The Colorado Pinkertons: Imogene Pass Run

Saturday I ran the Imogene Pass Run, which is the largest running race in Southwest Colorado, with about 1500 runners going from Ouray over Imogene Pass (13,114 ft) and down to Telluride. I'd actually come from Colorado Springs twice before to run the race in 2003 and 2008, but was excited to run it again since I'm living in the area now. In 2008 they didn't let us run over the pass due to too much snow, so this was only the second time I'd done the full course.

My training this summer was very different than what I would normally do. My hips have what must be mild osteoarthritis so I've been trying to cut back on the amount that I run and do a lot more mountain biking and cross training. So rather than running 6 days a week like I do when I'm training hard, I only ran 3 to 4 days a week at most. I did do several good long runs in the mountains at 11,000 to 12,000 ft so I felt pretty good about my acclimation.

I went up to Ouray the night before the race and met Rita and David Marginian, who had come from Colorado Springs to run the race. We met at the race check-in and went out for dinner. The dining options in Ouray are pretty limited and we ended up at a German place where I had a greasy hamburger and fries for my pre-race meal - not the ideal healthy carbo loading pre-race meal, but it didn't seem to affect me.

Race morning was chilly - about 37 degrees - and I lined up in the middle of the pack right before the gun went off. I was probably further back than I should have been and went really slow for the first mile or so, but didn't really care. The first 5 miles aren't as steep as the second 5 miles and I did a good job of maintaining a good steady running pace. The temperature seemed to drop significantly as we gained elevated within the canyon, plus there was a stiff breeze. The second 5 miles are really steep and I pretty much power hiked them up to the pass. I felt good when I got to them top and had good energy left for the descent.

On the run down I immediately began to pass lots of people. I think it was combination of not pushing the uphill too hard as well as me just being a better runner than power hiker. When I'd run the race in 2003, I'd remembered the downhill being a brutal slog, but this time it went by pretty quickly. I really only began to lose energy in the last mile or so, but by that time I could see that I was almost at the finish.

I ended up finishing in 3:25:08, which is about where I figured I would be and I was happy with that time. Rita and David finished together in 3:38 and did an awesome job. It was their first time running it and they both seemed to enjoy it a lot.