Breck Crest Mountain Marathon

Yesterday, I ran the Breck Crest Mountain Marathon.  I have been looking at this race for many years and finally took the plunge and did it.  It is phenomenal.  Phenomenally hard, phenomenally beautiful.  It is approximately 23 miles (They changed the course this year, though, and some veteran racers at the finish were saying that it was at least a mile longer).  The start is in the town of Breckenridge, you head south and up into the hills, climb above timberline and run the crest, above the ski resort, north, towards Frisco.  Here,  you descend and head south back to Breck.  Aside from the start and finish, it is mostly on singletrack trail and some service roads.  There is more than 9000 feet of elevation change (~4500 gain, ~4500 loss) and tops out around 12,400 feet.  Absolutely stunning views of the area looking down on Breck, Copper, Turquoise Lake near Leadville, Frisco and Lake Dillon.  The weather was absolutely perfect.  It was a sunny, calm, windless day. 

Near the start, looking to the hills, wondering where I was headed.

Logan bundled up at the start

Just prior to the start

Going into it, I felt like I had trained pretty well.  I knew I was lacking in some areas, but decided to just push myself as hard as I could and see what happened.  I was hoping to finish the race under 5 hours which would allot for a 12-13 minute mile.  I finished at 5:30.  I was bummed it took me so much longer than I'd hoped.  But I was also satisfied as I kept my heart rate up and never felt like I was lollygagging.  When we got to Breck on Saturday night, I realized I had left without my watch (what runner goes to a race without a watch?!).  I ended up buying a heart rate monitor and was glad I did.  Most of the time it was telling me to slow down, but it definitely helped me gauge my output.  I wish I had trained with one (all of ours had dead batteries and I was too lazy or busy or something to send them back for repair!).  I think I trained enough at altitude, but would add hill repeats and even more strength training if I do it again.  I needed more leg/lung power for sure.

I slogged up the initial climb in a long line of folks hiking above timberline.  Started running again once we reached the crest and was able to pass a bunch of people.   Passed Aid Station #2, continued along a singletrack trail with a steep slope on your left and a drop to the right.  It was pretty dizzying, actually.  I fell over in a slow motion sort of way at one point. No harm, no foul.  I hit the high point of the race (12, 400ft) and descended a ways on the west side of the crest.  Aid Station #3 is near the end of the serious climbing.  They were pretty much out of water by the time I got there.  That was disappointing to say the least.  I was hoping to fill my camelbak when I got there.  I continued on and started the major descent to Aid Station #4 where Brian and Logan were hopefully waiting to cheer me on.

Waiting for Mama to come through Aid Station #4

It was a pretty technical descent even after you got back below timberline.  I wasn't able to go quite as fast as I wanted due to the roots and rocks.  It was fun to come through the trees and see my boys.  They also had water!  Woo hoo!  I was feeling pretty miserable by then.

Descending to Aid Station #4

I was able to get more water at Aid Station #4 and headed south on the Peaks Trail to Breck.  I had in my mind that this section should be pretty easy, but it was defnitely rolling and 4 hours into it, it felt hard.  I passed some more folks (3 or 4 dudes!).  There were a lot of mountain bikers and hikers out on this trail (it is a popular one for day use), too.  Negotiating the traffic simply added another element.  Sorry folks, I'm not stopping for you even if you are supposed to have the right of way!

When I got to Aid Station #5, I saw a guy that I was friends with probably 15 years ago and we ended up running in to the finish together.  It was great to have someone to run with for the last couple miles.  He's training for a 100 miler in Moab in October, so this was just another training run for him.  Brian and Logan were waiting on the side of the bike path that leads to the finish.  I was happy to see them again and am very thankful for their support.  I went and sat in the creek for a while to cool my legs down and then we headed home.

A few paces from the finish line.