Collegiate Peaks 25 & 50 Mile Trail Runs
May 5, 2001

The Collegiate Peaks 25 & 50 mile runs are held in
Buena Vista, Colo. (elev. 8000 ft).  The races are on
hilly jeep roads and single tracks up to about 9300
feet, and the views of the Collegiate Peaks, with
several summits over 14,000 feet, are wonderful.
This is one of the largest trail races in Colorado,
with typically about 300 people signed up for the
two events.  By the way, for you Colorado newbies:
Buena Vista is pronounced "Byoona Vista"!

Holding a race in early May at this elevation
in the Colorado Rockies is an invitation for bad
weather on race day, as has frequenctly happened in
the past.  Well, this year took the cake.  On the
Tuesday before the race we had a high of 84 degrees
in Boulder, but the next day a powerful storm moved
in and the high temperature was 50 degrees lower.
The storm was blocked by high pressure to the east
and didn't budge for 4 days.  The epicenter seemed
to be right over Buena Vista, which received over
3 feet of snow.  It was impossible to access the
normal race course, or even the usual "snow course",
which is run as an out and back on a section of the
normal course.  Instead, this year's race was run
on a fairly flat dirt road that parallels the
Arkansas River.  It was a 20 mile out & back, those
signed up for the 50 mile would do this twice for a
total of 40 miles.

Steph, Beth Reece, Beth Darnall & I stayed at our
house in Leadville the night before the race.
The drive 30 miles down valley from Leadville was
challenging enough, with the highway covered with
wheel-grabbing slush it was impossible to exceed
40 mph.  Beth R. was behind the wheel & did a
terrific job, but I think the drive may have sapped
her spirit.  Beth D. drove separately and decided
after 10 miles that breakfast in Boulder sounded
more appealing!

We barely made it to the start in time,
and I was still lacing my shoes and stuffing gels
in my pockets when the RD called for "on your marks".
Off we went, through slush and deep puddles and mud
and packed snow that would characterize the day.
Snow continued to fall but the temperature was above
freezing so it was very wet.  After 20 miles of this
most of the runners had had enough (including last
year's 50 mile winners Adam Chase & Stephanie Ehret,
and ultra bad-boy Brandon Sybrowski), but roughly
40 of us continued on for a second lap.

Dave Mackey won the short course again this year.
Dave must have been especially disappointed with the
conditions and the course, as last year his time
was only about 1 minute slower than the course
record, and he would have had a real shot at
breaking that this year.

Heading back out was mentally
challenging, but greeting all the runners who were
coming the other way picked my spirits up.  It was
fun especially to see so many of our Boulder
trail runner friends:  Scott Boulbol, Brian Metzler,
Darcy Piceu, Bill Hanson, etc.

The normal course is outstandingly beautiful, but
this route had its own appeal.  The world around
was wide and white.  The sky swirled with thick
clouds, occasionally opening to show a brief
glimpse of the high mountains across the valley.
The Arkansas river tumbled along below us.

A 40 mile race on pretty flat ground has its own
challenges.  Normally one might walk some of
the hills, giving the running muscles a break.
But, here there didn't seem to be any excuse
to walk so I just trundled along -- squish squish
squish.

Conditions worsened during the gradual climb to
the 30-mile turnaround.  A strong headwind had
gathered and was driving sleet into our faces.
Everything was soaked and muddy.  A headwind saps
the spirit and makes you feel like you are
crawling.  I just looked forward to the turnaround,
and the tailwind on a slight downhill.

Near the turn-around I caught up with Chris Clark,
a frequent 20-22 hour finisher at Leadville.  We
ran together for a while chatting about analytical
chemistry, which is what Chris does for a living
(me too sometimes), and moaning about the
conditions (I think that was mostly me).

On the return leg after the 30 mile aid station
I got a chance to see all our friends who were
still out there struggling with the headwind --
Paul Pomeroy, Steve McClung, Dale Perry, Marge
Hickman.  Others?  When I saw Dale I told him
what a stud he is for running this race only
a week after completing a difficult 50 miler
at Zane Grey.

With about 4 miles to go I decided it was time to
make a move and turned up my pace a bit to see if
Chris would follow.  All I could hear was the
squish squish squish of my own footfalls -- or
was that Chris right behind me?  I kept pushing,
feeling that Chris was right there, sure I could
hear him, but not wanting to look back which is
a sign of weekness.  Finally, I heard a car coming
behind me and used that as an excuse to glance back.
Chris was no where to be seen.  Phew!

The 40 mile race was dominated by 3 very strong
runners.  Paul South, Paul Dewitt and Hal Koerner
were far ahead of the rest of the field.
In the end Paul South was victorious, with a time
of around 4:49, remarkable at this altitude and
under such slippery, sloppy conditions.  Paul D.
was 2nd (4:54) and Hal 3rd (5:03).  I believe the
women's race was won by Kathleen Hoffman/Romalia
(Kathleen married ultra-dude Mark Romalia a couple
of weeks ago)

I completed the 40 mile in 5:36, a distant 4th
place,  soaking wet and covered with mud.
I was plenty happy to be done, and reflected on
the fact that if we were running the normal course
I would have been out there for at least 2 more
hours.  Nevertheless, I hope we will have more
temperate weather next year!

Peter