Ring the Springs
A Colorado Adventure | Ultramarathon #104
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| Manitou Incline shakeout. |
An early wake-up alarm from my phone jarred me into reality as sat up from a sleep in my passenger seat of my “dirt-bag” style car camp. I drove my way over to Rock Ledge Ranch and got my morning calories in: 2 apple turnovers and a cold Monster coffee beverage (a true healthy breakfast). There was a nice Rocky Mountain chill in the air, as the temperature was still in the 40s. I stayed in my car getting ready and warm until the 15 minute warning when Jamil Coury (Aravaipa RD) gave out the race briefing. I had everything packed into my vest and was ready to go.
At 05:00 we headed off on our Colorado adventure. The first portion winded briefly through the edge of Garden of the Gods and then into the city of Colorado Springs for about 4 miles paralleling the highway to the south end of Colorado Springs before we checked in at America the Beautiful aid and then crossed under the road and headed into the North Cheyenne Canon and Pike National Forest section which created a large (~55Mi-ish) lollipop loop. The sun was warming the air as we began to climb up into the mountain terrain. The overall section from the edge of the city to the peak of the course was essentially a non-stop uphill grind all the way up to the summit of Mount Rosa. I was in the front pack of runners which we had spread out pretty well by now, only seeing a couple runners ahead of me but mostly running by myself sticking with my own rhythm. I was simply out there just loving the Colorado trail atmosphere. There was a short 1.0Mi out & back portion to the actual summit of Mount Rosa (11,506 ft+). A couple of small patches of snow and ice remained in the shadows on this summiting section. This allowed me to see where I sat in the race at this point although it was still super early relatively speaking. I believe I was 4th, maybe 5th, overall to the summit and then past a few more runners on the way back down before the turn rejoining the course loop.
From here the net downhill portion of the course took over as it was a non-stop decline for miles upon miles coming around the other side of Mount Rosa and eventually back around to the Gold Camp aid station. This was a tough section for someone not used to quad pounding descents. Luckily it was not always super steep, but it was relentless, which made it very challenging for a flat-lander. Arriving back at Gold Camp was a great moral boost as crews and spectators were gathered waiting and cheering runners in. A couple swigs of coke and refills of my bottles I continued back down the road descending on the same initial portion of the course back towards Colorado Springs. There was a passing thunder storm that I was trying to outrun, but eventually it engulfed me with a pounding of 10 minutes or so of hail followed by a downpouring of rain. I brought out my rabbit Treeline jacket and just kept moving downhill trying to outrun the storm. As I got lower and lower in elevation it seemed to let up slightly. Soon the clouds parted and it was over just as fast as it had started.
A long descent back down we crossed back under the main road and running back into the initial aid station (America the Beautiful) which was now aid at mile 57.3. Mentally it was great to reach nearly 100 km point and be back into urban area. I was now looking forward to my tour of Colorado Springs up close. Leaving America the Beautiful Park we headed along the water following a nice flat crushed-rock multiuse trail (the Pikes Peak Greenway) for about 6 Mi (10 km). Honestly I this point I was kind of dreading the remaining miles on the course because I just kind of assumed that the course might be on this greenway. This is my fault by design as I don’t always read full course description and details because I like the excitement of not knowing precisely what lies ahead.
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| Ring the Springs 100 Mi course map. |
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| Ring the Springs elevation profile. High Point: Mount Rosa: 11,506 ft+. |
Eventually the course veered off the main greenway and followed the Templeton Gap Trail. After nearly 3 miles down this trail on more of a sidewalk, we dove into Palmer Park and utilized a lot of singletrack. This was a pleasant, welcomed surprise. The only issue was there was about a mile of horrible slippery clay section of trail that had not drained from the prior rain and thus it was super slick and the type of mud that just builds up on your shoes. The result was a slow slog through this section. Eventually the trail conditions became slightly rockier again which enables a little faster movement. The lead female runner (Rachel Hawkins) caught me from behind and I tagged onto her pace using the motivation to keep moving. After a few miles together, we reached the far end of Palmer Park where the aid station was set up. Here I got some excellent warm broth and then got my headlamp and kogalla adventure light out ready for the impending darkness that was now engulfing the city landscape.
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| Photo: Rachel Jump Photography |
I took off from Palmer aid, headed on my journey, as Rachel was still there with her crew. The next section was a sunset singletrack dance around the Templeton Trail which was a technical, rocky, and very twisty trail on a ridge above the park open space below. There was an event Aravaipa camera crewperson taking some video on this trail and caught up and followed me briefly in the low light setting (I hope to see that video clip eventually). The sun inevitably gave into to the horizon and I had to switch on my kogalla waistlamp to lead me.
The next portion of the trail continued on trails winding through the Austin Bluffs Open Space. There was a few wrong turns I made due to some missing flagging (vandalism? hooliganism?). There was a second runner whom caught up to me at this point as well and we kept leap frogging each other and helping each other out following my gpx on my Garmin watch coordinating with the tracking on his phone. As mentioned we did make a few turns by mistake as some of the junctions weren’t marked correctly (not blaming Aravaipa at all since the entire course was well marked, I assume this was done by random). The small setbacks caused a little frustration but eventually we worked our way over to the next aid station: Pulpit Rock. A quick refuel and food intake here and I was off again trying to keep my forward momentum going to take me towards a sub-24 finish – I knew I was starting to loose ground on my goal. The next city park was a quick tour of Ute Valley Park where the second to last aid station was here.
The end was now within sight - somewhat – only 12 Mi to go. Leaving Ute aid I knew I just had to keep moving well and limit my walking time in order to keep pushing the 24 hour time goal. I was running in 3rd overall at this point with a couple people behind me not too far. This brief section of the course was adjacent to the roads bringing us back around the final portion of the city loop on the top (North) side of the Garden of the Gods. Coming through a neighborhood and then following a sharp turn up a park maintenance road headed towards the final aid station. This road was straight up. A 1.0 Mi section which gained a full 800 ft+ elevation without any let up, just a steady grade climb. This was the final climb of the course but it was a doozy! I power hiked this portion fairly well and was happy to see the lights on the aid station tent at the top signaling only 5.5 Mi to go.
I sat down and chatted with the volunteers as I enjoyed some Coca-Cola. I refilled my bottles and then to my surprise another headlamp came up the climb approaching the aid station. It was Walter Handloser (infamous for this running the record of 100s in a calendar year). I muttered to myself (“crap”) as now there was 2 of us there with less than 10km to go to duke it out for the final podium spot. Walter was in and out of the aid after a bottle fill and nothing else, he took off down the road. I composed myself at this point and followed him trying to keep up. He was moving very well and kept a good pace running done the endless declining Rampart Range Rd.. Soon Walter’s headlamp disappeared in front of me as his legs carried him faster downhill that I could go at this point 23.5 hours into the run. A couple of miles later we crossed off the road and into some singletrack trails within the Garden of the Gods Park itself. The sun was also starting to provide early light at this point signaling the start of the 2nd day which coincided with the 24 hour mark (more or less). I tried to keep motivated and stay in pursuit of Walter but I never did catch sight of him again. The last portion of the trail we rejoined the trail where we began the day prior right at the edge of Rock Ledge Ranch and followed the flags into the finishing chute under the Aravaipa banner. 24 Hours 44 minutes I had completed Ring the Springs and earned myself another ultramarathon finish.
I was presented with a buckle and had a few minutes to chat and catch up with Walter at the finishing area. There was only a couple of volunteers there and the chill of the morning was already overtaking me now that I had stopped moving. I got myself a warm coffee from the aid and headed over to my car to get into dry clothing and get warm. My adventure in Colorado was a success having achieved my 32nd 100 Miler (or more) finish. Now it was time to travel back home to Texas…after a quick nap.
Results
4th overall | 24:44:05 | 101.34 Mi (163.09 km) | 14,219 ft+ (4,334 m+)
STRAVA: Ring the Springs 100Mi (4th overall), Colorado Springs, CO | Run | Strava
UltraSignUp: 2023 Ring the Springs 100 Miler - Results (ultrasignup.com)
My 104th ultramarathon run.
My 32nd 100 Mi (or more) completed.
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| #BuckleUp |
Gear List
Shirt(s): rabbit SS rabbitELITEtrail team kit
LS shirt(s): rabbit LS UPF 30 Deflector (hood)
Sleeves: rabbit
Shorts: rabbit 5" shredders 2-in-1
Jacket(s): rabbit Treeline
Shoes: Altra Olypmpus 4.0
Socks: Dry Max
Headwear: rabbit (BOCO) rabbitELITEtrail cap
Gloves: rabbit (BOCO)
Watch: Garmin fēnix® 6X - Pro Solar Edition
Lighting: kogalla RA Adventure Light (waistlamp) & NATHAN Halo Fire (headlamp)
Hydration: NATHAN Pinnacle 12 L race vest
Anti Friction lube: Trail Toes
Gear Bags: Victory Sportdesign
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