"Tim Buteyn" <
[email protected]> wrote in message
news:OQ0Uc.301902$JR4.139388@attbi_s54...
> I am running my first Pike's Peak Marathon this weekend
(NOT my first
> marathon) and I need advice on what to wear/bring. With
the potential
> variations in temp and condition, I'm not sure what to
wear.
>
> Also, with the extended race time, should I bring some
sort of pack with
> food and additional fluids? I'm thinking it will take in
the 6 hour range
> from what I've read. I'd think I would need food in that
time.
>
> Finally, any general advice on running the race would be
greatly appreciated
> as well. I'm an average (3:16) flatland marathoner, but
certainly out of my
> element this coming weekend. Words of wisdon always
welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Tim
>
>
I've never attempted the marathon, but I have hiked Pikes
Peak and about 15 other of the 14'ers in Colorado. The
trail is probably the best maintained of them.
I don't remember how far away from the trailhead you start,
I think just a couple of blocks in Manitou Springs, but
essentially you'll climb (run) on blacktop road, pass the
Cog Railroad station, up a short (1 block) steep gravel
road, and then hit the trailhead. While in Manitou it will
be early enough that the temperature will probably be around
40 degrees Fahrenheit - maybe cooler.
Once you're on the trail you will catapult up the first 2
miles of switchback in an unbelievable fashion and at your
first "vantage point" you will be looking down at Colorado
Springs 1000 feet below you.
The trail is very dry with some gravel spree in spots and is
about 5 feet wide. When I say "dry" I mean bone dry. I
mean finger-pruning dry. I mean so dry that the trees
scream with pain as their twisted gnarled roots eak out the
last drop of moister from the solid rock from which they
attempt to sprout. This dryness you can feel and when the
sun peeks its head over the horizon the cool mountain breeze
evaporates instantly and the temperature jumps as if someone
turned on a giant heat lamp. The difference between 6am and
8am can easily be 30 degrees.
After about mile 3-4 it finally begins to ease a little -
almost feeling flat (but only because of what you've just
covered). Once you feel this "flatness" you will make good
time to Bar Camp - the halfway mark up (for the accent - the
quartermark for the full marathon). Now in the protection
of the trees the sun is a little less harsh and little less
dry. The Peak now shows itself and you will either think
"Damn I've made no progress - that thing still looks
just as far as when I started"
or "Damn, I've made great progress, It's just around the
corner."
Either way you'll be wrong.
Three (maybe four, I can never remember the actual mileage -
but it doesn't matter because a mile on Pikes Peak feels
much longer than a mile anywhere else) miles later comes the
"A" Frame - this marks the timberline (as if timberline need
to be marked). This is where all bets are off in terms of
weather. If it's a cool breeze you'll appreciate it - but
not realize that the wind is accelerating your dehydration.
If it's warm you appreciate that - not realizing that your
sweat is setting you up for hypothermia. If it's partly
cloudy you will feel like you're having hot flashes - going
from cool when the sun is covered to hot when it's not.
Where as Bar camp marks the half the distance, the A-Frame
marks half the time (of the assent - 1/3 of the total
marathon time). The switch backs are very aggressive, the
scenery is phenomenal, and the trail is rock. At this point
the trees give way to shrubs, which give way to grass, which
gives way to granite. 1/2 mile after the A-Frame there is no
vegetation. And there-fore no soil. What you've got is
rock on top of rock on top of rock on top of granite. If
you see the summit from here - it's not the summit. You'll
know you've hit the top because there is a warming hut - and
hundreds of "bastards" who decided to take the train, or
worse - to drive to the top - will be cheering you on.
You'll appreciate them - as you curse them. Once on top -
if you're not in a cloud, you'll feel like you're on top of
the world and will have the view to prove it. You'll be
able see probably 10 of the 56 14'ers (Mt. Evans, Bierstat,
Grey's, Tories, Longs Peak to the north; Princeton, Harvard,
Yale to the west; and two to the south that escape me.) To
the East you will peer a good 200 miles, and if it's really
clear you may even see into Kansas before the curvature of
the Earth beats Colorado's famed visibility.
Those doing the assent are done. You can laugh at them as
they figure out how to get down. For you you're 2/3 of the
way complete (timewise) - and literally it's all down hill
from here.
A change of socks may be in order. Maybe a change in shoes.
Certainly you will notice a change in mental well-being.
So now with your question: What to wear, and what to bring.
My recommendation is to wear shorts and a light cool-max
style t-shirt. Bring a light-weight long-sleeve cool-max
style shirt that you can wrap around your waist when you're
not wearing it. And maybe some lightweight running gloves.
Good luck!
-CF
-O). Without much forethought I brought