Crested Butte Fall Color Classic 1/2 Marathon

Today's inaugural run of the Crested Butte Fall Color Classic 1/2 Marathon was a success! The run started at the junction of Kebler Pass Road & Ohio Pass Road and stayed on Ohio Pass Road for 11 miles before turning up Carbon Creek Road for the last 2 miles. It's all dirt road except for about 1/5th of a mile that is paved.

My goal for the 13.1 miles was to break 2 hours. After running the Caldera Marathon earlier this summer, I had no doubt I could do the 13 mile distance. I really wanted to break 2 hours though as a personal goal. I reached the 1/2 marathon point of the Caldera race in 2 hrs 19 mins so I knew that I needed to change a few things and keep my pace up to break 2 hours in the Fall Color Classic. I drove out early this morning to stash water and Gu along the race course which gave me a chance to see the course and plan my strategy. The 1st mile consists of a gradual climb and then it's 4 miles of almost solid downhill. I'm a fairly strong downhill runner and I decided to go for a fast pace during the first 5 miles and then maintain a decent pace for the rest of the race. That almost worked out except towards the end. Overall I needed to run a 9 minute per mile pace to finish in under 2 hours.

I ran the 1st 4.5 miles in 35:11 which is a sub 8 minute per mile pace. A bit too fast really. I even led the race for the 1st half mile before Keri Nelson passed me . . . she won the race which was no surprise . . . she's a phenomenal runner.

I ran the 2nd 4.5 miles in 40:10 which is a sub 9 minute per mile pace. When I hit mile 9 my legs were starting to feel it. I think running the early downhill fast beat them up a bit.

So the last 4.1 miles I ran in 42:17 . . . about a 10 1/2 minute per mile pace. I slowed way down and started to feel like I just wanted to walk. The last 2 miles were gently uphill with a short and mildly steep section right before the finish line. I had to walk part of it because I felt like I was going to puke. I had visions of people snapping photos of me crossing the finish line as I tossed my cookies. I held it together and finished the race in 1 hr 57 min 39 sec! Success!!

It got a bit hot today . . . in the 70's . . . and there wasn't any shade on the course for the last 2 miles and I think the heat was making me feel ill. Even though my water had HEED in it, I started dumping it over my head to cool down a bit. You'll notice in the photo that has my back towards the camera that my shirt looks sweaty at the top . . . not so . . . that was from dumping my water bottle over my head.

It was a great race and I'd do it again . . . albeit with a bit more long training runs before the actual race next time. Thanks to Martin Catmur of the CB Mountain Runners for organizing the race and for Gunnison Valley Health Foundation for sponsoring it. Next year it will be an official race with aid stations. I'll be posting more photos later.