Barr Trail Mountain Race

Yesterday I ran in the Barr Trail Mountain Race for the first time. This race starts at the Cog Railway on Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs and climbs 3,630 feet in 6.3 miles to Barr Camp which sits a 10,200 feet. You turn around at Barr Camp and descend the same way you came up for a total of 12.5 miles. It was a good warm up to the Pikes Peak Marathon on Aug 22nd. Plus I had a good friend and his college buddies from Boulder come down for the race too. The four of them went to Wartburg College together and ran cross country. Two of the them have run the race for several years in a row and I guess because it was Nick's (the guy in the orange bandana) 30th b-day, they all decided to run it. They were making bets as to who would win would be the first of the four of them to cross the finish line first. In the end Tate won earning an amazing 8th overall spot in a time of 1:38:31 especially since that was his first time up to Barr. Tom came in 16th overall male in a time of 1:45:55, Nick in 36 overall male in a time of 1:59:28, and Joe came in 76 overall male in a time of 2:15:33. I think they all had a great time. As for my race, I had a PR up to Barr Camp and down. I was able to power up to Barr in 1:28:59 and my descent was record fast for me in 48:33 with no falls. Finish time was 2:17:32 good for 13th overall female. I am really glad I did it as I felt like it gave me great incite into my strategy for the marathon plus I got to share the mountain with some good friends.
The Wartburg boys! Nick, Tate, Tom and Joe.

Looking forward to next year!