We drove to Telluride (via the cabin Thursday night) on Friday. It is SO beautiful there. If you have never been there, you really need to add it to your bucket list! We wandered around the town and the guys checked in for their race. Then we checked into our place. One word....AMAZING! We found a three bedroom/three bathroom "condo" right at the base of the gondola in the mountain village. It was so nice and the price was pretty good (once you split it between three couples).
That night we went Brown Dog Pizza. Another MUST do while in Telluride. The Detroit Style square pizza can't be beat! They start with a hot square pan and add cheese and bake it (to carmelize the cheese) then they put in the dough (and bake it again for a bit), then add toppings and bake. YUMMMMMMMM! It was so good that we had it again the next afternoon after the race.
We hit the hot tub and then the guys hit the sack early. They were all a bit anxious about the next day. We all were!
The next morning we got up at 5 (Lisa no likey) and we made the hour long ride to Ouray where the starting line would be. I LOVE Ouray. We first visited it when I was in high school on a family road trip. It is such a charming, old fashioned, mining town. I actually like it a bit more than Telluride. Telluride is a little more "Aspen-like". It is a bit snobby and the stores are all really expensive. Ouray is more of a family place.
It was REALLY crowded for 7 am on a Saturday morning. There were 1200 runners (and their cheerleaders) there getting ready for the start.
At 7:30 (on the button), the race began. They started running up the highway, and then quickly joined the jeep trail that is known as Imogene Pass. They ran 10 miles (or quickly hiked most of the way up) to the top of the pass at over 13,000 feet. There were several check points along the way (if you didn't make it by a certain time, they turned you around so that you didn't encounter inclement weather at the top of the pass). Once you got to the top, you had to run down the other side (7.1 miles) into Telluride. This is a jeep trail and therefore, dirt and rocks. While waiting at the finish line, we saw lots of bloody kneeds, faces and hands from people falling on the steep downhill. The guys said they had to be really vigilant and concentrate very hard so as not to fall on the way down.
People that have done this say it is harder than an marathon! The guys did amazing. They really wanted to finish it together, so they waited for each other along the way and helped each other git r dun! They finished in just under 4 hours and 45 minutes. It was awesome!
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| Checking out the trail from the Gondola. See it? |
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| They ran right past this spot up towards the mountains. |
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| Ready to start |
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| See all the people ready to go? |
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| It was hard to find them as they were running by. Luckily Chris' bright orange shoes help! |
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| Almost there boys! |
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| Just about to finish (note the time) |
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| All done! |
It was really inspiring to watch all of the people finish, especially our guys!
The guys are already planning for next year! Who wants to join them?
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