Pikes can do better

Some music on Thursday night ...

Pikes.  Sigh. Look I get it.  Weather in Colorado is unpredictable, and the mountains don't care.  I understand that managing all the folks and logistics for an event like Pikes is an incredible operation on a good weather day.  Doing it on a day where there is rain, snow, etc magnifies that challenge by an order of magnitude.  It makes sense in some cases to say, "ok folks, we can't run to the summit and back today, because the risks associated with someone dying have increased with these conditions."  

I also think it is natural to be disappointed, even a little pissed, at that as an outcome.  Each of us can deal with how to reconcile that ("it is about the journey, not the destination" or seeing how much your fitness has progressed or maybe going and doing the mountain on your own some other time, etc).  

But I'll put this out there:  I think the race could do better than "just" a run up and down to Barr Camp.  I can't look at the result of the Pikes Peak "Marathon" and say it is "America's Greatest Challenge" when the race time on the Marathon day was over 20 minutes faster than the Ascent time.  

How about the Barr Camp ascent double?  I mean that sounds like an ass kicker to go up to Barr Camp and back TWICE.  But you'd get your marathon, you'd get 7000 feet of gain, and you'd have a story of how effin' damn hard that is (dare I say harder) compared to the "regular" PPM.  Nobody goes above treeline, easier to coordinate?

I know, I know ... it ain't that easy.  But it is better than the exaggerated BTMR that went down yesterday.  I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this and I am sure I am missing some obvious problem with the idea, but what people got dealt yesterday is a definitely a short stick.

52 miles last week.  Got some time up in the hills.

Got to see an old friend at Broomfield Days.