The 11th running of the Golden Gate Dirty 30 near Blackhawk took place this past Saturday, and I decided to head up there and join the fun for a 3rd year in a row. Although it wound up being my slowest finish time thus far, I was happy with the overall effort and still felt I overachieved based on my training compared to past years.
It’s no secret that 2019 has been one incredible snow year. Living in the mountains has had some obvious and much-welcomed upsides this season, but one downside was the lack of dry trails in March and April. In Denver, a solid April long-run was almost always available at Green Mountain, Indian Creek, or Deer Creek Canyon. But up here in Vail, on a year like this one, good luck. So that just meant it was a lot of skinning and road running up until the end of April, when the desert side of the valley finally melted out and I was able to log a few 20 mile runs. Better late than never I suppose.
At the starting line, 7:59am.
I opted for the 8am start this year, and felt I didn’t really belong among the several dozen gazelle-like figures who lined up in front of me (there are three start times, tiered by how fast runners expect to run, and 8am is the preferred start time for sub-6.5 hour finishers and semi-pro runners). As expected, most of them took off at the beginning and I never saw them again. But a few of us 8am’ers played leapfrog all day and made sure to share some long conversations along the way to pass the time.
Things started out pretty much just like previous years. The day was sunny and warm, the flowers were blooming, and the creeks were raging. Welcome to June in the Colorado Rockies!
I coasted through the first 12 miles to aid #2 and then set off on the Black Bear Trail portion of the race, which is where a lack of downhill running prep always seems to hit me for the first time. And just as in past years, aid #3 marked the low-point of the race for me. Aid #3 comes just after a big technical descent, is always hot, leads directly into one of the more substantial climbs of the day, and is mentally tough to dig out of as it marks the rough halfway point of the race. As I told several people I ran into along this stretch who were sitting down on the side of the trail, “Just keep moving! Don’t stop”, as I tried to adhere to my own advice as best I could.
Always love all the volunteers along the side of the trail in random places like this one.
After leaving aid #4, clouds moved into the area and cooled everything off. I could only hope they would stick around for the final climb up Windy Peak, but it wasn’t meant to be as the sun came back in full-force just as I began the ascent. Windy Peak was tough, as tough if not more than I remember it, and I knew upon reaching the summit that I’d be looking at a ~6.5 hour finish.
Somewhere around mile 26 with Windy Peak up next on the horizon. Any small motivation here helps.
Up next was the homestretch descent, which went by just fine despite being brutal as always. I plodded across the finish line in 6:33:38 which was good enough for 36th place and 12th in my age group (results here). Not too shabby overall really, although I seem to be moving farther away from my goal of a sub-6 hours finish. Maybe next year…
One of the coolest parts of the race for me was that my friend Michelle Hiland won 1st place among all female runners. Also coming in 3rd was Jessica Roberts, whom I ran several miles with throughout the day. Great job gals!
Another year, another finish.
All in all this race is just a great experience no matter what time one finishes in. A fact that this particular go-around reminded me of. Thanks once again to Megan and all the volunteers who make this event possible. I’ll definitely be back…
But before that happens, it’s time to go skiing again 🙂