Kerry Page, Bill Ewell, Lauren Kennedy, Jon Teisher, Katie Throndson, Rick De Pena, Gordon Barnett and myself all spent two nights at the Salida Simple Hostel and Lodge and participated in the Salida Marathon Weekend. This race was only 40 bones and the hostel was a bargain. The hostel was just around the corner from the start/finish of the marathon--and within stumbling distance of all the cool bars. More friends from the Springs joined us race morning--including Brooks Williams and James Kaminski.
Turned out to be the second worst trail conditions on record for this race (which has been going on for 5 years now). This didn't bother any of us--as we suspected pretty sloppy conditions in the mountains in the spring. The last 8 miles or so was the worst. It was mostly downhill and they at least saved us the trouble of having to posthole through two feet of snow this year by graciously dropping a set of Snowcat tracks for us to follow.
Being my first *trail* marathon, certain obvious things slipped my mind--like bringing water. Yes there were aid stations--but there was probably 8-9 miles between the last aid station and the end--a little longer than I could go without hydration. While slipping and sliding around on slushy/muddy trails, I experienced mild hallucinations. Stopped a few times to eat handful after handful of snow. The mountain views were superb though--so who's complaining!
I was making pretty acceptable time for the first half (~2000 ft net ascent). No more than 3/4 of a mile or so behind JT and Brooks, I was determined to catch up on the downhill part. These guys apparently had much less problems that I did getting through the forthcoming slop. JT finished in just under 4 hours and Brooks in a little over 4 hours. Me, just under 5--plenty of time for the boys to knock out a half dozen PBR's outside of the Salida Steamplant and Events Center. I still managed to take 40 place overall out of 108 or so. Que sera sera. See http://www.salidarec.com/ccrc/results/2010-Run-Through-Time-Results.htm for the official results.
According to my GPS, ~6400 ft of total ascent/descent:
Two epic nights of partying with the crew, plenty of Moonlight Pizza consumption, and a great workout/race experience!
