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Sunday 18 August 2013

Leadville Quick Race Report

Photo: irunfar

Epic summer battling with fellow Brit Nick Clark. Photo: irunfar


Leadville went well, especially since it was race three of the Grand Slam and race two (Vermont 100) was kind of horrible for me. Since my body won't let me sleep I might as well write the race up briefly.

In summary, there were some fast guys aiming to do ridiculous times. Scott Jurek wanted to be the second man to break 16 hours and Ryan Sandes was coming back after a fast win in 2011. irunfar did a great write up of the contenders. So Nick Clark and I were dark horses given the two 100s in our legs from recent weeks and we weren't expected to be around the lead at the end.

It started off with a huge pack zooming off in the pre-dawn dark, which wasn't surprising given it's downhill and there were around 1,000 runners. Most of that pack stayed together to Mayqueen at 13.5 miles but then by the first proper climb around mile 15, former Olympian Mike Aish took off followed by Ryan Sandes, Andrew Catalano, Nick Clark and myself. I was amazed by how flat a lot of the course was, especially the road sections, but I bore this in mind for later so that I could aim to conserve energy to allow me to run those easy bits on the way back (it's 50 miles out and back).

Nick and I spent much of the first half running together or near each other in around fourth and fifth and entered the Twin Lakes aid station at mile 39 together. We'd had plenty of banter all day long but were both running well so headed off towards the 3,000ft+ climb up Hope Pass.

I decided fairly early on that since I live at sea level and the race is almost all above 10,000ft I'd need to keep my perceived effort down to make my legs and energy reserves last the whole way. Plus I'd already run the other 100 milers recently so wanted to be conservative due to that too. So I hiked every step of Hope Pass both directions but I practice that a lot since I'm not a strong uphill runner and it seemed to work well since I got into second by the top (12,600ft) on the way out, although Nick and Ryan were just behind. Ryan dropped at this point with back problems after looking so strong through the first half.

On the return journey I kept focusing on power-hiking anything tougher than about a 5% gradient and was catching Mike Aish gradually as well as pulling away from Nick. Now I was thinking about the possibility of winning but couldn't let myself think about that and instead stuck to my tactics and just hoped they'd pay off. Amazingly I was still feeling good at mile 60 and at around mile 67 I caught Mike as he was walking - he looked destroyed and I just hoped he'd be able to finish after dropping the previous year.

Things kept going well through to the Outward Bound aid station at mile 76 and my crew and pacers, Meredith Terranova and Sean Meissner were looking after me well. Hiking up Powerline in the next few miles I still felt fairly good but by about mile 82 things turned and I felt delerious. On the downhill trail into Mayqueen (86.5 miles) I was dizzy and almost tripping over every rock. Nick managed to close on me during this section although I had no idea. Then after Mayqueen a toilet stop seemed to bring me back to life and I was able to cruise along the rolling lake single track.

About eight miles from the finish I was told at the last time check (Mayqueen) Nick was 10 mins behind me so that lit a fire under me and I suddenly kicked it up a gear and ran really hard. I couldn't eat anything and just hoped I wouldn't bonk and that Nick wouldn't catch me - frankly I was terrified he'd take the win from me in the last couple of miles.

Somehow my body let me run in those final miles fast enough to break two hours for the split for the last 13.5 miles and I gapped Nick by 36 mins in the end, but I only found that out when he crossed the line. I assumed he was still catching me.

So Grand Slammers got 1-2 in the race and now we're around 4h40m (me) and 3h30m (Nick) under the Slam record splits with just Wasatch Front left. I really don't want to think about doing another 100 now but I'm sure that'll change in about a week.

My GPS watch lasted long enough to capture each of the three Slam races so far so here are the data for my runs on Strava:

Western States 100 (6/29): http://app.strava.com/activities/63921494

Vermont 100 (7/20): http://app.strava.com/activities/69091265

Leadville Trail 100 (8/17): http://app.strava.com/activities/75597891

Gear used at Leadville:

Scott Kinabalu T2 trail shoes
UltrAspire handhelds and Spry vest
Julbo Dust shades
Clif Bar Shot gels and Shot Bloks
Drymax Max Protection Trail socks

Also, here's a TV interview I did about the race with Mike Wardian called Gotta Get Running:



Mayqueen on the way out (mile 13.5), briefly leading. Photo: irunfar
Meredith helping a speedy transition around mile 72. Photo: Eric Senseman

Nick and myself at the finish, completely drained. Photo: Meredith Terranova

18 comments:

  1. It's a stunning performance Ian and both Nick and yourself have shocked a few people... it is going to be a very exciting final Slam race. Very best of luck to both of you.

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  2. Congratulations! You are a true inspiration for me.

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  3. Nice work mate! You know Nick won Wasatch in 2010? You got a pacer lined up? I know the pacer that got a runner really close to him in 2010 ;)

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  4. Amazing! I got to watch you race (from behind and in an out a back section) at the 2012 North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler in Madison. It was fun to hear all the reports from the leaders. Just curious as to what GPS watch you use? I am buying a new one soon and although I don't finish 100's under 20 hours, am interested hearing which people prefer.

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  5. This has been great fun to watch. The two of you are putting on an amazing show for all of us fans out here. Thrilling. To think that you are more than 4 1/2 hours and 3 1/2 hours under the record--wow, what world class efforts.

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  6. Everything about you Ian is first-class, congrats on (another) terrific result. Well done!

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  7. Ian, most impressive race. Your steadiness and toughness really paid off. We should have this report be mandatory reading for all first time LT100 runners- if Ian walked up Hope both times, they should, too.

    Congrats.

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  8. thanks for the detailed report Ian - great info for us amateurs. and nice work out there, strangely pulling for the Limey's!

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  9. Ian,
    Impressive effort Saturday!
    I'm pacing fellow slammer, Traci F and was glad to meet you, although briefly, on Sunday morning.

    From a coaching and physiological standpoint, it amazes me to see something like your performance unfold on Saturday, (after Western and Vermont). It almost seems that sometimes running is art as well as science. The sport is such an such an interesting balancing act and often things occur you'd not expect!

    Kudos on a well run race, in which sticking to your game plan and running your own race earned you a win on one of the most storied courses in our sport.

    Wishing you the best at Wasatch.

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  10. I think they're going to have to make a movie about this Grand Slam chase between you, Nick, and this record! This is totally cool!

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  11. 100miles is just so long... And you make it sound so easy...

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  13. Spectacular. God has given you a gift.

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  14. Simply amazing! Congratulations! I don't know how you do it - make it sound so easy.

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  15. Congratulations Ian and good luck at Wasatch! What GPS watch did you use?

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