Here we go again! The Collegiate Peaks 50 mile! This is sort of the first big race of spring for the ultra dogs, kind of a family reunion. Milling around the starting area at the park in Buena Vista it is great to see many of the usual suspects. But, the main order of business is to get through the line for the one sit-down toilet in the men's room. Andrew Adamowski is running his first 50 mile & asks me if its OK if he just runs it with me. No problem, Andrew's a real entertaining guy. The race starts and pretty quick we hook up with his buddy Victor, and they talk triathalons for the whole first loop (Victor is only doing the 25 mile). Seems like Victor can remember every split of every race he's ever done. But its diverting & the miles go by. After a bit we pick up a guy named Garrett who I ran with a bit last year, and then Joe Kulak joins our little group. The weather is good, cool and sunny. Later we get some clouds and a little breeze to keep things nice. The course is very dry & the usual creek crossings are easily navigated without getting wet. This is great after 2000 (HOT!) and 2001 (4 feet of snow). Coming off the Midland trail we see Dale Peterson coming back up for his second lap, then a few minutes later Paul Pomeroy. We are probably 15 minutes behind Dale and about 6 minutes behind Paul. We bid Victor goodbye at the turn-around and quickly get our stuff together for the next lap. Andrew, Joe & I take off while Garrett is still mucking with his stuff. Back on the Midland I'm feeling sluggish. This could be a long afternoon! But, its fun to see all our friends coming the other way. I've been around a while and know a lot of folks, and I'm greeting so many runners that Andrew kids me about running for President. Joe takes off but Andrew sticks with me. I notice he's running up the short steep hills while I'm walking, and he's waiting for me at the top of each one. I tell him to get on with it, go catch the others. He's off & I'm feeling pretty spent. Only 20 miles to go... Now I'm in 5th place & 3rd masters. Things aren't working too well. I better figure some stuff out here. I get to work on the electrolyte balance, no more salt, oranges for potassium. At each aid station I eat 2-3 orange slices & this seems to be helping. By 32 miles things are picking up. At the 36 mile aid station I'm thinking "I'm running real well, why aren't I catching those guys?" After that one there's some serious climbing, and pretty soon I catch a glimpse of Kulak. Yup, I'm reeling him in all right, and I see that Paul's just ahead. At 39 miles I catch Joe and then Paul. Paul ran the entire Kokopelli Trail solo just 3 weeks ago, 150 miles in 37.5 hours! This guy's powers of recovery are phenomenal! I can see Andrew not far ahead. But, my calfs are beginning to feel a bit crampy. I definitely don't want any cramps to spoil my day, now in 3rd place. So, I need to be careful. The water bars are the worst as they suddenly change the pitch of the running surface & that can really trigger the cramps. So, I'm running around on the sides of the trail, anything to find the smoothest route. Andrew has good leg speed and pulls away on the gradual downhill. OK, let him go. I'm happy where I am and those other guys are buried, right? At 44 miles I look over my shoulder and there's Kulak. Dammit! I'm doing the best I can here! Kevin Taverner is sitting at the top of the last little hill on the single track taking some pictures. "Hey Peter you know there's a guy right behind you?" Yeah, I know. Once I hit the road I can run smoothly again without worrying about cramps. Joe's got loads of speed & I'm looking over my shoulder every couple of minutes. Push push push. This hurts but we're almost done. And then I am done! Ouch. That was a tough one! 7:38, a PR for me on this course. Kulak cruises in a couple of minutes later & I thank him for the push. Ironically, he takes 1st in the 30-39 age group while I'm 2nd master. Dale (7:29) held off a strong charge by Andrew (7:33). Kirk Apt and Garrett roll in at about 7:46. They passed Paul on the road, but he held on for a good finish at about 7:48. PRs all around! We're all pretty stunned to see that the next finisher is female, Anthea Schmidt finishes in 7:51, taking half an hour off the women's course record! After Anthea there's a gap of 23 minutes before the next finisher. The next women are Sherry Kay Mayhew (8:38) and Stephanie Ehret (8:40). Sherry and Steph battled for the last 10 miles, but Steph just couldn't close the gap. Sherry says she's happy to finally get revenge for the 1998 Leadville 100! Steph's time is 7 minutes faster than her winning time in 2000. At the finish line a lot of our friends are hanging out. Scott Boulbol is there (showered and coiffed), he had to drop at 25 due to a groin injury. Beth Reece is all smiles after running the 25 miler. Dave Mackey looks ready to go for another lap after setting a new course record in the 25 mile, 2:53. Jeepers! Bob Rayburn and Dale Perry both had to drop out of the 50 mile deep into the second lap. A little later Steve McClung finishes the 50 mile and plops into a chair. Yeah Steve, I know how that feels! Brian Metzler also finishes the 50, and is smiling. I hope I didn't forget anyone. That's the news from the front line of Colorado trail ultrarunning! **** For UR: **** Here we go again! The Collegiate Peaks 50 mile! This is the first big race of spring for the Colorado ultra dogs, kind of a family reunion. The race is a 25 mile loop mostly on jeep roads and single track with 3 miles of paved road at the start. The loop is very hilly with some short, steep and some long, gradual climbs and descents. There is about 3300 feet of climbing on the loop, and the high point is about 9300 feet. High up on the back side of the loop runners are treated to outstanding views of the Collegiate Peaks, with many summits over 14,000 feet. The 50 mile runners turn around at the start-finish area and repeat the loop in reverse. Runners in the 50 mile are allowed to quit after one loop and still get a 25 mile finishing time. This rule leads to high attrition in the 50. Nevertheless, this year a record 84 runners finished the 50 mile. Milling around the starting area at the park in Buena Vista it is great to see many of the usual suspects. But, the main order of business is to get through the line for the one sit-down toilet in the men's room. Andrew Adamowski is running his first 50 mile & asks me if its OK if he just runs it with me. No problem, Andrew's a real entertaining guy. The race starts and pretty quick we hook up with his buddy Victor, who is doing the 25 mile, and they talk triathalons for the whole first loop. It seems like Victor can remember every split of every race he's ever done. But its diverting and the miles go by. After a bit we pick up a guy named Garrett who I ran with a bit last year, and then Joe Kulak joins our little group. The weather is good, cool and sunny. Later we get some clouds and a little breeze that keeps things nice. The course is very dry and the usual creek crossings are easily navigated without getting wet feet. This is great after 2000 (HOT!) and 2001 (four FEET of snow). Coming off the old Midland railroad grade about with about 1 mile of single track to the turn-around we see Dale Peterson coming back up for his second lap, then a few minutes later Paul Pomeroy. We are probably 15 minutes behind Dale and about six minutes behind Paul. We bid Victor goodbye at the turn-around and quickly get our stuff together for the next lap. Our first lap split is 3:43. Andrew, Joe and I take off while Garrett is still mucking with his gear. Back on the Midland I'm feeling sluggish. This could be a long afternoon. But, its fun to see all our friends coming the other way. I've been around a while and know a lot of folks, and I'm greeting so many runners that Andrew kids me about running for President. Joe takes off but Andrew sticks with me. I notice he's running up the short steep hills while I'm walking, and he's waiting for me at the top of each one. I tell him to get on with it, go catch the others. He's off and I'm feeling pretty spent. Only 20 miles to go... Now I'm in fifth place. Things aren't working too well. I had better figure some stuff out here. I get to work on the electrolyte balance: no more salt, oranges for potassium. At each aid station I eat two or three orange slices and this seems to be helping. By 32 miles things are picking up. At the 36 mile aid station I'm thinking "I'm running real well, why aren't I catching those guys?" After that one there's some serious climbing, and pretty soon I catch a glimpse of Joe. Yup, I'm reeling him in all right, and I see that Paul is just ahead. At 39 miles I catch Joe and then Paul. Paul ran the entire Kokopelli Trail solo just the weeks ago, 150 miles in 37.5 hours! This guy's powers of recovery are phenomenal! I can see Andrew not far ahead. But, my calves are beginning to feel a bit crampy. I definitely don't want any cramps to spoil my day, now in third place. So, I need to be careful. The water bars are the worst as they suddenly change the pitch of the running surface and that can really trigger the cramps. So, I'm running around them on the sides of the trail, anything to find the smoothest route. Andrew has good leg speed and pulls away on the gradual downhill. OK, let him go. I'm happy where I am and those other guys are buried, right? At 44 miles I look over my shoulder and there's Joe. Hey, I'm doing the best I can here! Kevin Taverner is sitting at the top of the last little hill on the single track taking some pictures. "Hey Peter you know there's a guy right behind you?" Yeah, I know. Once I hit the road I can run smoothly again without worrying about cramps. Joe's got loads of speed and I'm looking over my shoulder every couple of minutes. Push push push. This hurts but we're almost done. And then I am done! Ouch, that was a tough one! But a PR for me on this course. Joe cruises in a couple of minutes later & I thank him for the push. Dale (7:29) held off a strong charge by Andrew (7:33), who claims he's going back to triathalons. Kirk Apt and Garrett roll in at about 7:46. They passed Paul on the road in the final couple of miles, but he held on for a good finish at about 7:48. PRs all around! We're all pretty stunned to see that the next finisher is Anthea Schmidt. Finishing in 7:51, she takes half an hour off the women's course record! After Anthea there's a gap of 23 minutes before the next finisher. The next women are Sherry Kay Mayhew (8:38) and Stephanie Ehret (8:40). Sherry and Stephanie battled for the last ten miles, but Stephanie couldn't close the gap. Sherry says she's happy to finally get revenge for the 1998 Leadville 100. Everyone's smiling and cheering for each runner that crosses the finish line. We're all going nuts yelling for Melissa Lee Sobal who crosses the line at 11:59 and change, just seconds to spare. Special thanks to the Buena Vista Chamber of Commerce and all the volunteers for giving us another great day of running in the mountains. That's the news from the front line of Colorado trail ultrarunning!