Markos posted on the front page an article about this little bike ride he's on - 129 miles on a bike, with 15,000 feet of altitude gain and a high point of 8,730 feet. Well folks, that's nothing. (Please note, though, the use of "wimp" was only a tease.)
Yesterday morning the Hardrock 100 mountain foot race started in Silverton Colorado. The race is 100 miles on foot with 33,992 of climbing and 33,992 of descending (with no wheels to coast down) at an average elevation of 11,186 feet and Handies Peak as the high point at 14,048. The best time is 23 hours and 30 minutes.
This is a non-stop race. It started at 6:00 AM on Friday and the winner crossed the finsh line early this morning with a time of 25 hours 17 minutes. This is a fantastic time even though it doesn't match that insane 23:30 time set by Kyle Skaggs. As in every year many runners will not finish and the course will be cleared of stragglers at the 48 hour mark.
Last year, the winner did not come close to the best time, but by any measure is was a hell of an achievement.
Jared Campbell won the 2010 Hardrock in 27:18. Diana Finkel, after having led the run through 92 miles, finished in second place overall, with a time of 28:32. Third overall was Michael Foote in 29:35 and fourth was Darcy Africa (2nd woman) in 30:14.
There were 140 starters and 100 finishers. Jennifer Roach won the "Caboose Award" as the final finisher under the 48 hour cutoff, with less than 3 minutes to spare. Leonard Martin was within sight of the finish when the clock expired, and reached the hardrock two minutes over the time limit, displaying a graceful acceptance that reminded us all what a gentleman he is.
Conditions were excellent - comfortable temperatures, only a little rain, low rivers and little snow on the course.
Here are the race results so far. The winner was Julien Chorier with a time of 25 hours and 17 minutes. The top female was Diana Finkel with a time of 29:27. Amazing.
Now the word "wimp" I used in the title is a mite strong. Markos' bike ride is certainly a challenge. Also, there is no way I could do the Hardrock 100, certainly not in a day. A cub I belong to has planned to do it in stages over six days. I've done parts of it, including climbing Handies Peak. But that alone took me five hours.
So the folks competing in these endurance races, including Markos, are to be commended. But I must say, the Hardrock 100 runners are truly in a class by themselves.
Here is a picture from the top of Handies, the highpoint of the race, that I took a few years ago. (I finally figured out how to embed a picture. Whooppee)
And here's a picture of yours truly just south of where the race is run.