Outward Bound
No matter whether you’re just starting out or you’re an accomplished athlete you need to set goals. With that thought in mind, I was surfing the internet back in the spring looking for a winter marathon. I had not run a marathon since Berlin in the early 80’s and I was way past due for a challenge.
The Colorado Outward Bound Relay caught my eye, and my imagination. I had spent the summer of 2002 in Colorado Springs and fell in love with the Rockies. While I was there I hiked the Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak (14,100 ft. elevation) and back down, which took 12 hours to do. The total distance of the hike was 25 miles. It was a mind-blowing and ear-popping experience.
So, I contacted the relay’s website forum and announced that this 54 year old ‘flatlander’ was looking for a team to join. It didn’t take long to get a response back and I was invited to join the team called ‘Altitude Attitude.’
My thinking was that to endure the heat and humidity while training in this area I needed a darn good reason besides just staying in shape and sweating off the beer calories. I was looking forward big-time to running in the dry, cool mountain air, come the middle of September.
Now, mountain people snicker at the idea of a Florida beach bum running on 10,000 ft mountain passes. But, I got the last snicker because they didn’t realize that up here in the north end of the county where I live I have knobs and bottoms which can test the sole, so-to-speak.
I arranged to stay at a cousin’s house in Colorado Springs and arrived four days early so I could get a little acclimated to the thin air. When I got off the airplane it was 85 degrees. The next day a cold front came through and the high temp never got above 75 degrees the rest of the week. The nights averaged in the low 40’s. Perfect running climate!
One of my favorite cousins, Darrell, flew up from Austin to hang out with me, and we drove up to Boulder the day before the race to meet my team captain. We made it a point to get there early enough to stop at the Rock Bottom brewpub, also known as the Walnut Brewery.
We spent the night at the home of team captain, Sarah, in Nederland, a few miles west of Boulder. The next morning, Friday, 16 September, was the long anticipated start of the race in Idaho Springs. I met my other team members and our first runner started off in the 7:00 a.m. wave. There were a total of 150 teams, with 10 members each. We were handicapped according to our projected 10k times, so slower teams started at 5:00 and faster teams started as late as 11:00.
Each team had to provide two vans holding five members in each van. Needless to say, I got up close and comfortable with my new friends, two guys and two gals. I can’t imagine what the 26 hours would have been like if we were incompatible.
Each team ran 30 legs covering 170 miles. Each member ran three legs. The legs were rated as either easy, medium, hard, or extra hard. You had to run in order so you knew in advance what you were getting into. Since we were given the chance to pick our poison I told Sarah to give me either a 5 or 6 ‘difficulty’ of legs, with difficulty progressing from 1 to 10.
I ran hard, hard, and easy legs, each being a little over six miles. I had everything in my legs including paved road, gravel road, jeep trail, and single-track trail. The first two legs were between 9,000 and 10,000 feet altitude and the last one was a little over 6,000 ft. My first leg rose about 400 ft. and dropped about 1,000 ft. The second leg rose about 800 ft. I 'hit the wall' in my third leg as a result of the effort in my first two legs!
A full moon run along a roiling mountain creek and cool air temperature…not a grouch within miles…new friends making lifelong memories…Boulder Beer at the finish, in Glenwood Springs, with the sun rising over the crest.
Driving our van around a switchback and surprised by a bighorn sheep leaping off the road onto a ledge and locking a big old eyeball on a runner 12 feet below it…sleepbagging it on the floor in a beautiful home in Vail belonging to a sister of one of my teammates…placing 12th in the open division of about 50 teams.
I guess I pulled my weight because I was invited to be on the team again next year. Hopefully, I can replay this once in a lifetime experience.
If you want to see some ‘cool’ mountain pics, see the following links…Pikes Peak and Outward Bound.
The Colorado Outward Bound Relay caught my eye, and my imagination. I had spent the summer of 2002 in Colorado Springs and fell in love with the Rockies. While I was there I hiked the Barr Trail to the summit of Pikes Peak (14,100 ft. elevation) and back down, which took 12 hours to do. The total distance of the hike was 25 miles. It was a mind-blowing and ear-popping experience.
So, I contacted the relay’s website forum and announced that this 54 year old ‘flatlander’ was looking for a team to join. It didn’t take long to get a response back and I was invited to join the team called ‘Altitude Attitude.’
My thinking was that to endure the heat and humidity while training in this area I needed a darn good reason besides just staying in shape and sweating off the beer calories. I was looking forward big-time to running in the dry, cool mountain air, come the middle of September.
Now, mountain people snicker at the idea of a Florida beach bum running on 10,000 ft mountain passes. But, I got the last snicker because they didn’t realize that up here in the north end of the county where I live I have knobs and bottoms which can test the sole, so-to-speak.
I arranged to stay at a cousin’s house in Colorado Springs and arrived four days early so I could get a little acclimated to the thin air. When I got off the airplane it was 85 degrees. The next day a cold front came through and the high temp never got above 75 degrees the rest of the week. The nights averaged in the low 40’s. Perfect running climate!
One of my favorite cousins, Darrell, flew up from Austin to hang out with me, and we drove up to Boulder the day before the race to meet my team captain. We made it a point to get there early enough to stop at the Rock Bottom brewpub, also known as the Walnut Brewery.
We spent the night at the home of team captain, Sarah, in Nederland, a few miles west of Boulder. The next morning, Friday, 16 September, was the long anticipated start of the race in Idaho Springs. I met my other team members and our first runner started off in the 7:00 a.m. wave. There were a total of 150 teams, with 10 members each. We were handicapped according to our projected 10k times, so slower teams started at 5:00 and faster teams started as late as 11:00.
Each team had to provide two vans holding five members in each van. Needless to say, I got up close and comfortable with my new friends, two guys and two gals. I can’t imagine what the 26 hours would have been like if we were incompatible.
Each team ran 30 legs covering 170 miles. Each member ran three legs. The legs were rated as either easy, medium, hard, or extra hard. You had to run in order so you knew in advance what you were getting into. Since we were given the chance to pick our poison I told Sarah to give me either a 5 or 6 ‘difficulty’ of legs, with difficulty progressing from 1 to 10.
I ran hard, hard, and easy legs, each being a little over six miles. I had everything in my legs including paved road, gravel road, jeep trail, and single-track trail. The first two legs were between 9,000 and 10,000 feet altitude and the last one was a little over 6,000 ft. My first leg rose about 400 ft. and dropped about 1,000 ft. The second leg rose about 800 ft. I 'hit the wall' in my third leg as a result of the effort in my first two legs!
A full moon run along a roiling mountain creek and cool air temperature…not a grouch within miles…new friends making lifelong memories…Boulder Beer at the finish, in Glenwood Springs, with the sun rising over the crest.
Driving our van around a switchback and surprised by a bighorn sheep leaping off the road onto a ledge and locking a big old eyeball on a runner 12 feet below it…sleepbagging it on the floor in a beautiful home in Vail belonging to a sister of one of my teammates…placing 12th in the open division of about 50 teams.
I guess I pulled my weight because I was invited to be on the team again next year. Hopefully, I can replay this once in a lifetime experience.
If you want to see some ‘cool’ mountain pics, see the following links…Pikes Peak and Outward Bound.
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