I ran Sam, Sam I am!

I did it! I finished the Silverton Alpine Marathon!

I completed the 26.2 mile, 3800 vertical feet course in 5:04:05, nearly an hour ahead of my goal time! Out of 58 official finishers I came in 23rd, so better than half!

The first 8 miles are relatively flat only about 380Ft of gain, and actually went by rather quickly. Once we started climbing, I began to really get into it. I tried to set a fairly slow pace but the adrenaline just kept me going and I ran probably the best 5 miles of my life. I ended up passing about 4 people on the way up, I never had to stop, and was feeling WAY better than I expected to be. It was then I knew I would finish and that this was probably going to be one of the greatest experiences of my life.

The last few flat miles and the beginning of the climb:


I think the bridge is out:


BTW, I took these pictures the day before, so no, I didn’t bring my camera on the run...

The next section was the toughest of the whole thing. 1400Ft in 2.5 miles, lets just say that I didn’t see anyone in front of my running up so I didn’t feel so bad when I had to walk.

The tough climb, the top is the ridge you see in the distance:


16.2 miles in I reached California Pass, 12,890Ft, it is all down hill from here (or so I thought.) We turn down hill and drop a good 800Ft into the basin only to turn the corner and run back up another 300Ft! Then it really was all down hill, but after that many miles even down is a lot of work, and I was starting to feel the pain. Somehow, after the reaching the top my mind just shut off for awhile and the next 8 miles just disappeared. All I remember was asking the person at the aid station what mile I was at, 19.8, she said. I only have 6.5 to go! I do that every day! I also asked her what time it was, 12:00, she said. Sweet, not only do I only have 6.5 miles left, but I have 2 hours still in order to beat my goal of 6 hours! That pumped me way up, so I dropped off my Camelback (which was empty) and plowed on. As soon as I saw the 21 mile marker though that bit of energy stopped. I was dead, all the joints in my legs were in incredible pain, my legs had no energy left, my back and shoulders were very sore, and what made it all worse was my mind had come out of whatever trance it was in before so I was aware of it all. The last 4 miles felt like 10, they just kept going. I would see the 22 sign, and soon afterward I would be thinking "I’ve got to be at nearly the 24 by now" (not every mile was marked, so I never knew exactly how far I had gone), I would keep running and come around the corner only to see the 23... Come on!! This has got to end soon! I passed some spectators, "Only 2.5 miles left and it is all downhill, you are doing great!" All downhill! Tell that to all the joints in my legs who have been taking the beating of a lifetime for the last 8 downhill miles, downhill sucks! I turn the final corner to see the finish line and a bunch of people cheering, It was all I could do to not break down in tears at that sight. I stumbled across the finish line, glanced up at the clock, 5:04, I had done it, I was done.

The overall results:


The only problem I discovered was that none of my friends that I had asked to come and watch me finish we there, not even Mike and Sadie, who came to Silverton with me and camped the night before. But I didn’t care, it wasn’t there fault, I just ran too damn fast. I had told everyone that if I finished before 1PM I would be extremely impressed, so when I crossed the finish line an hour early, they were still off doing their own thing. I think the reason I ran so fast was the night before Sadie helped me remove some excess wind resistance.

I got home around 8, turned on Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, and was passed out before the battle of Hoth was over.

Sunday turned out really fun as well. Mike called me @ 10:30Am (I was still in bed) and asked how I was feeling? "Well, my legs dont work but fine otherwise", "Great! because all you have to do is sit in the sun while we cruise around Lake Navajo on Brians boat." Needless to say I went, it was awesome.

Mike in front, Brian, Jezzibelle (the dog,) and Lindsey in back:


We grilled up some dogs and burgers on the houseboat and had a wonderful time just hangin’ out.

Captain Brian, and the houseboat:


Later, we went on a mission to find a good place to kneeboard, but on the way out the boat began to overheat and stranded up in the little cove while it cooled down. Oh well lets do some cliff jumping!!

Mike and I jump the cliff:


We finally got the boat started and limped back to the marina. Ahh another good day.

PS, I put up all the pictures I took in the Photo Gallery