Team Santa Fe at the Races

Leadville Trail Mountain Bike Race
Leadville, Colorado
August 11, 2001
By Kim Bear 

This year four racers of the 422 finishers at the Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike race were from Team Santa Fe. There was a 67% finish rate. Ries Robinson, Kim Bear and Jan Bear were competing for their seventh consecutive year. George Broome was returning for his second year. Team Santa Fe support, Jennifer Beckley was there for her fourth consecutive year of helping get racers across the finish line. The weather was nice this year with a few scattered showers late in the afternoon. There were approximately 743 registered racers. The course felt crowded, but after 40 m! iles, it felt the same as previous years. Ries crossed the finish line in as the 28th rider overall with an incredible time of 8:44:29, Jan came in next at 10:13:30, Kim at 10:44:58 and George finished in 11:47:37. George placed third in his age group: 60-69 male and Kim placed second in hers: 40-49 female, missing first by a little under 2 minutes. Ries, Jan and Kim were all on their Litespeed® Mountain Bikes which performed flawlessly. Platypus was the reservoir of choice for hydration! Kim survived on GU. Every 30 to 40 minutes she would consume a packet. The plain flavor is now a favorite. The newly introduced Gatorad! e bars were consumed and helped the team make the finish. All four riders monitored their heart rate with Polar® brand heart rate monitors! 

Pikes Peak Marathon "The toughest marathon in the country"
August 19, 2001
By Barb Dutrow

Barb Dutrow and Carl Gable of TSF ran the Pikes Peak marathon. The Pikes Peak marathon starts in Manitou Springs, CO at an elevation of ~6,500 feet and winds it way up the Barr Trail for 13.1 miles to top out at 14,110', the summit of Pikes Peak where there is 43% less oxygen than at sea level. That's an elevation gain of 7,810'. It then turns around to return down the 13.1 miles and 7,810'.

As the Colorado Springs newspaper reported, the race is a study in two different running types. Running up the Peak requires a steady pace, piston-like legs and volumnious lungs; running downhill requires a pogo-stick's agility, Gumby-like flexibility and a certain addiction to fear and pain. When the runners reach the summit, their tired legs jiggle from the relentless uphill drive. That's when they turn around to head downhill, the legs switching jobs to become part dancer and part shock absorber as they bounce down a trail filled with obstacles, such as rocks, roots, gravel, deep dropoffs and 799 other runners.

August 19 dawned clear and warm, much warmer than anticipated. The temperature at the 7am start was already in the 60's, no need for gloves as in previous years. As the gun is fired, racers began up the mainstreet in Manitou Springs for a mile of easy uphill running on pavement before the real pain started. Then the course narrows to a jeep trail and by mile 2 runners are moving single file along the Barr Trail snaking their way up the mountain. Race organizers are incredible; mile markers count down the remaining distance to the summit. The volunteer crews staff well-supplied aid stations about every 2-3 miles, having hauled water, or laid tubing, to several of the stations. Search and rescue squads are scattered along the course, complete with kazoos a mile from the summit. In total the race has over 400 volunteers.

Although Carl and Barb didn't run together, their pace was similar and finished within shouting distance of one another. Barb only slightly trail surfed near the base but finished slower this year, which she blames partly on the heat.

2/31	BARB DUTROW 45	BATON ROUGE LA	ascent: 3:44:00	total: 5:57:06
28/114	CARL W GABLE 42	SANTA FE NM	ascent: 3:44:29	total: 5:57:29

(Due to the overall awards, Barb won first place in her age group)

Lessons learned - or suggested!

Barb: Gaiters would have been helpful to keep the gravel from working its way between the toes. However, in my experience gaiters are hot to wear and the record heat kept me from wearing them. Gaiter makers need a hot weather version!

Carl: Last year Carl rode the Vail 100 mile mountain bike race and came home with trail rash and rode 40 miles of the course with broken handle bars. This year he ran Pikes and stayed upright. Even with that memory I think next year Vail 100 sounds like more "fun". Is the lesson learned that even nasty things sounds not so bad after a bit of time has passed? 

 

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