Part VI: Ouray to Engineer Pass

The big gamble about not preparing for night until Ouray paid off, as I didn’t have to waste energy on the last section carrying a flashlight. Very close call though, as darkness was falling by the time I got into the aid station.

Melissa and Katie walked me out of the Ouray aid station through the town, passing by the world famous ice climbing park. Nice to have the company. Melissa was begging me to let her pace me from this point, but in a common moment of stupidity for me I told her I wouldn’t need her ‘till later. My goal was to cover 20 miles in the night, and I told her I would need her later and that I was good now. Not realizing that the next place I could pick her up was over 15 miles down the trail.

20 miles in eight hours??? That’s friggin’ 24 minutes a mile! From a guy who has a 2:55 marathon PR and has recently ran 1:26 for a half marathon? Sounds horrible, but you hafta remember A) I’m almost halfway into Hardrock; B) it’s night; and C) I’m not exactly dealing with Heartbreak Hill here.

The climb out of Ouray is brutal Brutal BRUTAL! It’s the longest climb of a race known for long climbs. It’s also one of the most dangerous sections of the trail. At one point I’m on a singletrack trail, strewn with rocks. On my left side is a flat rock wall. On my right side is a 400 foot drop straight down to a raging Bear Creek. Had I fallen off, the first thing I would have hit would have been that stream. Ouray is where runners really start to come apart in this race, and many runners do this section at night. I’m surprised nobody has died on this trail.

I slug past the abandoned Grizzly Bear Mine, feeling the mine is named for the huge bruin that has somehow found it’s way onto my back. Couple of stream crossings and some mud make life even more unpleasant.

Continuing up and up and up, eventually the Yellow Jacket Mine comes into view. I remember Joe telling me that there’s some old box springs behind this mine, and I contemplate a long nap. But the next aid station beckons, and I keep moving forward.

Starting at Ouray, the lowest point of the course at 7600 feet, this section continues up to Engineer Pass, a hair below 13,000 feet. In seven miles. 24 minutes a mile is a pipe dream at this point. Morale is hurting and the legs are rebelling, but soon the aid station comes into sight.

Originally, the plan called for not stopping at this station. The Engineer Pass aid station is about 1.5 miles below the actual Engineer Pass. I figured I’d just tough it out, head straight up to the actual pass, and then it’s a long downhill on a jeep road into the next big aid station, where my crew would be waiting.

The best laid plans of mice and men, eh? I sat my ass down HARD at the EP aid station. They had a nice fire going, yummy ramen, and coffee. Kept slurping it down even when the guy sitting next to me puked. Soon, I came to a realization that improved my spirits – I was halfway done with this bitch of a race.

Entered the EP aid station (51.5 miles into the race) at 12:27AM. Almost 18 and a half hours of running, more than twice my current 50 mile PR. Tony K will run Leadville, take a nap, and go for a recovery run in less than that time. Slow, indeed, but I was well ahead of the cutoffs and barring a huge disaster, I had a feeling I was going to finish.

After skirting some of the cutoffs at Leadville and being far ahead of them at Hardrock, I must say that not having to worry about beating the cutoffs makes a world of difference in an ultra. It’s a good extension of “Gordo and jt’s first law of ultrarunning” – it’s much better to finish early and drink beer while watching others suffer than it is to suffer for long periods of time yourself.

Goofed off with some of the runners for a bit too long and didn’t leave the aid station until 12:57AM. But I had shoved down a ton of ramen, always a good thing to do in an ultra and it may have given me enough sodium and carbs to not totally crash out later in the race when I would begin ignoring nutrition altogether.

The final 1.5 miles from the aid station to the actual pass took me almost an hour and a half. Steep, lots of snow, wet feet, tired brain. That pace is much slower than a bad day on the Incline for me. But, finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, Engineer Pass was behind me.