On November 30, I discovered the Human Potential Running Series at its fullest. With my first race with the group that I learned about from the CRUD group from Colorado Springs, I was fully indoctrinated. The race was supposed to be the Boulder Brass Knucle Shuffle but with the flooding earlier this year, it was changed to the Monster Marathon in Morrison, CO. The whole idea of this running series is that it is a FATASS series. It is 100% free in return, there are no awards, no t-shirts, no belt buckles, no frills, no whining, and no aid stations. Sherpa John LaCroix created the series a number of years ago to bring together front range ultra runners and build community. I would assume that you know what ultra running is but in case you don't, it is any race over marathon distance. This specific series was designed to keep ultra runners running and training properly through the winter months for their Summer racing season. After skiing at Loveland for the first day of the season the day prior, I showed up to this run ready to rumble! I had no idea what to expect but the course was advertized as 27 something miles and 7,000' of elevation gain and loss. Being that my camelbak is fully molded in the tube, I carried just my hand bottle and for some dumb reason, I left my fuel belt that I hate in the car thinking I would be fine. In addition, there was one planned aid station at around mile 12 or so and I put my "drop" bag in the car that would be over there with some extra water and snacks. With a few Honey Stinger gels and a baggie of SCaps (1 per hour), and 21 oz of Hammer Perpetuem mixed with water on me, I took off on the nice slow pace south towards Mt. Morrison from the start. The first little while was great as everyone was kind of bunched up and conversating. Then, shortly thereafter I found myself in the front few people in the group. I wanted to go ahead but wasn't comfortable with the course. Once we hit Mount Morrison proper for the grueling climb, I took the lead and marched to the top sweating my butt off and trying to keep my heartrate below 160 bpm. Shortly thereafter, I found myself at the top soaked in sweat on the concrete pad. I snapped a quick selfie and headed back down.
I tried to take it easy on the descent as it was only a very steep social trail and very rocky. After hitting the top of red rocks amphitheater park. After dumping the rocks out of my shoes, I made my way to the bottom and met back up with other runners from the group when I met Jeremy Ebel, who won the Bear Chase Race 50 mile this year when I did the 50k. I ran with him and others for a while as we made our way to Dakota Ridge for the ascent. After a while, I was concerned about my climbing heartrate, so I backed off and let him go ahead. A ways up Dakota Ridge, we headed west down the side towards Green mountain. Thankfully, someone left a 5 gal jug of water at the parking lot just before C470 so I topped off my bottle and continued on to the planned aid station at mile 14 or so. It was supposed to be at 12 or 13 but I think it was closer to 14 in the Florida parking lot. After a quick refuel and filling my pockets with goodies, I took off for the first of three climbs of Green Mountain. I never thought much of this bald hill east of C470 but it is nothing to be scoffed at. At this point, I was trying to manage my heartrate to stay below 160 and really nearer to 155 so I let a few runners pass. After a while, I found my self descending toward the East and then once at the bottom I turned back Westish towards a steep trail going back to the top. I was beat at this point so I decided to walk the hill and eat a Chia bar. It was good until about the last bite that I spit out and couldn't handle it anymore. Reaching the summit rim trail at the top again, I sat down for a minute since I was so so tired. I ate some dried blueberries and a clif shot and killed the remainder of my water. I was out and there was a long way to the go until the end. It was depressing to say the least. I made my turn and the second descent. I was happy to see that we were nearing the crossing back over C470, when I realized that the directions were calling for one final ascent of this beast. At this point, I was at about 22 miles and already at 5 hours. I called the wife to let her know I was finishing a lot later than 5 hours. I thought I had at least 3 more miles to go and it was going to be rough without any more water. After the even more grueling hike up the hill, I started to eat more food from my pocket stash and finally reached the top and began to run down. Eventually, I made it back to the parking lot across C470 and I was surprised to see that there was some water left in the jug. I filled my 21 oz bottle and also saw that someone left some Hammer HEED, so I got a scoop and took off. After getting the water, my energy immediately returned and began to come out of my zombie hike and start running back dakota ridge and back down to the car which ended up being 27 miles from where I started. At 6 hours and 24 mintues, I was beat. Who would ever think that 14:xx minutes per mile average would be a decent time.
With 42 starters, 34 actually finished and I think that although taking it easy, I was the 9th one to finish. I crawled into my truck not feeling too hot and after chugging a mini mountain dew, a gatorade, and some Hammer Recoverite, I drove down to the gas station near Bandimere Speedway. I grabbed a 1 liter dr pepper and chugged a lot right away. I think that was too much liquid and carbonation and it kind of hurt so I just laid the seat back for a while. Eventually, I drove home. What a great run Sherpa John put together and I had such a great time. I wish I would have ran a little harder because the next day I did a 9 mile run at a normal or even faster pace feeling just fine. I guess I should be happy about that.
I have some photos so I will try and add them when I can.
Until next time,
See you at the top!
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