2010 Mt Evans Ascent race report

Race: Mt Evans Ascent  (Complete Results)
When: Saturday June 19th, 2010
Where: Idaho Springs, CO
Route: Mount Evans Scenic Byway
Photos: My Photo

Introduction
I have lived my entire life at or near 1000 ft above sea level. Prior to this race, I had been in the mountains once. I had been at 12,000 ft once. And I had never done any exercise what-so-ever at any measurable elevation. So why not go run up one of the 14'ers in Colorado? Last winter, coach sent an email about this race and asked who was in. I immediately was on board. So was Dave, his wife Jodi and another runner Brett. We registered, reserved the camp site at Echo Lake and made the initial plans.
Last week Brett had to back out because he went and bought a new home. Enter Jim playing the role of "Brett".

We set out on Friday morning and drove up to Idaho Springs. Jim's mini-van was at max capacity with the 5 adults and all our gear. Ate dinner at Beau Jo's, perhaps one of the best pizzas I've ever had, and then drove up to the camp-site. Pretty rustic camping; latrine style bathroom, 1 hand pump for water and no cell service. Pitched the tents, checked out the immediate surroundings and hit the sack. Yup that's right, in the span of 12 hours we went from 1000 ft to trying to sleep in tents at 10,600 ft. Good sleep was pretty much impossible.

Woke up at 5:15am, race prep, packet pick-up and moved over to the starting line. 

The Race
The route of the race is pretty simple. Start at the entrance to the Mount Evans Scenic Byway adjacent to Echo Lake. Finish is at the top of Mt Evans, 14.5 miles and nearly 4000 vertical feet later. The race is capped at 500 entrants, so it was far from crowded. Race support/aid tables were set up every 3 miles and were very well stocked. The weather for the race was beautiful, the start was sunny and temp was right around 45 degrees at the base and maintained right around there as we climbed. It got a little windy towards the top.

Miles 1-9 are a winding climb up to Summit Lake. Then from there it's a series of (what seems like never-ending) switchbacks to the summit. There are a couple of down-hill sections mixed in, but very little in the grand scheme.

My Run
This race is by far one of the most challenging things I've ever attempted. The thing I can't get over is that my pace was over 11 minutes per mile and my average heart rate was 163 beats per minute, but my perceived effort was the same as what I put into the Lincoln Marathon last month.

Started off the race with Ryan, but pulled away from him after a mile or two. Through the first 9 miles I carried a pace around 10:30 minutes pre mile. I walked each aid station, but ran all the rest of the time. It just felt like a race. Expending my energy and trying to maintain pace. After mile 9, it really got tough though.
From Summit Lake (mile 9) up to the next aid station I walked a few times, but definitely still ran more than walked. The combination of my inability to efficiently pull oxygen from the air and my calves screaming for more fuel meant there was significantly more walking from there on.

In those last 4 miles or so I met up with another runner. A local from Denver, who was running despite a broken collarbone. We chatted for a while and would occasionally part company but kept meeting back up. It was nice to have a distraction. He pointed out all the major peaks around the entire skyline, Pikes Peak and the like. The last quarter mile I summoned up a kick, from where I haven't the slightest idea.

2 hours 41 minutes later. Done! 82nd overall, 5th of the non-Colorado'ans.

Final Thoughts
At the finish you are technically not at the summit yet. So I took the approximately 300 vertical foot climb up more switchbacks to task and made it up to the top of the mountain. The view is something I will never be able to accurately describe. It was the definition of awe inspiring. If you are a Christian like me, it is a testament to the amazing world that God created for us.

In finality, it was an amazing race and an even more amazing experience. It was great to experience it with friends: Ryan, Jim, Dave and Jodi. The shared experience makes it even better!