All Discussions Tagged 'Ascent' - Pikes Peak Sports2024-03-29T12:17:07Zhttp://pikespeaksports.us/group/roadtrailrunning/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=Ascent&feed=yes&xn_auth=noJoe Gray will take the win, but looks forward to better daystag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-25:5021591:Topic:8423712019-08-25T01:34:24.258ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446270631?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446270631?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a> By Bob Stephens</strong>, for PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Joseph Gray nearly collapsed as he crossed the finish line at the summit of America’s Mountain. The world-class trail runner bested a large contingent of quality runners in the Pikes Peak Ascent, winning the prestigious race for the third time on Saturday, but he failed to achieve what has become…</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446270631?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446270631?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a>By Bob Stephens</strong>, for PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Joseph Gray nearly collapsed as he crossed the finish line at the summit of America’s Mountain. The world-class trail runner bested a large contingent of quality runners in the Pikes Peak Ascent, winning the prestigious race for the third time on Saturday, but he failed to achieve what has become an elusive goal for him.</p>
<p>Gray said he was happy with the wire-to-wire victory—a challenge that began at 7 a.m. in Manitou Springs and culminated when he finished the 13.32-mile trek up rocky Pikes Peak—but he won’t truly be satisfied until he owns the Ascent record.</p>
<p><a href="https://thetcr.com/results/ppa/2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Race Results</a>** <a href="http://pikespeaksports.us/video/joe-gray-is-back-in-the-pikes-peak-ascent" target="_self">Pre-race video interview with Joe Gray</a></p>
<p>“This is probably the least satisfying win I’ve had here,” said the 35-year-old Gray, a Colorado Springs resident who also won the Ascent in 2016 and 2017. “I wanted to run a good time and I didn’t get that.”</p>
<p>The Ascent course climbs 7,815 feet and finishes at the 14,115-foot summit of Pikes Peak. Gray, the 2016 World Mountain Running Champion, boasts the sixth-fastest Ascent time of 2:05:28, clocked in 2016.</p>
<p>This time he finished in 2:08:59, nearly eight minutes behind Matt Carpenter’s Ascent record of 2:01:06. Carpenter, a Manitou Springs resident, amazingly established the Ascent record in the same race that he set the Pikes Peak Marathon record of 3:16:39, back in 1993.</p>
<p>“It’s a little frustrating when you have a time in mind and don’t get it,” said Gray, who has entered the race four times. “I wanted the record.”</p>
<p>Fourth-place finisher Lindon Powell isn’t sure anyone will eclipse Carpenter’s records, either for the Ascent or the Marathon. Spain’s Kilian Jornet, who runs for the elite Team Salomon and is perhaps the world’s foremost trail runner, will take his best shot at both marks Sunday.</p>
<p>“Depending on what Kilian does Sunday, we’ll see,” Powell said. “When Carpenter set the record, the trail was in better shape and he didn’t have to pass as many people (still going up in the marathon) on his way down.”</p>
<p>Gray was virtually unchallenged en route to his victory.</p>
<p>“He was gone when we hit the dirt,” about a mile-and-a-half into the race," said runner-up Seth DeMoor. “I knew what Joe can do, so I didn’t try to keep up.”</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446273108?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446273108?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-left"/></a>DeMoor, from Englewood, Colo., finished in 2:12:45, with Galen Burrell of Louisville, Colo., third in 2:25:44. Powell, from Ashland, Ore., crossed the finish line in 2:26:47 while Kieran Nay of Monument, Colo., was fifth in 2:27:55. George Foster of Great Britain was sixth in 2:30:13 with Devin VansCoy of Eugene, Ore., taking seventh in 2:33:10.</p>
<p>Gray, who ran collegiately for Oklahoma State, led DeMoor by 88 seconds when he reached Barr Camp, and never looked back. He had jumped to the lead at the starting line and led the lead group up Manitou Avenue.</p>
<p>Asked if he was ever really challenged during the race, Gray said, “Not really.”</p>
<p>He proclaimed himself in “good fitness” but said he made some mistakes in his training leading up to the race.</p>
<p>“I came in a little over-cooked,” he said. “I had missed a lot of volume coming in and tried to make it up too close to the race—and I paid for it.”</p>
<p>The weather was good, with sunshine and 43 degrees greeting the runners at the summit. But it was windy, with a steady 30 mile-per-hour wind at the top of the mountain.</p>
<p>“It was by far the worst wind I’ve seen for this race,” Gray said. “The wind made it hard on everybody, but it was tough above A-Frame. The wind didn’t do us any favors today.”</p>
<p>DeMoor echoed that sentiment.</p>
<p>“The wind definitely hit us hard above the tree line,” he said.</p>
<p>Still, DeMoor was “very satisfied” with his third Ascent, having run in 2010 and 2017, when he finished third.</p>
<p>“I was hoping to maybe get under 2:10 but I have no excuses,” he said, after missing that mark by less than three minutes. “I was about nine minutes better than my previous (best time in the Ascent).”</p>
<p>Gray felt he could challenge Carpenter’s record when he won in 2016, but was four minutes off the mark. He followed that with another victory in 2017 in 2:08:19. That made him the first male repeat winner in the Ascent since Carpenter in 2001-02.</p>
<p>Gray, who is married with a 1-year-old child, is headed to Europe for his next two races, a World Cup event and a Red Bull team event, where he runs about 13 kilometers while his teammates are a mountain biker, paraglider and kayaker.</p> Lucky No. 7 for Kim Dobson in the 2019 Pikes Peak Ascenttag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-25:5021591:Topic:8423692019-08-25T01:18:50.730ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446249415?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446249415?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="630"></img></a></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Kim Dobson eyes the finish line in Saturday's Pikes Peak Ascent. Peter Maksimow photo</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg,</strong> for PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Longtime Pikes Peak powerhouse Kim Dobson, 35, of Eagle, beat the wind, all of the women and most of the men to capture her…</p>
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<p style="text-align: left;"><strong>Kim Dobson eyes the finish line in Saturday's Pikes Peak Ascent. Peter Maksimow photo</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg,</strong> for PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Longtime Pikes Peak powerhouse Kim Dobson, 35, of Eagle, beat the wind, all of the women and most of the men to capture her seventh Pikes Peak Ascent title on Saturday.</p>
<p>“As usual, it was a great, hard race,” said Dobson. “I felt really good about<br/> my training coming into it. Though I felt a little tired at Barr Camp, it felt good to get to<br/> higher altitude and to run with fast runners—some who I passed and some who passed<br/> me.”</p>
<p>Dobson finished in 2 hours, 41 minutes, 42 seconds, and placed 13th among all the runners in the race. </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446257270?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446257270?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-left"/></a>Newcomer Ashley Brasovan, 28, of Westminster, placed second with a time of 2:45:08, followed by Frenchwoman Mathilde Sagnes, 23, of Sandy, Utah, in 3:00:28.</p>
<p>Dobson, who in 2012 set the women's race record - a blazing 2:24:58 - said she didn’t pay a lot of attention to her watch. Instead, she focused on doing her best, including fighting gusty winds that buffed the last three miles of the course that crosses Pikes Peak's broad eastern face.</p>
<p>Not only is Dobson the fastest woman, she is also one of its most welcoming to other runners.<br/> One of those is second-place Ascent finisher Ashley Brasovan, who tagged the summit in 2:24:08.</p>
<p>Brasovan came to Pikes Peak with some trail-running credentials, having won the 12.6-mile Barr<br/> Trail Mountain Race in July.</p>
<p>“Kim is a beast at altitude, so coming in second to her,” she said as she posed for photos with Dobson. "I’m just so glad for this first-time experience. Now that I have this under my belt, I’m really looking forward to coming back and beating my time.”</p>
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<p>Five hundred ninety-one women completed this year’s Ascent, including some of the peak’s most enduring female runners. Sharon Greenbaum, 56, of Colorado Springs, has tangled with Pikes Peak since her days at Air Academy High School. Charlene Aldridge, 71, has been racing for over 30 years. </p>
<p>There is a long history of mothers and daughters running the Peak together. This year, longtime local runners Susan Cogswell, 70, and daughter Meghan, 40, completed the Ascent, with Meghan planning to also run in Sunday's marathon.</p>
<p>“Meghan inspires me to keep running,” said Susan of both Pikes Peak and her twenty-year streak at Imogene Pass.</p>
<p>Another mother-daughter team is runner Renee Ruff of Castle Rock, whom doctors<br/> didn’t think would run again after injuries sustained from a compression fracture.</p>
<p>“It made me feel like I’m going to go 100 percent, and that includes up this mountain,” she said at the summit. Her mother, Denise, also finished the Ascent. “We’re doing Imogene Pass in two weeks, “ Ruff said. “So this race is a great lead-up to that.”</p>
<p>Newcomer to Pikes Peak, Lauren Puretz, 35, of Colorado Springs, had one of the Ascent’s most dramatic—and fast—uphill trips. She placed 8th overall among women, with a time of 3:13:45. “My goal was not to kill myself on the Ws,” she said of her race strategy. "By the time I got to No-Name Creek, I was wondering why I was doing this.”</p>
<p>But Puretz said she picked up speed and felt better as she surged up the mountain.</p>
<p>“Even though it was windy and cold right after the A-Frame, I really enjoyed the last three miles. If you had<br/> asked me at No-Name if I was going to do this again, I would have said no. But now, I want to come back and do the marathon.”</p>
<p></p> Mark Seelye set to push Pikes Peak Ascent streak to 36tag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-23:5021591:Topic:8422152019-08-23T13:50:26.024ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443724087?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-left" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443724087?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="350"></img></a> By Bob Stephens</strong>, for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mark Seelye was cold, wet and couldn’t stop shivering. He huddled with others in the Summit House atop Pikes Peak but five hours of exposure to rain and cold left him dreaming of a hot bath and the comforts of…</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443724087?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443724087?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="350" class="align-left"/></a>By Bob Stephens</strong>, for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mark Seelye was cold, wet and couldn’t stop shivering. He huddled with others in the Summit House atop Pikes Peak but five hours of exposure to rain and cold left him dreaming of a hot bath and the comforts of home.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was shivering for two hours,” he said. “I just couldn’t stop.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The man who has completed a record 35 consecutive Pikes Peak Ascent races was remembering the 2008 event, when he fought America’s Mountain for an entire morning, straining to complete the Ascent even though the weather had taken a turn for the worse.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That year was horrible,” said Seelye, a longtime Manitou Springs resident. “It rained at the start of the race and all the way to the timberline. When we got out of the trees, the wind was blowing. We had 40 mile per hour wind and ice pelts.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Frank Morrey finished the Ascent in 2008 and remembers the difficulty and danger of that day near the summit</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We had 6-to-8 inches of slush on the way up,” Morrey said. “It was dangerously cold as you got nearer the summit. You’d see people sitting on rocks; I couldn’t stop to help them. I had to save my own ass! I beat the cutoff time to get past Barr Camp and A-Frame, so I made it to the top.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I’ll never forget that year, though. The mountain can be tricky.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The 67-year-old Seelye hopes for better weather this year as he toes the starting line for his 36</span><span style="font-weight: 400;">th</span> <span style="font-weight: 400;">Ascent. As usual, he’ll have family at the start to cheer him on.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“My grandson (Grayson, 8) sent me a Father’s Day card this year that said, ‘Keep Going Opa,’ which is German for grandpa,” he said. “My family encourages me to keep going, so it’s year to year.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443726865?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443726865?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>The unparalleled streak has brought him satisfaction but can also be a burden.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“The mind is willing but the flesh is weak,” he said. “Five hours on your feet, pushing, is a long time. I don’t even train for five hours, so it’s shocking to your body on race day.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">What’s shocking to many is that Seelye has completed 35 consecutive Ascents. It’s a record not likely to be eclipsed.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t think anyone will ever match it,” said Morrey, who has completed eight Ascents over the last 24 years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Morrey, a 77-year-old retired airline pilot, will run again this year.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“To do (35) in a row, you have to live locally and have a flexible schedule so you can train for it,” Morrey said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite the large, talented and enthusiastic running community around the Springs, Morrey doesn’t think anyone will approach Seelye’s mark.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t think anybody’s dumb enough,” Morrey said with a laugh.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He predicts that Seelye will stretch his streak “another 10 years.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“Ten years ago, he was sick of it, sick of the responsibility the streak brought with it,” Morrey said. “Everybody asks him about the streak so he feels a responsibility to keep it going.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“He has a better attitude about it now. I know he really enjoys trail running. He likes the solitude and tranquility of trail running.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seelye is still “sort of negative” about race day, he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But I do like training, running trails and mountains,” he said. “It’s hard on race day now because I used to run with the front pack for several years. Now I’m back among the masses and getting jostled with everybody else.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He finished first in the Masters division in 1995 and was second the following two years.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Nearly a quarter-century later, he’s less competitive and, understandably, much slower.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I don’t take it as seriously as I used to,” he said. “I run about 20 miles a week now. I used to do about 20 in one run.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seelye’s health is good, so he figures he’ll add to the streak in coming years, but he remains noncommittal.</span><br/><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seelye, a 1970 graduate of Fountain Valley School, has worked as an insurance broker for 32 years. He was captain of the track team at FVS while competing in the 400, 800 and long jump.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“There was a guy who ran the two-mile and I thought that was such a long race,” Seelye said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">More than a decade later, he entered the Ascent and found himself challenging the rugged terrain of Pikes Peak for several hours. He was smitten by the exhilaration of race day and the feeling of accomplishment. His first three Ascents came while living and training in the brutal heat and humidity of Houston. He then moved back to the Colorado Springs area and has been signing up for the Ascent ever since.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I was definitely addicted. I was hooked on the race in the beginning,” he said. “When I’d get my race packet, I’d just fill out the entry form for the next year and hand it to them. I really looked forward to it and couldn’t wait for the next one.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">This year, he signed up for the race on New Year’s Day, as soon as registration opened.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">His son, Trevor, who lives in Houston, ran the Ascent two years ago and his daughter, Jocelyn, did the race in 2005 when lightning and rough weather forced many race officials to turn back many of runners who weren’t among the early finishers. The road to the summit was also closed and Seelye said he was “crammed into the Summit House with 700 other runners until the highway was opened seven hours later.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443728114?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3443728114?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-right"/></a>Seelye trained a little more this year and said his body feels better as he isn’t playing as much hockey as he did the last several summers.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I haven’t had any significant injuries, so I figure I should keep the streak going,” he said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">He still remembers finishing the Ascent that first time in about 3 hours, 25 minutes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I remember tearing up at the top,” he said, unashamed at the emotion he felt that day. “Looking around and seeing that view from the top was really something.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The streak was threatened in years past, he said, “by a couple of touch-and-go injuries” and a couple of illnesses as race day approached, but he was always able to find the strength and will power to finish the race.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If you’re a finisher,” Morrey said, “you’re a winner.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Seelye has the wardrobe to prove he’s a winner.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I have a closet of 35 finisher shirts gathering dust,” he said with a chuckle.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Soon, he should add No. 36 to that collection. And the streak will live for another year.</span></p> Look out Pikes Peak, here comes the worldtag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-22:5021591:Topic:8423422019-08-22T17:17:17.704ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3441889175?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3441889175?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>Jordi Saragossa photo</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>64th Pikes Peak Marathon fields are stacked</b></span></p>
<p><strong>From Tim Sweeney</strong>, Salomon Golden Trail World Series…</p>
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<p><span style="font-weight: 500;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3441889175?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3441889175?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></span></p>
<p style="text-align: right;"><strong>Jordi Saragossa photo</strong></p>
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<p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><b>64th Pikes Peak Marathon fields are stacked</b></span></p>
<p><strong>From Tim Sweeney</strong>, Salomon Golden Trail World Series</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">The fifth race of the 2019 Golden Trail World Series is perhaps the most famed trail race on American soil, and this year the Pikes Peak Mountain Marathon will play host to the elite athletes of the sport. Spain’s Kilian Jornet (Team Salomon) leads an all-star cast from around the globe that will take to the starting line on Sunday morning, August 25</span><span style="font-weight: 500;">th</span><span style="font-weight: 500;">.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">The 42km race is the highest in altitude on the Golden Trail World Series. It begins and ends in Manitou Springs, Colorado and climbs 2,382 meters to an elevation of 4,302 meters—the top of the famed Pikes Peak. It’s also a race with a seemingly unbreakable course record. The men’s record time of 3:16:39 has stood since 1991.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">With Jornet on hand, as well as a deep field of elite runners in the women’s race, what is “unbreakable” may be called into question this weekend. The Spaniard is coming off a legendary performance two weeks ago at the ultra-competitive Sierre-Zinal race in Switzerland, where he shattered the 16-year-old course record by three minutes and 37 seconds and left behind a field of elite athletes from a variety of running disciplines. Pikes Peak, however, is a different animal.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">“Pikes Peak Marathon is one of the oldest mountain races,” said Jornet, ever a student of the sport. “The Ascent race dates from 1936 and the marathon from 1956. It was the third marathon in the US and the first one to allow women to participate. The race is very logical. Run up to the summit and down, and the history behind it is what attracted me to run there.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">The 2018 men’s race winner, Colorado native Dakota Jones (Team Salomon), will miss this year’s race due to injury, but a host of top talent will be there to throw their best effort at Jornet, who comes in as the clear favorite.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">Swiss star Rémi Bonnet (Team Salomon), who had strong races at Sierre-Zinal and the Marathon du Mont Blanc, will bring his considerable climbing skills to Pikes Peak. Two of Team Hoka’s top runners—Italy’s Francesco Puppi and Colorado resident Sage Canaday—will also look to crack the podium, and Mexico’s Juan Carlos Fererra (Team Buff) could also be heard from. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">France’s Thibaut Baronian (Team Salomon), who was 3</span><span style="font-weight: 500;">rd</span> <span style="font-weight: 500;">at Zegama, will also be in the hunt. Swiss athlete Marc Lauenstein (Team Salomon), a former winner at Pikes, is making a comeback from a foot injury and says he is full-go this weekend, while American trail veteran Max King (Team Salomon) will relish the rare chance to run on home soil against top European talent. Peruvian Jose Manuel Quispe (Team Lippi), who was the 2</span><span style="font-weight: 500;">nd</span> <span style="font-weight: 500;">runner to the top of the climb at the Dolomyth Runs in July, will also be looking for top result at Pikes. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">“When I ran here in 2012, I remember it was a fun race and it was great to feel the ambiance,” Jornet added. “It is a very runnable race, but it’s hard. The ascent is not big and isn’t steep either, but the altitude is a huge factor. Probably the key to being successful in the race is to be well acclimatized and to not start to strong because after that the altitude really hits you.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">Last year, Salomon athlete and Colorado resident Megan Kimmel (Team Salomon) relied on her high altitude conditioning to break the women’s course record, winning in 4:15:04 to better the mark that had stood since 1981 by 14 seconds. Kimmel will not compete in this year’s race, but a top group of women will see if they can handle the altitude of Pikes and possibly challenge her record time. Maude Mathys (Team Salomon) is coming off a course record-breaking win on her home soil at Sierre-Zinal and her skills as a climber should send her to the front in the early going, and maybe to stay. Mathys was 3</span><span style="font-weight: 500;">rd</span> <span style="font-weight: 500;">at the Dolomyths Sky run in Italy as well.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">She will be challenged by a pair of Adidas TERREX runners in Great Britain’s Holy Page and Norway’s Yngvild Kasperson. Team Salomon athletes Eli Gordon (Spain) and Megan Mackenzie (South Africa) should also be in the chase for podium results, as will France’s Amandine Ferrato (Team Hoka One One).</span> <span style="font-weight: 500;"><br/></span><span style="font-weight: 500;"><br/></span><b>ABOUT THE GOLDEN TRAIL SERIES:</b><span style="font-weight: 500;"><br/></span><span style="font-weight: 500;">The elite runners of the Golden Trail World Series are trying to earn points in the season-long chase for a spot in the Grand Final, which will take place in Nepal in October. The athletes must participate in three of the six races during the series in order to be eligible for the final. The Top 10 men and women with the most points in their three best races will earn a trip for themselves and a person of their choice to the Grand Final. The overall final standings (and the men’s and women’s champions) of the Golden Trail World Series will be determined again by the runners’ three best finishes during the season, plus their result at the Grand Final. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;">For photos and more, visit</span> <a href="http://www.goldentrailseries.com"><span style="font-weight: 500;">www.goldentrailseries.com</span></a><span style="font-weight: 500;">. </span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 500;"> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.goldentrailseries.com/results-2018/results-gtws-2019/"><span style="font-weight: 500;">For up-to-date Golden Trail World Series standings</span></a><span style="font-weight: 500;">. </span></p> For Arkansas runners, Pikes Peak is an annual tradition at altitudetag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-20:5021591:Topic:8421552019-08-20T12:41:05.318ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436747007?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436747007?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a></strong></p>
<p><b>The Pikes Peak Marathon & Ascent has become a tradition for Arkansas runners.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg</strong>, For Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</p>
<p>They come to race Pikes Peak from Alma, Van Buren, Fort Smith, Mountainburg, Springdale, Little Rock and other towns across the state of Arkansas, whose…</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436747007?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436747007?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></strong></p>
<p><b>The Pikes Peak Marathon & Ascent has become a tradition for Arkansas runners.</b></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg</strong>, For Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</p>
<p>They come to race Pikes Peak from Alma, Van Buren, Fort Smith, Mountainburg, Springdale, Little Rock and other towns across the state of Arkansas, whose highest peak is Mount Magazine, at 2,753 feet.</p>
<p>“We take different routes up the mountain to mix it up,” said Chris Wear, 42, of Fort Smith, a Peak veteran and Doubler, who first completed the marathon in 2013 with a time of 9:09:20.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436750692?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436750692?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="350" class="align-right"/></a>Five years later, after hours of training in the midday summer Arkansas humidity up and down Mt. Magazine and Oklahoma’s Cavanal Hill, at 2,385 feet, with heat indexes sometimes over 100 degrees, Wear shaved about 2 hours, 27 minutes off his marathon time: 6:42:57.</p>
<p>In a state not known for its altitude, Wear is one of dozens of Arkansas’s Pikes Peak finishers who have been inspired and trained by one of the state’s most accomplished ultra runners: Bill Coffelt.</p>
<p><strong>Chris Wear begins the 2018 Pikes Peak Marathon ></strong></p>
<p>At 60, he is running his 36th consecutive marathon in 2019. A Western States finisher and a frequent Pikes Peak Doubler, Coffelt helped start the Arkansas Pikes Peak Marathon Society.</p>
<p>“On the van ride back in that first year, 1984, there were five of us who were from Arkansas," Coffelt recalls. “And we started inviting more people. The next year we had twelve runners. The next year it was 30. And I think it was maybe 1998, we peaked and had about 200 people. We brought three busloads out.”</p>
<p>Arkansas runners, always dressed in Team Arkansas shirts and gear, continue to be a familiar sight on race days over the years, as runners and helpers at aid stations. </p>
<p>“The sense of community that we have is so strong,” Wear said. “Those of us on the western side of the state consider those runners in Little Rock to be some of our closest friends. And we’ll meet in between to train.”</p>
<p>Coffelt is the reason many of the Arkansas runners keep returning to Pikes Peak, Wear said. </p>
<p>His identical twin brother, Jonathan, 42, a six-time Pikes Peak Marathon finisher, agrees.</p>
<p>“Bill has done it so many times that he really just wants to help you do better on it, too,” he said. “There was a year we were running side by side, coming down the mountain two years ago, and he’s like 'come on, we’re going to get your PR.' And he was running down next to me, coaching me the whole time. And then when he got to the finish line, he wouldn’t cross before I crossed. He ended up pushing me over to make sure I crossed first.”</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436753614?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3436753614?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>As Coffelt remembered it, “I caught up with him at about A-Frame. And altitude had tickled him a bit. And he was going to coast down. And we got down to Barr Camp and I said, ‘we can beat this time.’ And if you start talking to someone when they’re running, it can take their mind off things.</p>
<p>Next thing you know we were down at No Name Creek and he was astonished that he was feeling better. And I said altitude does great things when you’re going downhill.”</p>
<p><strong>Jonathan Wear and Bill Coffelt get 'er done at the Pikes Peak Marathon ></strong></p>
<p>The fun of the race is in helping other runners do their best, Coffelt said. “Part of my goal is to bring someone out and mentor them and see them succeed than it is for me to say, ‘hey I broke seven hours this year.’”</p>
<p>Training in Arkansas often involves running in intense midday humidity, which can stretch into the evening. “When the four of us who are racing this year finished at the track a few nights ago at 8:30, the heat index was 105 in the dark, “ Wear said. </p>
<p>“Intense humidity stresses the body,” added Coffelt. “It’s not the same as running at altitude. But it still makes it harder to breathe. It’s just a different kind of stress.”</p>
<p>“Bill was crucial to my PR and of helping so many of us from Arkansas,” Wear said. “When you’re running on the mountain and you see someone wearing the Arkansas Marathon team shirt, it’s a real feeling of being a team.”</p>
<p>The Arkansas legacy continues with newer runners and those who are returning after years away. </p>
<p>“We’re on our way down Rackley Mountain Road in Mountainburg,” said Sandy Morrell, 46, of Alma, who was training for the Pikes Peak Ascent with a group who were running in 100-degree midday Arkansas heat with 100 percent humidity. “It’s so hot that we’re all pretty much soaked,” she said of the training run about a week and a half before the race. </p>
<p>Morrell’s first race on Pikes Peak was the 2018 Ascent, when runners were turned back at Barr Camp due to weather concerns. A runner of six years, she wanted to do a race with her son, who was returning from the Marine Corps. “The only way I knew I could get him to do it was to really challenge him. I really wanted to summit with him. We were together last year and didn’t get to the summit.” </p>
<p>Although Morrell’s son is home with a new baby, she has trained hard for her return to the mountain. “For me, I could not not go back and see if I can make it to the top,” she said. “Even though I’ve done 78 halves and four fulls, it really is the ultimate challenge for us. You have the altitude and you’re going straight up, which we don’t have here.”</p>
<p>Three friends from Alma, first-time Ascent runners, are joining her, and they are part of a larger group from Crawford County, Arkansas, she said. </p>
<p>Runner Donna Duerr, 64, of Little Rock, is headed back to Pikes Peak to run the Marathon after years away, having first done the race in 1992. </p>
<p>She is determined to finish this year. </p>
<p>Her qualifier was Arkansas’s long-running Ouachita Trail 50K. And living part-time near Winter Park, Colo., at 8,300 feet, she ran a lot at altitude to prepare for this year’s race.</p>
<p>“I thought this would be the year when I could do it,” she said. “And it could be the last year I’m able to do it. But at least I’m going to give it a shot.”</p> Dakota Jones blazes the descent to win Pikes Peak Marathontag:pikespeaksports.us,2018-08-20:5021591:Topic:8066442018-08-20T03:28:39.563ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432481?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432481?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> Dakota Jones warmed up for the Pikes Peak Marathon by riding his bicycle 250 miles from Silverton to Manitou Springs to raise money for his favorite nonprofit agency, Protect Our Winters.</p>
<p>“I got here Wednesday, and raised several thousand dollars by riding here on my bicycle,” he said. “That means a lot to me.”</p>
<p>Winning Sunday’s Pikes Peak Marathon meant a lot,…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432481?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432481?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a>Dakota Jones warmed up for the Pikes Peak Marathon by riding his bicycle 250 miles from Silverton to Manitou Springs to raise money for his favorite nonprofit agency, Protect Our Winters.</p>
<p>“I got here Wednesday, and raised several thousand dollars by riding here on my bicycle,” he said. “That means a lot to me.”</p>
<p>Winning Sunday’s Pikes Peak Marathon meant a lot, too, as Jones showed genuine emotion when discussing what winning the prestigious race on America’s Mountain meant to him, especially after fighting through injuries a year ago.</p>
<p>“This is huge for me,” said the 27-year-old who lives in Durango. “The Pikes Peak Marathon is one of the most famous races in the world. To be on the list with the guys who have won it is an honor.</p>
<p>“There are only a few days like this where everything comes together in a big race. It feels great that I stuck with it through some injuries, and it’s great to be part of this (running) community.”</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432987?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="280" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432987?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="280" class="align-right"/></a>His winning time of 3 hours, 32 minutes, 19 seconds came in his first competitive trip up and down Pikes Peak. He was about 16 minutes slower than Matt Carpenter’s race record, although he did eclipse Carpenter’s Pikes Peak Marathon descent record, running down the mountain in 1:13:53.</p>
<p><strong>Twelve-time winner of the Pikes Peak Marathon, Matt Carpenter (far right) and Jones discussed the big day at the finish line.</strong></p>
<p>Jones’ time was exactly five minutes ahead of runner-up Oriol Coll of Spain. Darren Thomas of Steamboat Springs, who grew up in Colorado Springs, was third in 3:37:34 with Stian Angermund-Vik of Norway fourth in 3:37:48. David Sinclair of Peru, Vermont, was fifth in 3:38:04.</p>
<p>Jones figured since he lives in Colorado, he had an advantage over most of the runners because he trains at altitude. He had run Pikes Peak before, but never in the Marathon.</p>
<p>“I was fifth when I got above the tree line (at A-frame) and was working my way closer to the leaders,” he said. “I didn’t speed up; I was staying consistent, staying steady. When I got to the summit, I was about a minute behind.”</p>
<p>He was confident at that point.</p>
<p>“I don’t want to seem arrogant, but I have a good downhill,” he said. “I stopped at the summit and took two cups of water.”</p>
<p>Jones hit his stride on the way down.</p>
<p>“I was flying where it was smooth and flat,” he said. “I caught Darren Thomas at the tree line.”</p>
<p>Thomas, who finished third in 2016 and second last year, also couldn’t hold off Coll, who passed him with a couple miles left.</p>
<p>“I’m disappointed and satisfied,” Thomas said. “I had a (personal record) by 10 minutes, so I’m happy with the time. I pushed a little hard on the uphill and was aggressive.”</p>
<p>When he reached the summit, Thomas said, “I thought I would win. But Dakota caught me about two miles down from the summit. I had felt good but I had a rough downhill. I was stumbling and I fell one time. Maybe I was dehydrated.”</p>
<p>Coll, 23, was ecstatic with second place, especially considering this was just his third marathon and he doesn’t train at altitude much. At the summit, he figured Jones would win.</p>
<p>“I saw he was strong at the top and figured the altitude wasn’t a problem for him,” Coll said.</p>
<p>Jones isn’t competing in the Golden Trail Series sponsored by Salomon but Coll is, and said his runner-up finish will vault him into the top 10 of the standings.</p>
<p>Jones was thrilled with his victory, especially when he recalled the dark days of 2014 when he wasn’t fulfilled by running.</p>
<p>“I dropped out of two 100-mile races,” he said. “I just didn’t have the ‘want to’ that I needed any more.”</p>
<p>He worked through that, continued to run and found himself Sunday atop the podium of a race he’d long dreamed of winning.</p>
<p>“It’s been a nine-year journey to get here, with a lot of questions when I was hurt or wasn’t winning,” he said. “I was hurt a lot last year (mostly a hamstring injury) and that might’ve been a problem with over-training. I cut back on training and now I do a yoga and strengthening routine, and a lot of biking.”</p>
<p>He should enjoy the bike ride home even more after his big run on America’s Mountain.</p> Eritrean runner earns a surprise victory in abbreviated Pikes Peak Ascenttag:pikespeaksports.us,2018-08-19:5021591:Topic:8066222018-08-19T01:53:21.205ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434439?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434439?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650"></img></a> Azerya Weldemariam is relieved that he set the pace to Barr Camp in Saturday’s Pikes Peak Ascent, the annual run to the top of America’s Mountain.</p>
<p>When Weldemariam reached Barr Camp – normally just past the halfway point of the Ascent – the gritty 39-year-old trail runner learned he was the winner of the prestigious race, which had been shortened to about 7.6 miles due…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434439?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434439?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650" class="align-center"/></a>Azerya Weldemariam is relieved that he set the pace to Barr Camp in Saturday’s Pikes Peak Ascent, the annual run to the top of America’s Mountain.</p>
<p>When Weldemariam reached Barr Camp – normally just past the halfway point of the Ascent – the gritty 39-year-old trail runner learned he was the winner of the prestigious race, which had been shortened to about 7.6 miles due to predicted inclement weather at the summit.</p>
<p>“When they stopped us, I was confused,” Weldemariam said. “They said the race was over; that was a surprise to me. My goal was to run to the top and be first.”</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656439105?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656439105?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>He was warming up not too far from the starting line after arriving an hour before the race’s 7 a.m. start time, but never heard the news about the race being altered.</p>
<p>A native of eastern Africa, Weldemariam has lived in Colorado Springs for a little more than two years. He has a working grasp of the English language, but is less than fluent.</p>
<p>“I talked to him after the race and he didn’t realize we were stopping (at Barr Camp),” said Great Britain’s Alex Pilcher, who finished third. “He was pacing himself, so he could’ve gone faster.”</p>
<p>Weldemariam figured he had almost six miles remaining in the climb to the summit that challenges runners with a 7,815-foot elevation gain over the course of 13.32 miles. But with weather at the summit threatening safety of the runners, the race course was altered for the first time.</p>
<p>Weldemariam agreed with the call.</p>
<p>“It makes sense to me,” he said.</p>
<p>Weldemariam’s winning time of 1:06:26 was more than two minutes ahead of runner-up Ondrej Fejfar, 29, of the Czech Republic, who finished in 1:08:42. Pilcher was timed in 1:09:15. Galen Burrell of Louisville, Colo., was fourth in 1:09:46 with Andy Wacker of Boulder fifth in 1:10:43.</p>
<p>Weldemariam is a native of Eritrea, a northeast African country on the Red Sea coast. A strong uphill runner, he first ran the Ascent in 2014 and finished second. He has “doubled” by racing in the Ascent and the Pikes Peak Marathon on consecutive days each of the last two years. He will also run Sunday’s Marathon.</p>
<p>“We only ran half the race (Saturday),” he said, “so I’m not tired.”</p>
<p>He expects to win the Triple Crown series, which includes races where he was fourth in the Garden of the Gods 10-mile run in June and winner of the Summer Roundup Trail Run half marathon at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in July.</p>
<p>He was sixth in the Ascent last year and fourth in the Marathon.</p>
<p>“I’m improved from last year,” he said. “I’ve been training harder.”</p>
<p>As first-time participants, Fejfar and Pilcher were more disappointed than the champion that the race was shortened, although neither figured to catch the winner.</p>
<p>“(Weldemariam) is very experienced here and is used to the altitude,” said Pilcher, 33, whose highest training usually comes at 3,000-foot elevation. “I felt (the effect of) that altitude, and knew I would.”</p>
<p>Wacker was leading the race through “three or four kilometers,” Fejfar said, but developed troubles and “puked up,” Pilcher noted.</p>
<p>Wacker led Weldemariam by 18 seconds when they reached Hydro Street, with the eventual winner clocking 7:39 at that point, just one second behind legendary Matt Carpenter’s time at Hydro Street when he set the Ascent record of 2:01:06 while running 3:16:39 to win the 1993 Marathon.</p>
<p>Last year, Weldemariam ran the Ascent in 2:31:10 and hit Barr Camp at 1:06:10, which is 16 seconds faster than he finished in Saturday’s race.</p>
<p>Pilcher, who said he “is more of a 10,000-meter runner,” figured the shorter race “probably played to my strength.”</p>
<p>It also forced runners to alter their race strategy.</p>
<p>“Psychologically, you set yourself up for a challenge (of reaching the summit) and you have to change structure to go out faster,” he said. “It was anticlimactic. I haven’t been to the top, but I’d been to Barr Camp since I got here a week ago.”</p>
<p>Fejfar had spent the night at Barr Camp earlier in the week and run to the summit, but he was just as disappointed that weather forced the change in distance.</p>
<p>“I wanted to try something new,” he said. “I hadn’t been over about 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) elevation. The changed course made it like a normal race.”</p>
<p>Fejfar is a member of the Czech Republic national team that was first in the World Mountain Running Association Long Distance Mountain Running Championships in the Polish town of Karpacz on June 24. The Czech Republic edged the United States team – which included Wacker – with powerhouse Italy a distant third.</p>
<p>Fejfar will spend next week training in Boulder, before returning to his hometown of Vrchlabi. He said this trip cost about $5,000 – some of it covered by sponsors, including Inov-8, who also sponsors Manitou Springs’ Pete Maksimow, whom Fejfar stayed with this past week.</p>
<p>The 29-year-old Czech said he will write about his Ascent experience for Run magazine in his country, along with a few websites and his Facebook page.</p>
<p>Both Fejfar and Pilcher said they plan to return next year and run the Ascent again.</p>
<p>“I will take the shuttle up (later) today and see this famous road (to the summit),” Fejfar said about an hour after finishing the race. “When I ran to the top earlier this week, I was surprised by the railway station and the big parking area. I went to sleep last night dreaming of running all the way to the top. Maybe next time.”</p>
<p> </p> Ascent notes: An old friend makes his return to Pikes Peaktag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-08-23:5021591:Topic:7774532017-08-23T18:06:44.281ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432117?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432117?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650"></img></a></b></p>
<p>Simon Gutierrez, 51, finished in 2:40:55 which was good for 13<sup>th</sup> place in the men’s race. He won the Ascent in 2003, 2006 and 2008. His person best is about 2:13 in 2003.</p>
<p>He missed the race last year due to injuries with his right leg.</p>
<p>“On my first training run last year I fell two minutes from the summit,” Gutierrez said. “I had a…</p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432117?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="650" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656432117?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></b></p>
<p>Simon Gutierrez, 51, finished in 2:40:55 which was good for 13<sup>th</sup> place in the men’s race. He won the Ascent in 2003, 2006 and 2008. His person best is about 2:13 in 2003.</p>
<p>He missed the race last year due to injuries with his right leg.</p>
<p>“On my first training run last year I fell two minutes from the summit,” Gutierrez said. “I had a hairline fracture in my tibia and stretched my PCL.”</p>
<p>A physical therapist, Gutierrez moved from Colorado Springs to Alamosa, Colo., in December.</p>
<p>“I got a great job offer from a former employer and that puts me closer to family in Albuquerque,” Gutierrez said. “I miss the community here, but I’m happy. I got to see a lot of friends here at the race.”</p>
<p>Gutierrez said he’ll be back.</p>
<p>“Oh yeah,” he said, “I’ll be a frequent visitor.”</p>
<p><b>IMPROVING SPANIARD: </b>Jan Margarit traveled from his home in Spain to finish fifth in the Ascent in 2:25:39.</p>
<p>“It’s the hardest race I run all year,” said the 19-year-old. “I’m not used to going up to 14 (thousand feet).”</p>
<p>At home, he can train at about 8,000 feet, Margarit said.</p>
<p>“It’s so hard to breathe” running up Pikes Peak, he said. “I had to stop to breathe two or three times.”<br/> He finished eighth in the Ascent in 2016 (2:29:36), so he improved three spots and by nearly four minutes.</p>
<p>“I’d like to come next year,” he said, noting that he has a sponsor that came with him. “I want to try it again.”</p>
<p><b>MEDICAL TEAM ON HAND: </b>Ascent champion Joe Gray was in anguish when he crossed the finish line Saturday and within a couple of minutes, he asked the medical staff if he could get an IV. The medical staff was on the spot to attend to Gray’s needs immediately when he finished the race.</p>
<p>Dr. Doug Bradley, the medical director of Emergicare Medical Clinics, said he had a staff of eight – including two physicians – at the Pikes Peak summit to care for the 1,800 race participants.</p>
<p>“We’ve been doing the race for about 10 years,” Bradley said. “We enjoy it. These are very healthy people.”</p>
<p>Bradley said his staff treats about 5 percent of the runners.</p>
<p>“Most of them grab their bags and get on the van and get off the mountain pretty quickly,” Bradley said. “When someone needs treatment, we’ll give them oxygen, warm them up with a blanket, hydrate them with Gatorade and maybe give them an IV.”</p>
<p>When most of the runners had completed the course, Bradley said it had been a typical day and reported no serious ailments.</p>
<p><b>LONG TRAVEL FOR FIRST ASCENT: </b>Adam Szczepanski had often heard of the Pikes Peak Ascent – and he wanted to tackle the challenge.</p>
<p>“I consider this the pinnacle of trail running, said the 37-year-old who lives in Hamilton, about 30 minutes from Toronto, Canada. “The height of the mountain and the following it has, especially in America, makes this special.”</p>
<p>Szczepanski said he’s been running for 15 years and became a trail runner about six years ago. He said eight Canadians came for the weekend races, and four were in the Ascent.</p>
<p>“One man is 74 years old, from Toronto,” he said.</p>
<p>Training for Szczepanski was a problem, he said.</p>
<p>“There’s nothing you can do,” he said, noting that the elevation in his hometown is 600 feet, about 6,000 feet below that of the starting line in Manitou Springs.</p>
<p>“I have a hill near me where I can do 300-foot repeats,” he said.</p>
<p>Szczepanski said his hand was numb for about the final four miles of the Ascent due to lack of oxygen. Still, he thoroughly enjoyed the experience.</p>
<p>“It was fantastic,” he said. “They have lots of volunteers and the wave system they use at the start makes a lot of sense. I was in the sixth wave and passed most of the them in the fifth and fourth waves.”</p>
<p>He finished in 213<sup>th</sup> place in 3:43:29.</p>
<p>“I’ll come again,” he said, “maybe a week ahead to get more accustomed to the altitude.”</p>
<p>Szczepanski said he was amazed by all the tourists, most of whom were in the Pikes Peak region for events other than the race.</p>
<p>“There are so many things to do in this area,” he said. “I figured with the mountains there’d be somewhere to climb, so I brought my climbing gear. I’m planning to do that (Sunday) at Garden of the Gods (Park).”</p> Marathon notes: Ziggy Strong, the bandit, and the doublertag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-08-23:5021591:Topic:7773892017-08-23T17:32:41.907ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431692?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431692?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="375"></img></a> <strong>By Bob Stephens</strong><br></br> PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p><span>Rémi</span> Bonnet startled spectators and officials when he stopped just prior to crossing the finish line as champion of the 2017 Pikes Peak Marathon on Sunday.</p>
<p>Bonnet, who enjoyed a 12-minute advantage on his nearest competitor, turned to the crowd and held up a blue ribbon bracelet that read…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431692?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="375" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431692?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="375" class="align-right"/></a> <strong>By Bob Stephens</strong><br/> PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p><span>Rémi</span> Bonnet startled spectators and officials when he stopped just prior to crossing the finish line as champion of the 2017 Pikes Peak Marathon on Sunday.</p>
<p>Bonnet, who enjoyed a 12-minute advantage on his nearest competitor, turned to the crowd and held up a blue ribbon bracelet that read “Ziggy Strong.”</p>
<p>It was a tribute to Greg Zyszkiewicz, who was tragically killed March 22 at age 64. He was shot and killed in his hometown of Milwaukee, Wis. Zyszkiewicz ran the Pikes Peak Ascent in 2015-16 and had previously run the Pikes Peak Marathon.</p>
<p>The bracelets were sent to Manitou Springs elite runner Peter Maksimow by Zyszkiewicz’s daughter and her husband, Heather and Mark Sharafinski.</p>
<p>Bonnet said he heard about Zyszkiewicz’s unfortunate passing prior to the race and decided to honor him by briefly displaying the bracelet before crossing the finish line. It cost him a couple of seconds on his winning time but it was a much-appreciated gesture by many.</p>
<p>“I always take some opportunity to do something for the local people,” Bonnet said.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656435412?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656435412?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>BANDIT?: </b>As a man ran past cheering fans to the finish line, apparently as the fourth-place finisher, the the runner who finished ahead of him looked at him quizzically.</p>
<p>“I don’t remember him,” said Carlos Ruibal. “I didn’t see him in the race.”</p>
<p>The mystery runner was Ron Ilgen, longtime race director for the marathon and Ascent, who had put on a bib number and snuck around the corner before jumping in the race at the homestretch.</p>
<p>“There’s a long lull between finishers at the beginning of the race, so I wanted to liven things up a little,” Ilgen said.</p>
<p>He also wanted to play a little joke on the crowd and race announcer Jerry Evans, who eventually proclaimed that Ilgen would not receive a medal as one of the marathon’s finishers.</p>
<p>“People were cheering and snapping photos,” Ilgen said. “We get so tense and people work so hard for this event, I decided we should have a little fun.”</p>
<p>Another runner apparently completed the race but was not officially entered, so he was denied a race medal. A woman refused her medal, telling the volunteers at the finish line that she hadn’t completed the race; she’d turned around part way up the mountain and come back down.</p>
<p><b><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656436397?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="280" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656436397?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="280" class="align-left"/></a>TOP DOUBLER: </b>Azerya Tekay Weldemariam, 38, pulled off an impressive double performance by finishing sixth in Saturday’s Ascent (2:31:10) and fourth in Sunday’s marathon (4:05:04).</p>
<p>“It feels good because neither of these races are easy,” he said. “It was hard today because I was dehydrated. It was harder than I thought it would be.”</p>
<p>Weldermariam, who lives in Colorado Springs, is from Eritrea, Africa. He’s working diligently to bring his family to the United States and is working to earn his green card.</p>
<p>“He works in the laundry at Great Wolf Lodge,” said Scott Mills, whose family has befriended the elite runner and taken him in as a house guest in their Colorado Springs home. “We are working with Lutheran Family Services, who has had the contract for decades to place refugees with (American) families and reunite those (refugee) families.”</p>
<p>Weldermariam also doubled last year while finishing fourth in the Ascent (2:15:39) and second in the marathon (3:42:53).</p>
<p>Monica Folts won the women's double with a <span>3:06:27 time in the ascent, and a <span>5:46:36 marathon finish. <a href="http://www.pikespeaksports.us/group/roadtrailrunning/forum/topics/with-sanity-intact-monica-folts-savors-pikes-peak-doubler-title?xg_source=activity" target="_blank">Read her story here.</a></span></span></p>
<p> </p> With sanity intact, Monica Folts savors Pikes Peak "doubler" titletag:pikespeaksports.us,2017-08-21:5021591:Topic:7761202017-08-21T17:51:46.855ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431859?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431859?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="380"></img></a> <strong>By Bob Stephens</strong><br></br> PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Monica Folts questioned her own sanity while approaching the starting line of Sunday’s Pikes Peak Marathon.</p>
<p>After all, she’d pushed herself through more than 13 grueling miles Saturday to complete the Pikes Peak Ascent. Now she faced another 26-plus miles up and down American’s mountain.</p>
<p>“I felt…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431859?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="380" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431859?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="380" class="align-right"/></a> <strong>By Bob Stephens</strong><br/> PikesPeakSports.us</p>
<p>Monica Folts questioned her own sanity while approaching the starting line of Sunday’s Pikes Peak Marathon.</p>
<p>After all, she’d pushed herself through more than 13 grueling miles Saturday to complete the Pikes Peak Ascent. Now she faced another 26-plus miles up and down American’s mountain.</p>
<p>“I felt crazier than ever toeing the line,” said Folts, 31, who has completed the exhausting “double” each of the last four years. “I thought I was insane for getting up and doing this.”</p>
<p>But how did she feel afterward, when she had bested all other female doublers for combined time in the two races?</p>
<p>“I can say now it was fun,” Folts said with a big smile. “I was a ball of nerves this morning.”</p>
<p>Her chances of winning were enhanced when 39-year-old Brandy Erholtz of Evergreen, Colo., pulled out of the marathon. Erholtz, who had a baby earlier this year, felt the Ascent – where she finished sixth in 3:02:12, about four minutes ahead of Folts – had taken too much out of her.</p>
<p>Not entered in either race this year was Kim Dobson, who won both the Ascent and marathon in 2016. Dobson gave birth to her second child a few months ago.</p>
<p>“Kim was out. Brandy was out,” said Brian Folts, Monica’s husband of three years. “We knew this was (Monica’s) year because those two will probably be back.”</p>
<p>Still, Folts didn’t beat out Kylie Collins by much. Folts was ninth among women in the Ascent (3:06:27), putting her nearly 20 minutes ahead of Collins (3:26:16) entering Sunday’s marathon. Collins placed seventh among women in the marathon (5:31:08) while Folts was 12<sup>th</sup> (5:46:36).</p>
<p>Folts edged Collins by four minutes, 21 seconds.</p>
<p>“I’ve never had great luck piecing together two good races, so this is sweet,” Monica Folts said. “I’m really happy because I made the podium in my (30-34) age group” by finishing third in the marathon.</p>
<p>Brian Folts achieved one of his major goals by finishing Top 10 in both the Ascent and the marathon. He was seventh Saturday (2:32:35) and ninth Sunday (4:36:17) while doubling for the fifth straight year.</p>
<p>“We don’t really take the double seriously – we ate Domino’s pizza last night,” Brian said.</p>
<p>“He ate most of it,” Monica countered.</p>
<p>She didn’t feel well following Saturday’s Ascent.</p>
<p>“After the bus ride down yesterday, I threw up most of the water I drank,” she said.</p>
<p>Plus, trail running is not their forte; they are triathletes who recently earned their pro cards.</p>
<p>“I’m much more of a roadie than a trail runner,” Monica said.</p>
<p>“We do triathlons to stay in shape and test our fitness,” Brian said. “We come here because this is a true test of fitness.”</p>
<p>Collins, 28, from Almont, Colo., is a first-grade teacher in Vail and said she runs simply for the fun.</p>
<p>“It’s all about joy for her,” said Collins’ husband, Matt. “If she feels good, she runs. Some days she’ll go out to run five miles and runs 20; other days she runs five. She doesn’t pressure herself.”</p>
<p>Both Monica and Brian Folts wear pink socks, to honor a friend of his that was killed six years ago.</p>
<p>“She was Brian’s friend, Sally Myerhoff, and she wore pink socks,” Monica said. “She was on a training ride for a triathlon and was struck by a car.”</p>
<p>Monica Folts said winning the double was satisfying.</p>
<p>“The first year I doubled, I lost by about a minute,” she said. “It’s really great to be first this time.”</p>
<p>In the men's race Azerya Tekay Weldemariam of Colorado Springs by way of Eritrea, won the men's doubler title. He placed sixth on the Ascent with a time of 2:31:12, and then knocked out a fourth-place effort in the marathon (4:05:05.)</p>