Gore-Tex Trans Rockies Run 2011
Stage 3; Strategy and Patience Come into Play
News Release / 24.08.2011
24.3 miles/2700ft climbing</b>
For many participants, including a number of elite runners, the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run is their first exposure to stage racing. Basic arithmetic teaches us that getting twenty cents six times leaves you with a buck twenty but when it comes to stage racing, all that math has to be unlearnt because doing six hard 20 miles races back-to-back on consecutive days is nothing like running one long, sustained 120 mile effort.
By the time runners filled the main drag of Leadville in anticipation of Stage 3's 24 high altitude miles, the initial race adrenaline rush has worn off, the scrapes and bruises from days 1 and 2 are beginning to tell, and the reality that over 85 tough mountain miles remain to be run has set in. For those who're ready for stage racing, though, this is when strategy and patience on the first two days begin to pay off.
For the third straight stage, participants in the 2011 TransRockies Run and RUN3 were set to see another facet of Colorado's natural beauty as the 24 mile route from Leadville to Nova Guides Camp would see them pass through postcard-perfect Aspen forests, over Tennessee Pass and through historic Camp Hale. The rolling profile meant that there were few places where runners could just lean back and let gravity do its thing-the miles would have to be run.
If there's an athlete in the TransRockies field who's got stage race pacing dialled, it's defending TransRockies champion Max King. Today, he and partner Ryan Bak gave it a full effort and were able to put time into the rest of their competition finishing the Stage in a scorching 2:47:03, twenty minutes faster than last year's winning time. In the process, they wrestled the overall lead from Jason Wolfe and Mike Smith who finished nearly seven minutes behind in second place. Team Colorado Runner/INOV-8 (Alex Nichols/Peter Maskimow) jumped onto the podium for the first time finishing third, though they were unable to move the British Salomon pair of Ricky Lightfoot and Tom Owens out of third place overall.
Over the years, the TransRockies has seen some fierce competition in women's divisions that disproves the cliché that women play together better than boys, but on Stage 3, some leading women's racers decided that the 24.3 miles would be more enjoyably run with company. The two fastest women's teams in the race are the leaders in the Open Women's and 80+ Women's divisions, and team Trail Runner and the North Face Betties ran the course stride for stride finishing in identical times of 3:44:41, again taking the honours in their race categories.
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