Team Footfeathers: Crewing the Leadville 100

Back up the calendar several pages to February 15, and this email from Tim pops up in the wee hours of the morning:

-----Original Message-----
From: tim@xxxxxxx [mailto:tim@xxxxxxx]
Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 6:33 AM
To: HappyTrails
Subject: crew

 

Hi,

Would you guys be interested in crewing me at Leadville 100?

Since we were (and probably still are) clueless about anything to do with ultrarunning or what this duty would entail, we said "Sure."  So began the months of tidbits here and there talking to Tim, finding out what he needed, worrying that we would suck, and so on.  (Who knew that a trail run and a Thanksgiving dinner three years ago would lead us to this juncture!)  Then, within the past week, it ramped up - Game Time - now we would be crewing and trying to keep up with the leaders of the race for InsideTrail via Tweets during the day.  Cool.  We were getting to Leadville late Friday night after work, sleeping in command central, aka the Pilot, and being out at the ungodly hour of 4 am to get rolling on this adventure.  Let's go!

We made what ended up being a very good decision (rookie luck) and skipped the start, driving straight to Mayqueen AS #1, and were the 6th car there.  The lead pack of guys went through like they were running a 10k - are you kidding me?  Holy Cow!  Tim rolled in before 6 am, right on his splits.  It was just starting to get light as we drove around Turquoise Lake on the way out.  Everything went as planned - aid #1 down, no issues - we're rolling on to the Fish Hatchery AS #2!  We realized how fortunate the plan was at the start, as there were cars parked for miles out the road - whew!

 For whatever reason, the Fish Hatchery was our favorite aid station - very cool vibe here

The next aid was at the Leadville National Fish Hatchery which was a very cool setting.  There was a lot of room to spectate, great crewing access, and just a really neat vibe to this place.  The runners come in off of Powerline, run up the road into the aid area, then right back down and out onto the road toward Halfmoon.  The fog from early on was burning off and it was opening up into a really nice sunrise.  It was great to be able to see, as we did not recognize many of the top ultrarunners since we aren't ever around them.  The lead pack went through, and we started to piece together names and faces we would see for the rest of the day.  Mike Arnstein was in front, followed by Dylan Bowman, Timmy Parr, Ryan Burch, Ryan Sandes, Duncan Callahan, Jeff Browning, Dan Vega, etc.  Guys we have read about are now right beside us - sweet!  Snap out of it, we have a racer to tend to - and he came through 2 minutes up on his splits again, so we grabbed his necessities at the aid while Kathleen filled his pack, all the while he is quizzing me on who is running up front, what are the splits, etc. - Tim is quite easy going, even while he is racing - amazing!  He was running in the top 20, right where he wanted to be.  Out of AS #2 - moving on to Twin Lakes AS #3.

 Stopped at HalfMoon Road to get a photo  - looking good

 Spectacular views along HalfMoon Road

 Arriving at Twin Lakes - the day was shaping up quite nicely

 Prime real estate - set up crew station in the main lot!

Twin Lakes is where it started to dawn on us that it was really, really nice to have a fast runner!  We arrived to a very quiet, pristine scene, got prime real estate parking, and set up next to some fantastic people that we would see through the rest of the day.  Twin Lakes is pivotal, as it is the entrance to the Big Climb - Hope Pass at 12,600' looms above the runners - standing between them and the halfway turn at Winfield, 10.5 miles away.  Once again Arnstein was through first, and we thought going too fast - but what do we know, we're just newbie crew folks :)  Parr, Burch, Bowman, Sandes - all through closely - and with some good separation to the next groups - the race was shaping up at the front.  Tim came through at Twin about 4 minutes up on splits -  this is working out great.  We loaded him up for the big climb, broke out the poles for the nasty descent off of Hope, and he was rolling out toward the halfway point.  We negotiated a sweet deal with the "neighbors" to cart their son's pacer to Winfield AS #4, and in turn, they would hold us a spot in the prime parking lot for the return trip - right on!

 Leaving Twin Lakes - the trail leading to the monster climb up Hope Pass

 Winfield AS - great views, the calm before the swarm

If (and that is a big IF) we ever crew this race again, Winfield AS #4 is off the agenda.  This is a drop bag aid station for sure!!!  The drive out to Winfield is fairly sucky.  It is basically at the end of a long, rutted, dusty dirt road, the last three miles of which you share with the runners.  There were no runners yet when we arrived, but those coming later would really pay for this section of drive.  Did we mention that it was really, really, really great to have a fast runner??? (Thanks TIM!!!)  The other issue is that there is very limited parking.  Once the lot filled, and the road started to have consistent racer traffic, cars could only come in as vehicles left.  Ouch!  Ryan Sandes made a huge move on Hope Pass - one that proved the decisive move of the race.  He went from 5th to first in the course of that 10.5 miles and would not relinquish the position for the remaining 50 miles.  Bold.

 Feeling pretty good after trip #1 over Hope

Tim did great on his first passing of Hope and was just a few minutes down on the splits, no big deal.  It was also hot - he was ahead of pace on salt consumption because of the intense overhead sun.  We took a little extra time making sure he was ready to head right back up Hope.  Some extra food, extra liquids, etc.  He was looking a little tired, but overall was just running smart and doing a great job.  He got quite a spark seeing a young lady friend pacer from Hardrock  CORRECTION, a very young lady he raced with at Ice Age 50 mile - standing there by the aid tent at Winfield - we practically had to drag him, kicking and screaming,  out to get back to his run (and you thought we wouldn't rat you out......)  So AS#4 was good to go and we were out of Winfield.  We were horrified at the scene heading out:  after the point on the road where the runners left to head up the trail, inbound traffic was parked.  For over a mile.  One car leaves, one gets to go in - back to that whole fast runner theme.....  Regardless, we were out of Dodge and headed back to Twin Lakes.

 Parting words - heading back over the monster

Twin Lakes AS #5 - round 2 at Twin Lakes, and much more of a zoo this time.  However, we had an ace up our sleeve as the fine folks we spent our morning with there had us lined out with parking in the prime lot.  Nice.  This was a longer crew spot - fresh shoes, extra food, encouragement after twice crossing Hope.  For the first time, we missed the leaders.  But that was OK.  We were tiring and needed to recharge so we could be focused on our racer.  Tim bonked hard on Hope.  I could read it on him from across the meadow coming in.  We got him in a chair and JT, who would be pacing him for the next 26 miles, helped us get him refueled and ready to get moving again.  Pretty amazing that he was charged up to get Tim running, as he had just driven up from the Springs after racing the Pikes Peak Ascent.  The aid stop was long, but we were not forceful in pulling the chair, as he really needed a little rest.  After 15 or 20 minutes, these two were charging up the hill out of Twin Lakes.  Back to the Fish Hatchery AS #6.

 Enjoyed a nice rain shower at FH - very peaceful

 Calorie fest starts before the aid station - JT gets some pep from Katie and Holly

Tim came back to life on the leg in to Fish Hatchery, running almost the entire section and regaining his competitive juice.  Man that was nice to see, and it kind of gave us a second wind.  A great pacer, a bunch of calories, and getting passed by some guys he didn't want passing him rekindled some fire in the belly.  Sweet!  The guys donned headlamps as darkness was approaching and they were off toward Mayqueen - the final aid stop.

Lucho was waiting for us as we rolled into Mayqueen.  He would be pacing the final leg of 13.5 miles, where just last year Tim had paced him through a very rough patch.  The boys rolled in looking pretty spent at about 10:50 pm, 18:50 into the race.  We got Tim into a thermal long sleeve, filled him up with hot soup, and they were on their way to the finish.  Someone had passed in the aid stop, and the focus was back to reel people in.  We loaded up the last of the gear for the day and headed into town to park at the finish line.  Ryan Sandes had rolled in before we arrived, winning in an impressive time of 16:46, followed by Dylan Bowman in 2nd, and Neal Gorman moving up to 3rd after a conservative middle of the race.

 The boys in the finishing tent - JT, Tim, and Lucho

We snuck in a couple short naps, all the while listening to the announcer calling out names as finishers approached the home stretch.  Tim left Mayqueen 18th and managed to take three spots on the run in, finishing 15th at 1:04 am, 21:04 into the race (official chip time 20:59:52 !)  We were so proud - what an amazing accomplishment!  We threw a blanket over him, and got him into the med check in and in front of a heater as the chill of the night caught up with him after movement ceased.  What a day!  Would we do it again?  Maybe, but it would take a special person like Tim to get us back out for it....

Headed home - saying goodbye for a while at least

After catching a small amount of sleep, we got some breakfast in town and watched some runners still coming in.  Then it was time to head out, which was a little bittersweet as Tim is moving away this week.  Road trip, I guess....

Happy Trails

Mark One off the Wish List

Last August, we were poking around on Ted & Christy's blog when we discovered this post.  We had recently been in the Aspen/Snowmass area on the tail end of a trip to Iowa and knew we wanted to get back up there for some more of those trails.  After reading the Birthday Run post, we have been bent on getting back to the area and running the BIG trails.  You must understand, those two (& their friends) live out on the big mountains, so this may be an everyday run for them.  We knew it was going to be big, both on effort and scenic splendor, and quite possibly harder than any run we have done.  All the better.

We have ridden the road bikes up to Maroon Lake and seen the Maroon Bells from down low previously, but this would be our first venture past the shores of the lake.  The Maroon Creek road is closed to traffic from 9-5 in the summer, but a shuttle runs every 20 minutes up to the lake starting at 9:05.  This worked out perfect, as we were planning a one-way run starting at the lake and ending in Snowmass Village.  After studying the map, and looking at Ted's run, we shot a few emails off, and with his help and trail info, decided to do a little variation of their run.  Instead of taking Willow Pass and heading down East Snowmass drainage, we would take Buckskin Pass, drop down to Snowmass Lake, and head down the Maroon-Snowmass drainage.  So we studied the bus schedule, made our two transfers, and were on the first shuttle out Tuesday morning.  There were some silent nerves on the way up, but for the most part it was Game On as the bus deposited us at the lake at 9500'.  A picture is supposed to paint a thousand words, so hopefully these adequately paint our awesome day on the trails.  Click on photos to enlarge.

Step off the bus, and this is your view...

Maroon Peak (14,156') and North Maroon Peak (14,014')

These two peaks are stunning.  Not much needs to be said, as these are two of the most photographed peaks in Colorado for good reason.  The way we approached Buckskin Pass, it is an optical illusion as North Maroon always looks taller because it is the closest to you.  If you have ever done or read about the Four Passes Loop, we were starting out on the northern side of that loop.  This loop is generally a multi-day backpack loop, covering 27 miles and ~8000 vertical gain.  However, it has become quite popular with the ultrarunning crowd as as single-serving event.  We're not there.  Yet....

Breathtaking

Crater Lake - 10,076' - we've only just begun

Dwarfed by nature's majesty

I tried to capture a nice panorama here, but single photos probably do not do justice to the majestic surroundings you find yourself in on this route.  We were ascending a ridge across valley from the north end of the Maroon Bells Massif and it was like being in IMAX with a stiff neck - you just could not swallow it in all at once.

A large majority of the trail was this technical - I wouldn't advise flip-flops...

Little, tiny Steve in a Big, Big valley

Fork in the trail - we're going left

We arrived at the fork for Willow Pass, and the departure from the Birthday Run route we had been digesting for almost a year.  The gray shoulder on the far left is Buckskin Pass and it looks sooo close here, but is still quite a few switchbacks away.

Pyramid Peak (14,018') - note the tiny hikers on the trail to the left

Are we there yet??  Notice the wildflowers.

Buckskin Pass 12,480' - Ever been so excited to do 4.09 miles in 1:23:40???

Reach the summit, look west, and attempt to pick up chin from ground...
Right above treeline in the center is Snowmass Lake - we're headed there!
This is some BIG country!

We had to stop for a minute to take in what we had just climbed to get to the pass.  We knew the scenic value would be high.  However, on the approach up Buckskin, you see nothing to the west.  The last step up, you look over the edge to the scene above and get chills (from the scenery - the chill from the strong wind came second...).  I made the comment upon reflection afterward that I felt the scenery came close to bankrupting the English language for appropriate description.  I still feel that way 5 days removed.

Group shot on top of the pass, with North Maroon over the left shoulder

It was quite windy at the top, so there is some sketchy sound.  Hope the 360 degree view gives a decent glance at what you experience - maybe you'll want to go here now!!!

Heading off Buckskin, note the hiker coming up - bottom center

Dropping in off the pass - some of the smoothest trail we had all day

Finally, back down in some trees

It did not take long to shed a quick 1500' off the back side and the descent was only just beginning.  One of the interesting things about point to point runs is the potential disparity between ascent and descent totals.  As big as this run was, and as long as it seemed we had climbed, we would end the day with 1000' more descent than ascent.  Weird.  By the time we got below 11,000' we were able to shed our sleeves and the sun was warming nicely.  It was a phenomenal day of weather, which was good as I don't know that this is any place to get caught in a bad storm.

Cool, awesome, wow, etc.!

Kathleen crosses Snowmass Creek

Leaving the Four Passes Loop

At the junction with Snowmass Lake, we headed north down the Maroon-Snowmass trail, officially leaving the Four Passs Loop and heading down the Snowmass Creek drainage.  From here, it was 7 miles and another 2500' or so of descent to the Maroon-Snowmass trailhead.  The trail is well defined and this network obviously has plenty of use.  The trail follows the creek on one side or the other the whole way down and is, for the most part, technical especially for running.  There is not ever a point where you can become lazy with the footwork unless you have family in the dental/plastic surgery line of work.

Unnamed lake, dammed by deadfall at the end of an avalanche chute

The "trail" across to the east side of the creek

We came to a dead-end in the trail on the west side of this little lake and got a bit nervous.  We backtracked a couple hundred yards and realized that the "trail" was across the Lincoln Logs at the end of what appeared to be an avalanche chute coming down the west side of the drainage.  Tricky.

Finishing a long day, just above Snowmass Creek

Luckily, we had some info from Ted beforehand on finishing out this route.  At the trailhead for the Maroon-Snowmass trail, we had to catch the Divide Road up and over the shoulder of Snowmass Ski Area and then drop down the Nature Trail into the Village.  And at the end of a day like this, the "up and over" part was a bit sharp.  About a mile and a half of switchbacks on an old dirt road with almost 700' of climb - finish off those legs, right?  We ran down into the village and headed straight for a caloric input zone, or Big Hoss Grill at Snowmass Village.  With apologies to our vegetarian friends, this was not a "salad" run - it is a "carnivore especial" and it was time for some animal proteins to repair some muscles!!!  Hope no one at the Big Hoss was offended by our salt-streaked clothes and disheveled appearance but it was the perfect way to end a day like this.  WE.NEEDED.GRUB. FAST. 

I would have to say this was our hardest run ever, not only physically, but mentally.  With about 13 trail miles of pounding descent, there was some heinous leg abuse going on and at times it played with the mind a wee bit.  Yet, it was also one of the most rewarding days of human-powered effort we have put forth and will remain etched in the memory banks as a solid introduction to running in the big mountains, beyond just trail running.  This run has been in the "bucket" for a little over a year and it was a blast to check it off the list.  I'm not big on bucket lists, at least as far as races go since I don't really get into the race thing.  Kathleen does a little more, so her opinion may be a shad different than mine.  Gotta throw a Thank You out to Ted & Christy for inspiring this run (and maybe some future prospects, too...)!

Here are some stats:  19 miles, 5200' elevation gain, 6240' elevation loss.  We spent most of the day in the Maroon Bells-Snowmass Wilderness and for foot traffic access only, there has been some phenomenal trail work done in there - Kudos!  this was the first time ever to run above 11,000' and 12,000' elevation - it does affect you, as slighter grades become noticeably more labored than they are at 6000 - 9000 feet. And on this run, the continuous technical/rocky terrain added to the challenging effort.

Happy Trails!!

Shoes - K Asics 2150 Trail

S - Asics Trabuco