TransRockies Run 2009
by Don C.

I am one week removed from what I can say, bar none, was the most fulfilling athletic experience of my life! From all the days of college basketball to triathlons including nine Ironman’s and many marathons, bottom to top you will not find a better experience. This journey started when a friend of ours, Thomas Miller, “hooked” us into a race that involved a little running in Colorado . For those of you who do not know what TransRockies is about, here you go….6 days; 113 miles of trail running from Buena Vista, Co. via Leadville to Beaver Creek, Co.; 25,000 ft of elevation gain and more of descending; a peak of 12,700 ft; all with a partner. No better way to complete such a journey than with your best friend and the love of your life.

Day 1: As with all races the gamut of emotions was present: excitement, nervousness, fear of the unknown, a sense of calm to the necessity to trust your preparation…control all these, organize them….let’s get this race started! 10 am start today. HOT! 85 degrees at 9000 + feet - closer to the sun than I am accustomed to. DRY. I have been hydrating hard the last two days (and weeks), I am good... 133 teams of two. 20.83 miles. Course description: climb to mile 8ish , rolling terrain to the finish. Sandy, mixed single track and fire roads. No shade. As the gun sounds we jog a short mile to the trailhead then begin a conservative march up single track with all of our new friends. We spent the majority of day with Thomas and Moe. After the second checkpoint we stopped to take a few pics and realized we were on our own. We pressed on, in hindsight, much harder than we should have. E was strong. The last 2 hours she set the pace. We were not passed by any teams from Check Point (CP) 2 to the finish. Were we racing? Sure felt like it! The last three miles…a death march for me. 5:02 total time. I am nuked. To compress the next several hours…here ya go…full blown cramping, medics, the works. The rule: you need an IV, you must go to a hospital, then you are out the rest of the week. The decision, to orally hydrate and see what happens. Thanks to E, Matt, Brandi, Jonathan from Salt Stick and the athletic trainer who held my right foot for over two hours to keep my calf for cramping. Its midnight , just peed and we are moving forward to day 2.

Day 2: After a night of focused recovery and a complete reality check on “why” we are here, E and I decide to give it go. The strategy:  EZ…recover and enjoy the fruits of the hard work at the top. Course description: 10 miles. 5 miles up to 12,700 ft, 5 miles down. Climb 2,555 in 2.65 miles. 1st CP at the top of Mount Hope . FYI, the only way to get this aide station to the top, pack mules. If you need medical at the top, get in the helicopter. How about that for race logistics?! 2 mile mild fire road ascent to the entrance of the steepest single track I have ever seen. We enter into the climb with the last five teams. We stick to the plan. 2.5 hours of power walking at AT, now above tree line and we have made the ascent. All systems functioning! Total elevation gain 3098 ft.  Time to descend 3000+ feet to the finish. OK, my quads are officially shattered. FYI, the Leadville 100 goes over this 10 mile TWICE!

Day 3: The longest day of the week @24+ miles. Two tough climbs with 3000 ft of climbing. Leadville to Camp Hale (home of the 10^th Mountain Division. Very cool place.). Day 2 of DOMS is in full effect. By the way the field is moving, I am not the only one with a little soreness. After managing the first half with all the climbing - E and I were ready to start rolling. CP 2 took us to Ski Cooper and over the Continental Divide. A great mix of technical and smooth single track for 12 miles and we arrived to Camp Hale . Two miles of fire road and stage six was in the bag!  Time 6:10 .

Day 4: 14 miles and 4:25 minutes of the absolute most beautiful run I have ever experienced. Start with a 3000 ft fire road climb to a 360 degree view of the Colorado Rockies. Do we really have to come down? My quads really do not want to. Wait, this is the day with 3 miles to go you run “through” a river. Yes, you are in the 30 something degree shin deep H2O for just under a mile then 2 miles home to Red Cliff. What a day….

Day 5: Red Cliff to Vail. 23.4 miles with 4400+ feet of gain. By now, E and I have our groove. Manage the first half of race with power walking/slow jogging. Finish strong. E took the “finish strong” note to a different level. After hitting a high of 10,500 and rolling through some single track with epic views we popped out at the base of the back bowl in Vail, the Mongolia Bowl.  Traverse the switchbacks to the top, CP # 3 then a 10 mile descent home. BTW, CP 3’s theme of the day “Get Your Groove On”. Brandi, I never knew you had that in you! Did I mention finish strong? I think E knew Jay and G would be at the finish, she totally bombed it…THANK YOU Jay and G you got us home today. They have come for the last two days. Great friends. Race meeting on Stage 6 “...watch out for the black bears in Beaver Creek”. WTF!

Day 6: Vail to Beaver Creek. 21+ miles with 4600+ feet of climbing. We are finishing this one! You can feel it. The anticipation of the finish is overwhelming. Let’s roll…Wait, a huge climb then a brutal (this redefines brutal) descent. And now, you are making me go back up! Get to the base of Beaver Creek @ Mile 17 - the 109^th mile over 6 days and another climb. Let’s go. We buried our heads and powered....if you find yourself at this point in the race one day…remember, “I told you so!” Tough! It’s time to make the final descent to the finish.  It’s not a Chicago Marathon or Ironman with all the spectators and energy, but the emotion and sense of fulfillment is far more superior – I never thought that possible, until now. 32 hours 24 minutes and 10 seconds later E and I just completed the TransRockies 2009, together!   And BTW, black bears on Beaver Creek today!

To all those who made sacrifices to make this experience possible for us, THANK YOU! Thomas, the grandparents, c-man, the Run Wild staff, and all the staff / volunteers at TR thank you. E, you know how I feel about this one. Partners in ‘10?