Leadville Trail Marathon Race Report

I'm a little nervous.  Its been awhile since I've run a race.  Like 6 months.  I haven't raced since Yankee Springs in January.  Now I'm standing on the starting line for the Leadville Trail Marathon, advertised to have 6,300 feet of gain over the 26 mile out and back course that is run entirely at over 10,000 feet above sea level.

Since I've been in Colorado I've had the opportunity to run with a bunch of great people, and most of them also signed up for the marathon.  We camped out in Leadville the night prior to the race after hanging around the cool little mountain town all day.

Then some guy fires off a shotgun and the stampede begins.  I'm a little amazed how hard everyone is running from the get-go.  Its faster than I'm used to.  And all uphill, errr maybe up mountain is more appropriate?  Soon I'm gasping for air.

A wee bit more climbing than I'm used to

I get a glimpse of the trail ahead.  More switch backs and more climbing.  Hmmm.  I'll slow down a touch I think.  I'm still gasping for air.  Damnit.

The first aid station is at about 4 miles into the race.  If you can't tell by looking at the elevation profile, its quite a climb up to that point.  I got some water and a gel and was on my way.  I think at this point I had settled into 25-30th place and was just trying to keep moving at a reasonable pace.  I typically try to move through aid stations as quickly as possible, and I continued this.  After cresting the Ball Mountain aid station and running quickly down the old mining roads, I started feeling a little better.  A combination of some downhill and scaling back the pace a little bit seemed to be paying dividends.  I occasionally looked around, and was greeted with gorgeous views of mountains and bright blue sky.

Survival mode

Coming through the aid station at the bottom of Mosquito pass, I really started feeling better.  Which is strange as you are still running at 10,000 feet above sea level.  I had passed a few more people, including some fellow retching and making awful noises in the bushes.  The climb up Mosquito starts off actually fairly gradual, and after a good amount of downhill to reach this point, I decided to run as much as I could.  

Since the race was an out and back, and the turn around point is at the top of this climb, the trail became rather crowded, as we had rejoined with the half marathoners who were both going up and going down the pass, depending on how far along they were.  Luckily we are on mining roads, and very rarely was there not enough room to maneuver around people.  It was kind of nice to have so much mental stimulation during the climb, which could be quite brutal.  I ran, then hiked, then ran, then hiked, alternating on shallow and steep grades and using my breathing as a guide as to when to settle into a pow-hike.  I actually really enjoyed this section as I felt I had a good grinding gear.

I passed several more marathoners, and had the pleasure of seeing the leaders come blitzing down the pass.  Then a marathoner passed me; he was running the whole damn climb, I couldn't help but admire his consistent climbing cadence.  

At the top of the pass I quickly filled my bottle (2:18), stepped on the timing mat, and when I was told that I was somewhere around 11th or 12th place, I decided to let it all go on the descent from Mosquito and see what happened from there.  

I'm a fairly good downhill runner, especially when I'm in the mood to take some chances.  I took some chances. This was evident as I passed 3-4 other marathoners on the descent.  Including the guy who had climbed so well up to the top of the pass.    Actually I still don't know how I didn't trip or fly off the edge of the mountain on this descent, but thankfully it all worked out.  The descent seemed to shake something loose in my GI track, and I was eagerly anticipating a port-a-potty stop at the aid station at the bottom of Mosquito.  Unfortunately I saw two children who were cheering on family go running into the bathrooms right as I ran up.  Crap (pun intended), I'm not waiting around for that.  I started to run up the deusche grade mining road to the top of Ball mountain and after a while my need for a reststop reseeded.  This is lucky as there is nothing but shrubbery and rocks above treeline.    

At this point, I've run enough races to know that the return trip was going to be interesting.  I'd been running at threshold for almost 3 hours, something I don't practice often.  

I kept eating and must have been feeling ok, because I kept reeling people in.  I would jog with them for a brief moment, chat and recover, then take off to catch the next person.

I kept up that routine for the rest of the race, except as I got towards the finish I tried to make my passes rather emphatic, especially on the downhills.  Trying to take care of myself until the very end of the race, I took an S!cap at about mile 21, as I noticed I was very satly, but had not yet started cramping.  

Speaking of downhill, for me, the last downhill was a sufferfest.  It was technical as there was plenty of loose rocks and washed out ruts on the mining road, slightly rolling, and lasted 3-4 miles.  I was putting everything I had into the first couple miles, but as I couldn't see anyone in the distance I let up on the pace for a tad and almost tripped over some rocks.  OK, lets finish this out strong I decided.  So I hammered my legs into oblivion running downhill at sub 6:30 pace.  I ignored my screaming feet as I had reached that point where you don't care about pain and just want it to be over.  

As I crossed the finish line, I was told I had finished 6th overall (500ish starters?) in a time of 4:05.  I was very pleased, I had been thinking anything under 4:30 would be very good, and hadn't dreamed of running 4:05 in a race with 6,000 feet of gain.  I didn't care as much about the overall placing as running a time that I was satisfied with.

Our whole group finished strong, and had a big grin (grimace?) on their face when they finished.  It was a great social environment with all the finishers being extremely friendly and congratulatory.  The race gave out coffee mugs as the finishers award, which I like (I think some ppl were disappointed and wanted a medal)  We hung around for the rest of the day and I rehydrated with Michelob Ultra (blech). 

Yeehaw

Liz and I both collecting our gold mining pans as age-group awards
 (we're the goofballs still in our running shorts)

Final thoughts:  While the trail race is a little expensive, it was well worth the $.  There were tons of goodies, plenty of food and beer, and a super enthusiastic environment.  While I don't usually like races with 1,000s of people, I do see the allure of larger events which really have a great environment.

Gear:  Scott T2 Kinabalu, The North Face Better than Naked shorts, Ultraspire Quantum belt, Ultimate Direction 20oz quickdraw water bottle.  

Food:  I don't remember?  Like 10 gels, and two bottles of sports drink?  No solid food.

Canyon Crossing - A R2R2R Run

"We're you serious about joining you guys for the R2R2R?"

"Well yeah!"

That's about all that was required to convince me to join Ryan, Liz, Justin, and Tiffany in an incredible adventure. 

It all started with a job interview in Denver (which went well), and I originally planned to just fly in and fly out.  Which seemed like such an incredible waste, but without a solid plan I figured it would be the best idea.  Then R2R2R came knockin'.  

I met Ryan at a Ice Age in 2011, and hadn't seen him since.  But luckily social media has allowed us to stay updated on each other adventures.  I met Liz through mutual friends after a race in 2012, and hadn't seen her since then.  Again, thanks facebook for letting us stay in touch.

I'll spare you the technical or fortuitous details of coordinating rides, but Thursday night we were on the road from Boulder to the Grand Canyon, for what is an iconic bucket list run for ultrarunners and a great  way to log some training miles.

Quick stop in Moab, UT

After a quick stop in Moab (awesome place btw), we were Canyon Bound.  Along the way we received emphatic direction that we should stop at Goosenecks State Park for a quick picture, and we obliged.

My "artsy" Goosenecks photo

Interestingly, driving up to the rim of the Canyon almost felt like driving up into the mountains.  Prior to gaining a gob of elevation we were driving along at between 4000-5000 feet above sea level.  Then we headed up, up, up, and were finally at 7000 feet and the Canyon rim.

A quick tourist style stop for a photo and then a pizza pub for beer and pizza, two essentials for any successful Canyon crossing.  We all quickly set up tents and fell asleep, determined to get as much sleep as possible before our 3:30am wakeup.

Breakfast of champions

Breakfast for me was a slice of cheese pizza, a redbull and a couple handfulls of raisins.  The previous night I had filled my pack with gels, shotbloks, stinger waffles, and energy bars.  I was aiming for 200 calories an hour over the course of 12 hours.  I figured with Phantom Ranch along the way I could buy any extra food that might strike my fancy at that particular moment.

Before I knew it, we were parking at the parking area that the shuttle services at South Kaibob.  You can try to drive into the actual trailhead parking lot, but that seems to be discouraged by the park and truely requires a back-country permit.  I think with the growing popularity of R2R2R, we as runners need to be careful to respect park rules and the extra little jog was a nice warmup before bombing down 7 miles of downhill with 5000 feet of descent.

ready for action

 It was incredibly windy running down South Kaibob, the gusts threatened to blow my hat off my head and whipped dust past my face and into my eyes.  I was dressed for cold weather, but it warmed up so fast that I felt a little silly for having arm warmers on under my windbreaker.  Oh well, it never hurts to be prepared.  Layers were quickly shed and the descent continued.

Dust flying through the air (Photo Liz Sassemon)

Flying downhill (Photo Liz Sassemon)

The descent continues (Photo Liz Sassemon).

Down.  Down.  Down.  A mile down.  And then through a small tunnel and onto a suspension bridge over the Colorado River.  We stopped and smiled.  This is unbelievable.  The first descent felt surreal, like a dream.  Running through the dark, buffeted by wind, only slightly able to take in the magnitude of our task.

Soon we were at the turn off for Bright Angel trail and our first water stop.  I drained my pack and thought I filled it back up.  Turns out the extra stuff I had stuffed into the pack resulted in the bladder being compressed and I only filled my pack half-way.  Rookie move, bad Toe.  

Passing phantom ranch its essential a long (13.4 mile) grind up to the North Rim.  The first 7ish miles are very mellow and entirely run-able.  I'd say the incline varied between 1-6% for the most part and we just cruised it out, saying hi to the gob of runners we passed.  Most appeared to be running from the North Rim to the South Rim on a one-way crossing.  Hmmm, what a nice distance...

My half-full pack only lasted the first 4-5 miles up this stretch as it was relatively exposed and we were running mostly uphill.

The gradual run up into Bright Angel Canyon

Meandering single track

As we worked our way through Bright Angel Canyon, I was delighted to find a water stop at Cottonwood Campground. Since I'd be running with a dry pack for a while, I drained almost an entire bladder and refilled before leaving.  We then continued the run into Bright Angel canyon along the creek and towards the North Rim.  Ryan set a nice pace on the climbs and I told my Michigan legs to shut up and followed.  There were some spectacular views as the trail decided to become sincerely steep and we gained elevation at a more rapid rate.  

Can you see the trail along the Canyon wall behind me?

Getting high

North Rim

There were points on this run up the North Rim where I felt as if the switch backs would go on forever.  And they did.  I also think I over-fueled briefly on this ascent as I alternated between feeling really strong, and feeling like I was going to barf.  I gave myself a good 30-40 minutes with no calories and just a bit of water and the feeling subsided.  But then we were at the top.  Sitting at 8000 feet, the North Rim is almost 1000 feet higher than the South Rim, and has an entirely different feel.  While the South Rim is a tourist hell-hole complete with massive parking lots, a general store, and a post office, the North Rim only has a small lodge, a mule ranch, and a parking lot with rustic bathrooms.  Furthermore, while the South Rim has a distinctly desert feel; the shubbery was replaced by tall trees and a cool breeze on the North.  

Ryan and I sat and waited for the rest of our crew and chatted with the numerous other runners who were doing various trips.  In the awesome generous spirit of ultrarunning/trailrunning, we were offered Ice Cold Pepsi and potato straws by Grandpa Jim, who was a Canyon regular.  We said "hi" to David Goggins who was just out for a training run, then sat back in the shade and enjoyed our pops and pizza.  Yes, that's correct, I hauled two slices of cheese pizza across the Grand Canyon to eat for lunch.  Entirely worth it, although it may not have looked super appetizing.

Justin's pocket pizza (photo Justin Hellwinkel)

North Rim chillin (Photo Liz Sassemon)

We were just hanging out when we noticed a large mule train starting towards to trail from the stables.  We gave each other a quick nod, grabbed our gear, and took off.  No one wanted to get behind the mules or deal with any extra mule poop or urine than was necessary.

The rim that is right center in the far distance is where we came from and headed back to

Could the scenery be any cooler? 

Somewhere on the run down from the North Rim I realized that this was the last major descent and I wouldn't need my quads after it was over.  I decided to let go and bomb away.  Joyously soft trails and few water steps allowed for a fast descent down the steep part of the Canyon, then the gradual decline of Bright Angel canyon let me throw down some 6:40's.  I did notice it was getting hot, but continued to run with the throttle open.   A lot of hikers gave me a smile and laughed at how much fun I was having running downhill, which was only more encouragement to run hard.

Nearing Phantom Ranch, I realized I hadn't peed in a while and my shoes were full of sand.  After a slight...  detour, I found the Ranch and stopped to take my socks and shoes off to get all the sand out.  An amazing round of leg cramps ensued in which it became very difficult to get my socks and shoes back on.  Very gingerly I put my shoes back on, about the time when Ryan caught up, and we grabbed a lemonade and a snack at Phantom Ranch before the final climb of the day. 

On the way to Indian Garden

Bright Angel trail meanders up through a variety of terrain, the first half which is called "The Devils Corkscrew" or "Angels Elevator" depending on who you talk to.  This was perhaps one of the more exposed sections, but as we reached Indian Garden, the sun snuck behind a canyon wall and it was no longer quite so hot.  After a few jokes about sending mules down to rescue us, we refilled our water and jogged out of Indian Garden and onto the steeper section of Bright Angel.  There isn't much to say about this section, except that it was nice to have frequent water spigots, and we just got our grind on.  A few false summits and about 50 switchbacks later we were at the top of the South Rim again, looking out over the Canyon and slightly amazed with how far we had just run.  

woah

Quite a few switchbacks required to get up from below

Climbing back up Bright Angel was quite interesting in the late-afternoon.  Exhausted hikers and R2R'ers littered the trail, and the pow-hike easily cruised past them.  Sometimes they only begrudgingly gave us room to pass.  Part of my addled brain wondered if they had any idea what we had gone through that day, but the other part realized this was an extreme physical challenge for these people and I should just give them a nod and keep moving.

The Top.  Finally back at the Top of the South Rim.  Ryan and I gave each other a high five, and that was it.  We were done.

R2R2R is quite an experience.  I enjoy a good testing, and this certainly tested my shit.  Its a unique run as it has all the vertical packed into two climbs and two descents, they seemed like they went on forever.  Very pleased with the way my Michigan legs handled all the climbing and descending.  My GPS watch seems to have deleted the file (of course that happened) but I had around 48.5 miles total, including the run from the car to the trailhead.  I suspect it overestimated a little, but still a very respectable number. Ryan's altimeter said 10,600 feet of climbing, which I entirely believe.

Woot.

If I was going to give pointers for running R2R2R, they would be.  1)  The longest stretch without water is between cottonwood campground and phantom ranch, be cogniscent of this.  2)  Take enough fuel/food, its very important to keep eating calories as you are trying to climb out of the canyon towards the finish when you're tired.  3)  Salt caps help in the heat, I prefer S!caps, but use what you like.  4)  Leaving the South Rim via South Kaibob and returning via Bright Angel is nice, but make sure you have a way to get your car.  5)  Leaving early is smart, and you get to run a lot in the morning before people or heat slow you down.  6)  DO NOT EAT THE BUFFALO WINGS AT THE PIZZA PUB THE NIGHT BEFORE THE RUN.

FOOOD

Fuel
I took about 25 gels with me, and prob donated 4-5 of them to others and had 5 left when I finished.  I also carried 5 honey stinger waffles (of which I ate 3), a clif bar, hammer bar, honey stinger bar, a slice of pizza, and three packs of Clif shot bloks.  I also took 5 S!caps during the run and had a lemonade, oreos, and pretzels while at Phantom Ranch.  All said, I prob had a little extra food with me, but that's just how I roll.

Gear
Petzel Myo headlamp, Recofit compression sleeves, Brooks LSD Lite jacket, S-lab 5 liter pack, sunglasses, hat, singlet, Salomon S-lab Sense Ultra shoes, a pair of Smartwool running socks, running shorts.  2Toms Sportshield kept me blister and chaffing free.