Saturday, August 30
Evergreen, CO
Half Marathon #115
Colorado Half #51
Weather - sunny and warm
A very small and not very well-advertised race, as soon as I saw Bergen Peak was an official half marathon, I wanted to run it. I have run up to the peak a few times - most recently about a month ago. The race was only $30, so we added it to our schedule.
The race started at 8 am, so we didn't have to get up very early. We dropped off the kids at my parents around 6:30 and arrived with over 45 minutes to the start at the rec center in Evergreen.
I have run much of the area up near the Peak, but since there are so many trails at the base, I grabbed a map - just in case. The night before, the race director sent out an email saying the course would be cup-free. What that really meant was that there was no support at all for the race.
We lined up and started right at 8 - me closer to the back. My calves and legs were very tight and I was walking probably 3/4 of a mile in. The course narrowed early on, so at least the faster people were able to get in front of me. The problem was is that I never really saw anyone again... It is very discouraging for me when my body struggles so much on the "easy" sections of a course. I don't like getting so tired so early on. It is what it is.
We headed up the peak from a different trail than I had run before. I didn't find it nearly as steep as the route I normally run, but that also meant I didn't really know where I was. I didn't run that much on the way up, but I tried to alternate jogging and hiking.
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| I'm not grimacing, I'm happy :D |
I was making pretty decent time (relatively speaking), and when I headed up the one mile switchbacks to the peak I actually saw other runners heading down - including L, who only seemed to be about 15 minutes ahead of me. I managed to pass one older guy near the top. FINALLY, I wasn't going to be LAST.
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| At the summit |
I briefly looked at the view from the top and then began the run down. I am substantially better/faster at the downs than the ups, and somewhere around mile 10 I managed to catch one more runner. She seemed really surprised that I cruised by her.
It was much hotter than I expected and I was ROASTING by the time I got off the mountain, and yet there were multiple people wearing long sleeves and capris. It's like I'm not even in the same climate as everyone else.
Not much to say about this as a "race." We got a nice tech tee, a generic top for their entire trail race series. There was water and bagels at the finish, although I didn't take anything.
I would probably run this again, although L was unimpressed. She does NOT enjoy trail running.
Official Time - 3:14:42
Official Pace - 14:51
Overall Place - 79/82 (4th to last!)
Gender Place - 33/35
Division Place - 15/16
Garmin Time - 3:14:36 (the last time I did 9.5 it took 2:42, so not disappointed)
Elevation Gain - 2,403'
Mile 1 - 11:54
Mile 2 - 11:06
Mile 3 - 14:17
Mile 4 - 16:07
Mile 5 - 21:27
Mile 6 - 26:01
Mile 7 - 21:06
Mile 8 - 14:55
Mile 9 - 12:43
Mile 10 - 12:14
Mile 11 - 10:54
Mile 12 - 13:34
Mile 13 - 11:10
Thoughts:
- This race might have had the least information EVER about the course - since I had at least summited the peak before, I at least knew what to expect.
- The trail is beautiful. I spent a lot of time between miles 5 and 7 taking pictures - I might have been able to catch a few more people if I wouldn't have done that. (Moving time was 9 minutes faster - so I clearly wasted a lot of time, lol)
- I really enjoy trail running and this race. It was a lot of fun for me.
- If they put on this race again I will likely run it.
- If you run this race - BRING YOUR OWN FUEL AND WATER. I was really surprised to see the number of people that had no water at ALL. Crazy.
- I consider myself to be a decent trail runner and I was OUT OF MY ELEMENT on this course. I was the third to last finisher - with for ME a fairly decent time. The people in this race were crazy fast.
- No crowd support of course, but the trail wasn't closed so the people hiking and biking seemed relatively impressed :D
