Recently, at the Moab Trail Marathon/Half Marathon, Team Colorado officially had an unofficial Team Colorado party in Moab, UT at the USATF Trail Half Marathon Championships. All the big guns showed up, and in addition to the party they raced a half marathon (and a marathon, in Sage's case) over slick rocks, up a creek and and through picturesque arches with alien hieroglyphs.
Let's see, we had Stevie Kremer, Megan Kimmel, Jared Scott, Justin Ricks, Sage Canaday and probably others that might have been under an alias.
Stevie does it again…and again…and again… photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
A big congratulatory fist bump goes out to the new USATF Trail Half Marathon Champion Stevie "Sunshine" Kremer. You did it…AGAIN! Stevie ran an impressive 1:38:08, with Melody Fairchild of Boulder, CO in 2nd (1:40:11) and past USATF 10K Trail Champion and 2012 co-Trail Runner of the Year (along with Stevie--what a team, we share everything!) Megan Kimmel placed 3rd (1:42:57) in this very competitive women's field. Stevie said her legs were so short that she "might as well have put on a snorkel and started swimming." Similarly, Megan said she experienced a wardrobe malfunction and finished the race "with water gushing out of the top of my socks."
The top women (Stevie 2nd/Megan 3rd from right) photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
Jared, sporting Numero Uno, ran a lot of the race with fellow Team Coloradan, Justin Ricks, swapping the 2nd place position like it was a bad joke. Jaredtoldus, "The race was great! Good course with varying terrain, but nothing too incredibly steep on the half marathon course. Justin and I battled the last few miles of the race...he's an animal on those down hills! We went off course descending off that one cliff face but only a minute or so off course. The course was pretty well marked with pink flagging so staying on course was more of a matter of maintaining focus and not zoning out which can be tough during a race. Running through the creek was chilly and deep in spots, I decided that running on the banks was better than the creek itself. Overall a good day."
Justin started off with a black veil to be incognito photo: Denise Ricks
He also added, "There is a lot of radioactivity around Moab. In fact, there is a huge Government Superfund clean up site just up river from where we raced. I'm not sure how that affected our race performance." Well, they will know when they start to grow webbed feet.
Jared looking happy even after wading through the toxic creek photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
Still life with Justin and phallic rock photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
Justin documented his experience on his blog with a write up on the race and his busy race schedule in different states in the the same weekend.
They just called it even and each took 2nd & a half place…then embraced photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
Sage Canaday took a wrong turn and went off course in the marathon and ended up finishing in 2nd place (3:20:42), then, after coming through the finishing shoot, he took a wrong turn and we have still yet to hear from him. We think he ran back to Boulder, CO.
Sage getting interviewed by Edwin Moses after he took a wrong turn in the marathon photo: Rich Bolt/USMRT
Whew! It was a busy week on Pikes Peak with Team Colorado first taking on the High-Altitude Mile atop the 14,115 foot peak, next running up the mountain on Saturday, and finally up and down on Sunday. Now you see why we are so exhausted! The Inaugural Pikes Peak High-Altitude Mile
McD, Axel and Gute race at 14,115 feet photo: PikesPeakSports.us
On Tuesday, August 13th, an exclusive 1 mile race at the top of Pikes Peak was held and Simon "Gute" Gutierrez, Neil "Big McD" McDonagh and Axel Nichols were part of the exclusivity. It's like that exclusive lounge at the airport that you always wonder who they allow in. These guys got to use that lounge!
Special thanks to Dan Cockrell for his handy editing on the Team Colorado Pikes Peak Mile footage. For a rough edit, it came out pretty damn good!
In the competitive field that included the likes of 3:53 Bristol Mile winner, Daddy Long Legs and Lost Boy of Sudan, Dey Dey, Kenyans Sammy Kiplagat (winner of the 2012 & 2013 Dallas Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Half Marathon) and Leonard Korir (2013 Garden of the Gods 10 Mile champion), Boulder Running Company's Scott Dahlberg, among others, Team Colorado held their own with some impressive performances. Big McD and Axel battled it out on the final lap to place 5th (4:55) and 6th (4:58) respectively and Gute felt "flat" (not to be confused with "fat", as in fat shoes because he was wearing a slimmed down version of Hokas, the Kailua) but was able to pull out a 5:27.
This is like a fairytale picture: a giant befriending a hobbit with purple rabbit ears photo: Dr. Seuss
Axel showing the guns! photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Big McD finishing with Axel in tow photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Big McD attempting to "Pull a GR" photo: PikesPeakSports.us
On Saturday August 17th, Gute and Big McD take out the Ascent in true "Gute" fashion...by gapping the rest of the field from the gun. Don't believe us, here is video evidence.
Gute ran a strong race and finished 3rd in 2:27:27 while Big McD, after working with Gute through Barr Camp, acquired some Big McCramps in his quads and finished in 23rd in 2:49:36.
Team Colorado takes it out hard photo: PikePeakSports.us
Gute does the Hoka Shuffle in his Hokas photo: PikesPeakSports.us
McD was quoted (1,000 meters into the race, in fact) that it would be a "race to tree line", and it was for him, as his quads seized up and he lost 20 places in the last 3 miles of the race. He teaches a graduate level course on how to hit the wall. He is currently working on his doctorate. Big McD still secured 2nd place overall in the Triple Crown of Running Series (Garden of the Gods 10 Mile that included "no bodily emissions", Summer Trail Round Up, PPA).
"It's a graduate level course that I teach" says Big McD photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Gute giving some skin to the RD, Ron Ilgen photo: PikesPeak Sports.us
Friend of Team Colorado Eric "Quadazilla" Blake of West Hartford, CT went on to win the Ascent in 2:13:45 (he had a flight that same night so he wasn't able to buy beer for everyone with his prize winnings like he did at Mt. Washington. We'll take a rain check, Eric!). Greg Ruckman of Breckenridge, CO placed 2nd in his first attempt that the Peak. Kim Dobson, Lisa Goldsmith and Amy Perez represented Team Colorado for the first time and we can't be more proud of our ladies.
The "Queen of Uphill" keeps true to her bib number PikesPeakSports.us
There's gold in them thar hills: Goldsmith searching for her namesake atop Pikes Peak photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Kim "Boo" Dobson frightened the shit out of our camera man before she went on to claim a Hat Trick for the Pikes Peak Ascent in 2:41:43 (see "video evidence" above). Lisa Goldsmith has been battling an unidentified injury recently but still placed 2nd in the 45-49 age group and 21st woman in 3:24:42. And our very own Chef d'équipe Amy "Half As Fast" Perez officially earned her nickname after her 3:45:44 finish.
Amy, on her way to body checking a guy who cut the course photo: Michael Ciaglo, The Gazette
The challenge was Amy's Ascent time vs. Axel's Marathon time. The verdict: Axel is victorious as he ran a 3:43:46 in the Marathon.
No stranger to breakin' the vinyl, Dobson takes her second straight win on the Peak photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Pikes Peak Marathon On Sunday August 18th, three Team Colorado members made the trek up AND back down the mountain in the Marathon.
It's all fun and games...for the first mile, at least photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Golden boy, Axel Nichols, has no more golden locks photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Being no stranger to the mountain (but just looking like a stranger with his new haircut) Axel Nichols comes back from 3rd place and a 6 minute deficit at the summit of the mountain to catch and pass the Jason Delaney and pull up side-by-side with race leader Touro Miyahara in the last mile of the race. It came down to a kick and the Japanese runner used his speed as a road runner and his experience as a Mt. Fuji record holder to take the victory in 3:43:23. Axel finished 2nd in a close 3:43:46. Jason Delaney, 2012 Pikes Peak Ascent Champion, of Polson, MT finished 3rd in 3:53:45, after being the first to reach the summit in a time of 2:16:21.
photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Axel was crowned USATF National Trail Marathon Champion, although he placed 2nd, because, well, the winner was Japanese.
Also in her first appearance as a Team Colorado member, Michele "Bomb 'chele" Yates did just that and bombed downhill finishing 5th female in 4:56:09. She had some of the fastest downhill splits of anyone, men included, and was second in the nation behind Stevie Kremer (4:16:10) for the USATF Trail Marathon National Championship. Watch out, she'll drop a bomb on you, I mean in the dance club sort of way (the Gov doesn't like when that word is used--hey maybe they are following Team Colorado now!).
Michele coming into the finish photo: Amy Perez
Peter "The Prez" Maksimow had the most colorful outfit of the day, with matching Inov-8 buff and TrailRoc 245's, but stunk it up in the marathon, running 3:29:54* 4:29:54 (you suck!) for 17th place for his debut PPM. The Prez sports a mustache worthy of a gold medal...at least he won something on Sunday!
The Prez, putting the Hip back into Hippie photo: PikesPeakSports.us
*CJ Hitz wins a pair of Inov-8 shoes for pointing out how the The Prez tried to lie about his time. The Prez gets a "you suck!" and CJ gets a new pair of Inov-8 shoes!
We had some extremely different races run this past weekend by Team Coloradans. One, a downhill road mile. The other, a marathon on the flanks of the famous Mont Blanc on the Chamonix, France side. Regardless, some competitive races were run and there were no casualties. Bristol Mile First up was the Bristol Mile in Colorado Springs, CO. This inaugural downhill mile (it was cancelled in 2012 due to the bad air quality caused by the Waldo Canyon Fire) was held on Cheyenne Blvd with a gradual descent of approximately 84 feet over one mile. Neil "Big McD" McDonagh ran a smart race and moved up to finish in 4th place overall in the Elite Men's race, clocking a 4:05.2, setting the new Team Colorado Mile Record!
Big McD gettin' it done with a 4:05.2 photo: PikePeakSports.us
Simon "Gute" Gutierrez ran the 21 and Over Men's Race with some heelies on his feet and placed 3rd overall and first in the 46-50 age group with a time of 4:35.2, winning a coveted Bristol Mile Growler (beer included). We caught an interview with Gute before the race. He showed us his heelies!
Gute shouldn't have worn those heelies. Here is what he said post-race.
(correction: the shoes were the Hoka Bondi Speed--sorry for any confusion!) What we can say is that Gute probably has the fastest mile ever run in pair of Hokas! The race victory went to a Sudanese emigree named Dey Dey...yep, that is it: Dey. Dey. He ran 3:53.7. You can't argue with that! Men's Elite Race
21 & Over Men's Race
Bristol Mile Results Mont Blanc Marathon Out in Chamonix, France, Team Colorado's Alex "Axel" Nichols took on the strong European in the Mont Blanc Marathon. Representing Team Inov-8 (and the USA, of course) Axel battled the likes of Killian Jornet, Marco DeGasperi, Luis Alberto Hernando, and other great athletes with ø's in their name, to finish 7th overall with a time of 3:48:54. Coloradan Stevie Kremer took the women's top honor running 4:03:16
Starting in the streets of Chamonix...Axel is in his zen phase photo: Nadine Davies
I would try to explain the course, but I think they do it brilliantly on their website:
TRAIL is semi autonomy. Distance of 42.195 km coupled with an elevation gain of 2511m, a 1490m vertical drop of. Open to Hope from the category.
I am sure that description was written after the author ran the race.
Axel shows his uphill face...better than a poker face! photo: Nadine Davies
Axel showing off his snow-run-off-jumping-skills Photo: Matthew Brown
Axel finishing through the small streets of Chamonix, France photo: Nadine Davies
Axel's kickin' it, Mont Blanc style photo: Matthew Brown
Mont Blanc Results Best of luck to Justin Ricks as he prepares to represent the Team Colorado (and the USA) at the IAU World Trail Championships in Wales. Justin, don't get suck in any bogs! Special thanks to John Steinbeck for the idea to the title post...our story is much less depressing, though! Congratulations to friend of Team Colorado, Whittier College graduate and new National Champion (Mexico-Steeplechase), Luis Ibarra. Feliz Cupleaños! Corre por la pista muy rápido mi amigo y saltar obstáculos como un caballo.Órale vato!
Sage wins yet another USATF National Championship (add it to the list), this time it was the US 50 Mile National Champs, at the Cayuga Trails 50 in Ithaca, NY. His time of 6:47:48 bested second place by almost 5 minutes. Congratulations, Sage...again.
The Garden of the Gods 10 Mile, which so happened to be the USATF CO State 10 Mile Championships, turned into the Garden of the Kenyans 10 Mile race with Olympic finalists, international marathon champions and just plain fast people all around.
Team Colorado's Neil "Big McD" McDonagh finally skillfully dodges bodily emissions and places 12th OA, and 5th USATF CO, in a time of 55:29 in the highly competitive race.
"No bodily emissions" Big McD states. Tommy "One Man Wolf Pack" Manning finishes in 1:01:09 for 25th place, taking some time to enjoy the belly dancers on the course.
Manning, in the background in green, approaching the belly dancing photo: PikesPeakSports.us
Peter Maksimow lead for most of the race...however, he was on a bike doing the filming.
Photographic evidence that shows Maksimow leading photo: PikesPeakSports.us
