Pikes peak Written on August 20, 2009, by johnh.
I have just back from a holiday in the USA, where I competed in the biggest mountain race over there, the Pikes Peak Marathon. Although the main reason for my trip was to attend the wedding of a friend from University, the race happened to fall a week after the wedding, and conveniently the bride is from Colorado Springs, which was the venue for the wedding andabout five miles from the race start, so it was a great opportunity to tick the race off the list of ‘ones to do’. This year the race also happened to be part of the Skyrunner World Series.
I was holidaying with my girlfriend, a non-runner, so I didn’t wish to inflict too much training on her, consequently the weeks leading up to the race were fairly low key running wise. Additionally, although Colorado Springs is at 1,900m above sea level, the race reaches a height of about 4,300m. Because of these two things I wasn’t really looking forward the race in the weeks leading up to it, fearing I wouldn’t be in the shape to do myself justice.
As it was, I felt great for the race and got of to a good start, going with the early pace. After about three miles some gaps had open and I was on my own in third when I was presented with a split in the path and a choice of two possible routes. Me being me, I managed to take the wrong route and lost about ten minutes taking a nice detour off course. I came back onto the route at the same point I left it, but in about 30thposition. With adrenaline and rage kicking in I chased fairly hard and got up to about fifth, before my exertions and the altitude caught up with me. I faded back to about tenthby the summit but caught a couple on the descent and finished in a creditable eighth place.
Although I am obviously disappointed that I missed out on a possible podium position through no fault of my own, I can honestly say it was one of the most enjoyable races I have done. In part this is due to the route, but also because of the atmosphere and also the friendliness of everybody associated with the race, nothing was too much trouble for the armies of volunteers who were helping out over the weekend.
I am sure I will be back one day, and hopefully I will go the right way the next time!
