My original plan had called on me to really attack this part of the course, from Sherman all the way to Ouray. Yeah, it’s a pretty big climb from Sherman, about 9,500 feet, up to the roof of the course on Handies (14,048 feet), but I’ve hiked over 50 14ers since I moved to Colorado so I wasn’t too scared. I was hoping I could hammer down off Handies to the aid station, use Shad as my whipping boy to get up Engineer, then bomb down into Ouray for a quick brew.
Felt good coming out of Sherman, hanging out with Tyler Curiel and Scott Eppelman, two guys who I couldn’t hold a candle to back in Texas but were back with me due to the slightly bigger hills and slightly higher altitude in Colorado than San Antonio.
We head up on Cinnamon Pass road at a good hike. It’s not a huge climb and I should be running here, but I need to let my stomach settle from all the food I ate at Sherman. We’re soon joined by Betsy Nye, a former winner of the race. It’s a nice stretch, some good conversation to go with the familiarity of the road (besides doing it at Hardrock last year I’ve also been on the road to get to the Red Cloud/Sunshine trailhead).
Soon we hit Burrows Park and I see the shitter I hid in the previous year because Melissa wouldn’t let me take a break. I quickly refill my water bottles from some jugs hidden under a bridge, and head up through Grizzly Gulch on my way to Handies Peak.
It’s here I have my first, and last, low point of the day. I just got into a funk and it stayed with me for the entire climb. Tyler and Scott pulled away from me here, a real kick in the junk to get my ass handed to me by some Texans on a 14er. I just felt really tired, like “it’s way past my bedtime” tired, not physically exhausted, which was weird for 3PM. I never promised to quit running forever, as I usually do during an ultra, but I remember thinking that when I finished this direction of Hardrock I would have nothing to prove anymore and I wouldn’t have to return.
But I kept plugging away and for as bad as I felt, I wasn’t losing too much ground. I don’t think I was passed on this section, even though I felt like I was going very slow. Shortly before treeline it started raining and I had to put on my GoLite jacket. The weather didn’t get too bad though, and right before the summit I looked back and found myself looking down at a rainbow.
Arriving at the summit of Handies, I stopped to sign the 14ers.com log book. I was passed by five runners while doing this. I checked for Scott Jamie’s name, but it wasn’t there, proving my theory that he had to cheat to win our bet! I was the first runner to sign the log that day.
Didn’t waste too much time on Handies and soon began the run down through American Basin. My uphill blues soon went away as I was able to run most of the way back down to Grouse Gulch. This part is one of my favorite sections of the course, nothing to see but mountains and wildflowers and lakes and marmots (not that that’s different from anywhere else on the course, but for some reason this section sticks out to me).
At one point before the aid station I was running down some narrow singletrack and there was a marmot on the trail. I figured he’d just scamper off into the rocks but he just stood there. Right before I ran him over he turned around and took off down the trail as fast as he could. I was amused, and picked up my pace to catch the guy. The marmot looked back, saw me gaining, and surged! Great stuff! Didn’t last very long, as marmots aren’t the most fit animals on the planet, and right before I got close enough to step on him he jumped off the trail and disappeared.
Really got some confidence back on the downhill, and I was looking forward to downing my first bacon cheeseburger and picking up my first pacer. Entered the aid station at 18:31 and left at 18:39. It’s not quite the effort required to be a champion competitive eater but it’s not a bad time for a Purple Castle burger.
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