I have had the opportunity to travel quite a bit during my career. I have seen lots of places that would be great to live in – each for different reasons. Some years ago, I came to the conclusion that where ever you live, you should at least try the activities that are popular in that area. This has been great for me, living in Colorado, I snowboard, backpack, camp, hike and hopefully, next year, complete the Pikes Peak Ascent. I see Pikes Peak every day and this race is an iconic Colorado Springs staple… so for me, its a bucket list item.
The Ascent is something that I have wanted to do for close to 5 years now, and have thought about it and debated taking it on several times, but have not. In May of 2018, I decided to that I was ready to try it. Honestly, my weight had crept up and I needed a goal to help me lose some weight and the Ascent was it.
If you are not familiar with the Pikes Peak Ascent, it is a half-marathon distance race, but is not like other half-marathons. The race starts in Manitou Springs and climbs Pikes Peak, the elevation gain is over 7000ft and the race finishes on the peak, at over 14,000 feet of elevation. If you are really crazy you can do the Pikes Peak Marathon and run back down the trail after reaching the top. To give you an idea of the difficultly of doing the Ascent, if you have never done it, your estimated time to complete is your flat marathon time plus 30 minutes.
My goal is to FINISH the Ascent. I don’t have a specific time goal… just finish!