Sunday, January 16, 2011

Quick Posterior Wrap-Up

It was an excellent day down in Manitou/Colorado Springs for a long run in the mountains.  The first annual Ponderous Posterior Pikes Peak 50K ended up drawing somewhere between 50 and 90 runners across the three distances (a big range, I know, but I'm sure JT has a bit more precise count), and everyone enjoyed temperatures in the 50s and a good mix of snow and dirt out on the trails.

Pikes Peak Sports provided some surprising coverage of the event, which can be found here.

Steve Bremner of Team CRUD also has a photo gallery posted here.

As far as I could gather in between post-run beverages, the final top 50K results went something like this:

1) Justin Ricks 5:19
2) Scott Jaime 5:19
3) Anton Krupicka 5:24
4) Scott Jurek 5:24
5) Jacob Rydman 5:24
6) Joe Grant 5:24

(Again, I'm sure JT has much deeper results.)

I don't know what Justin and Scott were doing up in the 8:00am wave, but I do know that the group I ran with all day (starting at 9:00am) was very liberal in its stopping to eat gels, chatting/waiting at trail junctures, and general soaking up of the gorgeous views and weather.  Our actual running time was 4:49 and I chatted with many runners who Garmined the course right at 31 or 32 miles with ~7000' of vertical gain.  All in all pretty much exactly the kind of times/efforts I expected on the route.

An enormous expression of gratitude must be directed at JT for the gracious offering up of his home for staging the before and after aspects of the event and also to the Team CRUD guys for marking the course excellently, printing maps, and hosting an informal but appreciated and effective aid station at the Waldo Canyon TH parking lot on Highway 24.  Let's make this an annual one!

Joe and Scott head for the hills with the 9am wave. Photo: Jenny Uehisa.
Popping some GUs at the Waldo Canyon turn-off in Williams Canyon. Photo: Alex Nichols.
jLu exiting Williams Canyon on the 17mi course. Photo: Jenny Uehisa.
At the finish with Joe and Scott. Photo: Jenny Uehisa.

15 comments:

  1. You know it's a pretty good field when Justin, Scott, and Matt C are in the JV wave...

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  2. We were pretty casual too. Waldo for about 5 minutes and Justin waited for me at the top of Longs. Like you, he ran all of Longs. I could only hang for 1/2. And then we added on section 16 (for good measure) and took a tour of Red Rocks, probably a mile detour. Someone had pulled the flagging and didn't see the faint "NO" on the trail.

    All in all it was a good time! GZ makes some brew! If you would have started in the 8 wave you could have tried some and not that nasty Yellow Pils you were drinking. Good catching up with you, Joe, and Scott for a bit. See you at Chuckanut.

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  3. Yeah - pretty easy for us as well. I left a few of the brews in the fridge ...

    Tony - I was definitely one of the guilty party that had only run Barr when in the Springs. I can see the allure of the Springs that you speak of with all those trails. Pretty dang epic.

    Jonathon (don't know his last name - but he does the awards at BTMR) showed us a side trail (further west) of Ute (single track) that was pretty nice. We also got a little turned around coming down and off Int past the Cog. Caught back up to things though off Manitou Ave ... Sean O was a great guide for us.

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  4. I visited Bear, but wouldn't have had light left to get over to Green and back down to Eldorado before dark. With you out of town I figured they'd miss the pitter patter.

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  5. Tony, thanks for designing the route! I'll be making monthly trips down there just to enjoy some of those trails more. tl

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  6. Nice seeing you out there. Brooks and I had this great plan to talk a bunch of shit as you and the boys caught us, but we were bitching a bit too much to each other that you caught us by surprise!

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  7. I definitely regret missing this run. Its gatherings like this that convince me that ultrarunning is for me. I will be joining the CRUD runs as much as I can this winter.

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  8. Great course Tony! I felt like I got the grand tour of the PP trails outside of the obvious Barr Trail. We will for sure keep the Front Range fat-ass series tradition alive.

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  9. Anyone know what shoes Scott was wearing during the "race"?

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  10. I love how you guys do a 50k like its just a warm up for the year.

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  11. Regarding Adam's comment - they almost look like some kind of hybrid between the Green Silence and the Cascadias. I wonder if they are a test shoes. Notice the split in the sole next to the big toe.

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  12. Looks like fun!

    Congrats on your ranks in the UROY votes. You and the other top guys (Mackey included) really raised the bar of the sport in 2010. It's been fantastic to watch! You guys continue to push the envelope.

    Personally, I think your performance at Leadville put you #1 in my book. It's one thing to have a bunch of wins, but a true champion will not quiet until he has found his limits. In my book a perfect season is CR's, championships, and at least one spectacular blow up shooting for an "untouchable" record. Bravo!

    SD

    SD

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  13. Tony:
    I was not at this event but what impresses me is how accesible you and the other top runners are to the rest of the ultra community. I can't think of another sport where an amature athlete can rub shoulders with the best of the best. Thanks!

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  14. I'm 55 and started a running comeback in June 2010 with powerwalking. Now 43 pounds lighter and having transitioned running into my training, I just won my age group in a 15K this weekend - you and Scott keep me inspired to keep on keeping on!

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