Salida marathon #4 for me. Two things really worked in my favor this year: I was in pretty decent shape and the trails were bone dry. This allowed me to drop my PR for this course by over 36 minutes. It also allowed me to improve on last year's time by over two hours!
Started a little faster than usual. Not blazing by any means, but in years past it was not unusual for me to be in last place for a short period of time. Not so this year. Hit the half marathon turn around in 58 minutes (I was hoping for 59 flat) and the 12.1 mile turn around in Turrett in 1:47 (wanted 1:50). Yes, that sounds slow to you road runners. And there's only one hill on the way out to Turrett. Unfortunately, that one hill is 12.1 miles long.
Ran HARD on the way back. There were two guys in front of me, Harry H and Tom S, whom I had never beaten before and wanted to give it a shot. Harry has finished second at Leadville before and Tom is sort of a legend in these parts (as well as the former world record holder for the snowshoe marathon) so it was gonna be tough to catch either of 'em. I think I actually gained some time on both over the last 14 miles, but not enough to catch 'em.
Had a real good last 9 miles too, the part of the course that is on the more rugged trails. On my way out of the 17 mile aid station I saw my friend Boulder Bob not far behind. We've battled in ultras before and I knew he'd be coming after me. So I had to work pretty hard. I was told at this aid station that I was five minutes behind Harry and Tom, so I covered the terrain at the same pace as those guys, and that's moving much faster at the end of a race than usual for me.
Ended up in 10th overall in 3:53:47. Results are here, though they have me with the wrong finishing time.
Katie and Nacheaux would finish together in 6:17:45. That's over a 30 minute improvement from last year for Katie!
Pretty good day for CRUD too, taking 3 of the top 10 spots. Please note that times for the Salida marathon are roughly equal to, if not faster than, WTC times, since that's a flat course at sea level:
Rick H - 3:29:42
Harry - 3:48:40
Steve B - 4:08:12
Gina H - 4:35:44
Start time - 9 AM
Distance - 26.2 miles
Time - 3:53:47
Pace - 8:56 per mile
Weather - 50F, clear skies, dry trails
Weight - 174 lbs
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