Breck Road Marathon

Published September 15, 2019

Not often I register race-week & NEVER EVER a double. Until now.

Plan A. Motor after-work, mountain hotel, Saturday marathon, interstate-commute to Wyoming. Reality. Room-search in Colorado ski country proved crazy expensive (even in September). Plan B? 3am alarm. Road-trip! Run shorts, hydration vest, layers & a V8. Who doesn’t dig early morning tomato? LOL>

I-70 West. Denver ⇨ Continental Divide ⇨ Breckenridge. Same east-west where all the great hikes happen. Same Silverthorne exit where Ash & Tom married two years prior. Notta lotta snow on the peaks this late in summer – but WOW, whatta sunrise! Nothing/nowhere/anywhere, our Rockies. Stunning. Always.

South Gondola parking. 20-minute bus ride. Start temp just above freezing. Race elevation 10,000ft. Lodgepole pines, thin air, sun now a-blazing. First couple miles like a REVEL event – straight DOWN. But unlike REVEL, whole lotta climb thereafter. UP 800ft, down next mile. Another push UP, lungs burning/O2 searching. Colorado-native no big deal, right? Reality. BIG elevation jump – my backyard @ 5500ft vs today’s 8800ft average. Past month of flat-world running also done me no favours.

High-altitude sunshine. Muy bueno scenery. Hills? Oh mama. That last climb at mile 22? Mountain folks are crazy tough. No crocodile tears, no regret. 5-hour finish, all FIGHT, NO FAIL 💪

Gas station cola & a bag of salty chips. Journey on. Day One.

Texted a friend – please find/contact the Race Director in Cheyenne, gonna miss bib pick-up. Burning trailer near Georgetown. Highway accident. Need a Plan B. 6pm Wyoming arrival (thanks Larry).

Hotel, shower, sleeps. Sunday 5am at the Depot (RD bib meetup). Body tight/achy after Saturday’s all-day hill repeats, skin still radiating sunshine. But — I’m here. Wyoming. THIRD time this year. Cap off, National Anthem. Cowboy country & I LOVE it 😊

Day strategy. Hit it hard first Half. Walk/run after mile 15. Elevation similar to home, easy comfortable course. Tunes early. Notta lotta runners. Several miles on an empty military base. Hill at marker 9 or 10…but not Breckenridge hilly, just an incline. Day 2. Perspective. Push, push, push. 2:05 first Half. Sun high, getting warm. Legs like lead.

Walked mile 14. Called it two miles later. Sorry Cheyenne – ya deserved better. Mentally not plugged-in for a March-of-Dimes walk. Montréal next week, Europe week after.

17 miles. Check, done. Colorado HOME by noon.

Lick my wounds, run another day. Well maybe…in two or three other days. LOL>