BTMR Report

The Barr Trail Mountain Race ran its 11th running on the 18th of July 2010. Some names in the field I recognized, like Matt Carpenter and Ricky Gates. I saw that Anton Krupicka was on the roster but I guess did not make it to the start line as I never saw him any time during the event. From my understanding, Carpenter has pretty much dominated the event in all of its years but this race would have him de-throned and a new course record would be set. You can read more about the exciting race and view the race results

I arrived in Manitou Springs with about 45 minutes to kill before the start. I didn’t want to warm up too early, but I did power walk the 3/4 mile up to the start line because I wasn’t sure how the altitude would affect me and I didn’t want to do my

The first half of the “out” portion of the course was slow going. The first 3 miles of the course are the steepest, with switchbacks and tough terrain. Most of this was power-walked not only because running would have zapped all my energy but also because I was within a forearm’s length of other runners on all sides of me. I literally think it saved me though because knowing myself, I would have attempted to run this portion and completely exhausted myself.
After about the 3 mile mark on the course, the trail flattened out and opened up some as well, making more room to pass other runners and break into a rhythmic jog.

It was on the second half that runners are granted some spectacular views of Pikes Peak and some of the surrounding mountains that make up the front range. I truly wish I had a small camera to capture some of the views I was taking in.

According to my split on the race site, I arrived to the Barr Camp turnaround point in 1:37.40.

That is probably the slowest I’ve ever “raced” 6 miles. However, my split at the finish showed I ran the same distance back down the mountain in 57.06. To me, that is a crazy negative split but I knew it would probably look something like that. I found that climbing such a large hill is indeed difficult, especially for a flat lander. But what I found was the hardest part of this race was the downhill return to the finish line. My legs that are used to running on relatively flat ground around the neighborhoods I live by were converted in a matter of a few paces from simple mode of transportation to safety devices to prevent me from careening off the side of a very large mountain. This took a toll on my quadriceps. With each switchback, rock hop and boulder dodging back to lower ground my legs screamed with lactic acid buildup. It only got worse once I was back on the lower half of the course on the steeper sections where there are 20 some-odd switchbacks in about 2 miles.

When all was said and done though, I accomplished my goal of “winning” my race shirt by finishing well under the 3:30.0 cut off time with a comfortable 2:34.46. This race really was a blast, it was well organized and executed and if an opportunity comes about in the future to run it again I will jump at the chance.

I also learned a physiological lesson over the days proceeding the race. I have no specific study to back this claim up but it seems I had a much longer recovery period due to a lower oxygen environment. I don’t know if this notion can be validated with any scientific evidence but I have a feeling that is the reason I was still hobbling down stairs or ramps all the way into late Thursday, post race.

Now back home and fully recovered I’m taking a step back from running for a few weeks to let the batteries re-charge and spend time with my family. I originally had plans to do a timed ultra in October but I’m really not all that excited about it. I may still do a portion of it with a relay team or something but I probably will not do any long races again until next spring. I may find a few short races to do this fall but I think I’m going to turn my main running focus to running a 50 miler for the first time in the spring. I like running in the fall/winter/spring seasons much more anyway.