Transrockies Run Monday 12^th August 2019

The Transrockies Run is a 120 mile, six day stage race run on trails and mountain tracks across the Colorado Rockies. An American I had met running the Mustang Race in 2018 had committed to run it again this year so I decided to give it a try.

 

 Not unlike the race in Nepal, the Transrockies involves big daily climbs averaging 1,000m each day and most of the race is at high altitude; between 3,000m and 4,000m. It is a high profile race which sells out within days and has a maximum of 350 runners.

 

The race logistics are based around Denver which has direct flights to Heathrow. Once in Denver you join up with other runners to board shuttle buses that ferry you out into the heart of the Rockies. Waiting for the bus I met six other Brits who had been on my flight, one lady went on to finish the six days in 3^rd place. She was a top GB athlete with an impressive running CV.

 

The race starts in Buena Vista, a pretty little town which sits on a high plateau at 2,400m. With a day to kill before the start I used the time to recce the first day’s route and climb up to 3,000m to help acclimatisation. In the evening I met the other runners at registration.

 

Day 1. Buena Vista to Railroad Bridge. 36km plus 900m total ascent.

This was rightly billed as the hardest day as it was long and very hot with little shade. Like a lot of other people I spoke to my pace climbing up to the first aid station was fine and this was the high point of the day. However, shortly afterwards the sun was out with a vengeance and the trail became harder with some stretches of deep sand and gravel. The last 5km was a real struggle in the heat but I was lucky to team up with another Brit and we kept each other going. The prize for finishing was a dip in a freezing mountain river!

 

Day 2. Vicksburg to Twin Lakes. 21.4km plus 975m total ascent.

Stage 2 was the shortest day with the biggest single climb, up and over Hope Pass at an altitude of 3,800m. This was my favourite day. Even though the climb was brutal the views were amazing and there were big patches of snow on the top of the pass. The drop down to twin lakes was lovely and I finished alongside one of the other UK runners.

Day 3. Leadville to Nova Guides. 39.4km plus 823m total ascent.

Another good day. We started by running out of the centre of Leadville with a police escort and ran for about 5km on road before heading into wooded trails. Deep in the woods we were sheltered from the sun and I really enjoyed this stage. Part of the route was through the lower slopes of the Ski Cooper area. I had a bad fall about half way on this stage but didn’t think too much of it. When I arrived at the finish I was sent to the first aid station to be patched up as there was a fair bit of blood on my left arm and leg and my shirt was badly ripped.

 

Day 4. Nova Guides to Red Cliff. 23.4km plus 854m total ascent.

The route for this day was so badly eroded by winter rains there was no access for ATV’s to provide support and aid stations. We were on our own and had to carry all our water and food. The day started with an extremely steep climb up to a high ridge at 3,600m followed by a ridge run with amazing panoramic views. We then dropped back down into the forest with a long section of trail in a fast flowing, ice cold rocky river.

 

Day 5. Red Cliff to Vail. 38.8km plus 1,250m total ascent.

This day’s start was very cold and we immediately went into a long steady climb up the back of the Vail ski area, weaving our way through a beautiful pine forest. At the top we scrambled down a short cliff to the first aid station which was positioned at the highest ski station. The views at the top were stunning. From here we slalomed down narrow trails and wide ski runs to finish in the centre of Vail Village. At one point I nearly collided with a large deer that popped out of the pines. It looked at me and calmly walked off. Again, I enjoyed this day with shady, cool climbs and long easy down hills.

Day 6. Vail to Beaver Creek. 36.0km plus 1,600m total ascent.

One of the hardest days, this seemed to go on forever. The start in Vail was freezing cold but we soon warmed up as our climb was in the full sun with only short stretches in the trees. From the high point we dropped down a very narrow rocky trail into the town of Avon. It was extremely hot running through Avon and we then faced a long hot 300m climb up to the Beaver Creek ski area and the finish. It was a real relief to finish this stage and all the UK runners waited for each other to finish.

On the final night there was a big dinner and awards ceremony. The next day we had shuttles back to Denver airport for our various flights home.

 

The event was extremely well organised and the route was always clearly marked. Typically there would be 3 aid stations at roughly 12km intervals except on stage 4 where there was no access into the remote mountain area and we were on our own. Aid stations generally provided a vast banquet of tasty fuel options including no end of gels, Coca Cola, sweets, crisps, oranges, bananas and watermelon.

 

I opted for the hotel package which is very limited and again sells out very quickly. Mass camping does not appeal to me and in the later stages there was frost and ice in the mornings. The hotels did involve a little more hassle with shuttles to small towns and I thought I may have missed some of the camaraderie of the camp but this was not the case.

 

Some interesting stats, 55% of the runners were women and it was very obvious there were more women than men. I would say the average age was 40ish with 19 men in my 50+ category and 21 women in the 50+ category. The lady I had met last year in Nepal was 1st overall in the 50+ ladies and was then flying out to Chamonix to run the UTMB. It is clear that trail running is a massive thing in the US and there were a lot of seriously good runners.

The big question is would I do it again? No, but I am really glad I did it. It was a great experience and a fantastic adventure. I met some lovely people but it was a really big group and I prefer smaller events. It was also extremely hot in the middle of the day, too hot for me.