Pike’s Ascent 8/19/00
I've been worried about the Pike's Ascents for the past several weeks because my right Achilles tendon hasn't felt quite right. It didn't help when Michelle, my physical therapist friend, took me to dinner for my birthday and told me horror stories of how I could be messed up for ages if it gets worse. She advised that I give up the race if I felt pain. A couple of exploratory runs after a few weeks layoff (Pablo was going stir crazy!) felt okay so I decided to try this little hill (besides, I already had paid $45).

Pike's is a hulk of a mountain that rises 8,000 feet right out of the prairie. The Ascent starts in the foothill town of Manitou Springs at 6,295 feet and goes uphill for 13.3 miles, mostly on trail, to the summit at 14,110 feet (7,815 total). The Marathon, held the next day, goes up and then down the same route.

The two days prior to the Ascent brought monsoon storms so Saturday's weather was a concern. Thankfully, it cleared and would prove to be a fantastic day. I woke at 3:30am and was on the road by 4, which got me to the start by 5:30. Because of my time on Mt.Evans, I had been placed in the first wave which left at 7; the second wave took off a half hour later.

Only at the starting line did I get a sense of how big the event, now in it's 45th year, had become. There was a huge crowd--ten times the size of the Mt. Evans Ascent! Fortunately, the first 1.5 miles is on roads so there is some room for the pack to spread out.

I started off at a conservative pace so I could feel out my ankle; once I got warmed up, it was fine. Several hundred people were ahead of me but the trail for the first half of the run (up to Barr Camp) was wide enough for passing. The initial climb was one of the steepest sections of the entire route but it was followed by a pleasant runnable segment where I could make up some time.

But above Barr Camp, the trail became very rocky and there were so many people walking that everyone was pretty much forced to do the same. Passing was possible only intermittently or by being obnoxious. By this point, almost nobody was talking and some people were downright grumpy; I wanted to ask, "why are you here if you aren't having fun?" Weird.

By the A-frame at treeline, we could hear the music playing from the summit far above and I was basically with the same group of 20 or 30 people. With light cloud cover and wind, it was getting chilly up there so I stopped to take off my synthetic t-shirt and put on a new baselayer Windstopper top I had been given at the trade show. This proved to be perfect--it broke the wind, wasn't too hot for high output, and moved moisture very quickly.

Given the large clots of people on the narrow trail and the altitude, running was pretty much out of the question. But I found that power walking was nearly as fast and let me slip by quite a few folks. Throughout the course, the volunteers manning the aid station were absolutely fantastic!

I never looked at my watch the entire run except to check altitude or heart rate (one again the altimeter came up several hundred feet short though I calibrated it at the bottom--this is consistently true with all the altimeters I own when I do fast ascents). So I was surprised to get to the top and see the clock reading less than 3-1/2 hours...I was guessing it would take 4.

My main wish is that I can be one of those fit old farts that torments the young'uns. A guy who's 50 did 2:55 and someone 60 did 3:15. With my current time, I have to wait till I'm 68 to beat the guy who did 3:40; a 71 did it in 4:28 and a 78 year old finished in 5:36!!

Not long after I arrived, the sun came out and the wind died down. The dj was crankin tunes so the finish area was a good place to hang out and watch people struggle up the last few switchbacks. My friends Carrie and Michelle, trainers at my gym, were in the second wave and since they are total babes and it was so pleasant I waited on the summit for two hours while enjoying the festivities.

A lot of people didn't look very psyched, some were clearly glad their suffering was over and a refreshing minority was enthusiastic about finishing. I'm starting to think that the runners who train the hardest get way too serious and have the worst time during races (of course, the same thing can be said about climbers who just chase hard numbers). Hence, my ongoing commitment to only train by playing...rigid programs are evil.

Although I had fun and it was very well organized, the Ascent was too crowded for my tastes. This is an event I'm unlikely to repeat and the Marathon even has less appeal. I'll stick to smaller, more scenic races. Next up: the Breckenridge Crest in two weeks...probably just the 10-miler since Imogene is the week after.

Winning time 2:16:00
Winning age group 2:47:06
My time 3:29:36
188th to the top out of 1649 finishers
162 out of 1120 men
26 out of 529 women

23 out of 119 in my age group (40-44)
4 out of 95 women in my age group

Max heart rate 171
Average 154
Minimum 118
2:46 above 163, 3:26:17 in zone, 1:16 below 130