After finishing my burger and grabbing a flashlight, I pick up my first pacer of the day, Shad, and start the relatively short climb up to Engineer Pass. Shad keeps me moving at a good clip, and I realize I have a good shot at making a goal of mine to pass the halfway point before having to turn on the lights.
Lots of people over the years have gotten lost on this section, weird because it's a straight shot up a dirt road, but Shad keeps me on course. Shortly after the ghost town of Animas Forks I stop to take my first dump of the run.
A few pounds lighter, the pace quickens. Shortly before the top I look over into a snowbank to see "CRUD" written in the snow. Truly inspirational.
We hit the top and begin the ascent to the Engineer aid station. Last year that aid station was where I began to fall apart. What turned into a quick squat to warm up by the fire turned into an hour long pity fest on my part. So this year I vowed not to stop at the station at all. Arrived at Engineer, roughly the halfway point, at 20:47. Left Engineer at 20:47. Didn't even break stride!
Was able to go another mile or so before we had to turn on the lights. Well over halfway. Things were going really well for me at this point in the race. But I was worried about what the night would bring, as I had yet to perform anywhere near respectable during the dark.
It's a long, rugged singletrack descent after Engineer and we we're able to run a good chunk of it. I point out several places along the way where a fall would result in a fatality, which I'm sure Shad enjoyed. I tripped once, and came dangerously close to losing my flashlight. However, Shad, wonderful pacer that he was, tripped many, many more times so I didn't feel too bad about my night skills.
We pass Yellow Jacket Mine and in what seems like minutes we're on the other side of Highway 550. Though it seemed to take forever to get from there to Ouray, we kept moving forward and at 23:10 Shad finally dropped me off at the aid station. The first night section had gone better than I ever could have hoped.
1 comment:
Yeah, there is no doubt that I have no downhill night skills. I just try to do control how fast and hard I fall down the hill and call it running.
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