Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon race director Ron Ilgen and I made plans for this year’s races on Friday when Ron looked over and said, “You’ll never guess who just asked to do the double.”

He was right, I couldn’t guess, so he told me. “Brandy Erholtz, I just got an e-mail from her.”

Smiles ensued as we realized the women’s race in the 60th running of the Pikes Peak Marathon had just become much more interesting. Not that it wasn’t already. Kim Dobson, the women’s record holder in the Pikes Peak Ascent, had committed to the marathon a week earlier. But now the race will include two of U.S. mountain running’s best. And there is always a darkhorse or two emerging from the pack.

Erholtz, 37, has won the Ascent twice (2008 and 2010). Dobson has three wins in the Ascent. They'll both race in the ascent at 7 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 15. Then line up for the marathon at 7 a.m. on Sunday. Running in both races on back-to-back days is one of the toughest quests in mountain running. Keri Nelson holds the women's doubler record with a 7:20:43 set in 2010.

We fired some questions off the Brandy and she hit them out of the park.

It's so cool that you have decided to double at Pikes Peak. What led you to this decision? A momentary lapse of insanity! Actually, I said I would "NEVER" run the double or even the marathon because of the downhill. I guess you should never say never. Matt (husband) and I were actually hiking a couple of weeks ago and he is the one who actually brought up the idea and suggested I use it as a training run for Trans Alps which is at the end of the month. At first I said no, but after some thought, I decided why not? I'm not getting any younger, and I'm healthy. It should be a fun challenge! 

We've watched you run up the mountain lots of times. Are you good on the downhill? And what makes a good downhill runner? I'm a much stronger climber than descender. However, with that said, I've made five U.S. Mountain Running Teams( had a narrow miss this year); two of which were up/down years and my best finish at Worlds was actually in 2009 which was an up/down year. I've also done well at the Barr Trail Mountain Race a couple of times which is also up/down. I'm continually working on my downhill technique but still have work to do. To be really good at the downhill, you have to be fast, relaxed and a bit fearless! I have a hard time with the fearless part.

So we have an interesting matchup now between you and Kim Dobson. What is it like racing against her? Kim is one of the nicest people I know and I'm proud to call her a friend. She is as tough as they come once the gun goes off. Neither of us has ever done the double before, or even the marathon, so it will be fun to see how it plays out. There will be many other strong runners to contend with. I think we both appreciate the gift of running and realize what a blessing it is to get to the line healthy.

Trans Alps sounds like a wild adventure. Tell us about it. Trans Alpine (see link above) is a race I've known about for a few years now and put it on my "bucket list". New Balance had an entry this year and I am fortunate to have the opportunity to race it at the end of the month with a previous mountain teammate, Chris Lundy. It's a stage race that runs through the Alps in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Italy. Over the course of eight days, we run  166-plus miles with a ton of elevation change. Here is a link to the stages.  Doing the double should be a great training weekend for it.