All Discussions Tagged 'running' - Pikes Peak Sports2024-03-28T13:32:41Zhttp://pikespeaksports.us/group/roadtrailrunning/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=running&feed=yes&xn_auth=noSeth DeMoor and Brittany Charboneau win the Pikes Peak Marathontag:pikespeaksports.us,2020-08-24:5021591:Topic:8467022020-08-24T02:35:05.060ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><span><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588281485?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588281485?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a></span></p>
<p><strong>Brittany Charboneau wins the Pikes Peak Marathon women's race.</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Tim Bergsten</strong></p>
<p><strong>PikesPeakSports.us</strong></p>
<p><span>MANITOU SPRINGS - Road racers. What are you going to do with them?</span></p>
<p><span>Brittany Charboneau who placed 13</span><span>th</span><span> in the…</span></p>
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<p><strong>Brittany Charboneau wins the Pikes Peak Marathon women's race.</strong></p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>By Tim Bergsten</strong></p>
<p><strong>PikesPeakSports.us</strong></p>
<p><span>MANITOU SPRINGS - Road racers. What are you going to do with them?</span></p>
<p><span>Brittany Charboneau who placed 13</span><span>th</span><span> in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in February, says she was reluctant to try trail and mountain running because she was “afraid of nature.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“When I started, we were on the local trails in Denver and there are rattlesnakes like crazy,” she says. “And I’m terrified of mountain </span><span>lions</span><span> and I’m terrified of bears.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>One thing she </span><span>doesn’t</span><span> fear … the pain cave at 14,000 feet on Pikes Peak. Charboneau, a 28-year-old Denver resident, won the 65</span><span>th</span><span> Pikes Peak Marathon on Sunday. And she did it the hard way, by sticking with Allie </span><span>McLaughin</span><span> (who has the third-best Pikes Peak Ascent time in race </span><span>history) on</span><span> the 13-mile climb from Manitou Springs to the summit of Pikes Peak.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://pikespeakmarathon.org/results/ppm/2020/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Race Results</a></p>
<p><span>About 40 seconds separated the two when they made the turn at the top. From there, well </span><span>it’s</span><span> all downhill. And </span><span>that’s</span><span> where Charboneau won it. </span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“I practiced a lot of downhill running,” Charboneau said. “That’s my reward. I tell myself, you've earned this, so just fly.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>Charboneau reeled in McLaughlin and charged down Pikes Peak's rocky moonscape. On historic Ruxton Ave., the home stretch, she raised her hands to the sky and hit the finish in 4 hours, 25 minutes, and 21 seconds, the 10th fastest women's marathon time since 1976 when the race startling line was moved to Memorial Park in Manitou Springs. </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.thefunnyrunner.com/?fbclid=IwAR0bokEuBkCekxtc3FAVus8Il7O7K4F9VLx4ymQdCXbiCjsrDlIUSA3ITog" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Brittany Charboneau's excellent blog: The Funny Runner</a></p>
<p><span>With or without the bears and mountain lions, the road racer has taken to the mountains and is undefeated in her first few races, including the 2019 Leadville Heavy Half. And she recently set the Fastest Known Time (5:15 and change) on the famed Four Pass Loop, 27 trail miles around the Maroon Bells 14ers with 8,000 feet of elevation gain.</span></p>
<p><span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8">"I’m</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> just having so much fun with it," she said. "Road racing is out of question this year, but I learned to love trails so much. They're so d</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW158500172 BCX8">ifferent, but</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> I think they re</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW158500172 BCX8">ally</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun ContextualSpellingAndGrammarErrorV2 SCXW158500172 BCX8">compliment</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> each other so well. </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8">I’m</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> using road strategies on trails, and</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SpellingErrorV2 SCXW158500172 BCX8">mentally,</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> all the work I do on the road is translating </span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun AdvancedProofingIssueV2 SCXW158500172 BCX8">really nicely</span></span><span class="TextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8" xml:lang="EN-US" lang="EN-US"><span class="NormalTextRun SCXW158500172 BCX8"> on trails."</span></span></span></p>
<p><span>Ashley Brasovan, 29, was third at the top, but a mad charge on the descent brought her home in second place in 4:34:59. McLaughlin, the 2014 Pikes Peak Ascent champion, crashed three times in the gravel and rocks while descending, but held on for third place and finished with her shins coated in blood. </span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“I just kind of loved today,” McLaughlin said, smiling as a medical team sewed up gashes in her left knee and right hip.</span></p>
<p>All runners endured tough conditions, including the usual August heat, plus smoky air fueled by four large wildfires in western Colorado.</p>
<p>"Those were some tough conditions," Brasovan said. "With three miles to go it felt like it was in the 90s and I was splashing water on myself and pouring it on my head."</p>
<p><span><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588313879?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588313879?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" class="align-left"/></a>In the men's race, father of four Seth DeMoor, 35, of Englewood, Colo., won with a time of 3:36:31, the 15</span><span>th</span><span> fastest time since 1976. DeMoor was first to the summit in 2:09:29, then held off David Sinclair (28, Truckee, Calif.) who closied with a fast descent. Sinclair finished second in 3:38:20, with Andy Wacker (31, Boulder) rolling in for third place at 3:44:58.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><strong>< DeMoor wins in 3:36:31 </strong></p>
<p><span>All three runners competed on the 2019 U.S. World Mountain Running Team, and DeMoor and Wacker were college cross country and track teammates at CU Boulder. They knew what to expect. Wacker would take an early lead and challenge everyone else to keep up.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span> “I was pretty confident Andy would take off,” DeMoor said. “I caught him at Mile 2, and just started chugging. I had my game plan written on my arm – reminders for me to stay focused.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>DeMoor's ascent time of 2:09:29 provided a big advantage as he bounced down Barr Trail's 16 Golden Stairs below the summit, gaining time on Sinclair and Wacker. </span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“Honestly, it was a great uphill effort,” he said. “I cut two minutes off my ascent time of last year. I felt </span><span>really strong</span><span> the whole way up. But I had a few little stomach issues downhill.”</span><span> </span></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeSHo5kTvzoik4STh7MuMCA" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Check out Seth DeMoor's amazing race videos</a></p>
<p><span>Though he trailed the leader by seven minutes at the summit, Sinclair stormed down the mountain in 1:21:39 – the fastest descent of the day - to close the gap. DeMoor, meanwhile, was confident he could win, but there would be no early victory celebrations.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“They only thing I was aware of was I know he’s fast and I knew he’d be coming, but I also knew I had </span><span>a pretty good</span><span> lead,” DeMoor said.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span><strong>Running in a pandemic:</strong> After two years of hosting the Salomon Golden Trail World Series and the top mountain runners from around the world, the 2020 Pikes Peak Marathon looked much different during the Covid-19 pandemic. Organizers stripped away </span><span>nearly all</span><span> race activities and worked for months to ensure the safety of all runners. With a plan in place, Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc. was granted permission to host the race by various state and local health and government agencies.</span></p>
<p><span>Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc. had cancelled the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile & 10K Run in June, The Barr Trail Mountain Race in July, and the Pikes Peak Ascent, the same weekend as the the marathon. </span></p>
<p><span><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588319854?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7588319854?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" class="align-right"/></a>"They pulled it (the marathon) off and I commend the organization for letting us runners chase down our dreams in a crazy year,” DeMoor said.</span></p>
<p><span><strong>Race organizers took every precaution to keep runners safe. ></strong></span></p>
<p><span>They could have easily called it and cancelled, but I think we’ve all learned a lot since the pandemic started around the world and across the U.S. You know, everything from masks to hand sanitizer to social </span><span>distancing</span><span>. It’s allowed us to become smarter as a global running community to pull off a race like this.”</span></p>
<p><span>The decision to host the event came with criticism from some long-time Pikes Peak runners concerned about the spread of Covid-19, the country’s most deadly pandemic in 100 years.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>Women’s race winner Charboneau, however, was grateful for the opportunity. It meant a little more to win in such a challenging time.</span><span> </span></p>
<p><span>“It does mean more because you have to think about how grateful I am that we’re able to run and compete,” she said. “We’re still able to run and they’re making it work and showing </span><span>adaptability</span><span> and I think they did such an amazing job being adaptable and just finding a new normal and making it happen for us.”</span><span> </span></p> State senator Pete Lee used to run Pikes Peak, now he volunteerstag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-27:5021591:Topic:8424522019-08-27T13:06:33.145ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463188527?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463188527?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a> By Bob Stephens,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc</p>
<p>A familiar face was among the hundreds of volunteers that helped the Pikes Peak Marathon succeed on Sunday. That familiar face belonged to Colorado State Senator Pete Lee, who was the volunteer who escorted champion Kilian Jornet to the drug-testing facility after the race.</p>
<p>Lee, 71,…</p>
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463188527?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463188527?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a>By Bob Stephens,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc</p>
<p>A familiar face was among the hundreds of volunteers that helped the Pikes Peak Marathon succeed on Sunday. That familiar face belonged to Colorado State Senator Pete Lee, who was the volunteer who escorted champion Kilian Jornet to the drug-testing facility after the race.</p>
<p>Lee, 71, ran the Pikes Peak Ascent in 1986 and competed in the Marathon for the next 20 years. He’s been a volunteer for several of the races in recent years.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463198535?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3463198535?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>“I was a middle-of-the-pack guy,” he said of his running days. “As a former participant, I enjoy the atmosphere and the thrill of the race. This is an extremely amazing community event. It’s unique to have a mountain marathon finish in town like this.”</p>
<p>Lee said the first time he competed in the Marathon “was one of the ultimate accomplishments of my life.”</p>
<p>He was later elected to the Colorado House of Representatives in 2010, serving House District 18, which includes central Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs. After serving eight years, the term limit, he was elected in 2018 to the Colorado Senate, representing District 11.</p>
<p>Lee’s focus on Sunday was the race on America’s Mountain. His wife, Lynn, is also a volunteer for the Marathon.</p>
<p>The couple met back in the mid-1980s and Lee quickly showed a photo on his phone of them finishing the 1988 Marathon together while they were dating.</p>
<p>“That’s how we dated; we ran together,” he said. “We got married the next year and we’ve been together for 30 years.”</p>
<p>A ligament injury to his left knee ended his running career but that didn’t keep him from attending the Marathon.</p>
<p>“I’d come to see the finish,” he said. “I like supporting the race. It’s fun to see the race<br/>and be a part of this.”</p> Kilian Jornet runs away with marathon title, but record eludes himtag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-26:5021591:Topic:8422772019-08-26T04:25:53.961ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448068841?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448068841?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a></p>
<p><strong>Pikes Peak Marathon race director Ron Ilgen and the 2019 champion Kilian Jornet. (photo, Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSports.us)</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Bob Stephens,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Org.</p>
<p>One after another, admiring fans approached Kilian Jornet as he stood on the sidewalk of Manitou Avenue. The 31-year-old…</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448068841?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448068841?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p><strong>Pikes Peak Marathon race director Ron Ilgen and the 2019 champion Kilian Jornet. (photo, Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSports.us)</strong></p>
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<p><strong>By Bob Stephens,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Org.</p>
<p>One after another, admiring fans approached Kilian Jornet as he stood on the sidewalk of Manitou Avenue. The 31-year-old Spaniard is perhaps the world’s foremost trail runner and he’d added to that sparkling reputation by winning the Pikes Peak Marathon earlier Sunday morning, his third victory in the five races of the Golden Trail World Series.</p>
<p>Now, as bright sunshine enveloped the big crowd near the finish line of the Marathon, Jornet exited the drug testing area housed in The Loop, a popular restaurant. It didn’t take but a few seconds for racing fans to recognize the newly crowned champion.</p>
<p><a href="https://thetcr.com/results/ppm/2019/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pikes Peak Marathon results</a></p>
<p>People of various ages asked to have their photos taken with Jornet. They asked him to sign autographs. One young fan, who was born shortly after Jornet won the 2012 Pikes Peak Marathon in his only previous appearance, presented him with a boxed gift, a vegan apple pie.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448077015?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448077015?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="400" class="align-right"/></a>“That’s unique,” Jornet said. “I’ll enjoy it and it will give me back some energy.”</p>
<p>The accommodating champion was gracious and appreciative as fans approached him, just as he’d been while applauding the second- and third-place runners who finished the race up and down America’s Mountain, although they crossed the finish line several minutes after Jornet had the winner’s medallion draped around his neck.</p>
<p>“I’m very happy with my performance,” Jornet said shortly after crossing the finish line. “I’m super satisfied; this field was amazing.”</p>
<p>None of the other talented runners were able to challenge Jornet, however. He pulled away by the two-mile mark and forged on alone for the final 24 miles while finishing in 3:27:28.</p>
<p>Sage Canaday of Boulder, Colo., was runner-up with a time of 3:39:02, followed closely by Marc Lauenstein of Switzerland in 3:40:28. Aritz Egea Caceres of Spain was fourth in 3:45:56 with David Sinclair of Vermont fifth in 3:46:35.</p>
<p>“It’s a super difficult race, but the conditions were nearly perfect,” Jornet said. “It was a little windy (on the summit) and a little hot on the way down.”</p>
<p>He was spurred on by his desire for greatness and the thought of eclipsing Matt Carpenter’s record time established in 1993. Alas, the record was not destined to fall on this day, and Jornet knew it before the race even began.</p>
<p>“My legs felt heavy when I was warming up,” said the 5-foot-7, 128-pounder.</p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448078490?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448078490?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-left"/></a>Carpenter’s mark of 3:16:39 has stood the test of time, and it’s part of the lure that brings elite runners like Jornet to Manitou Springs to match their ability against history and the legacy of America’s Mountain.</p>
<p>“There is such history here,” said Jornet, who chose this race for his only appearance this year in the United States. “(The record) is something unique that (Carpenter) did here. I knew how hard the record was (to beat).”</p>
<p>Jornet said he’d didn’t specifically target the record, although it was a secondary goal if all things lined up just right.</p>
<p>“It’s hard to focus on records when you’re running because conditions might not be right and then you’ll be disappointed,” he said. “The conditions were nearly perfect today but my legs were not. Carpenter’s record might be a once in a 100 years kind of thing.”</p>
<p>Sinclair, who finished fifth in his only appearances in the Marathon, figures the record won’t last forever.</p>
<p>“I’m sure somebody can do it,” he said, “but it’ll take all the stars to align. It would take someone dedicated to it like Matt who trains on the mountain. It’s really a unique course; probably nowhere else in the world where you have a sustained 13-mile climb.”</p>
<p>Canaday said that Jornet pulled away at about the Incline.</p>
<p>“He was gone. A couple of guys tried to go with him but he was pretty much by himself,” Canaday said. “When he was coming down the mountain, I had a quarter-mile left to reach the summit. He’s a really good uphill runner but exceptional downhill, so I knew I couldn’t catch him.”</p>
<p>Jornet had fond memories of winning the Pikes Peak Marathon back in 2012, especially since his wife—then his girlfried, Emelie Forsberg—won the women’s race.</p>
<p>This was Jornet’s third win in the Golden Trail World Series, and he’s already qualified for the final event in Nepal, which features the series’ top 10 qualifiers.</p> Switzerland’s Maude Mathys blazes new Pikes Peak Marathon women's recordtag:pikespeaksports.us,2019-08-26:5021591:Topic:8424972019-08-26T03:25:35.368ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448010434?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-center" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448010434?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650"></img></a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Maude Mathys hits the finish line in Manitou Springs.</strong> (photo Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSports.us)</p>
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<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Switzerland’s Maude Mathys, 32, set a new Pikes Peak Marathon women’s race record on Sunday, ascending…</span></p>
<p><strong><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448010434?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448010434?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="650" class="align-center"/></a></strong></p>
<p><strong>Maude Mathys hits the finish line in Manitou Springs.</strong> (photo Tim Bergsten/PikesPeakSports.us)</p>
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<p><strong>By Jill Rothenberg,</strong> for Pikes Peak Marathon, Inc.</p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Switzerland’s Maude Mathys, 32, set a new Pikes Peak Marathon women’s race record on Sunday, ascending to the peak's 14,115-foot summit and back to the finish in Manitou Springs in 4:02:41.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It was her first race on Pikes Peak, and she beat the old record (4:15:04, Megan Kimmel, 2018) by more than 12 minutes.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mathys placed 16th overall in the 64th running of the internationally famous race on America's Mountain.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She was primed to do something special. It was her second course record in a major event in two weeks She set the women's record at Sierre-Zinal in the Swiss Alps on August 11.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Although Mathys fell about five minutes after she left the summit on the downhill, she quickly made up for any lost time. “I felt good on the summit and then fell on some rocks,” she said of the wreck that left her hands and legs bruised and bloody. “But then I turned that off in my mind and kept going.”</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><span><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448021551?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448021551?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-right"/></a>Mathys, who said her favorite part of racing is the “very steep uphill,” hit the summit in 2:29:03, the second-fastest ascent time in Pikes Peak Marathon & Ascent race history. She descended in 1:33:38.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">"If I train more at altitude, I would consider coming back,” she said of taking on the Ascent.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Gusty winds <span>reaching 40-50 miles per hour whipped</span> the last few miles of the course, according to Race Director Ron Ilgen. But heat was the bigger story, as racers made the downhill trip back to Manitou Springs in temperatures that reached the 90s.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Yngvild Kaspersen, 24, of Tromso, Norway, placed second in her first Pikes Peak Marathon with a time of 4:27:06. “I wasn’t expecting to follow Maude today, but my body was feeling really good,” said Kasperson, who also does road and track running, and skis as part of her training.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448022379?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3448022379?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="250" class="align-left"/></a>In third place was Meg Mackenzie, 33, of Cape Town, South Africa, with a time of 4:32:19. “The last part of the race was like going into a cauldron,” said McKenzie, an ultrarunner who has won the South African Long Distance Championships, the African X, and the Ultra Trail Cape Town 65K.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Though “it felt like everything was moving in slow motion as I got near treeline because of the altitude, I gunned it coming down and started feeling a lot better,” she said.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">She also agreed with Mathys in saying how much she enjoyed racing in Manitou Springs. “Everyone is so friendly and cheers you on as you get near the finish. It’s such a nice small town and reminds of Cape Town and a lot of the racing I do there. I would definitely come back to do this race again.”</span></p> Joe 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>
<p></p>
<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>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446249415?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/3446249415?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="630" class="align-center"/></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>
<p></p>
<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>
<p></p>
<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> 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>
<p></p>
<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></p>
<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>
<p></p>
<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> Changes ahead for Pikes Peak Marathon Inc. racestag:pikespeaksports.us,2018-10-31:5021591:Topic:8119862018-10-31T16:09:32.227ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434626?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434626?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350"></img></a> <strong>From the Pikes Peak Marathon</strong></p>
<p>Changes are coming to Pikes Peak Marathon Inc. and its family of races in 2019.</p>
<p><strong>Here are the highlights.</strong></p>
<p><em>The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon will be held on Aug. 24 and 25 next year</em>, one week later than the traditional weekend. There are several reasons for this…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434626?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="350" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656434626?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="350" class="align-right"/></a><strong>From the Pikes Peak Marathon</strong></p>
<p>Changes are coming to Pikes Peak Marathon Inc. and its family of races in 2019.</p>
<p><strong>Here are the highlights.</strong></p>
<p><em>The Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon will be held on Aug. 24 and 25 next year</em>, one week later than the traditional weekend. There are several reasons for this change.</p>
<ul>
<li>Late August will see fewer tourists and less congestion in Manitou Springs and on the Pikes Peak Highway, where construction of the new Pikes Peak Summit House has disrupted traffic flow. Transporting ascent runners from the summit back to the starting area in Manitou Springs is expected be an easier and more enjoyable experience for all.</li>
<li>The race date will no longer conflict with the popular Leadville 100, a famous ultra race that, like the Pikes Peak races, attracts the attention of many runners, race fans and the media. And the new date fits with the broader U.S. and international mountain-running schedules.</li>
<li>Hotel bookings/cost should become easier and less expensive for out-of-town guests.</li>
<li>Reduced chance of dangerous weather, including lightning and heavy rain. August is Colorado Springs’ wettest month with an average of 3.35 inches of rain, but there is an average decrease in moisture later in the month. (September’s average rainfall is 1.18 inches.)</li>
</ul>
<p>“The safety of our runners is always our first concern,” says Pikes Peak Marathon and Ascent Race Director Ron Ilgen. “Though we’re moving the race date by only a week in 2019, the chances of unfavorable weather are reduced. And we’ll continue to access the possibility of moving to a permanent date in September.”</p>
<p><strong>Our 2019 race schedule</strong></p>
<p><em>The Barr Trail Mountain Race date moved back one week.</em></p>
<ul>
<li>Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run & 10K: Sunday, June 9</li>
<li>Summer Roundup Half Marathon and 10K: Sunday, July 14</li>
<li>Barr Trail Mountain Race: Sunday, July 28</li>
<li>Pikes Peak Ascent: Saturday, Aug. 24</li>
<li>Pikes Peak Marathon (Salomon Golden Trail Series race): Sunday, Aug. 25</li>
</ul>
<p>“We felt it was important to provide some time between our races,” Ilgen says. “In previous years, the Summer Roundup and Barr Trail Mountain Race fell on consecutive weekends. We think this will give runners a better opportunity to compete in both, and it gives our race staff the chance to recuperate and get organized between events.”</p>
<p><strong>Race Registration</strong></p>
<p><em>Race registration for all events opens on Jan.1, 2019.</em></p>
<p>Celebrate the New Year and set some race goals with us!</p>
<p>“We realize that runners make their plans and begin training early in the year, and it’s a competitive market with many great races on the calendar,” Ilgen says. “We think our events and race courses are some of the best in the U.S. We want to give our customers the chance to sign up early and begin their journey to the beautiful Garden of the Gods and the challenge of Barr Trail and Pikes Peak.”</p> Manitou Springs' Stanciu becomes one of only three to complete Leadville-Pikes Peak doubletag:pikespeaksports.us,2018-08-23:5021591:Topic:8070282018-08-23T15:58:48.715ZTim Bergstenhttp://pikespeaksports.us/profile/TimBergsten
<p>Adrian Stanciu pushed his mental and physical limits over the weekend when he became just the third runner to tackle an incredible double in the trail running world.</p>
<p>The 49-year-old Manitou Springs resident ran the Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday, just a day before challenging himself again by running the Pikes Peak Marathon.</p>
<p>While many would call him crazy for attempting such a double dose of torture, he also certainly qualifies as courageous.</p>
<p>But what is it that…</p>
<p>Adrian Stanciu pushed his mental and physical limits over the weekend when he became just the third runner to tackle an incredible double in the trail running world.</p>
<p>The 49-year-old Manitou Springs resident ran the Leadville Trail 100 on Saturday, just a day before challenging himself again by running the Pikes Peak Marathon.</p>
<p>While many would call him crazy for attempting such a double dose of torture, he also certainly qualifies as courageous.</p>
<p>But what is it that compels a man to run more than 126 miles in two days, with the second race including an elevation gain of more than 7,000 feet?</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431276?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="280" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656431276?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="280" class="align-left"/></a>For Stanciu, it was the dream of beating the combined time of Mike Wardian, who completed both races last year in 26 hours, 21 minutes, 52 seconds. That beat the best combined times achieved by Marshall Ulrich more than two decades ago.</p>
<p>“I’ve wanted to do both races since I read Marshall Ulrich’s book (Running on Empty),” Stanciu said. “I knew it wouldn’t be easy to beat Wardian’s time.”</p>
<p>After finishing 13th in the Leadville Trail 100 in 20:17:59, he was 58 seconds ahead of Wardian. When Stanciu reached the summit of Pikes Peak on Sunday, halfway through the grueling Marathon, their times were virtually even.</p>
<p>But Stanciu realized he couldn’t accomplish his dream.</p>
<p>“I knew going in that it wouldn’t be easy,” he said. “I realized within a mile or two of the summit that I wasn’t going to do it. I knew I couldn’t run that fast downhill."</p>
<p>He tagged the summit with an ascent time of 4:17:09, then turned for home to finish in 6:53:18. He capped his 126-mile weekend with a combined time of 27 hours, 11 minutes, 17 seconds for the two races, about 50 minutes slower than Wardian.</p>
<p>That still put him well ahead of Ulrich, who completed both the Leadville 100 and the Pikes Peak Marathon in both 1992 and ’93. In 1992, he did Leadville in 22:11 and the Marathon in 8:04 for a total time of 30 hours, 15 minutes. The next year he was clocked in 21:40 and 9:34, for a total time of 31:14.</p>
<p>Beating Ulrich provided some satisfaction for Stanciu, who runs about every day during his lunch hour.</p>
<p>“Without the record, it’s disappointing, but it’s a learning experience,” he said.</p>
<p>Stanciu works for the City of Lakewood and has two daughters with wife Brenda: Kirstyn, 12, and Amy, 11.</p>
<p>He first ran the Pikes Peak Ascent in 2010, and doubled with the Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon the next three years. He ran the Leadville Trail 100 in 2014-16.</p>
<p>When he finished Leadville on Saturday, he jumped in the car and headed home but said he “barely made it to Wilkerson Pass” before he had to stop and napped for about 45 minutes. He got home about 5 a.m. but couldn’t sleep. By 7 a.m., he was at the starting line for the Marathon on America’s Mountain.</p>
<p>An odd coincidence is that a man in the Leadville race asked Stanciu if he could pace him for the last 25 miles. Turns out he had been the “pacer” for Wardian in the last 50 miles in the Leadville race last year.</p>
<p>Even odder was that when Stanciu reached the summit of Pikes Peak on Sunday, he saw the same man who’d paced him the day before.</p>
<p>“His name is Josh and he’s from Vermont,” Stanciu said. “He’s a volunteer on the summit (for the Marathon).”</p>
<p>As Stanciu approached the finish line of the Marathon, disappointed in his time and that he’d failed to reach the goal of besting Wardian, he found solace and joy in something more important.</p>
<p>That’s when his daughter, Amy, came out of the crowd and joined him for the short run to the finish line. He crossed the line, holding her hand, knowing he’d accomplished what only two others had before.</p>