at this point and was running well.

7.8 mi to Summit Sign: 1:47:11-1:59:06 Still 3 minutes ahead. Still feeling great! I saw a few dark clouds move in and started praying for good weather. It pretty much worked because they rolled on out of the area!

Barr Camp: 2:17:10-2:32:24 Almost 4 minutes ahead of dream pace. They had the best aid station at Barr Camp. I was starving by this point and they had grapes and M&Ms and chex mix. I felt fabulous after that aid station!

Bottomless Pit: 2:37:08-2:54:36 Still somewhere near 2:34! I don't remember much about this section except for the fact that the trail started getting drastically steeper. My legs also started to feel tired.

A-Frame: 3:12:14-3:33:36 Here's where I started to really lose it. I hit the A- frame (a shelter near timberline) at somewhere around 3:18. I puked just after the A-Frame and then really started to lose time.

2 Miles to Go: 3:39:14-4:03:36 I don't even know where I was time-wise at this point. I quit looking at the watch. Too demoralizing. I think there was an aid station near the 2 miles to go point that had Skittles. I know I had some somehow that I was eating one at a time with a sip of water, but I don't really remember where they came from. I swear that candy got me to the top. Yay Skittles! It hailed at some point in this section, but I was too sick and tired to even care. Luckily, the hail storm was short-lived and there was no lightning in the area so they didn't have to turn anyone around.

1:Mile to Go: 4:02:11-4:29:06 No idea time-wise here either. I was essentially brain dead by now. I kept having to stop because I thought I was going to puke again and my head was spinning. I remember that with about 1/2 a mile to go, someone was handing out PBR beer. Just the thought almost made me hurl again.

Top of Peak: 4:30:00-5:00:00 Finish time (on my watch): 5:03:12 I was close, but did not quite hit my goal. Guess I'll have to run it again.

The top of the mountain was a trip, I guess. I don't really remember much of it because I felt so crappy. Dan said that people were crossing the finish line like zombies out of Night of the Living Dead. He said he'd never seen runners look so wrecked at the end of a race. I know I just sort of collapsed to the ground at some point and laid down for a while because my head was dizzy and my whole body was weak. I am not sure why. I have been up there a bazillion times and never had a problem with the altitude. Must have to do with the exertion I guess? A little later, I watched a dude at the finish try to put his warm pants on for about 10 minutes. He couldn't get his foot to go in the leg hole. You get seriously uncoordinated at that altitude.

Anyway, just after I crossed the finish line, I saw Dan and Noah and I just started bawling. Still not sure why except that I was so glad to be done. I forgot to put on my warm clothes right away, so I was totally freezing. I couldn't think straight. Dan took me into the shop at the top of Pikes and bought me doughnuts. I was too sick to eat them at first, but eventually they tasted good!

We waited at the top for Debbie. She made it too in just over 5:30!!! The cutoff for the top is 6:30, so we both blew that away!

I'm so glad I finished because I love the finishers jacket!!! The medal is pretty cool too.

The volunteers at the aid stations for this race are amazing! They have to carry all that stuff in! Also, Search and Rescue people were all over the trail... at least every 1/2 mile for the last 4 miles or so. I just have to send out a big thank you to them because they were so encouraging and it was nice to know they were there in case something went wrong.

At the top, someone asked me if I will ever do this race again. My answer was something along the lines of, "Hell no!" But on the way down in the car, I started thinking about how I will train differently when I run this again. Probably not next year...but someday....