The gun went off at 7am and we were off. Out of the gate I broke off with the front pack of 20 and we cruised through the campgrounds along the shore of Horsetooth Reservoir. The sun was just beginning to rise over the water, peering through the steep canyon walls damming the water on the east.
We merged onto the Soderberg trailhead at a decently quick pace. Through Nomad, I was cruising way, way too fast on this grassy single track in the valley. I knew I had to back off the gas to prep for the 1,000' climb up Towers - a severely steep trail ascending up the westerly ridges of Horsetooth Mountain Park.
Heading up Towers, my fast pace caught up to me and my abs begun to cramp up pretty bad. I succumb to a hike toward the end of the steep stuff. I topped off my water bottle at the Herrington junction, sucked down a Gel and proceeded in a cramped fashion, which only got worse with the descent down the steep, rocky Stout trail. Once I made it back to Towers for the rest of the descent to Soderberg, I took it easy and settled into a pretty mellow pace (probably low 9's).
Nearing the end of the climb up Towers. A grunt for sure. Photo: Rob Erskine 
Herrington. Coming off of some wicked cramps. Photo: Rob ErskineMy abs began to relax once the trail leveled off on Shoreline, but my mellow pace slowly increased again. Damn race mode.
Now on Blue Sky trail, we made our way back through the Start/Finish area and headed south toward Loveland. I hadn't run any of the trails that covered the forthcoming 17 miles, so it was about to get really real. The four miles on Blue Sky were actually quite fun. This single track trail is comprised of mostly quick rollers on the west side of a high ridge, blocking the hot morning sun. I cruised through this with relative ease. There were a couple dudes on my tail, so I let them pass with the expectation I'd catch them later.....maybe.
I entered the Indian Summer North aid station, filled up my water bottle up again, sucked down a Gel and forged on to tackle one of the most exposed climbs of the day, Devil's Backbone. This was a monster because unlike the shady, cool rollers on Blue Sky, this rocky, sun-scorched single track was a climb straight to the sun. My this time, the temps were in the high 70's and I was hating every minute of it. I do not like the sun and the associated heat. I muddled my way up and over this hill and descended to connect over to Indian Summer South and on to the Hunter turnaround.
Entering the Indian Summer South aid station, I again, filled my water bottle, ate another Gel and continued on to Hunter. As I climbed Hunter I could hear the cheering of the folks at the bib check turnaround point. They checked my bib and one fellow said, "You're in 20th!". I was pleasantly surprised by this and it gave me a bit of a hop to my step.....for about three minutes.
I crested the peak of Hunter and was greeted with a blast from the morning sun, again. This section of trail was mostly slanted Pennsylvanian slab sandstone - very Moab-esque. My feet were pretty beaten up by this leg of the course, which was about 18 miles in. I was completely by myself with about 4 ounces of water and one Gel left. I needed to get the hell off of this rock fast. This was certainly my low point, feeling totally exhausted with not much motivation, but to get to some shade and cooler temps.
Finally, I began to see course markers that read "BACK" rather than "OUT", indicating I only need to head back to the finish line.
Heading up Indian Summer South again, I began to realize that I'd have to make that arduous climb back up Devil's Backbone. Now temps were in the high 80's. Shit. I stopped at the South aid station to get more water. There was another marathoner there refueling too. Let's call him Mr. 19. I wasted no time and proceeded. Now, he was Mr. 20.
I reached the base of Devil's and stared in mild bewilderment and resentment at the sign that pointed toward a flat smooth dirt road, which read "Half Marathoners Only". Then I looked uphill at the talus covered single track radiating the sun's death rays - naturally, the marathon route. I proceeded upward.
I looked back and saw a couple of guys closing in behind me (Mr. 20 and Mr. 21), so I progressed a bit harder with the intent to at least secure my 19th place position. Though, around corners, I'd transition into moments of power hiking to prevent myself from not completely falling apart and to hide the fact that I was hiking to my opponents. They too were hiking. Shit, the half marathoners coming down the hill were hiking. As I descended Devil's, Mr. 20 closed the gap pretty quickly and soon was 5 seconds behind me.
We entered the aid station together and he said, "Man, I've been trying to catch you for the last three miles." We both started pillaging the aid station of its watermelon, fluids, bananas, etc. While Mr. 20 was snacking and talking with the aid volunteers, I choked down the last of my Gels and cruised out of there.
Coming back on Blue Sky I passed one more guy, which put me in 18th. Even though I was happy to be back on the shady rollers, the rollers themselves were sort of kicking my ass. After running about 23 miles, the last thing I felt like doing was bouncing up and down on these quick rollers. The cramps re-emerged, but I tried to keep focus on simply finishing.
Four hours and thirty six minutes later, I crossed the finish line. My first marathon was a wrap - 18th overall and 4th in my age group. Done and done.
Crossing the finish line with Nick Clark cheering me on (right). Pretty stoked.
