That being said, I am very proud of my effort during the race. I left it all out there. And this is one extremely tough race. Anyone who finishes this race is an absolute machine! That includes my running buddies - Matt and Jeff.
Leadville, Colorado is at 10,200 feet and they are very proud of that fact. Leadville's nickname is "Cloud City" and it definitely lived up to that name during the race.
Virginia, the kids, and I left Dallas on Wednesday and spent the night in Amarillo. We woke the next day and finished off the drive to Leadville. When we arrived, we set up our camper and headed to the grocery store. We picked up items for the race along with other meals we had planned. The altitude was already affecting me. I felt slow and kind of strange. V asked me to get some fruit for the kids and I was wandering around the store asking myself what she meant. "What was I supposed to be getting? Oh yeah, fruit -- now where do they put the fruit? What kind of fruit did she mean?" That kind of slow thinking.
It takes a lot of gear to run 100 miles!
Fueling Up Before the Race
Aunt Cathy, Mom, Me, V, and Josh at the start
The race starts at 4am. I slept a whopping 3 hours before the start of the race. My daughter, Sara decided she was cold and crawled into our bed at 12:30 where she wiggled around keeping V and I awake. Not that we'd be able to sleep anyway -- it is always hard to sleep before race day. Especially this race.
After laying there for hours staring at my watch, I got out of bed and started getting ready for the race. It was in the low 30's and raining. Perfect running weather, right? Oh well, you just play the hand you are dealt.
Virginia, the kids, my mother, aunt, stepfather, and buddy Josh were all at the start to see me off. I got a few more kisses, hugs, and well wishes and then the starting gun went off and we started running!
At the start of the race, I was overcome with this amazing feeling of joy. After two other false starts (Rocky and Western), I was finally living my dream of running a 100 mile race! I could not have been happier! Yes, it was bitterly cold and raining but I was finally running in a 100 mile race!
The race starts in town and then quickly heads out to the wilderness trails. I started off feeling pretty good. I did have to make two unexpected pit stops (must have been the two Cliff Bars and Gatorade's I pounded down right before the start) that required about 5 minutes each. I was a little worried about GI issues for awhile, but I was OK. The GI pit stops also put me almost dead last in the race. I knew I did not have worry too much about that, but I wanted to arrive at the first aid station by 2:45 elapsed. So I decided to pick up the pace a bit. It was a blast -- I was cruising pretty nicely passing people around Turquoise Lake. It was still dark so I could not see the lake, but I could tell it was there.
Finally the sun came up and I was able to turn my flashlight off. About this time, I was running in a boggy area around the lake. The person in front of me must of hit a bee or wasp nest because I was promptly stung 3 times on my legs. I yelled in pain and knocked the vile creatures from my legs and kept on running. I few seconds later they hit some other unfortunate runners behind me and I heard them screaming as well. Aside from the immediate pain, it was really kind of funny.
I made it to the first aid station - May Queen (13.5 miles) right on my target. I was very happy to make up the time I had lost from the pit stops and just filled up my pack and bottles and kept on cruising. No need to stop here long.
The next aid station was at the Fish Hatchery - 10 miles away. But before then, I had to climb over Sugarloaf Pass which is about a 1200 foot climb. It wasn't too bad, but it definitely slowed me down a bit. It was during this section that the skies opened up on us and we got hit with rain, pea and marble sized hail, along with some sleet and snow just for fun. That pattern would continue the rest of the day. It was miserable out there. But the weather can not be helped and we all had to deal with it. The awful weather really did not bother me too much. I was in 100 degree Dallas just two days before so it was kind of a novelty for me. "Snow in August? You've got to be kidding!"
The Jeep Road Up SugarLoaf
Turquoise Lake from SugarLoaf - see the clouds? 
I arrived at the Fish Hatchery (mile 23.5) about 45 minutes ahead of the cutoff. I was still doing well. The climb over Sugarloaf had taken a little out of me, and I was in a bit of a low spot but I was OK. I met my crew at the aid station. The first person I see is my 5 year old son, Joe. He ran up to me and tells me that they have real live fish here and is extremely excited. "They have keepers here, Daddy!" It took me a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about. This aid station is at an actual Fish Hatchery where they produce most of the rainbow trout for the lakes and rivers in the state. Apparently, Joe saw some really big trout and he wanted to fish here and keep some fish. It really cracked me up.
This was another really quick aid station stop. I filled my bottles, refueled, and hit the road. I was at low point here for about 45 minutes. I could not run very long at this point and that had me worried. I took comfort in the fact that most other runners where power hiking as well. I found out later that this road is slightly uphill and just about everyone walks it. I was worried that I was already a bit trashed so early in the race. But I got my legs and energy level back and was running well again after about 45 minutes of this long road. I could tell that my family and crew was worried about me at this aid station. I wasn't as chipper as they had hoped. I guess the weather and Sugarloaf Pass did take something out of me.
But after awhile, I was feeling great again. My game face was back on and I was flying high! I was power hiking the uphills with authority and running well on the flats. I was practically flying on the downhills and was having a blast again!
Heading out of the Fish Hatchery
The Best Crew Ever!
Heading Down into Twin Lakes
After a monumental struggle I made it to the top of Hope Pass and finally started the decent. My legs felt rubbery and I still could not breathe so I had to jog/walk it until about a third of the way down. I then started feeling better and started to run again. The back side of the pass was steeper (but shorter) than the side I just climbed. I could not believe how bad I felt while I was up there and how good I felt now. I made good time on the way down the mountain.
Hope Pass - hidden by the clouds
But first - the river crossing!
Looking Up at Hope Pass
It's Hailing! Again!
The Trail up to Hope Pass
Am I seeing things? Llamas at the top of Hope Pass!Apparently they are the only pack animal that can handle the high altitude!
Finally at the top of Hope Pass!
Amazing Views - I only wish I could remember them!I felt a big sense of sorrow that my race was over. I cried a few tears and then immediately felt better. I had given it my all out here. And I still felt like I could continue running. I just could not handle the altitude at Hope Pass. I learned later that less than 40% of the runners finished the race. Over 30% dropped from the race at Fish Hatchery (mile 23.5). I'm not sure if it was the lowest finishing rate of the race history, but it was definitely amongst the lowest. I also heard from the race director that this year had the worst weather in race history.
Sara and Joe giving Daddy a rubdown! I think Joe was still talking about the Fish Hatchery!
Krewe Krejci!My family and crew were waiting for me at Winfield. They were a little surprised that it took me so long to get over Hope Pass. The last time they saw me I was moving well and feeling no pain. I told them about how the altitude affected me and they immediately understood.
The race officials cut my wristband and my race was officially over. I got a lot of hugs from my family as I sat down and took it all in. I had made it 50 miles and was 20 minutes over the cutoff limit. I had a sense of accomplishment for what I had achieved. I wanted more, but the course had beaten me.
My buddy Matt was supposed to run with me the last 50 miles of the race. Since my race was over, and since Jeff had no pacer we quickly decided that Matt would pace him the last 40 miles of the race. So off we went back to Twin Lakes to drop Matt off so he could help out Jeff. We saw Matt off and then headed back to our campground to get some food and much needed sleep.
When we arrived at the campground, my body went into some type of mild hypothermia. I could not get warm. I was shaking all over even though I had on 5 layers, was inside a sleeping bag, holding a space heater next to my chest, and was eating hot soup. I really thought something may be wrong with me. It took all of my concentration to stop shaking and finally fall asleep. My breathing was really labored and Virginia woke me up two times because she thought I was dieing in my sleep. I told her to stop it and just let me die -- I needed to go to sleep!
I woke up the next morning stiff and sore, but really no worse for the wear. We headed down to the finish line to see the runners come in. And in they came, slowly and looking just awful. It had rained and hailed more that night making for a terrible experience. Finally with just 30 minutes before the cutoff, Jeff and Matt appeared at the top of the hill! I was so happy to see Jeff finish this race! It was his first 100 mile trail race and under the worst possible conditions he had persevered and finished! We all cried a bit as he crossed the finish line. I was so happy that Matt was there to be able to help him get through the race. Jeff told me that he could not have done it without Matt's help and that he wanted to stop but Matt would not let him.
So what did I learn from this race? Actually quite a lot.
1) Altitude is not to be taken lightly. The runners who finished either live or train at altitude. If I am ever to do this race again, I'd come out here for at least 2-3 weeks before the race to acclimatize.
2) That I am stronger than I thought. I was able to deal with some seriously bad conditions along with the altitude and still only miss the cutoff by 20 minutes. There are some really talented runners out there that did worse than me. That gives me courage and encouragement for future races.
3) That I love these races. It is an experience like no other. It's you against the course and against yourself. I love the training. I love the planning. It is all to be enjoyed.
Most importantly I learned something I already knew. That I have the best support in the world with my friends and family. I really had the best crew at the race. They were always ready and turned me around extremely quickly. It meant the world to me to have them there. The tears I cried when I knew that I was going to miss the cutoff at Winfield was for them. I felt like I had let them down. They quickly reassured me that was not the case. They were overjoyed in the whole experience and were there to help me and offer love and encouragement. I am a lucky man.
Lastly, I have no immediate interest in doing this race again. I'll leave Leadville to the folks who are trained to run in high altitudes. It truly is a "Race Across the Sky". I don't have 3 weeks vacation to burn while my body gets used to the altitude. It is a beautiful and very tough course. I may be back to Leadville, but it won't be for several more years. My next race will be 100 miles at Rocky Raccoon in Huntsville in February. I am determined to complete this race!
