In early-August I headed down to the San Juans to join my friend Sarah Boyum at the Silverton Ultramarathon, likely to be my last ultra race of the summer. It wound up going well for both of us despite being one of the more challenging courses either of us have run to date. The Silverton Ultramarathon (SUM) is the second race of the year put on by race director Megan Finnesy (the first of course being the Dirty 30 in June). Keep reading…
On Saturday, July 6th I motored over to Leadville and ran in the 12th annual Silver Rush 50; a 50-mile trail race offered by the Leadville Race Series that takes place every summer. Things went well and it was a good day out for the most part. I was happy to get another 50-miler under my belt and check out another classic Colorado ultra that also happens to be close to home.
Truth be told I didn’t sign up for the Silver Rush until after the San Juan Solstice 50 was cancelled in May. Those of us on the SJS50 runners list kept our fingers crossed but as the spring wore on, it became clear that there was simply too much snow, avalanche debris, and flood potential around Lake City to make the mountain race viable in late-June. The race director was forced to call it and allowed runners to bypass the lottery and defer their entry to next year, which was an option I was happy to take. Keep reading…
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. Keep reading…
One of my main goals for 2018 was to finish a 100 kilometer trail race. I knew if I were to have any realistic aspirations of completing a 100-miler someday, the 100k distance would be a major and necessary stepping stone. And no local Colorado race seemed to fit the bill better than the Never Summer 100k up near Cameron Pass.
This year was the race’s 4th running, and as the years have passed it has continued to garner more attention and fill up earlier. And for good reason – the course is challenging and spectacular – “a mountain race in the truest sense of the term, with extended periods of high alpine ridge running, two alpine peaks, and five alpine lakes visited along the way”. Racking up 64 miles and over 13,000 ft of elevation gain through the Never Summer and Medicine Bow Mountains, it’s considered one of the tougher 100k races out there. Keep reading…