Sunday, Sept. 29, noon: With a convoy of friends running at his heels, Brandon Stapanowich made his final strides down Barr Trail to complete a 96-mile ultra run on Pikes Peak called "The Stank."

The easy-going runner from Manitou Springs started the adventure on Friday at 6:20 p.m. He finished at about noon on Sunday after scaling 30,000 vertical feet and tagging Pikes Peak's summit four times.

The Stank was his idea - cooked up along with fellow runner Brendan Trimboli - as a way to celebrate his 29th birthday. Stapanowich was determined to see it through.

With nearly two days worth of sweat and grunge clinging to him, Stapanowich was lucid and talkative at the finish. He said his body felt good ... considering.

"A lot of that goes toward going slow and pacing myself and trying to enjoy it," he said.

VIDEO: Interview with Brandon

There were times, though, when the Stank seemed like too much.

On Friday,  Jeff Mohrmann, Tom Caughlan, Jay Meservey and Stapanowich launched the voyage, but quickly felt the wrath of Pikes Peak. A relentless gale knocked wind chill temps to minus-5 degrees on the peak's treeless face and the climbing was miserable, though Stapanowich hit the summit in 3 hours, 28 minutes.

He later spent several hours in a fitful sleep in the Barr Camp restroom. Gave up. Changed his mind and forged on.

"I thought about quitting at least 20 times," he said.

Kelly Rottman - a friend who agreed to pace Stapanowich - met him at the summit on his third trip to the top. She said he wasn't exactly himself.

"Just a straight face, no movement," she said. "I hugged him. No hug back, nothing."

The two stayed at the summit for 30 minutes then began running down. Stapanowich found his legs and managed to run most of the way.

They grabbed some solid food at Stapanowich's house - he had eaten nothing but peanut butter and gels for 26 hours - and weighed the pros and cons of continuing.

"I think he wanted to stay," she said. "We went back and forth and finally decided to continue."

They climbed into the early hours of Sunday morning and took shelter from the wind under a rock, then tried to sleep in the A-Frame shelter at timberline. Rottman said it was impossible to sleep. They rested, tried to stay warm, and watched the sunrise.

Then they pushed for the final summit. With the sun still low in the eastern sky, Stapanowich and Rottman made the turn and hurried down Barr Trail.

Over the final miles, the ultrarunner who finished 13th this year in the Western States 100, showed some life. Area runner Dan Vega met the pair a few miles from the finish.

"It was like he hadn't even ran at all," Vega said with humor that only runners appreciate.

Stapanowich said the time on his feet (about 36 hours) has him thinking about a multi-day challenge. And he'd like to give The Stank another go. But he would choose a different schedule.

"With this experience, after things went sour, sort of at night ... nights were cold and windy and I wasn't comfortable making those trips up by myself, it inspired me to come back and maybe do it another time of year."

Stapanowich said The Stank would not have been possible without his pacers, Scott Bowman and Rottman, and the trio who ran with him at the start. He also thanked Amy Perez for helping to work out logistics, and many others for their contributions.

"The large and small gestures from so many helped more than you know," he wrote on Facebook.

(Editor's note: The following are updated reports filed as the event unfolded. Some of the info is repeated.)

Sunday, Sept. 29, sunrise: Brandon Stapanowich and pacer Kelley Rottman slept at A-Frame and are en route to the summit. They're expected to reach the top at 8:45 a.m. and return to the Barr Trail trailhead at about 1 p.m.

Congratulations to Tim Steffens and Katie Katalin who completed two round trips to the summit. They began at 6 a.m. Saturday and finished in the early morning hours on Sunday. Steffens and Katalin have experience in the Pikes Peak Ascent and Pikes Peak Marathon, but had never attempted a 50-mile ultra. (Best guess is that the mileage for two laps is about 47.)

Saturday, Sept 28, 7:20 p.m.: Brandon Stapanowich finished his third lap in the P.U. (Pikes Ultra: The Stank) and began his fourth-consecutive trip to the summit of Pikes Peak with his friend Kelly Rottman at 8:40 p.m. They anticipate a sunrise finish on Sunday morning.

Stapanowich is attempting to complete a 96-mile ultra run, four times up and down Pikes Peak. He began at 6:20 p.m. on Friday. From there, things got interesting.

Freezing and exhausted at 4 a.m. on Saturday, Stapanowich huddled by himself in the Barr Camp bathroom.

"I was just trying to get warm," he said after finishing his third lap on Saturday evening. "The time went kind of fast, so I think I must have slept a little."

At that point, he had traveled 30 miles to the top of 14,115-foot Pikes Peak, down to the Barr Trail trailhead, and then marched back up the mountain. But his first lap in a brutal wind and -5 windchill above timberline had taken its toll.

At sunlight on Saturday, Stapanowich made a difficult decision. He gave up and began walking back to his car.

And that lasted about three minutes.

"I was done, but then I talked myself into continuing," he said. "It was really cold last night and the wind was terrible. I thought trees might blow over on us."

Scott Bowman began pacing Stapanowich on the second lap, but reported on Facebook that the cold and wind made travel beyond Barr Camp impossible.

He wrote: "At midnight last night, I paced my friend up to Pikes Peak for his second consecutive ascent. We suspended the trip at Barr Camp. That's an elevation of 10,200 ft above sea level, nearly 4,000 ft of climbing, and 6.5 miles of uphill running to that point. We had attempted to ascend Pikes Peak, but stiff winds gusting to 60 mph, temperatures around 25 degrees (before wind chill), and lack of shelter prevented the completion of this ascent. Overall, about 17 miles of running for me."

Stapanowich began the trip on Friday evening with Jeff Mohrmann, Jay Meservey and Tom Caughlan. But one round trip was enough for them. The Pikes Peak quad was Stapanowich's idea, so he kept moving. When he made the decision to continue on Lap 2, the sun began to warm the landscape and he saw some familiar faces.

"That helped a lot, and I knew Tim (Steffens) and Katie (Katalin) were coming up," Stapanowich said. "That lifted my spirits."

Steffens and Katalin began at 6 a.m. on Saturday. They are attempting to complete two laps (about 47 miles.) They were ascending on their second lap and approaching Barr Camp at 7:20 on Saturday.

Friday, Sept. 27, 6:20 p.m.: The last rays of sunlight drained from the sky on Friday as the pioneering runners in the first "Pikes Ultra: The Stank" galloped up the initial switchbacks of Barr Trail at the base of Pikes Peak.

Brandon Stapanowich, Jeff Mohrmann and Jay Meservey were off on a big adventure, attempting four consecutive trips to Pikes Peak's 14,115-foot summit and back. Tom Caughlan joined them, though he planned to make two laps.

"Anxious and a little nervous," Stapanowich said when asked how he felt before embarking. "I found out today that when you really want to take a nap, there's is no way you'll go to sleep."

A talented runner sponsored by Pearl Izumi, Stapanowich and fellow runner Brendan Trimboli created the idea for a Pikes Peak quad earlier this year. They were inspired by many crazy feats performed on America's mountain.

"We talked about the guy who spent 21 days pushing a peanut up the mountain with his nose," Stapanowich wrote in his blog at PikesPeakSports.us. "The conversation then shifted to Dennis Wied who made a record setting Five ascents in 24 hours with helicopter/automobile assisted descents. Five ascents 24 hours is unbelievable but helicopters are hard to come by these days."

Stapanowich figured it would be a good way to celebrate his birthday (he turned 29 this week), and began advertising the event on Facebook in August.

As low clouds moved along the foothills and a cool wind scraped the treetops, Stapanowich rummaged through supplies in the back of his SUV. Meservey taped some padding onto road rash - the results of a bike wreck. Mohrmann mumbled about the chill in the air - the first cool weather in months. The chances of snow late Friday and early Saturday were good. But that wasn't the biggest concern. It's going to be extremely cold above timberline.

"I was aware of the forecast for snow," Stapanowich said. "But that minus 5-degree windchill is a little scary. The key will be to keep moving and don't waste time at the top."

The runners planned to stick to Barr Trail. Completing the quad would include 94 miles of singletrack and about 30,000 feet of climbing. There is an option to climb the Incline and descend Barr  to make it an even 100, "but that will be a game-time decision," Stapanowich said.

If anyone can do Pikes Peak four times fast, he can. Stapanowich finished 13th in the Western States 100 this year and was seventh in the Leadeville 100 in 2012.

He has becoming something of a folk hero among local ultrarunners. He created the "Inclinathon" in 2012, and finished 13 circuits on the gnarly, lung-searing Incline in 11 hours and 47 minutes.

This year, he focused on Pikes Peak and a feat that (to his knowledge) hadn't been attempted since 1994 when Scott Weber organized the "Pikes Peak Quad." Mark McDermott, 32, of Colorado Springs, won that race in 33 hours and 10 minutes, a course record at the time. There were seven climbers that year. All finished, but deep snow and ice at the summit forced the competitors to install a fixed rope to ensure their safety over the top 1,000 feet.

Runners this year will have plenty of water, Gatorade and food at the trailhead, and may have a few supplies at Barr Camp.

Stapanowich said he'd like to finish in 24 to 30 hours.

"I hope to be done by Sunday," he said.

How fast can they travel at night?

"I'm hoping for six-hour laps," Caughlan said. "But I'm really doing this more to keep Brandan company."

The Stank is an accommodating event. Runners can do as many laps as they wish. With lots of experience in the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon, Tim Steffens and Katie Katalin will aim for a two-lap 50-miler beginning at 6 a.m. Saturday.