Colorado HOME.  Sunshine, thin air, comfortable temps, Memorial Day approaching.  But first… Colfax. Colorado’s largest road marathon.  Denver-positioned & one I LOVE.  Not once, twice thru Mile High Stadium — sign me up!  And this year, no Canadian forest-smoke hazing our Rockies view 🙂

Saturday, Expo day.  HUGE event, 30k registered (4 races).  Snake the full oval of Broncos’ Stadium. Then… make your way outta Denver before weekend ski traffic returns (last Divide slopes still open for business).  Expo Highlight: nabbed a bonus medal for completing a ‘double’ [any pre-Colfax] marathon in 2024.  Smiles & thank you.  Super appreciative!  #100 marathons 100-miler

Sunday, RUN day.  Sleeps or not, 2:30am comes early.  Clothes/food/hydration all prepped in advance. Woke/walked/fed pup.  Secured on-street parking, mile + walk to City Park.  I’m here… again!

State Capitol dome, Denver Zoo, first pass thru Empower Field.

Pulled forward, stayed within earshot of 4:45 Pace Group (target crew).  Sloan’s Lake, congested/crowds pushing in.  Just 2 miles of this.  Breathe.  Chest tight.  Overwhelmed.  Panic increasing, sound sound sound.  Plan B.  Tagged a faster runner, drafted/stayed body-close.  Focused on this guy’s pace, his yellow shirt.  Outta the park, done.  Quarter-mile walk, pace group back, right on target.

And just like Fort Collins (2 weeks ago), surprisingly… 26.2 miles felt comfortable/short after ’50K every day’.  Shared horrible ‘Dad jokes’ with my crew, miles 23/24.  Kicked it up & ran a strong last mile.

Happiest Colfax to date.  Collected a post-race beverage & laid long in the grass.  [Low-calorie beer not necessarily non-alcoholic… & now we know.]  Memorial Day 2024?  Marathoning in the Big D.  Dallas.

Denver Colfax Marathon