LAST SUNDAY RACE

I have to admit I was a bit skeptical when Jenny called and suggested we run the Estes Park 10K and that Mark was going to do the marathon. " There's high altitude you have to adjust to" I said. But there was no saying no to her. " It'll be fun" she replied. So Christy, Jenny ,Mark and I headed over the Rockies at 4 in the morning. The picture above is at the top of the Alpine Tundra and the sun is not quite up.

We got checked in and our bibs on. The sun was up but it was still cool out.

At 7 Mark is ready to line up for his race.

I'm waiting, we have 45 minutes before the start. Jenny is going out by herself and Christy and I will stay together.

This was one of the prettiest courses I have run. After starting on some streets we came to a trail that ran down and under the highway and then on to a path that would go around Lake Estes. We ran down through a meadow and over the Big Thompson River.

Passed some fly fishermen out for their Sunday catch.

The horses were lined up and I was wishing I could get on one. The temperature was warming up and you could feel the effects of the altitude. I kept wondering how Mark was doing.

On our left was the Olympus Dam built in 1949 with the snow capped mountains in the background.

I loved this sign. It gave me an excuse to walk.

Finally we come to a long flat stretch.

A lone goose gives us a heads up.

Around the lake, back under the highway and up a hill and into the stadium and we are done. Jenny was there to greet us. I really loved this race and was glad she had convinced me to do it.

Finish time 1:47:47 and 6th place in my age group.

After we got some food and drink we went down near the trail to wait for Mark to come by. Jenny was going to run in with him.


This turned out to be a good race for us to run. The altitude effect is real, though, and it took more effort than we all realized. We spent the rest of Sunday recovering, then had a very active vacation in the Rockies the rest of the week.