3,800 feet elevation gain
Time: 5:18
Dear Diary,
Wow, that was pretty crazy. This was only my second marathon, and my first trail marathon. I did the 2008 Portland Marathon which took place near sea level with an elevation gain of 200 feet or so, over the course. The minimum elevation for the Aspen Backcountry Marathon is 7,908 feet and a maximum elevation of 10,097 feet.
Luckily, I live a few blocks from the start. I woke up at 5am, took a shower, at some corn chex with a banana, pounded some water, put on all the gear I'd laid out the night before and walked to the start line. I ended up standing around for 15 minutes or so, so next time if I'm still so lucky to live so close I think I'll go a tad later. It was pretty cool though to watch all the runners gather and observe some of the nervous energy poignant in the air.
The race started exactly at 6am. A short mile or so on roads through downtown Aspen, then a climb up Smuggler Mountain. I'd been running up Smuggler a lot, so I knew what to expect. A lot of people had a run/walk strategy, where all the flatter parts were ran but every steep part was walked. I need to get better at this, but I still had a great run up the typically popular trail. I was a little worried I was moving too fast, but I just kind of went with it.
Passing the observation deck around 30 minutes in, then up some switchbacked trails and down to the Iowa Shaft Trail. Beautiful on this part. I managed to force down a healthy fruit roll-up thing too, which was tasty. At the bottom of Hunter Creek Valley, 5 miles in or so, I started chatting with a woman who I'd run on and off with until mile 22 or so. She was from Ridgway, CO and seemed to do a lot of trail marathons. She thought it was humorous that this was only my second marathon and I had chosen one that was so difficult. It was nice to talk with her and have the time pass.
I walked nearly the whole way up the Sunnyside Plunge to conserve energy for later. After the right on Hunter Creek Rd I started running again and passed a few people. On the Hunter creek singletrack I pointed out a sweet viewpoint to a runner ahead of me, but he didn't even stop to look. I always try to admire the views in the mountains. To each their own though, of course. The slight climb into Van Horn Park was decorated with beautiful yellow and purple wildflowers. Awesome. Then, right before the Hobbit Trail, there is a high point with a stunning view across the valley of Maroon Bells and much of the Elk Mountain Range. Stunning. I walked to the 10,097 foot high point of the course on the Hobbit Trail, then ran to the 4-corners food and water station in just over 2 hours; 10 miles completed. I ate a full PB&J sandwich and took an energy gel with me. They also had a bunch of pretzels, cookies, and other goodies, but I took my sandwich and slowly jogged while eating it.
After Four Corners, the course follows the Sunnyside Trail along a traverse of Red Mountain before steeply switchbacking down to the Roaring Fork river and the next service station. The traverse of Red Mountain is one of my favorite trails around Aspen. 2 or more miles of the run is through enormous Aspen groves along a steep hillside. It's just awesome. It's pretty hard to get to, also, so solitude abounds. I ran through this section pretty much totally alone during the race as well. I tripped and fell on a root once, which was kind of humorous. I didn't get bloody or anything though, so that's good. At the 13 mile mark I was right at 2:30 which I was a bit worried was a little too fast, but at least 60% of the climbing was done. Right before the Sunnyside downhill the woman [I never asked her name] I was running with a few miles ago caught back up and she followed my lead down the trail. She didn't want to pass so this ended up pushing me quite a bit. It was fun to run downhill so fast, but I tripped at one point and felt some significant pain in my left leg. I also tweeked my knee a bit. I had some pretty serious leg cramps at the bottom of the hill which isn't something I'm used to. I asked at the aid station and they advised to eat some salt. So I did. Cramps went away for a while.
The next 3 miles was the place I'd hit the wall on all of my long training runs. To my delight, I was able to run up the Cemetery Lane trail and the roads, and even the cool trails following Maroon Creek, all slightly uphill. Towards the end, though, I had to walk up almost all the uphills to Tiehack Lift on Buttermilk. It flattened out a tiny bit, so I was able to jog a bit more, but I mostly walked up the hill on the Government Trail. I tried running downhill, but realized that my knee hurt pretty badly, which made downhill running damn difficult. I still jogged as much as I could, but was nowhere near my normal downhill speed.
Damn long 2 miles on Buttermilk, let me tell you. It was nice though because it was a loop, so we got to hit the aid station again. 4 long miles to go. A super sunny, but flat singletrack trail through Marolt Open Space, then half a mile or so of pavement which I had to stop and walk on a couple of times.
The last 2.5 miles of this race are fairly cruel. You climb the Little Cloud Trail which climbs up the side of Aspen Mountain. Steeply. Very steeply. It's 400 or so feet of vertical that's just torturous 24 miles into a marathon. Kind of funny, really. Needless to say, at this point I was walking all uphills. And did I mention it was very steep? Then it was a steep down on a couple roads which I had to do a kind of limp/hobble/jog due to my left knee. I had to walk quite a bit of it which sucked. The race then descends via the Ajax Trail, switchback after switchback. Exhaustion had the best of me, combined with my knee, but I was still having a pretty good time. I passed a guy and asked if he was alright and he said he wasn't sure, which kind of sketched me out. He wasn't very far from the finish though, bet he's ok.
At the bottom of the Ajax trail it's pretty much 3 blocks of road running to the finish. I was able to jog this, but the cramps in my leg muscles came back fairly significantly. It's like something just grabbing your leg and pulling you back. I was happy this only lasted for 3 blocks. There was a pretty good crowd and applause at the end and a cute toddler gave me my finisher's medal. I looked around for the woman I'd run with for so long, but didn't see her at the finish to wish her congratulations. Oh well, guess I can do it now: Congrats! Pleasure running with you.
I finished in 5:18, or something close to there, I forgot to stop my watch immediately. I was kind of thinking it'd be more like 6 hours, so I was pretty happy with this. Official results aren't up yet, so I have no idea how fast I finished. I think the winner beat me by nearly 2 hours! That's insane. Good for him.
I was out of there pretty quick as my house was only blocks away. I walked past work and said hello to my coworkers, then hobbled home. A quick shower and laying down was in order. I've eaten a bunch of food too. I feel pretty good, minus my sore legs. Oh well, doesn't seem too bad. I don't think I hurt my knee permanently or anything either, which is very good.
Next up is the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon from Snowmass to Aspen on September 24. Should be a lot easier.
I hope I do another Aspen Backcountry Marathon. Cool people, well marked course, great aid stations, sweet synthetic t-shirt, and of course the astounding beauty in this area that has kept me here. Feels so good to set difficult goals and accomplish them!
xoxo,
Blake
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