I’m not sure if I’ve ever written an ‘OFFICIAL’ Race Report – I’m not, going to. I’ll keep this race to me and to those beautiful, kick you in the butt Colorado mountains. I want to give THANKS though!

There was no way I could’ve done this without all the support and encouragement from my wife (Kristal), nor could I have finished this race without her. Like any runner there has to be a support system. I’ve trained for a lot of races before but this type of training was different there were A LOT of weekends during this training cycle that weren’t easy which required time away from the family. She allowed me to chase this crazy dream race but she also volunteered to crew me through the race. This required her to stay up for 30+ hours, driving all over the Colorado Mountain sides meeting me at various locations, even at Winfield the 50mi point which is an old mining ghost town. Not to mention having to meet many countless strangers in the Rocky Mountain backwoods. She did an awesome job ensuring I had all my nutrition and race gear at each aid station. Most importantly being that friendly face waiting for me (for those that have run late in the night know how important this is). It was a breath of fresh air seeing her smiling face, but also had that ‘get your ass going’ out of this Aid Station attitude I needed at times. THANKS and looking forward to just some marathon training!

I’ve always told fellow runners to find someone with similar goals. I can’t even count the miles and races that Clay Shapiro and I have run over last 3 years. I think this was my 15^th ultra/marathon and Clay’s too. Not sure what our next adventure will be, WE SLAYED THE DRAGON and got our buckle!

 I also have to thank John Meaney for the lodging for the week. Not only did he let us borrow his pop up camper for over a week so we could get acclimated to the altitude. He personally flew to Colorado, drove Kristal to Leadville with him and then paced us on 10 of the HARDEST miles of the course (Up and Down Hope Pass). He then continued another 15mi with limited training all while getting a small case of hypothermia. I can’t wait to repay the favor next year being one of his pacers for his LT100 Run. THANKS!

I was very fortunate to connect with another pacer Chad Prichard from the Denver Team RWB Chapter. This is what’s great about the trail running community. I had never met Chad before this race; we had talked leading up to the race about strategy and then finally met him for the first time at the half way point. There was no way I could have made it without him being there, especially our prayers to get us to the next aid station or over the next climb safely. Truly a great time! I’m pretty positive he was the only crazy enough pacer out there to go the FULL 50mi and then to bring us in with the American Flag. That capped off the finish!

To my McKinney Running Club, you are the best! Always enjoy our Saturday runs followed by coffee/breakfast. I thought of all of you throughout the race, I knew you were all cheering for me! THANKS!

Jessica, Jill, Sadie you all are some CRAZY WOMEN! We went in as a lottery group and got in! I really enjoyed getting to know all of you better and your families! Feel like we’re in some type of fraternity/sorority thing! Cheers to you all and your families! You 3 will always be my girls, you three showed so much Determination, Grits and Guts that I wish I had! THANKS!