Thoughts on the Run

Snowy. That’s my race report. Thanks for coming! Ok, maybe a little bit more info here …

Back in 2009, this race was my first ever 26.2 miles. My wife was pregnant with our 4th child, I was working at a startup in a Director role, and following a training plan meticulously. That included 2am long runs at the gym.

Training this time? Ummm … I did 61 miles at a race in Kansas a month prior. Does that count? Not much since then.

Arriving at the starting line.
The ride up the canyon makes me sleepy. Granted, it’s 4:30 in the morning and the winding curves of the road while sitting in a comfy luxury bus cause that. Well, I’m a little sleepy now thinking about it, so maybe.

Not a whole lot to do at the starting line of this marathon. Really people are walking laps to stay warm as there’s nothing else to keep you warm. Some stand by the exhaust of the UPS truck (collecting bag drop) while others go the garbage bag look. Plus it is snowing. And the sun hasn’t come up yet. Cold.

While doing my laps around the parking lot, I ran into another Colfax Marathon Ambassador! Always fun to chat with fellow runners to talk about the upcoming Colfax Marathon weekend, other running events, and people we know. Happy people run better!

As the sun started to rise, it didn’t really get warmer. Fortunately, the race had a table of hot coffee and hot chocolate. That’s always nice!

Finally time to run. Plenty of snow falling from the sky as everyone gathers on the road. Someone sang the National Anthem and we were off! Not a lot of build-up, excitement, or hoopla. Kind of like … go!

Most of this course is downhill on the road. Lots of beautiful scenery. When not being poked in the eyes by the large snowflakes coming down. No need for music the first 10 miles as nature provided plenty. Fortunately, the roads were wet, but not enough to have wet feet. However, you know those signs that say “Bridges and Overpasses May Be Icy”? Yup, each one on this course was definitely icy.

It is a fun course, but there are only about 2 spots where you run into spectators. I’ve grown to be okay with running alone as it helps clear my head. At the same time, it’s fun go on group runs and hear stories from other runners.

Oh yeah, saw llamas and a horse. Only other place I have seen llamas on a race course is in Leadville.

Nothing really too exciting to talk about. Just inside my head, trying to move as quickly as I could on the 12 miles/week training I had done. Still, at the end of the day, I completed another 26.2 miles.

One of the cool things I decided to try while running the last block to the finish line was Facebook Live. The video was quite bouncy as I was not feeling fresh. Sorry about those that got nausea from watching. It was pretty cool though to be able to broadcast live video!

Oh wait, where’s my Taylor Swift reference? Yeah, this is the song that was playing as I approached the finish line which was written for the Olympics a few years ago:
https://youtu.be/-9LZVcy8_FA

Was bummed that the course photographers didn’t capture any pics of me. Oh well. There were only a few hundred of us, but still would have been nice. Post-race was a little chilly and mostly just bagels/fruit. The beer from New Belgium saved the party.

Overall, it’s a nice small race that you can spend some good solo time with beautiful mountain scenery, but also a bit pricey.