Leadville Silver Rush 50

So after a very hectic yet ridiculously amazing first ten days here in Colorado it was time for my first race here of the summer. The Leadville Silver Rush 50 miler(80km) is an out and back course consisting of mainly dirt and very rough 4x4 roads. It doesn't actually have a huge amount of climbing in it. In fact it is pretty small at around 2500m however the lowest altitude you run at is 3000m and you rise to over 3600m on four separate occasions. I was pretty nervous going into this after (in my opinion) my poor effort at the 50 mile Highland Fling back in April plus I was not fully aware until 2 days before the race that this course would have hardly any single track on it which is clearly my strongest kind of course but luckily for me and for once I was panicking over nothing.

Let's Go!

I had camped the previous few days of the race at Silverton following the Hardrock 100 and then got a great nights sleep on Saturday at a motel in Leadville. I woke up on race day feeling great. I ate my usual porridge and headed to the start line with Kim and Anna who were slightly more nervous than me as this would be their first 50 miler.

Start hill

The course starts with a stupidly steep hill that only last for about 100m max and there is actually a prize for first man and women to the top. I opted out of gunning it up this as trust me at this altitude blasting the first couple of minutes would mean ten minutes of sitting at the side trying to get your breath back and that is no exaggeration. So 6am and the gun went off and around 20 people set off up the hill at an unreal rate to try get the prize. I just got my head down and plodded up pretty slowly but could feel I was breathing hard already. It was only a minute or two until it flattened out and we were on the dirt road. The first 10 kms was rather pleasant rolling dirt track and with the odd little bit of trail thrown in to my delight. The first 10kms is actually a constant uphill and it did take a few km to just find a nice pace to cruise along but my breathing was still a lot harder than normal. I just kept checking my watch to make sure I was hitting my 10km/h pace and I was spot on even slowing down when I would see that I had hit 11.5km/h sometimes. I was just trying to be sensible. This for me was a training run and whereas I never had a time in mind I was saying to myself I would quite like to get close to back to back splits. I would have preferred to go out in 5.5hrs and back in 5.5 or 6hrs than beast it in 4hrs out and do 6 or 7 back. I just wanted some kind of consistency looking towards Steamboat in September.

Loving it

So I plodded on unexpectedly enjoying the terrain. Except one section of around 7kms on very long undulating road the rest was really good tracks and trails taking us up to some amazing viewpoints and passing a load of old gold mines. I was really really enjoying myself. The climbs were never steep and in fact they make the alps seem like monster climbs which to be honest they are sometimes. The ones on this course were never more than 600m at a time but when your going from 3200m up to nearly 3800m it is pretty slow going. I was speed hiking the ups as much as I could and making up time on the descents and also putting in decent times on the flats which was unlike me.

One of the many mines passed

By around the 35km mark I had already been eating watermelon and crisps and had taken a couple of gels. My stomach was starting to feel a bit strange and by the time the turnaround point came at 40km I ran straight to the toilet and was there for 10 minutes! I reckon it was the gel but after a bit of relief I felt great. I grabbed my drop bag had a drink of Mtn Dew changed my socks attempted to eat some beef jerky an experiment which didn't go so well then I grabbed more watermelon and off I went on the return.

More mines

Descent to turnaround point

Now I was never so sure about out and back courses before last years Leadville 100 but it is actually way better than I expected. I don't know what it is but as soon as I turn around I know I am headed home. It sounds a bit strange and yeah it is all mental but if the course was point to point you never really know what is ahead but when you have an out and back you turn around and know you are going back the the finish. The fact I was actually excited about returning the same way due to the trail and scenery also helped keep me moving well.
Almost straight out of the halfway point I climbed back up over one of the high passes and it was pretty slow going but I kept moving and would not stop. I had made halfway in 4hrs 30mins and was super happy with that time. I lost a bit of time on the climb back out of the aid station but I will get stronger over time here as I get more used to the altitude. From the pass I just somehow kept a reasonable pace down hills and on rolling terrain. I was drinking enough and eating chewy sweets and gels and it was all agreeing with me. It was starting to get hot now but this was not affecting me much at all. So on I went with the odd chat to other runners and when I arrived at the checkpoint at 58km I felt so damn good.

I had been sweating a lot but I had been replacing salts via crisps and eating just pure salt and I was not cramping at all. My face was covered in dried sweat and at this aid station a medic stopped me to say I looked like I had lost a lot of fluid due to sweat but I felt fine. He kept asking if I was eating and drinking and to my replies of yes yes yes I am good he really didn't believe me. Eventually I had to tell him I felt amazing and after a slight hesitation he said I could go on but I was to keep eating and drinking. So off I ran past big crowds going wild and giving high fives everywhere. Yes VERY American but bugger it it made me feel even better.

One of the many cracking views

Now I was back at the horrible 7km road section. This was all uphill and everyone was walking it. I knew that after this climb it was pretty much all rolling downhill trail for the last 15km. I plodded on up this eating away at more sweets and listening to my ipod. Just before I got to the top and the turn off for the trail home a runner next to me asked if I was aiming for a time. My reply of No was not what he expected and he told me we were well on our way to a 10hr finish if we pushed from here. To be honest from then on I did have a time goal. I just thought to how destroyed I was in Scotland in April and I was feeling so good here on a harder course and if I could beat that time of 10hrs 59mins I would be chuffed. Again this sounds really American and cheesy but we teamed up and blasted out the next 5km switching the leader. I never normally run in groups or with people but I noticed that over the past few months running with Guillem really did make me realise how much you can push a bit more running with someone else. I never got the guys name but we just set a great pace and I could not believe my legs were going so strong and I had no pain whatsoever. Of course by this stage I was tired but I was nowhere near feeling in pain.

The only boring bit

We hit the last checkpoint with 10kms to go and I grabbed more coke and watermelon and off I went. My fellow runner waited at the aid station a bit longer. We just turned to each other and said “good push” and I went off. Now I was on a mission. I didn't want just 10hrs 05mins or 10hrs 10mins I wanted 10hrs or just under. The course continued to roll gentle ups and downs and somehow I just kept pushing through it. One section through some trees on single track I remember it being burning hot and thinking this should be affecting me but it wasn't I actually for a minute did wonder if something was wrong with me because I felt nothing was wrong with me if that makes sense! I came out the trees onto a dirt road with no shade and this slowed me a little for about a km but then it was back in the trees and I knew I was not far to the end. My right hamstring slightly started to cramp here but I just walked it for about 2 minutes to ease it off and when I started up again it was gone. It was one final little steep climb and another km and I could see the finish line down the hill. The finish is pretty cool and I came charging down the hill to be greeted by a rather big crowd going pretty wild as they always do here. I didn't actually see my time until just before I crossed the line and I looked ahead to the finish line and the girl holding my medal and the clock was ticking 9hrs something but I didn't see what. I stopped my watch and looked and I had ran it in 9hrs 25mins. I almost yes almost burst out in tears. I genuinely could not believe I had run under 9hrs 30mins never mind sub 10 and felt so strong. My overall finish was 57th out of around 400ish and I was 25th in senior mens category.

Feeling the heat but near the end

I don't mean to harp on but for me to run that time and feel that strong after being here for 10 days I still don't really understand. Pretty much the entire field were locals to the area that live at this altitude year round. The altitude really is hard work on the legs and lungs and does take that little bit more out of you. I did have good preparation going into this as I had been camping at altitude but I never expected this.

Chuffed

I just sat on the grass by the side of the course waiting on Kim and Anna. This was their first 50 miler and both were super nervous about it so when I seen Kim arrive over the hill in 10hrs 53mins with Anna just behind I was so happy for them. They both ran sub 11hrs. Brilliant run from both of them and neither of them looked bad at all at the finish. It was just the perfect day all around for all of us. I almost got my back to back splits being 4hrs 30mins out and 4hrs 55mins back. I will happily deduct my toilet time off my return and say I missed my aim by just 15 mins.

So a great start to my racing here and I can only hope I get stronger and stronger. Next on the list is Aspen Half Marathon next weekend which will be some fun and interesting speed work. But before then I am away to explore the glorious trails in Boulder.

Finally a big shout out to Stuart Air who completed Hardrock last week. Stu came an amazing 22nd overall on this race which is regarded as the most beautiful and one of the toughest 100's around. Stu injured himself with 40 miles to go but hung in there to come in an amazing position. Great job.