Hang Nine

AM – in the dark of the late sunrise in Duluth Georgia.  I found a nice park to explore around and a hill or two that I might do some problem solving on later this week.  10 miles.

Check this out.  They are indeed amazing.

Saturday – 6.8 miles, running practice with the XC kids. 

Afternoon – another 5 miles on the Ridgeview Ditch loop.  Moved pretty well after the first mile.

Sunday – 10 miles.  Hot.  Moving pretty well but I took a spot or two in the shade to get temp back to reasonable.

After the last three weeks being in the mid 50s because of travel, burro races, pacing, etc, I bumped over 70 again this week (72.6).  2428.3 on the year, over 317 and half hours, and 119k feet of climb.

There is the question as to what I am training for.  There were a couple of attempts at a mile (or near distance) in June, but travel and other activities kept me from following up on that much in July or August.  The Pikes itch came about recently as I saw results from that race, but obviously that is over 51 weeks out so that is not a near term target.

Truth is that when I am asked this, I say what it is:  Life.  The run is a good escape for me everyday to consider family, work, my person, and to enjoy the outdoors a bit.  Occasionally I share this with someone, but most of it is my own time.  With XC starting, some of it is running with the coaches or the kids but that is a different focus.  At one point I thought I’d be able to get some workouts in with the kids, but that is not the purpose of that. 

I have been toying with the idea that I just need to come up with something where I tag workouts twice a week for the next six weeks, but I am a bit uncertain if I will do that given my work travel is really increased through the remainder of the year. 

The short of it is, I am okay with my running as a consistent activity in my life without it having to be goal driven to a race.  Mostly that is. 

AM – New kicks. Those always feel good. 

Out on the Lac Amora loop – 8 miles.  It was hot even early.

Afternoon – 5.7 with the coaches into Lac Amora.

5.1 miles and then over to practice where I got in another 3 miles with the team as they did a workout.

10.5 but split over the XC practice.  Easy.

AM – down in Centennial in the AM for a gig down here.  Got in 8 along the Willow Creek Trail. 

Back to Broomfield after the mind buzzing Leadville pacing weekend.

AM – 5 miles, including a couple with TZ to get up for the morning.

PM – 5.4 miles with the team.  They did hills.

There was that crazy eclipse thing today.  Light is an amazing thing.

Okay – quick review of the week:

Tues/Wed – travel from CO to Ames to get KZ set at ISU. 
Thursday – fly from Des Moines to Pittsburgh for work (TZ drives home, bangs that drive out in a day where she is home by 3 in the afternoon – WTF)
Work the day in Pittsburgh, enjoy Primanti Bros in Market Square while watching the Pirates on the big screen and then enjoying the rain over Market Square.
Friday – work all day, fly back to Denver.  Get wheels down in Denver at 11:40, get home about 12:30AM (so Saturday).

Saturday … head up to Leadville at 6AM to get there by 8 so that I can start pacing duties for Bob.  Meet Tom (Bob’s brother) and Jeff (childhood friend of Tom’s).  My job is to pace Bob from Winfield (mile 50) over Hope Pass to Twin Lakes (mile 60) (and with a nice 3000 foot plus climb in there) and then pass him off to Jeff.  Jeff will take him from Twin Lakes to the Outward Bound (mile 76ish) aid station.  My job is then take Bob from there over the Powerline to Mayqueen (mile 87ish).

Short version:  a huge success.  Bob ran 19:33:13, ended up seventh, PRd by nearly 80 minutes.

The long version … I guess I could do a blow by blow here but these sort of things are a bit of a blur, and frankly – you know how it goes.  A few highlights.

• The Winfield to TL leg Strava junk.
• The OB to MQ leg Strava junk.
• This year’s race had the leg out of Winfield head out on the “Krar” loop (I call it that as that is what he did a few years ago when he went off course, didn’t go back to where he went off, but still was allowed a win).  I botched my first job as the pacer and missed the turn from the road up onto the Sheep Gulch Trail.  My excuse – poor as it is – is that we got focused on avoiding a car coming down.  Apparently several missed this turn (including Sharman).  From what I can tell on Strava, this cost Bob about 5 minutes.  This leg makes the course about 1.5-2 miles longer than recent prior years.
• Shortly after this while Bob was buzzing the run hard (under 8 pace – which is incredible after 50 miles at 10k feet) on the Sheep Gulch Trail, he went to pass a guy and went down.  This was not a good first 15 minutes out of Winfield.
• To top it off, he was not happy with the dilute measure of the Tailwind.  So we had three things going against us to start.
• Once we got going up the actual Hope Pass climb, we got back to normal.  My observation:  I had this sudden recollection of how evil that climb was.  I was only 4 miles into running and I was blown away at how freaking steep that thing was.  I know folks say Carpenter ran every step of the run when he set the record but I don’t think he ran that.  I had this “holy crap, how did I do this?” thing going through my head. 
• Bob’ success this year was not that he ran fast at any moment, but that he kept moving and when he could run at all, he ran.  This meant that the climbs (Hope, out of Twin, Powerline) were mostly walks, but even on the flats or the downs in the Powerline, it was getting back to a run.
• There was a nice epic puke session within the first quarter mile out of O/B.  Classic sort of AJW sort of stuff, and I was really bummed that I did not have my camera.  I was carrying so much stuff in my pack (as I knew we'd hit dark going into MQ) for the two of us, that I decided not to bring the phone. It was bummer because the light on Rte 300 was perfect as he brought back all that broth. I was definitely disappointed I missed that and the faces of the horrified folks who drove by as he was doing it in the middle of the road.

Heading out of Twin.
Climbing Hope Pass inbound
Coming into Half Pipe inbound

Of course, there are many many other stories within the story (I have new crew and pacer insights) and then there are so many other stories from the weekend (including Leadville, Pikes) but at this point it is just best to compliment Bob on an incredible run.  The guy reached a level of suffering that I had a front row seat to for 1/4 of his run.  It had me wondering if I’d ever do that race again and juggling the idea of “I need this” and “no, never do I need to do that to myself again.”  I am so happy and honored to have played a little piece in this game for the weekend – and to have shared this day with my friend. 

A few more pix from Neeraj:

Pikes – Gray wins the Ascent by 10 minutes (2:08).  First timer Abrha wins in 2:42.  Keep in mind a 2:35-2:40 was a winning time on the women’s side for a long time, but the whole game shifted with Dobson running 2:24.

Bonnet’s performance of 3:37 with a 2:16 climb (which would have netted him second in the Ascent the day before) has to be considered the performance of the weekend, but Mascarenas coming down in 1:29 is pretty amazing.

I can’t help but go through this weekend, look at Pikes results, look at Leadville results and consider this guy (pic taken from his Incline Club page)

There was some chatter that perhaps Joe Gray could break his Ascent record.  Even if he had done that, it would likely be viewed with some sort of “yeah but” asterisk as Carpenter sent the Ascent record of 2:01 while DOING THE MARATHON.   It is just a ridiculous record.  Breaking 2:10 in the climb at Pikes is ridiculous.  The level of amazing gets 10x better with each minute below that.  2:05 is that world class level that we see Gray at.  2:01 is other worldly.

But Carpenter’s historical dominance over this last weekend is not reserved for Manitou.  No, he also wrote the record book in Leadville in classic Carpenter fashion (a Phoenix story of sorts).  While Sharman has a throat choke on the race now, Carpenter would have finished nearly an hour ahead of him on their best days (begin side debate of how course changes impact those times now if you are a true Leadville nerd).

The third weekend in August is one of the best weekends for mountain racing anywhere because of Pikes and Leadville.   Matt Carpenter is the legend of those weekends as Santa is to Christmas. 

And even with a hat tip to very solid performance by Sharman and Gray this weekend, it is clear who is still the king. 

Left Kali in Ames.  I then headed to Des Moines to fly to Pittsburgh. 
10 miles in Pittsburgh on a very humid evening. 

We overnighted in Omaha.  We snuck out for a quick run on the south west side of town before heading over to Ames, and getting slaughtered by rain on I80.

Iowa State has a beautiful cross country course, and they have hosted the NCAA XC Championships multiple times.

We got KZ to Ames, into her dorm, and then TZ and I headed back down to Des Moines.  From there I headed off to Pitt for work.  More pix on all of this once I get settled.

We headed out for Ames today to bring KZ to Iowa State.  Before heading out, I got in six and change with the team. 

Women’s 800:  it is clear there is a situation that is somehow unfair.  It is either unfair to the women competitors who are performing at lower testosterone level than Semenya (current) (or similar athletes) or it is unfair to Semenya who can’t compete without some hormone “therapy” or some other category or whatever.  Still – the current 800 meters on the world stage – has become a farce when there is so much said about having a level playing field in competition.  There are some that I have discussed this with and have said my take on this topic is sexist or even racist.  I don’t see it that way.  I don’t have a problem with Semenya as a person but I just don’t think it is fair for her to race women who are chemically disadvantaged in comparison.  As said on LR:  there seems to be no denying that the gold and silver medals were in some ways handed out on July 27, 2015, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport lifted the IAAF’s rule requiring women with hyperandrogenism to reduce their testosterone to no more than 10 nmol/L. Prior to that ruling, Semenya hadn’t been able to break 2:02 for 800 in more than 2 years. In 2015, she ran five 800s before the ruling, none faster than 2:04.19 and her yearly best in 2014 was 2:02.66. A month and a day after the ruling she ran 1:59. Now she’s negative-splitting a 1:55.  This is her 19th straight win at 800. When you don’t have a womb or ovaries but do have internal testes and more than 3 times as much testosterone as the average woman, it’s an advantage.

Other world champs news takes:

• It was fun to see the American women take 1-2 in the steeple.  Not taking anything away from the efforts of Coburn / Frerichs (if anything, complimenting them for taking advantage of) but the Kenyans were losing that race off of crap hurdle form, as well as falling asleep on when to do the first water jump.
• Bolt:  his legacy makes him the GOAT in the sprinter world but I have to say there is a part of me that is glad to see him go as we have had to hear him bemoan training and hard work for way too long.  While I am no Gatlin fan, it looked to me that Bolt got beat by guys who worked harder than him.  Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard.
• Farah:  he got outkicked fair and square on the last 400.  You can call that team tactics and that the Ethopians pulled a “fast one” on him.  Farah could have controlled that race if he wanted to (unless that 13:11 second half of the 10k did leave him wracked enough to only pop a 13:32 in the 5k).

Busy week for me here:  work getting KZ off to college, JZ starts HS, XC practice starts this week, I got some time in Pitt and then pacing Bob over in Leadville at the tail of the week.

I’ll post up a Buena Vista Gold Rush Days Pack Burro race (yesterday) soon enough – along with some closing thoughts on the season, pack burro racing, etc (short version is we were third yesterday).

First day of practice for XC (5 easy miles for me).

Evening – 5 miles, feeling good.  Officially rolled through the 750 Club today with this run (even on a down August).

Buena Vista always is a different race in the so called Triple Crown of Pack Burro Racing.  As I understand the story, the idea of the Triple Crown originated in Buena Vista when Oscar Chapa and Curtis Imrie came up with the idea in 78 after seeing the country memorized by the horse racing Triple Crown.  BV was supposed to be third leg and where the “crown” was ultimately won.

The BV race is different than the other two legs. While Fairplay and Leadville grind up to Mosquito Pass, the highest point in on the BV course is not even as high as the low points near the start of the other courses.  The BV course is significantly shorter at its 12-13 miles (more on that in a second) and is track is relatively buttery smooth compared to the washed out rocky mining roads that climb high in the Fairplay and Leadville.

I first did BV in 2012 and it seems the course has changed nearly every year I have done it.  That first year we started on the west side of Route 24 by Gold Rush Days.  In 2013 (I was not there) there was apparently a long and a short course.  In 2014 we started by the railroad tracks on the east side of 24.  Last year modifications to the Midline bike trail seemed to extend the course from just under 12 miles to 12.9.  And then this year, while we finished four blocks to the east of where we started, a change in the trail again made the course about 13.5 miles.  Some years when we have gone on to the Midline Loop we have been allowed to make our own call if we want to go on it clockwise or counter clockwise.  Other years we are mandated to go in one direction.  No other race even has such a “pick your loop direction” option.

Additionally as there has typically only been one race – there is no short course or long course winner – there is just one winner.  This means that those racers that have been doing the long courses over the prior two weeks now face racers that have only been doing short course races.  And that in current times means the “minis” that never seem to go long and don’t have the weight requirement of 33 pounds for their saddle show up.  The little donks out of John Vincent’s stable have been a force in the shorter courses and while are not  a threat in the long races at Fairplay and Leadville, they are competitive at BV (and to their credit in the short courses at those other towns too).

And … there is a different feel to BV.  It seems to be no secret that the town is not sure how to handle the race.  It seems to be a scramble and an afterthought.  The prize money is significantly less than the other races as well.  That is not really a huge deal but it is another measurable attribute of how it is different.  Rumors on the street this year were that the town was looking to dump the race in the future, as they just “didn’t get it.”

There are things of course that are the same:  donkey, the community of those that race them and are around these races, the bridge over the Arkansas River, the Whipple Trail and the Midline Trail.  And a finish in town that seems to create havoc with the donks.

Here’s another historic wrinkle:  the Triple Crown does not always end in Buena Vista.  In fact, when Jack and I won it in 2015, it finished in Leadville.  Boom Days has historically been the first full weekend in August, which was tied back to when miners got paid in some regard.  If the Friday was of the weekend was in July – then Boom Days got pushed.  This happened in 2015 and so BV was the second race in the circuit.  I have heard that BV was rather upset about this and accused Leadville Boom Days organizers of stealing the Triple Crown thunder. 

I can’t say the shift hurt the bid that Jack and I put in that year.  After winning Fairplay and Leadville in back to back weeks in 2012 and 2014, we came up short in BV both times.  The change in 2015 meant we had a week in the middle where there was a shorter run, and a softer course that probably was kinder to Jack’s feet.  Our Triple Crown was different in that regard.

For what it worth, when Hal Walter won the TC in 2013, his was different too.  He edged Jack and I with Full Tilt Boogie in Fairplay, but did not win the Leadville race outright.  He was the first male finisher but was second to Karen Thorpe and Kokomo there.  She won the women’s Triple Crown by way of being the first woman in all the races, and Hal won it for men by being the first male.  I think the 18 mile course at BV that year probably helped his chances there also.

This is not to short change any of those Triple Crown efforts.  It is pretty hard to win one of these races.  To “catch lightning in a bottle” and win three in a 14 day span is ridiculous.  As far as I know, only five men teams have done it, including Jack and me (2015), Hal and Full Tilt Boogie (2013), Bobby Lewis and Wellstone (2010) and then apparently Tom Sobal and Ardel Boes.  I have a long overdue project to determine what years those guys won it and with what burros but the info is not easily gathered.  On the women’s side Karen and Kokomo won it in 2013 and this year Catlin Jones and Titus won it.  Apparently Barb Dolan won it more times than people have fingers but again, that information is not well documented.  Yet.

From what I can gather while the Triple Crown was kicked off in the 70s, it sort of became a lesser thought in the late 80s and 90s.  It picked up in interest again in the 2000s and this past decade.  So there might been folks that won it, but it was sort of not a big deal for a bit.  This seems to reflect the responses I have got out of Ardel (Oscar) and Tom.  When I have emailed them as to what years they won it, they are not really sure.  It almost seems they went out and raced the races and didn’t worry much more about the connection over a few weeks.

These days the Triple Crown seems to be THE talk though in burro racing.  The other races are consider a “pre season” of sorts (or Victor is a post season).  Once some one wins Fairplay the immediate chatter is “are they going to win the Triple Crown.”

There is also the odd aspect of this that supposedly a person has to be a member of the Western Pack Burro Association to win the Triple Crown.  According to some if you win all three races and are not, you have not won the Triple Crown but just three races.  I personally think that is ridiculous but I recognize that the WPBA does not have to give the 500 award if you didn’t pay your 35 dollar dues before the Fairplay race. 

I poked a bees nest this year when I heard that Fairplay winner Kirt Kordcamp and Mary Margaret were not WPBA members.  When I asked on FB if they were folks thought I was taking a poke at him not possibly being a winner because of such a technicality.  I was actually poking at the ridiculous nature of the rule, and not that team.  As it turned out they were members.  And as it turned out, they didn’t win any of the other races other than Fairplay. 

But when you win Fairplay, you are on the “will they win the Triple Crown” train.  Folks are all over that in Leadville the next week.  It has fizzled out before getting to BV the last two years on the men’s side, which just shows how hard it is to win these things.  No donkey has won two of the races since 2015 (and even when Jack did it in 2012 and 14, we came up short those years).

There are also these traveling trophies that go with the whole show.   I got one in 2015 and it is to travel with me until the next men’s winner.  Recently the women’s trophy was “found” along with a third trophy.  There is probably a whole history and set of stories that go with what these trophies have seen.

The 2017 version of this race had Jack and I come in third.  After a chaotic start (a mammoth donk got loose), and the climb up the Whipple, the race seemed to be down to about 7 or 8 teams including Kirt / MM, Andrew and Crazy Horse (John Vincent’s mini), Hal and FTB, Catlin and Titus and Louise and Pandora (and I think Paul Anderson)  There were others in the mix on the road out of the Whipple but once we made the left up turn (to go clockwise) it broke open.  Hal asked me “do you like to run?”  And when I replied yes, he growled “well let’s run!” and we busted up the hill in a move that splintered off most of the field.  It was great to run elbow to elbow with Hal and uphill like this after sharing so many miles with him.

Through the single track, Kirt and MM seemed very intent on leading.  It the tighter curves, he’d pull away with Andrew and CH on his heels but on the straighter stretched, Jack and I will roll them back up.  As we came back onto the road after an hour on the single track, these three teams that had gone back and forth had separated significantly from everyone else.  Kirt made a great move to slip in front of Jack and I as we dropped back onto the Whipple and he got a pretty large gap on us.

As we came back off the bridge Jack and I were down probably 80 meters, but I could tell we were moving well and making up ground.  I was not sure if we’d have enough runway to do it before the finish or before Jack got less than enthused for running into town, but we were making a go of it.  We cut it in half, and then in half again.  With 100 yards left it looked like we might be able to get it.  And then all at the same time, Jack decided he did not like the crowds at the finish, Andrew and CH came blowing by us and Kirt started to struggle with MM at the finish.  Knowing my fate, and recognizing that Jack was not going to magically create a difference at this point, I watched as Andrew /CH stole the win as MM turned completely around at the finish. 

That was a burro race. 

Catlin came in a few minutes later, just after Hal – fifth overall and securing her third win and hence winning the women’s TC.  If tradition holds true, she will be awarded the women’s trophy at the awards dinner in September.

It was a pretty amazing season for Jack and me.  We had a 2nd (Georgetown) after a poor start, a third (Idaho Springs) after a tough fall in the ravine, a close 2nd at Fairplay, a win at Leadville and 3rd at BV.  All podium finishes.  He is an incredible partner in these endeavors. 

I’ll push the thought here:  no donkey was better on whole this season.  He was first to the pass in both the long races, podium’ed more than any other donkey, had the lowest “score” in the TC, the lowest sum time, and won the most prize money. 

And a step further – no donkey has been as good over the last half dozen years.  He has won Leadville six years straight, won Fairplay three of those years, and came in second the other times.  He has never finished lower than sixth at BV.

It is clear we have lost a little step in our overall speed over the last few years, but he is still a greatly competitive donkey with results like that.  That, and the relationship I have with him are one of the primary reasons I keep coming back.

Still, I have wondered if I will return in 2018.  These events have a way of taking over your summer … and frankly there is a desire to explore some other things or to consider returning to some other projects (Pikes for example). 

In past years, I think I have been able to steer away from what some of us in the game call “donkudrama.”  It is a term that refers to how people in this “sport” create various drama.  If you think about it, donkey don’t really care about a Triple Crown – right?  Or if you are a member of the WPBA.   But there are layers of drama that the people create.  There is debate on whether minis should carry the same weight as other donkeys.  There are opinions if uncut jacks ought to be in the field.  Or jennies in heat.  Or if we should have split race starts or a combined start.  There are people who give their donkey a smack on the tail with the rope and others who refuse to do that and think it is wrong too.  There is a tension in the sport tied to its growth.  There are folks like Bill Lee and the Wanns who are bringing new people to the sport and in significant numbers.  And there are people who don’t like that and don’t like the idea of people racing with donkeys when they have not trained with them significantly.   There are folks who don’t like the media attention or the filming of the sport (some people really hate drones). The sport is feeling its own growing pains – not dissimilar to what ultras have seemed to have gone through in the last dozen or so years.  I think in past years I have avoided the fray with this but this year I have “poked that bear” a few times … and contributed to the “donkudrama” myself  … and I am bit disappointed in myself for doing that and getting worked up about those things.  It might be time to let it breathe a bit.  I remind myself that none of this matters to Jack.  Right?

AM -6.1 miles with Greg and the team down into Josh’s Pond.

Afternoon – 5 miles on the typical loop for that.  

If you love track, you have to watch this.

Slightly less oppressive with the heat and the humidity this AM, but I still looked I had just walked out of the wrong end of the car wash when I was done with my run.  4 miles easy.

Evening – again a bolt out post a day in the office and prior to heading to dinner.  The weather app on the phone had the ambient as 94 but the “feels like” as a 112 because of the humidity.  I am actually okay on the first two miles or 15 minutes of these runs but then I become a sopping mess as my core temperature rises.  I did 10x minute on minute off.  Interestingly, for four miles and on the same route as my tempo for yesterday, it took me about 30 seconds slower (today).  Basically, there ain’t a lot of room above tempo because of the lack of quality in my training diet.

I came home this AM and was relatively fried.  I was eager to get out and run in some cooler temps, but any relief I got from that was offset by a heavy feeling in the legs.  I cut the Lac Amora loop short.  5.7 miles

Slightly less oppressive with the heat and the humidity this AM, but I still looked I had just walked out of the wrong end of the car wash when I was done with my run.  4 miles easy.

AM – in Florida.  6AM, 85 degrees and probably 80 percent humidity.  A four mile run that looked like a swim when I was done.  I could feel the breathing …

PM – I find that while it is still hot and oppressive with the humidity in the afternoons, it is usually not as bad … maybe the sun burns off some of that humidity so it just feels like a raw heat versus a sweat fest.  Pressed for time between leaving the office and a dinner – 4 miles.  The way I was breathing I’d call this a tempo.

AM – raining.  It is so rare that we get a regular in Colorado that folks were asking (well, freshman parents) if there was practice this AM.

Umm, yes.  No lightning so we are good.

I did a short run.  My legs were a little fatigued from yesterday’s effort but the shortness was more because I needed to head to the airport for a travel gig this week.  It might be as humid as rain when I get there. 

3.4 miles.

The Leadville Boom Days Pack Burro Racing race course has been the most successful venue for Jack and me.  Jack has six victories here, with five of those coming with me as his handler (2012, 14, 15, 16, and 17) (he also got a victory there with Jeff Bennett in 2011).  A combination of being able to “stick with the race” through the climbs, make a solid descent and enjoy the smooth track of the asphalt in the lower California Gulch descent has lined up for a handful of victories there.

Of course with Curt and Mary Margaret winning last week in Fairplay there was chatter about a run at the Triple Crown (a win at Fairplay, Leadville and Buena Vista).  I get the impression that folks think this is almost an automatic thing after someone wins Fairplay.  I’d put forth its pretty damn hard.  First, to win one of these races is difficult.  Winning multiple is really hard.  And winning all three … well since only 5 teams have done that since 1978 … I think that spells it out. 

Jack and I actually won the first 2 races in 2012 and 2014 but were unable to complete the task until our third go at it in 2015.  The Triple Crown requires a donkey that is strong on the long courses and climbs that are posed to them at the higher elevations races of Fairplay and Leadville but can also pitch a fast run at Buena Vista (where the high point of that course is lower than the lowest points of the other two runs).  Additionally, while a Triple Crown racer is obliged to have the same donkey every week, anyone else can show up fresh or with a fresh  donkey any week.  In 2012, after winning Fairplay and Leadville a fresh Bobby Lewis and Wellstone showed up to win the BV race even though we had not seen them all season. 

It ain’t impossible but it ain’t easy. 

But with the right donkey, the right runner, and some lightning caught in a bottle, it can happen.  I was lucky to experience that with a once in a lifetime donkey Jack in 2015.  And here in Leadville, he proved once again he is something special with another win. 

The race always starts quick out of Leadville, but unlike Fairplay in its climb to Mosquito Pass, we almost immediately start a significant climb up the hill (in Fairplay there is a five mile “stroll” along Route 9 that is relatively flat).  We also start long course racers separate from short course racers.  I think this keeps the pace a bit easier in the get go but a near seven minute mile up Lake County Road 3 at 10000 feet always is a stiff wake up call.

This year the tough start was further challenged by Smokey getting loose from his handler Brian Metzler. Smokey blew through the field, kicking, losing his saddle and impeding other race teams.  Bob and Alice attempted to coral Smokey but he was not going to be easily managed.  It created a rougher start at the half mile but we soon hit the dirt of the climb and as expected soon there were only three teams:  Hal / FTB, Curt / MM and Jack/me.  Hal and I managed to get a bit of daylight between us and Curt but once we crested the first climb and dropped into the little valley, Curt /MM were right back with us. 

Once we passed through the stream Hal / FTB made a bit of a gap on Curt/MM and Jack and me but Jack and me were able to cover it a bit better on the steeper loose rock road.  We bridged the gap to Hal and I as I looked back I could see Curt had been over taken by Catelyn Jones and Titus.  We had a significant lead as we got above treeline but I knew that if we descended slowly we’d be likely caught by Curt / FTB again.

We crested Mosquito Pass at 1:52 after mostly walking the upper stretches.  While there is no “First Ass to the Pass” award at Leadville, I always look to get that in case something is switched up at the award assembly.  I motivated Jack around FTB after trailing them for nearly all the climb to get around the Mosquito Pass sign with him first, only a stride ahead of Hal /FTB.

As we came down, we came by Catelyn/T at 1:55, or at least six minutes ahead.  There were two other teams next (Walker, Grahme) at 1:59, and then Curt / FTB at 2:00.  That meant we had at least 16 minutes on Curt.  I doubted we’d hold him off but he looked like he was moving pretty slowly.

Hal moved ahead a bit on the descent, but on the smoother stuff Jack would catch up.  We played with exchanging the lead a few times but I think we both knew it would come down to the last four miles at this point.

We came through the checkpoint at the bottom of the valley before climbing back up to the top of California Gulch with Hal / FTB slightly ahead.  All of a sudden Hal, clipped MM’s legs and he went down.  He had hit her on her right side so he came down on his left side, but then took a back right hoof to the ear.  Pretty scary stuff.  We stopped and made sure he was collected.  I eyeballed him for a bit and after assured that he was okay, we started the climb back up to CR3.

The donkey – or at least Jack always seem to struggle at the top at CR3 because they know they came up from the right and thus they want to go back down that way (I do too!), but they need to go left to get over to California Gulch.  It has always been a bit of a slow walk doing that.  For as slow as we were going I mentioned to Hal that we deserved to be caught.  I had eyeballed Catelyn/T about a quarter mile behind us and if we continued at our pace and she at what she was capable of, it was going to only be a matter of time.

We came up on short course racers.  This is a bit of mixed blessing.  For Jack it has been nice because it seems to give him a target to latch onto and move by.  But on the upper stretched of California Gulch, that means getting by on really crappy broken rock road.  I was pushing Jack to force him through the scree at an acceptable pace.  Hal and FTB found a good line and stride and began a build away.  On the longer view stretches I could see this had built to nearly 100 yards.  The trail began to get better and Jack managed to clip away at this.  As we came on the final stretch of the rocky road before it hits asphalt we had cut the lead to about 20 yards.  I felt pretty confident that we were going to be fairly positioned for the last 3ish so miles on road.

Then all hell broke loose.

Hal / FTB were passing a short course runner on the left.  The short courser on the right suddenly lost control of their donkey and went down super hard, bouncing, rolling on their head, and shrieked further spooking the donks.  It sort of knocked Hal out of his rhythm but he stayed up right and was able to collect the guy’s donk.  I came up and offered to the take the rope of the stray donk from Hal so that he could reestablish the little lead he had but we just waited until the guy got it. 

I was also acutely aware that our standing there helping this guy was not helping our cause of staying ahead of the other teams behind us that were in pursuit.  Hal / FTB and Jack/me got going and I was about to mention how this collecting of donkey reminded me of a similar occasion between the four of us in 2013 in Fairplay when Hal took a rock wrong and went down hard, bopping his head on a rock.  We were only 75 yards from the asphalt and his family was right there.  We walked down, collected water, did a quick assessment, looked at each other and like 2013 said, ‘well let’s give em a race.”  We bumped fists and started down the road.

For the next half mile I had an anxiety – I knew that if we had a shot to win this we had to get away before we got to the last quarter mile on Harrison.  That last section is chaos for Jack:  you go from quiet mountain roads to noise, fairs, people spilling out of bars, cones, traffic lanes that look like snakes and a damn kiddy train that just spells hell on earth for a donkey.  Jack does not do well at that and I knew against a vet like Hal that if we came in together we’d be second. 

While we have run the lower sections of California Gulch in low sixes, today was not that day.  Jack was content to hit 7:45s.  I found it frustrating but each time I looked to edge a bit more out of him, he’d just give me a look that essentially said “this is what you are getting.”  And as almost to put a point on this he’d periodically turn sideways to the left in front of me to bring us to a stop.  Each little lead we’d build would quickly vanish with this and Hal and MM were right there.

But then we got a little day light and a little more.  And then I’d look back and I’d not see them. 

Of course we came into town and it probably took us nearly five minutes to get up from the Diamond Shamrock to the light at 6th, but I was pretty confident we had it in the bag.  I had looked back up Morton and with no sight of anyone, I kept Jack moving but not completely in a panic.  Still I had visions of Jack parking at the Silver Dollar Saloon, refusing to move and Hal / MM coming in at warp speed for the win. 

Hal/MM came in second, and then Catelyn/T.  Curt / MM came in fourth.  After a 2:18 ascent (giving us 26 minutes), they had clearly descended better than us finishing with 5 to 10 minutes of us, even accounting for the 3-5 minutes we had lost to falls and tending to lost donkeys.  Curt quipped he just needed a few more miles, to which I noted we could have said the same at Mosquito Pass or the London Mine the week before.

But we got it.  It’s his 10th win the TC series, and arguably it makes him the best donkey in this game for the last decade.  We have both lost a step certainly with age, but what we had today was good enough.  I really do feel that I have been blessed with a “once in a lifetime” donkey …

Bob and Alice ended up ninth, frustrated by losing momentum early with the stray Smokey (but still in the money).  I am really feeling for this guy as he has paid dues with jumping into this game’s deep end quickly but having pretty frustrating results to date.

Update 09AUG2017 – Official results are up … while the exact time of Jack and I are not yet posted (as the “guess the winning time contest is still out there), the results show Jack and I finishing in 3:55 and winning by about 4 minutes.  Kirt thought he finished under 4 hours but the results have him in 4:09.  With a 1:52 ascent and a 2:03 drop, Kurt and I were ruminating as to how quick he got down.  He said he went up in 2:18, meaning we got to the pass 26 minutes ahead of him but he gained 12 minutes on us on the descent.  He clearly ran a better down but it is worth noting Jack and I lost significant time with the falls (3-4 minutes) with a 1:51 second half..

I felt like crud.  Not a good sign going into this weekend, but maybe it is just a 1 day thing.

So … question for you:  if a team wins the Fairplay, Leadville and Buena Vista Pack Burro races, have they won the Triple Crown?  It would seem the quick answer is yes.  However the challenge there is that the expectation is that the human member of that team needs to be a member of the Western Pack Burro Association to win that distinction.  According to the WPBA, they are just the winner of three races and not the Triple Crown if they are not a WPBA member. 

Furthermore it is expected the member registers as a member before the start of the race in Fairplay.  Along with actually winning the Triple Crown, the winner is given a 500 dollar prize.  We won this, and a fancy trophy in 2015.  It is a traveling trophy so assumedly the next winner would have it handed from me to them.

As a side note, Curtis Imrie, when shown the trophy as a picture at last year’s Fairplay race told me “that ain’t the big trophy” and that I had something else.   He implied it was probably still in the hands of Karen Thorpe.  He mentioned to me he’d look to get it.  Curtis has passed away since.

Ran with the kids this AM and Neeraj jogged with me (7.6 miles).  Like I said, I felt bleh.  The kids were pouring over a newspaper when I got to practice … a few less than stoked to read about the Golden Eagles to the south.

Good times.

PM – cooler “Monsoon” weather is hitting us.  After a full day of work where my head was ready to burst, I welcomed a nice 10 miler out on the Rock Creek path.

Escaped for a few days up to Golden Gate State Park with the Broomfield XC team for their annual mountain running camp.  My role was mostly to serve as grub master for the affair.  Greg reaffirms our approach, and the kids set individual, team and season goals.  It is a great outing.  For most of the kids it is also a set of running at a higher altitude and on surfaces more technical and steeper than what they typically do.  I got in some light running over the Monday (5) and Tuesday (3.8, 2) and skipped Wednesday as I was catching back up on a variety of work, etc when I got home.