Blue Sky Marathon Finisher
Well, I did it: 26.2 miles and 3780 feet of climbing in 5 hours and 51 minutes. I was the 175th finisher out of 285. Abby Mitchell, the first woman to finish (11th overall) finished in 3:50. Chris Mocko, the overall winner, finished in 3:15.
The course went north at first, counter-clockwise around a loop in Horsetooth Mountain Park, and then back to the start. About 9 miles. From there, we went south and counter-clockwise around two loops in Devil's Backbone, and then back to a finish line just a few meters from the start.
I suffered from gastro symptoms until the very end of the course, stopping at every toilet along the route, and behind some trees as well. I coped by not eating on the course, subsisting on water and a few gels, and staying well within my limits. I felt pretty good in the last 4 miles after a gel pack and a big swig of coke at the last aid station. I probably moved up 12 places in that distance. While I didn't do as well as I'd hoped, I did finish my first trail marathon, and overcame a bit of adversity to do it. Good job, me!
I ran for more than 90 hours this summer and fall to train for this 6 hour race, and I couldn't have done that without my family's support. Thank you, R., A., and B.! I hope you'll back me again in 2018.
If you're into this kind of thing, I recommend giving the Blue Sky Marathon or one of the other Gnar Runners events a try. The trails and views are sweet and it's very well run and staffed.
I almost forgot: my map data workflow is the following bash one-liner: