Memorial Day Weekend

Some memorable races, others which would like to be forgotten. Either way, they happened and we are reporting on it since it is Memorial Day....but only because it is Memorial Day!

In the Basque Country of Zagama, Spain, Axel Nichols was hoping to be competitive with the leaders at the Zagama-Aizkorri Maraton, but had to withdraw after 10K due to injury. Alex is part of the Inov-8 Skyrunning Team (correction to article: Axel placed 2nd to Killian Jornet with Max King 3rd at the 2012 Pikes Peak Marathon).

Ian Corless, host of Talk Ultra podcast, interviewed Axel pre-race.

Axel looking good in his Inov-8 powder blue              photo: Ian Corless

Closer to home, a few Team Colorado members participated the 35th running of the BolderBOULDER 10K in... you guessed it, Boulder CO!

Mass finish in the CU stadium

Gute, first person to finish in Hokas                              photo: Nora Duane

A group of 5 Team Coloradans participated in the Citizen's Race, the third largest road race in the US that boasts a field of nearly 50,000 runners, with Glenn Randall leading the way with a 5th place finish in 31:31 in one of the deepest fields to date. Other members included Neil McDonagh (again having a unpredicted pit stop along the course) to place 42nd in 33:55, new member Nick Schuetze in his first race in over 2 years placed 45th in 34:05, Simon Gutierrez placed 52nd in 34:23, and Peter Maksimow played caboose placing 74th in 34:49 pretty much with one leg.

Results

Randall "Randalling" a 5th place OA finish              photo:Nora Duane

Big McD show off his Sub40Club shirt and points to where it hurt during the race     photo: Nora Duane

The festive day of events included people falling from the sky, Frank Shorter eating his weight in ice cream bars, slip 'n slides, the elite races and 150,000 your closest friends. Kenyan Allan Kiprono defended his title from last year, winning in a time of 29:28, while 19-year-old Merima Mohammed of Ethiopia took the women's title in 33:58. In the Elite team competition, the Kenyan men wrestled their title back from the dominant Ethiopian team (2nd) while the US men captured 3rd place. On the women's side, Ethiopia took the team win, Mexico was the runner up, Team USA was third (with Denna Kastor placing 4th individually) and Team CO (not to be confused with this Team Colorado) hijacked our name and placed 4th in the elite race. Jeremy Freed (30:52) and Lidia Simon (34:06) of Boulder each won the men's and women's Citizen's Race.

Running USA write up, results and prize winnings

People falling from the sky...

...but landing safely on the infield

Panoramic of the CU Boulder Stadium

Can you say Za-Ga-Ma

Team Colorado member (and American) Alex Nichols will compete the SkyRunning race at the Zagama-Aizkorri Maraton in Spain’s rural Basque country this weekend...whenever that is in Spain. 

He will try to avoid the jovial nightlife in the Basque country in order to face off against the likes of Killian Jornet and Luis Alberto Hernando.

Good luck Alex!

Zagama champion line-up announced

Watch the live coverage

Randall Runs Like a Chicken With His Head Cut Off

Along with the string of wins for Team Colorado this past weekend, we forgot to mention Glenn Randall...have we lost our mind!!??

Randall "Randalled" another race successfully. No, he did not get a head start. He ran the Mike the Headless Chicken 5K in Fruita, CO. He was thinking about racing at the Black Canyon Ascent, where he holds the course record, but Gute won that, so he was afraid of a head-to-head battle. In his own words:

I successfully dodged racing against Gute by running the Headless Chicken Race in Fruita.  It was really a no-brainer. I tried not to overthink things, put my neck on the line and got out ahead early. I won the race in 15:46 (I think), but I'm not letting it go to my head. 

Mike the Headless Chicken 5K is a race to celebrate a chicken (Mike, of course) surviving for 18 months without a head. If you care to educate your brain, read on!

Yes, this is creepy, but don't over-think it!

Mike the Headless Chicken 5K Results 

Team Colorado Scores Victories

It was another busy weekend for Team Colorado out there!

Tommy "One Man Wolf Pack" Manning won his second straight Run to the Shrine 10K in a time of 39:59. What he hoped would be a one man wolf pack, turned into a two man wolf pack with second place, Scott Spillman, 6 seconds behind him at the finish.


Speaking of wolves, the race was run through the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, past lions and tigers and bears. They even tried to capture Manning at one point, thinking he was an escaped wolf.

All the proceeds from the Run to the Shrine races go to support the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. It is rumored that Manning received an elephant dung medal for his victory.

Manning in his one man wolf pack                photo: PikesPeakSports.us

Run to the Shrine 10K Results

Out in the Montrose, CO, Simon Gutierrez had his mountain running season opening at the Black Canyon Ascent and won this 6 mile ascent with his third fastest time ever in 40:37, collecting his 4th all-time victory at this race. Then, he attempted to take the easy way off the Canyon rim with his Hoka Bondi. They are not that cushioned, Gute!

Gute thinks his big shoes will pad his jump from atop

Results from the Black Canyon Ascent

Out in the Midwest, Peter Maksimow ran the Apple Blossom 5K in the beautiful St. Croix River Valley in Hastings, MN. He won in a time of  16:46 and was upset that there were no apples after the race. But you can't put the horse before the carriage or have the chicken before the egg, or, most importantly, have the apples before the blossoms.

Volcanos and Fences

A few Team Colorado members took to the trails this past weekend, nationally and internationally.

Transvulcania Ultramarathon

On the Island of La Palma in the Canary Islands, Sage Canaday placed 3rd in 7 hours 9 minutes 57 seconds, behind Spain's Killian Jornet (6:54:09 CR) Luis Alberto Hernando (6:58:31) and at the competitive Transvulcania Ultramarathon.

Canaday gets a grand welcome with this 3rd place finish                                  photo: iRunFar

 After leading for the first part of the race, Canaday was passed by the two Spainards and was able to hold on to the 3rd place position.

iRunFar.com write up and interview.

Don't Fence Me In 30K

Justin Ricks, who has been on the road with his family for a few months, took a strong 2nd place finish at the Don't Fence Me in 30K in Helena, MT, which is part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup series. Ricks in now in 2nd in the series standings with five races remaining.

In the past year Ricks has quite his job, traded in his house for a camper on the back of his truck and taken his family on a cross country adventure. Read the RunColo.com interview with Ricks.

Ricks recently joined the La Sportiva Mountain Running Team and has recommitted himself to blog about his adventures.


In other news, Rickey Gates has a new gig as a Guest Expert.

Jared Scott Joins Team Colorado

Team Colorado is proud to announce the addition of the infamous local of the Pikes Peak Region, who was a standout runner at Lewis Palmer, a member of the national Champion 2004 UC Boulder cross country team, a US Mountain Running Team member and has been known to put his hair in braids. The one, the only....Jared Scott! (well, there are others, not to be confused with W. Jared Scott from Greenwood Village, CO)

Name: Jared Scott

Age: 30

Hometown: Born in Pueblo, CO; grew up in Monument, CO

Current residence: Dolores, CO

Sponsors: Kahtoola

Personal Bests: 2:27 Marathon, 30:18 10k (cross-country altitude), 14:37 5k, 4:08 Mile

Notable Achievements:  2012 – 2^nd place U.S. Snowshoe Nationals; 3^rd Place La Sportiva Mountain Cup; ran the 3^rd fastest known Grand Canyon Rim to Rim time breaking my previous year’s record.

2011 – 1^st place La Sportiva Mountain Cup; Member of U.S. World Mountain Running Team; broke the 30 year old Grand Canyon Rim to Rim record

Goals for 2013: Race either Pike Peak Ascent or Imogene Pass Run

Favorite trails: Grand Canyon

Favorite workout: Grand Canyon – South Kaibab Trail down to the river and back up to the top

Favorite races: Soulstice Trail Race in Flagstaff, AZ

Website/Blog: Well, Team Colorado as of now!

Favorite beer: Ah yes, what is Team Colorado if we didn’t talk about beer? I don’t necessarily have favorite beer. I like all kinds of beer. A great thing about living in Colorado is that you can get some pretty good beers from a local brew pub no matter where you live in the state. Even little towns in Colorado have good breweries.  Like where I live, Dolores, a town with 600 people has the Dolores River Brewery—check out their ESB or Stout some evening (after 4PM and not on a Monday because they’re closed) if you’re ever passing through. Ska Brewery in Durango recently has been putting out some good flavored stouts in a can like the Hibernal Vinifera (simply this is a Wine-Stout and you’ll definitely be feeling it if you have more than one) and the Vernal Minthe Stout (it’s like Thin Mint Girl Scouts Cookies but in beer form).  My wife and I have also home brewed some pretty good beer too. 

What have you been contemplating lately?: I’ve been contemplating lately what exactly a Black IPA is…is it an actual style of beer? Is it really an IPA? Or is it a rebranding of brown ale or maybe it’s just a porter?  

I wasn't kidding about the braids!

Not to be confused with Zack De La Rocha of Rage Against the Machine

May the 4th be with you...

This past weekend there was some predicting going on, course records fell and God held a race in his Garden.

Simon Gutierrez started the winning weekend off at the Take 5 in the Garden 5K, held in the picturesque Garden of the Gods, with his victory in the hilly 5K in a time of 17:00.

No, it's not a shadow...those shoes are HUGE!!!  As large as Pikes Peak in the background!     photo: PikesPeakSports.us

PikesPeakSports.us story

Greenland (not to be confused with the country of...) Trail Races

Another picturesque view of the snow-covered Pikes Peak from the Greenland Open Space     photo: Nora Duane

Big McD runs away with a new 25K course record as well as with some stomach issues     photo: Nora Duane

Neil "Big McD" McDonagh took down the Greenland Trail 25K despite suffering some gastro-intestinal issues and having to take a few pit stops during the second half of the course, or what we call in the industry an "assplosion", which cost him a few minutes. Neil stated that he "even had time to stop and smell the flowers 3 times during the race (code for bathroom stops)!"

Big McD looking happy before his unscheduled pit stops            photo: Steve Glass

Considering that, he ran 1:32:22 to break the old course record of 1:34:18 set in 2012. Had he not eaten those Big Macs before the race, Big McD would have destroyed the record!

Neil talks with Tim Bergsten from PikesPeakSports.us.

In the Greenland 50K race, Peter Maksimow was the race favorite going into it, as he has won the previous two years and bested fellow Team Colorado member Justin Ricks' 2008 record in 2012 with a 3:22:09. Not expecting to run anywhere near that time since dealing with a nagging achilles injury and a prolonged Plantar issues have extremely limited his running, Maksimow instead tried to make up for it by wearing the most colorful Inov-8 attire he could find. And it seemed to work!!! Maybe it was the emergency orange prototype X-Talon 190's?

The lack of beard and color of his clothing helped Maksimow acquire a new CR           photo: Steve Glass

First time Greenland 50K runner and professional triathlete, Brad Seng, really helped push the pace and keep it on track for a new course record. This prodded Maksimow to "keep it real", as they say, and  hold on for the new CR of 3:21:11 and become the back-to-back RRCA Colorado State 50K Champion. May the 4th was with him!

Maksimow claims that the aerodynamics of his mustache (vs. his large bug-catching beard of 2012) helped him propel to a new record.

Greenland 50K Report

May the 4th be with YOU!!!