When I approached Matt Trappe about documenting my Colorado Trail journey, I had no idea it would turn into a full length film. I simply wanted a keepsake that I could look back on to share with my kids and grandkids. But Matt, being the artist he is, saw much more.
This is the first of two teasers that will be released prior to the completed film. I hope you enjoy it!
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Colorado Trail Adventure
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| And so it begins.... again. |
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| The book that inspired |
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| My family supports me 100% |
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| Brian Fisher at the start |
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| Rick Hessek on day 2 |
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| Ultra Fan Bill Dooper in Leadville |
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| My Parents on day 5 |
Last time I had severe shin splints starting on day 7 and agonized through them for the better part of 5 days. Wrapping my shins and icing everyday and even walking backwards downhill just to keep moving forward. To make matters worse, I also slurped down some Giardia lamblia on day 9. Thank goodness it takes 7 days to incubate otherwise I would have never finished. Once I was home though, I could not eat or drink anything for a week because it came out just as fast. I lost another 9 lbs after I got home to the already 10 I lost on the trail. I was emaciated.
Now you see why it's easy for me to be nervous. It's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I'm going to do it again. I have many people supporting me, many of the same people as last time, and I cannot thank them enough. My trustworthy crew to meet me at critical trail junctions and know exactly what I need at a moments notice is the difference between success and failure. The CT is a known factor to us but things happen out there and my crew knows what to do. This time, however, I am going from Durango to Denver so it throws a little curve ball into the mix but not much. We are ready.
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| Harsha on day 6 |
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| The Darnold's at Molas Pass |
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| Paul Dewitt at the end of day 10 |
| Day | Segment | Mileage | Time (hrs) | TOD | Pacer | Matt Trappe |
| Friday, August 16 Day 1 | Junction Creek - 28 | 0 | 5:00 AM | Bike | ||
| Crew | Kennebec TH - 27 | 21.5 | 5 | 10:00 AM | Bike | |
| Crew | Hotel Draw Rd - 26 | 42.1 | 11 | 4:00 PM | Brendan | |
| Finish | Molas Pass - 25 | 73.9 | 19 | 12:00 AM | Brendan | |
| Saturday, August 17 Day 2 | Molas Pass - 24 | 5:00 AM | Brandon S. | |||
| Crew | Carson Saddle - 23 | 35.7 | 9 | 2:00 PM | Rick H. | Run |
| Finish | Spring Creek pass - 22 | 52.8 | 14 | 7:00 PM | Run | |
| Total | 126.7 | |||||
| Sunday, August 18 Day 3 | Spring Creek Pass - 21 | 5:00 AM | Brandon S. | |||
| Crew | Eddieville TH - 20 | 27.5 | 7 | Noon | Rick H. | |
| Finish | Colorado Hwy 114 - 18 | 55 | 14 | 7:00 PM | ||
| Total | 181.7 | |||||
| Monday, August 19 Day 4 | Colorado Hwy 114 - 17 | 5:00 AM | Rick H. | Bike | ||
| Crew | Marshall Pass - 16 | 35.6 | 9 | 2:00 PM | Rick H. | Bike |
| Finish | US 50 - 15 | 49.8 | 13 | 6:00 PM | Bike | |
| Total | 231.5 | |||||
| Tuesday, August 20 Day 5 | US 50 - 14 | 5:00 AM | Bryon | Bike | ||
| Crew | Chalk Creek - 13 | 20.9 | 5.5 | 10:30 AM | Meghan | |
| Crew | N. Cottonwood crk -12 | 43.7 | 12 | 5:00 PM | ||
| Finish | Clear Creek rd. - 12 | 62.2 | 16 | 9:00 PM | ||
| Total | 293.7 | |||||
| Wednesday, August 21 Day 6 | Clear Creek rd. - 11 | 5:00 AM | Harsha | |||
| Crew | Half Moon creek - 10 | 21.5 | 6 | 11:00 AM | Harsha | |
| Crew | Timberline Lake - 9 | 34.5 | 9 | 2:00 PM | Harsha | |
| Finish | Tennessee Pass - 9 | 48.1 | 13 | 6:00 PM | Harsha | |
| Total | 341.8 | |||||
| Thursday, August 22 Day 7 | Tennessee Pass - 8 | 5:00 AM | Run | |||
| Crew | Copper Mtn - 7 | 25.4 | 7 | Noon | Run | |
| Crew | Gold Hill - 6 | 38.2 | 11 | 4:00 PM | Bike | |
| Crew | Middle Fork Swan River - 6 | 54 | 15 | 8:00 PM | Nick P. | Bike |
| Finish | Kenosha Pass - 6 | 71.1 | 20 | 1:00 AM | ||
| Total | 412.9 | |||||
| Friday, August 23 Day 8 | Kenosha Pass - 5 | 5:00 AM | ||||
| Crew | Wellington Lake rd. - 4 | 31 | 9 | 2:00 PM | Rick H. | |
| Crew | FS - 550 Buffalo Crk - 3 | 43.7 | 12 | 5:00 PM | Rick H. | Bike |
| Finish | Waterton Canyon | 72 | 21 | 2:00 AM | Bike | |
| Total | 484.9 | 7d 21h |
As you can see this is very aggressive and no way will it pan out exactly like I planned. The current FKT (Fastest Known Time) is 8 days, 12 hours, 14 minutes, 5 seconds set by Paul Pomeroy. It's a very tight record but hopefully I've built enough wiggle room in there to get under the FKT
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| My family on day 11 |
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| Jaxon at Blackhawk pass on day 11 |
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| My crew chief Rick Robinson at the end |
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| My ever loving wife Nicole Jaime at the end |
Matt Trappe is doing a documentary on my journey. We've been filming for the past couple of months and it's kept my mind focused on the task at hand. This documentary really isn't about breaking the record but more about a normal family man with a full time job and a sense of adventure. When you see the film the question will be answered of what drives me to seek out adventures and how it makes me a better husband, father, son, and co-worker. In the end, I hope to inspire people to push their own limits and seek out new found adventures to lead a happy and healthy life.
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| The end September 13th, 2009 |
Thursday, July 18, 2013
Hardrock 100 - 3rd 26.38
Hardrock 2013 is in the books and I’m happy to report I
kissed the rock for the 7th time with a PR, nonetheless. I always tell people that I am continually
chasing my ghost and this time gray haired Jaime finally passed
him.
I am blown away with the support I receive at Hardrock every year from my family, friends, and newly found friends. My
wife somehow understands how important Hardrock is to me and since we’ve been
doing it for the past decade off and on, my family embraces Silverton as their
hometown. Thank you Nicole for
supporting me for so many years. And
thank you to my parents, in-laws, and Darnolds who love this race just as much as I
do. I could not do this without your
support.
So here it goes, grab a beer and settle in for a journey
through the San Juans:
PRE-RACE
This year we arrived in Silverton on June 25th,
which is a little less time than last year but enough time to be considered a resident. I organized a SoftRock event two weeks prior to Hardrock. SoftRock is basically running the course over 3 days and I was accompanied by the HUMR group
from Utah and a few fellow Coloradans.
The weekend was a lot of fun, especially for me because I had the opportunity
to show 15 people around the Hardrock course.
For so many years, they have been hearing stories of how beautiful and
tough the course is and now they get to experience it first hand. I questioned whether I was doing too much too
close to Hardrock but decided if I just took my time it would be time on my
feet, especially with the Colorado Trail coming up. We ended up traversing the course
in 36 hours and my body felt great.
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| Soft Rock crew in Silverton. photo Molly Trappe |
The next couple of weeks leading up to the race would be
easy runs, spread out with a bunch of rest. By the time raceday came I was feeling fresh, acclimatized and as fit as I've ever been.
THE RACE
Silverton to Sherman (0 - 29 miles)
No nerves to start, just anxious to get
running. Leaving town I quickly settled
in with Chris Price and for the moment Josh Maiz and Karl Meltzer. Joe Grant and Sebastian Chaigneau were already off the front by mile
3 and Troy Howard was in hot pursuit. I was
telling Chris that we would be good if we got to Cunningham in 2.05 to 2.10. As easy as I was running we got there in 1.57
– yikes. I often make the mistake of
going out too fast and I felt like I did it again.
I didn’t wear a watch so my crew told me I was “ok, just settle
in". I left Cunningham with Troy and felt
even better climbing the next hill to Green Mountain. I was well within myself and really enjoying
being alone at this point.
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| Just to so show you how small we are. Look in the bottom right corner, that's me running. photo Matt Trappe |
I pulled into Maggies Gulch at 9:33, which is still cooking, so I made a concerted effort to slow it down and eat. The next section leading into Pole Creek is
relatively flat with easy running but it’s at 11,000 ft so runners can really
blow it out here if they don’t watch it.
It took me 49 minutes to get to Pole creek and Troy was hot on
my heels. I didn’t stop at Pole Creek because I knew I'd be walking parts to get to the top of Cataract
Gulch. I didn’t realize in the moment, but I was working too hard to keep Troy behind me for most of the way
up. Finally I pulled over to eat and let
him go by, he was running really strong and knew I was digging a hole to be
running everything with him. The lesson
here: Run. Your. Own. Race! You can get
caught up within the race and not even know it.
From the top of Cataract Gulch down to Sherman was pretty uneventful, I
just soaked in the views and ran methodically to the aid station. I got there at 12:07 which marks my fastest
time to Sherman and –by far- feeling the best I had to that point.
Sherman to Ouray (29 - 57 miles)
Now the work begins, but not racing yet. I picked up my sticks for the foray over
Handies and found myself running large portions up Burrows Park road – that’s
never happened before… I was hell bent
on hiking strong over Handies and feeling good coming out the other side. I followed Troy up Handies step for step but
once we hit the top he was gone. I ate and drank a bunch in this section because I was walking a razors edge at this point. I just needed for the fuel to kick in before I started pushing again.
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| Coming into Grouse with a smile on my face. photo Dom Grossman for iRunfar |
In and out of Grouse Gulch was a good sign. I usually feel the wheels start to come off at this point. I picked up Rick Hessek, who would take me to Ouray. Not much talking going on up Engineer road because I was still teetering. Anytime I got low on energy I started nipping at my EFS liquid shot flask and I could feel the life spring back into my legs. I ran real well all the way down to Ouray so I was really surprised to see Diana on my heels. I had arrived at the front end of my splits (6:55 PM), still in good spirits, and now picking up my second pacer.
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| Crew chasing me into Grouse |
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| Running down Bear Creek with Rick Hessek. photo iRunfar |
Ouray to Chapman (57 - 82 miles)
Nick Pedatella has the honor of slogging up Camp Bird road with me. I dread it but at least it was cool, slightly misting, and not many cars. Nick didn't give me an option to eat and drink, he said "you will be done with that chicken broth and rice bar by the time we get to Governors" I did it and we also got to Governors without turning on our headlamps. At this point, I'm starting to think about my finish time. I know I'm running a good smart race and with the help of my pacers I'm feeling good. Once up at Kroger's the first thing I ask for is a beer. They thought I was kidding at Governor but this time Roch Horton came through with an Odoul's. Two shots of that stuff and I flew down to Telluride. I don't know what it is about beer but it's refreshing and it makes me happy. I had one at Jemez this year but only because I got lost (with Pedatella) and my race was over. Another lesson here: Beer calms your stomach down and makes you happy.
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| That's right folks - beer! At Krogers. photo Roch Horton |
Into Telluride still on the front end of my splits and now the racing begins. I dropped Pedatella off and picked up Brendan Trimboli. He did a quick assessment of what I'd been eating and how I felt - key if you want to be a good pacer. I felt a little twinge in my left quad right on the vastus medialis or sartorius muscle. Only hurt if I was going down a steep downhill, like the one coming up off of Oscars. I did my best to put the brunt on my right quad slowing me down quite a bit on the downs. Chris Price was still lurking behind me and Dominic Grossman did his best to let me know by hooting and hollering and stall tactics (Kenny Loggins Footloose dance). We saw their lights just as we left the lower basin of the Wasatch saddle, I predicted about 20 minutes. I didn't put too much thought into what was behind me, I was now racing so I was always looking forward to get a time gap to Diana.
Once into Chapman my crew (Beth Blankenship and Jim Darnold) had told us Diana was only 12 minutes up. I stayed a few minutes sucking down EFS grape drink and an Ensure but started to catch a chill so we began hunting again.
Chapman to Silverton (82 - 101 miles)
I was still climbing strong despite the bum quad. I had told Brendan to string me out a bit and see if I could hang on. So in other words, he kept me honest. We saw Diana and Ben's lights up ahead coming back to us ever so slightly. I didn't believe it but Diana was going through a rough patch right before Grant-Swamp and she eventually had to stop at KT only a few miles away. Really sad to see her stop but with her recent episodes of health issues at Hardrock, I don't blame her.
One of the first things I told Brendan when he picked me up was that I wanted to be at KT in the dark at 5:30 AM. Seemed like a stretch but we pulled into KT right on the money! My crew was there but they were cheering for Diana (I guess Brendan had the same color of shirt on) and then they finally saw me and erupted. I love that feeling after a long night! Pumpkin pie and Coke hit the spot and we were gone.
A few more climbs and a nasty trail down from Putnam is all I had to go. We got to the top of the last climb and looked back, we saw no one. That effectively gave me at least a 30 minute lead but because of my left quad I could not go down hill very fast and I know Chris could smell my gray hairs. We pulled into Putman and learned that Chris had left 20 minutes after I did. That made me a little nervous. I decided not to stop at Putnam and gritted it out till the end. If I stopped and started, that's when the quad would seize up so I made it a point to not stop. The grade is also gradual enough that it didn't hurt that much. But now I can smell the barn so I was hell bent with tunnel vision to get under 27 and keep everyone else behind me.
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| Top of Putnam. photo Brendan Trimboli |
Finally down to the river and I had no energy left. My crew and Matt Trappe (one of many places) were there and I just didn't have any emotion to evoke at this point. I had 45 minutes to get under 27. I ran pretty much everything from that point, save it the grunt up to the shrine. One our way up to the shrine Brendan and I encountered a very rare sight. A couple of deers were being chased down the road by a large coyote. The deer ran right towards us, nearly running us over, the coyote screeched to a halt and high tailed it back into the hills. How appropriate to finish a race, a hunter hunting. The same mode that I'd been in ever since I left Telluride.
There is nothing better than running down the chute to kiss the rock. I got very emotional this year because I had put it all out there and my entire family was there to witness it and celebrate with me. Thank you to all my crew and pacers as well as all the volunteers and race committee for Hardrock. I am indebted to all you and look forward to a time I can give back to a race that has given me so much. Also a big congratulations to all those who lined up! Until next year, cheers!
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| The family at the finish. photo Matt Trappe |
Here is all the stuff I consumed during the race:
- 9 EFS liquid shot flasks
- 7 bottles of EFS grape drink
- 1 bottle of EFS tropical punch drink
- 10 bottles of water
- 8 pouches of Peter Rabbit Organics
- 20 oz of Chicken broth
- 4 bowls of ramon noodles
- 30 oz of Coke
- 6 bags of CocoRoons
- 6 rice bars (recipe in Feed Zone)
- 4 pieces of pumpkin pie
- multiple pieces of crystallized ginger
- 4 Ensure
- 4 oz of Odoul's
- 2 chocolate chip cookies
- 2 servings of Ultragen
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