Mt. Evans Ascent

Road trip: The Mt. Evans Ascent, just outside of Idaho Springs, CO.  Billed as America's Highest Road Race, it gets its name because the race route is entirely paved and, well, the finish line is pretty high: somewhere near the peak of the mountain around 14,264 feet.  Run 14.5 miles to the top, ride a van back down.  Seems like a good idea.

The flat-lander participants: Jodi, Ryan, Jim, Jeff, and me.

We have 38 hours to get this done.  Ready, go.

Friday morning, Jeff arrived at our house and we watched the USA soccer team fall 2 goals behind Slovenia in their first round World Cup Match.  Shortly thereafter, Ryan and Jim arrived in the mini-van and we packed it to the gills, very glad for the extra room.  Westward...

Jim and Jeff tag-teamed in the driver's seat and we made great time.  A few roast beef sandwiches, couple of USA goals, and countless PB cookies later, we found ourselves at Beau Jo's Pizza in Idaho Springs, ready to continue the rolling pre-race meal.  "Howdy folks!  Welcome to Beau Jo's," said the animatronic mountain man by the door, over and over, providing endless entertainment.  We ordered a 5-pound pizza and ate it, including pouring honey over the extra thick wheat crust.

Twenty minutes southwest of the pizza was our base camp, Echo Lake Park. It sat at about 10,600 feet, so we took a slow, steady pace in setting up our tents.  Once that was done, we wandered out onto the highway to see if we could spot the top of Mount Evans.  It was out there somewhere, but i couldn't see it.  We visited the lodge and saw a few hummingbirds before watching the sun set over the lake.  Perfectly calm.  Time for sleep.

Overnight it dipped probably to around 40 degrees.  A little on the chilly side if your sleeping bag doesn't zip shut, but it was very quiet.

Brah!!!

430am.  Awake.  Might as well beat the rush to the pit toilet.  The stars were awesome.  Just after 5, most of us were awake and i climbed into the van to make the usual morning chocolate PB banana smoothies, now with chia seeds!  Jim turned the heater on and we all piled in at various stages of breakfast, while Jeff prefered the cool air and exploring.  6am, we all successfully obtained our packets and continued to get race ready.  650, drop bags assembled and into the shuttles.  710, group photo, final bathroom visits, and headed to the starting line just a couple hundred yards from our tents.

The road was not closed during the race, allowing official vehicles, spectators, and normal vistors access.  As final instructions were given and few cars cleared the starting line, the starting horn sounded, the field gave some light applause and we were off.

The first mile was like many road races, with its air of excitement, it's just that there was increasingly less oxygen in that air.  As my legs began a slow burn from the incline and my usual back pain made its appearance, my body assumed a position that resembled one who was about to fall on one's face.  i quickly corrected that, however, realizing it was important to keep my chest open as much as possible thereby keeping my lungs happy under the circumstances. 

At first, i wondered just how long i'd be able to keep running under these conditions.  In fact, runners were already becoming walkers all around us.  At some point, i acclimated and just kept going.  i felt pretty good and pulled ahead of Jodi and Jim for a bit, starting to do the math, realizing we'd all make the cutoff easily, and wondering what my finish time might be.  Then the spectacular scenery started getting better and better and i stopped caring about time.  i paused for refreshing views and soaked it in as much as i could.  Pretty soon, the three of us grouped back up and we spent the rest of the race pushing each other up the hill.  Somewhere along the way walking seemed like a nice idea, so we used poles on the side of the road as cues: start at that next silver pole, run for 2 poles, walk to the next pole.

Jeff and Ryan clawed their way up in 2:42 and 2:56 respectively.  They are a couple of awesome athletes.  At some point we saw them coming down the mountain in a shuttle and they pounded on the windows as they descended.

Runners are usually friendly and encouraging to each other, but i found it especially true in this race.  Total strangers were willing to spend some of their valuable breath on a kind word or two.  All of that positive energy, a handful of jelly beans, and a little more cowbell put us in view of the final set of switchbacks to the finish line.  We didn't know exactly where the finish line was.  We just knew it was close.  Jim put on a speed walking surge and Jodi and i cheered him down the final stretch from below.  Then we rounded the final corner.  i don't remember if we were running or walking; it was all about the same speed by that point.  We crossed the line hand in hand.

We made our way to our dry clothes bags and recovery drinks.  We found Jim and offered our congratulations.  He had a very strong race and perhaps the significance of his accomplishment suddenly hit him.... or perhaps he was just happy to be alive in such a beautiful place... but he was without words for a moment.

The finish line was in a parking lot just beneath the actual summit, so to make our mountaintop experience official, we dragged ourselves up a short trail to the peak.  We were tired and a bit dizzy, but it was worth it.  Gorgeous.  We sat to enjoy the view for a minute.  There is something amazing about being that close to the sky.  It's even more amazing when it is the finish line of a race.

We rode the packed shuttle back down, grabbed a baked potato from the post-race party, and started breaking down our camp site.  The long drive home would put us home around midnight, but it went fairly fast, again with Jim and Jeff at the wheel.  My job was to count deer in the fields (125 total during a stretch near Kearney, #s 122 and 123 had their front hooves on the shoulder but thankfully thought better of crossing the road) and pass out the final PB cookies. Over the final few hours we were treated to a dazzling lightning show but avoided any severe weather.

Jodi, Jim, Jeff, and Ryan: thanks for so much fun in such a short period of time.  You are some of my favorite people and i appreciate your friendships immensely.