Eldorado Springs Run for the Cure 4-miler
August 8, 2002
This race has been going on for 23 years – nearly as long as the Bolder Boulder. Since 1985 local rock climbing legend, CU professor, and avid trail runner Bill Briggs has been the race director. They’ve raised a lot of money for Cancer Research through this race and it was past time for me to come out and support the cause, my friend Bill, and run in such a beautiful place.
With Sheri running the National Masters Track Meet back in Maine, I was the sole participant from the family. I took both the boys down to the race, though, as they wanted to sample the Eldorado Springs Resort pool and its big slide. The pool is open to all racers and supporters. Bill and his wife Julie graciously watched the kids while I ran the race.
The course starts at the mouth of Eldorado Springs Canyon State Park and heads east on the paved road. At nearly two miles out, the race turns left into a neighborhood for a brief loop before heading back on the same road and finishing just 150 meters past the starting line – right at the resort itself. The course is gradually downhill all the way out and obviously uphill on the way back. I talked with Catriona Dowling before the start of the race and she warned me about the brutal second half and the dangers of going out too fast.
Tim and Kim Lim were here, as was Rick and Laura Bruess. A few other trail runners showed up, but not many. Sue Bennet and Debbie Juretus of the Ric Rojas Running group (or maybe formerly of this group with the recent developments). The turnout was huge. The race is limited to 500 runners, but it didn’t fill. There were 425 finishers. The start is fairly narrow and runners in the back have to walk a bit. I worked my way to very near the front and never had a problem with crowds.
While Bill Briggs was watching my boys in the pool, I was pushing myself down the road. I kept my eye on Laura Bruess and Catriona. I should be reasonably close to them, but they quickly opened up a sizable gap. After a mile or so I noticed a familiar form in front of me. It looked like Tim Lim from the back, but could he be this fast? I wondered. Sure enough, it was him.
At the 2-mile mark, which I passed at 11:45 (yes, this is very fast for me, but it was slightly downhill), I passed Tim. My heart rate was very high, but I felt pretty comfortable. I started to reel in other runners as we climbed back to the start. I think my hill training and relatively conservative starting effort paid off here. I was even closing on Catriona and Laura.
With about eight minutes to go in the race, my shoe became untied. What a pain. I had double knotted them before I started my two-mile warm-up, but didn’t retie them before the race start. Still, you’d think double knotting them once would be sufficient. I was afraid that I’d run right out of my shoe.
As we entered the town of Eldorado Springs, I knew there was only about three minutes to go. The steepest climbing is here at the end. It isn’t steep by trail running standards, but it is hard at the end of a fast effort. I was still reeling in the women, but I was hurting and my pace was fading. I could hear a runner behind me and a spectator called to him, “Joe, you look good. You can get that guy in front of you. Go get him.” I was going to wait for him to catch me or at least until I got to the start banner before kicking. I was hurting badly and knew if I kicked too early, I wouldn’t make it, but these calls had me scared. I was having a great race and I didn’t want it to end with anyone passing me. I kicked early.
I surged up the hill, passing another runner and closing fast on Catriona. The runner behind me was no longer a factor. I pulled up right behind Catriona with only fifty meters to go. I tried to pass on the inside, as we made a big turn to the right after crossing the bridge. Catriona moved over and even got her elbows out to shut me down. I squeezed on by anyway and powered to the finish. I later talked with her about this and apparently she hates when guys try to pass her on the inside. If she had this door shut earlier, I wouldn’t have made this move, but there was plenty of room when I started. She was friendly about it and I won’t be doing that to her again.
I finished in 25:08 for a pace of 6:17 per mile. I did the first downhill two miles at a 5:53 /mile pace and came back at around 6:41/mile. It seems like I was dying, but I wasn’t. No one passed me after about 1.8 miles and I passed maybe 5-8 people over the last 2.2 miles. I finished 4th in the 40-49 age group and 30th overall (26th male) in the race. I averaged 163 bpm over the first part of the course and 175 for the last 13 minutes, maxing out at 181 bpm. For most of the race my heart rate was above 90% of my maximum heart rate. I don’t see numbers like this very often. In trail running, even going for a time trial, I rarely hit 90% heart rate. Road (and track) racing is the best way to get my heart rate high and keep it there for an extended period of time.
Michael Brouillette of Boulder won the race in 20:29. Green Mountain Time Trial record holder Nathan Schultz was first in the 30-39 age group and 5th overall in the race with a time of 21:29 minutes. Kelly Carson won the women’s race with a time of 23:44. Laura Bruess was the 3rd woman and first in the 40-49 group with a time of 24:54. Tim Lim finished in 39th place with a time of 25:58. Debbie and Sue seemed to be just jogging the race and they finished together in 38:10. Full results can be seen at: http://www.active.com/results/display_html.cfm?file=20020808093749.htm.
I’m in my tapering stage for the Pikes Peak Marathon and this short 4-mile race was a nice change from long, steep hills. On Saturday I’m doing a Splash and Dash (425-meter swim and a 5K run) with my sister Kim. The legs should be feeling fast for Pikes. They will be disappointed to be trudging slowly up that huge ascent.