2010 Pikes Peak Ascent

Way back when I really wanted to run this, it’s also an article about making running harder.  The article is from runningtimes.com.

2010 Pikes Peak Ascent

Sub-2:10s, wrong turns and outfit flubs

By Justin Mock

As featured in the Web Only issue of Running Times Magazine

In the early 1900s, it was the mineral water that brought people together in Manitou Springs at the foot of Pikes Peak. For the last 55 years, it’s been the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon that have drawn runners to Manitou each August. Roadies vs. trail runners, marathoners vs. ultramarathoners, flatlanders vs. altitude junkies, rookies vs. veterans and, especially this year, Colorado vs. the world—the Pikes Peak Ascent on Saturday, August 21, was all of those and more. The epic 13.3-mile race gains 7,815 feet to finish on the 14,050 feet. While the race is consistently one of the most competitive trail races in the country, the 2010 race was named the World Mountain Running Association’s Long Distance Challenge and featured the deepest field in the race’s storied history. 

Starting in front of town hall in Manitou at an elevation of 6,300 feet and looking ahead at the mountain that inspired the song “America the Beautiful” in 1893, breathing is already constrained with 18 percent less oxygen than at sea level. The opening miles pass by the Cog Railway Depot and while the railway may be the easy way up, passing by it is anything but as runners are forced to tackle some of the steepest grades early on. Given the regard that most hold for the challenge ahead, it was more than surprising to see someone that few had picked to win, someone that had never set foot on the mountain before, and someone that no one recognized gap the entire field even before reaching the Cog. It was Glenn Randall, a Colorado native, recent Dartmouth grad and Olympic hopeful cross country skier, that bolted to the lead. "I have 30-minute 10K speed and thought I'd get ahead of everyone on the flatter sections," Randall said. Still, the chase pack included some of the world's best mountain runners.

Photos are from the article.

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