The Above the Clouds 50K took place on October 4th in stunning Woodland Park, Colorado and was put on by Revenant Running. Situated at 8,600 feet above sea level, Woodland Park is often called the “City Above the Clouds”, which is how the race aptly gets its name.
This was not a planned race by any means for me, and I ended up on this start line on a whim. I was already going to be in Denver visiting my family and was perusing UltraSignup to see if there happened to be something local that might be fun. No expectations of finding something close by, but as it happened, the Above the Clouds 50K ended up being the perfect combination of race distance and travel time from Denver. I wanted a low-stakes challenge to wash away the disappointment of withdrawing from the Grindstone 100K by UTMB two weeks earlier. Following an exceptionally difficult double over a five-week period, running the Vermont 100 Endurance Run and then setting a new Marathon PR of 2:37 at the Sri Chinmoy Marathon, I did not feel like my body was ready for another hard 100K only four weeks after the marathon. After taking about a week of downtime following that withdrawal, I was ready to find something again to scratch that itch. Enter the Above the Clouds 50K.
I arrived in Denver late Thursday night, greeted by family who had picked me up from the airport. The next day, we drove up to Boulder to meet my brother, Cole, and his girlfriend, Kate, for a hike around Green Mountain West followed by lunch out in downtown Boulder. Cole would be running the 50K with me in the morning, our second 50K this year after the running the Canyons Endurance Run 50K by UTMB back in April. He would be spending the night with us in Denver before our early morning wake up call. After an early pasta dinner, we were off to bed.
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| Pre-Race Photo! |
Our alarms went off at 4:00 AM, and Cole and I quickly mobilized our supplies and hoped in the car at 4:30 AM so we could arrive at Woodland Park by 6:00 AM. I spent most of the car ride trying to control my breathing and heart rate as we slowly climbed from Denver’s elevation of 5,200 feet to Woodland Parks elevation at 8,600 feet. To say I was not acclimated would be an understatement. As I exited the car after we arrived at Woodland Park Middle School, my heart rate was nearly 100 bpm. After walking down to the starting area to grab our packets, Cole and I hung out around the car until about ten minutes before the race, preparing our gear and trying to stay warm. While it wasn’t exceptionally cold, we were expecting wind chills in the mid-40s and high winds up in the mountains for a good part of the race. Cole and I made our way back down to the start and after a few pre-race announcements we were off!
We quickly set off from the dirt track and forked left onto a paved road climb. This climb would take us up nearly a mile before we entered a dirt trail, which would ascend Lovell Gulch. All told, the first three miles of the race featured an oxygen-sapping 900-foot climb from the race start elevation of 8,600 feet up to 9,500 feet, with runners spending majority of the race above 9,000 feet. Not that I was expecting anything differently, but within a half-mile of starting my heart rate was already pushing mid 160 bpm. I knew I would be comfortable holding a near anaerobic effort up to about 170 bpm, but I didn’t want to push too hard too early. By the end of the first mile, we had a runner immediately gap Cole and I with another a few seconds ahead as we settled into third and fourth with a few other runners right behind us. As we turned onto the trail and continued our ascent Cole and I had pulled ahead of the other runner and moved into second and third place. We had planned for Cole, with his partial acclimatization, to lead the charge on the climb so that we did not overdo it, yet we still found ourselves pushing the climb harder than we expected trying to keep the leader in sight. As we entered the third mile, the steepest of the initial climb, I actively had to pull back my effort as my heart rate hit the mid-170s as Cole and another runner pulled ahead. Finally, we exited the climb turning onto the forest service roads where we would spend much of the race as we passed the first aid station at Lovell Gulch.
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| Course Elevation Profile |
Lovell Gulch – 1 – Mile 3.1, 4th Place, 29:28 Total Time, 9:31 Average Pace
The three runners ahead of me had all skipped the first aid station given that it was early in the race so I followed suite. For this race, I was wearing my Naked Running belt with a 500ml soft flask filled with water as well as a handheld filled with 50g of Tailwind and an LMNT packet. I was planning to fuel aggressively, taking in 80-100g of carbs an hour, primarily through drink mix and Gu Gummies. Given the relatively untechnical nature of the race, I had brought my HOKA Tecton X3’s, with an embedded carbon plate, to the party. Turning onto Rampart Range Road, a slight downhill allowed me to quickly bridge the gap back to Cole and the other runner. I went by them, determined to see if I could reel back in the leader who did not seem to be widening his gap anymore. Moving into second place as I began to chase, neither Cole nor the other runner went with me. We continued to climb ever so slightly the next three miles as we continued on Rampart Range Road. The wind gusts continued to exceed 30 miles per hour as I hit Mile 6, as we turned onto a rolling straightaway where I had an absolutely stunning view of Pikes Peak. Towards the end of this straightaway, I had finally started to put significant time into the leader, and as we hit Mile 7 and began the first real descent of the race, I was right on his heels. The next mile dropped nearly 300 feet as the second aid station, Rainbow, approached.
Rainbow – Mile 7.5, 2nd Place, 1:04:19 Total
Time, 8:34 Average Pace
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| Views of Pikes Peak at Mile 7 |
I quickly refilled my water bottle and added a new packet of
Tailwind as I exited the aid station first and took the lead. I intentionally
backed off the gas a bit here as we had another large descent to Rampart
Reservoir, where we would spend a large portion of the race, and I wanted to
get my heart rate under control and get a feel for how the other runner was
feeling. The other runner, who I came to know as Teri Copeland, pulled up on me
and we chatted for a few minutes before making a right-hand turn and entering
the singletracks of Rampart Reservoir, which we would primarily follow for the
next 12-13 Miles. The Rampart Reservoir trail was classic singletracks trail,
not too technical, but with endless little steep undulations that were sapping
my legs and sending my heart rate screaming.
Around Mile 9, I put in a surge to break the race back open and
dropped Teri as he fell back perhaps 10-15 seconds. I continued along the
trail, catching stunning views of the reservoir through the trees, as I tried
to continue to build a gap while keeping my effort moderated. While the course
was exceptionally well marked, I missed a sharp turn and sent both myself and
Teri up a steep climb that ended in a parking lot. We quickly turned back
around, perhaps losing two minutes total. As we found the trail again, we bisected
my brother Cole, who was passing by right as we were reconnecting, putting all
three of us together in a pack at the front. I was a bit surprised that he had
been so close considering the effort I thought I had put in the last few miles.
We ran together for about another mile or so before I put in
another surge to try and break the race open again as we briefly left the
Rampart Reservoir and hit another service road which would take us on an
extended downhill as we passed by the closely guarded Rampart Reservoir Dam. I
opened up the pace into the low 7s as I checked back to see Cole and Teri probably
30 seconds back. Our service road descent ended at Mile 14 as we turned into a
tight single-track trail that would connect back to the Rampart Reservoir. For
the first time since Mile 7, we were starting to go back uphill, and I hit the
beginning of a major low point of the day as my legs and lungs were tested on a
200-foot switchback climb. After an agonizing climb, I arrived back at Rampart
Reservoir, hitting the next aid station, Dam. I quickly refilled my bottle and
set off, getting about a minute into the woods before I heard cheers indicating
the next runner, who I assumed to be either Teri or Cole.
Dam – Mile 14.3, 1st Place, 2:01:37 Total Time, 8:30 Average Pace
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| Course Map |
I ended up hitting the halfway point at Mile 15.5 in about
2:11, about 7 minutes up on course record pace, but beginning to struggle
mightily. My next three miles were wholly uninspiring. While the Reservoir was
beautiful, there was something about the constant undulation of the trail and
being at altitude that did not allow me to settle in. Every little climb was
beginning to feel like agony on my legs as I struggled with oxygen deprivation,
and I could start to feel the pain building in my head. I finally began the ascent
out of Rampart Reservoir at Mile 19 and as I turned to begin a nearly three
hundred foot climb I heard a large shout from behind me. It was my brother,
Cole, who must have been not more than thirty seconds back as we had entered
the first straightaway in a long while. I felt like a dead man walking as the
altitude was starting to chip away at me. I pretty much did all I could do to
keep Cole at bay as we continued to climb up to the penultimate aid station at
Rampart Ridge.
Rampart Ridge – Mile 19.8, 1st Place, 2:53:12
Total Time, 8:45 Average Pace
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| View of Yellow Aspens and Forest Service Roads |
At this point, I decided to ditch my drink mix entirely which was not working for me at altitude. I left the aid station about 30 seconds ahead of Cole as we continued to climb. I was desperate for downhill as I felt like I was hemorrhaging time with every step. Finally, we hit the peak at Mile 21, as the climb gave way to descent and my legs were able to open up. The descent, in addition to choking down water, was slowly starting to lessen the pounding in my head. I continued to descent with Cole still tracking by closely as we left the forest road for a wet and technical single track at Mile 23. The single track gave way to the most daunting section of the course, another six-hundred-foot climb over the next three and a half miles. I figured my best shot at holding Cole off was to push very hard on this section knowing I would have something left for the last three miles that shot back down the nine hundred foot climb we had come up. By Mile 24, it looked like I had finally put some distance on him, but I wasn’t looking back to check very often. All I could think about was trying to survive until the last aid station came back to Lovell Gulch as I was quickly running out of water. Even the stunning beauty of the yellow aspen trees was not enough to take my mind off the pain. Still, all things come to an end, even the never-ending climb at Mile 25 and Mile 26 as the last aid station approached. I turned left back on Rampart Range Road and hit the Lovell Gulch aid station at exactly Mile 27.
Lovell Gulch – 2 – Mile 27.0, 1st Place, 4:01:55
Total Time, 8:58 Average Pace
Even though there were only a bit more than three miles to
go, I was desperate for water due to the extended distance from the prior aid
station. Thankfully, the aid station water was ice cold, and I set off knowing
I had a little less than thirty minutes to go. I was expected all downhill the
last few miles but instead was hit with a profile that would descend, bite back
with a steep punctuating climb that took back some of the loss and then dropped
down again. All told, my legs were feeling really strong as the oxygen
deprivation felt like the true limiter today. The mini-rollers, some of the
steepest of the day, did not end until about a mile and a half to go as I
reconnected with the trail that we had ascended earlier in the day. Now with
true downhill ahead, I was eating up the distance, finally popping out the
trail and turning right back onto the paved road with less than a mile to go.
With the win seemingly comfortably secure, I was now racing to see how much
time I could put into the course record as I took off down the road descent as
my pace crept into the low 6-minute range. Finally, I hit the parking lot and
turned right back on the dirt path as I crossed the finish line in first
overall with a time of 4:31:23, a course record by about six minutes.
Finish – Mile 30.8, 1st Place,
4:31:23 Total Time, 8:47 Average Pace
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| Smith Brothers Take 1st and 2nd! |
I continued to wait at the finish line and before I knew it
Cole had appeared in the parking lot and entered the dirt track as he would go
on to finish second in a time of 4:36:54, a phenomenal effort that put him only
six minutes behind me and also about a minute under the old course record! All
told, it was a 1-2 sweep for the Smith Brothers on a beautiful and breathtaking
(literally) course through the mountains. While perhaps not as much of a
dominating performance as maybe I had hoped for or anticipated, I was thrilled
to put myself in a position of adversity and try to challenge myself in a way I
had not before. I had no idea what to expect going from sea level to 9,500 feet
with near zero time to acclimate and the result was a win, a course record, and
a pace of 8:45 per mile at 9,500 feet with over 4,000 feet of elevation gain. Overall,
this felt like a psychological victory more than a physical victory, telling me
I can go into any environment and compete. This was the exact type of mental
race I needed as my next ultra, a backyard ultra in December on Long Island,
beckons.
After the race, Cole and I took a photo together at the finish line and chatted with a few competitors, including Mikey Lightning, who had taken 3rd, Parker Halcomb, who had taken 4th, and Teri Copeland, who had hung on for 5th, before we packed up to head back to Denver. Overall, this was an incredibly experience and a really well put together race by Revenant Running. The views were some of the most stunning I had ever seen in my life and while painful, I was glad to have been out there today to witness it and push my body.
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