I had the opportunity to go out to Colorado to crew/pace a buddy of mine during the Leadville Trail 100 mile ultramarathon, this was single handily one of the most awesome experiences in my life. While out there I had the opportunity to hike to the summit of Mount Elbert which is the highest peak in Colorado @ 14,433 feet above sea level and the second highest peak in the lower 48 states. Below is my recap of my pacing duties that I posted on Daily Mile and in the interest of time I'll just use that and give some additional thoughts below.
"My job was to get Jay up and over Hope Pass during the Leadville 100. I picked him up after 50 miles of running and only an hour into the climb I wasn't able to keep up with him. The trail was very congested at this point with inbound and outbound runners and every time he would surge to pass someone I would struggle to catch back up only for him to surge past someone else. I'd like to blame it on the head cold I've been plagued with the last week but the fact of the matter is he is just a beast going up hill, it was like trying to keep up with a damn mountain goat. Eventually I started to become light headed and faint and had to stop as my heart rate skyrocketed. I gave him the last bottle of water so he could continue on without me and hopefully meet back up with him at the Hope Pass aid station. About 10 minutes later, Marshall, a friend of Jay's who was out there to pace someone else who had dropped out of the race came flying by me looking to help out. It was like a gift from God seeing him, I was struggling so bad trying to catch back up and mentally I was starting to crack knowing it just wasn't going to happen. Once I knew Jay was going to be okay I could go at my own pace and not over work myself. After I made the aid station I refilled my water bottles and started the trek down the mountain. Going down hill is by far my stronger suit and I was able to pass a lot of people and made up quite a bit of time apparently I came in to the Twin Lakes aid station only a few minutes after he left and I was told Marshall was with him and he was doing good, thankfully. Quite a humbling experience but it was really amazing too, reading about this race and actually experiencing are two completely different things. So proud of Jay, Tom, Flynn and everyone who competed out there, a whole new respect for that race, and the amount of physical and mental strength it takes just to line up let alone complete."
Now I've read a number of accounts of this race in various ultra runners biography's but to read about something and to actually experience it are like previously stated two completely different things. First off when you live in the Midwest and the steepest thing you encounter on a training run is a 100 foot climb you can not even fathom what gaining 3000-4000 feet of elevation is like, especially on some of the gnarliest nastiest trails out there. Over the course of last week I experienced the 3 hardest things I've ever done physically, climbing Lake Deluge trail, Mount Elbert and Hope Pass and even though they kicked my butt I loved it. I may not have enjoyed it fully at the time, but looking back it was simply amazing and something I will remember for the rest of my life.
Until next time...Do today what others won't, so tomorrow you can do what others can't.
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