Greenland Trail Race 2007

As part of my training for the Colfax Marathon in 2007, I ran in the Greenland Trail Race in April. The 16-mile race had been built into my training schedule by my coach at Runner's Edge of the Rockies (actually, he'd built it into everyone's schedules as a group race).

Springtime in Colorado being what it is, it had snowed a couple of days before the race, and at the start the course was covered in the white stuff and the temperature was a mind- (and body-)numbing 17 degrees Fahrenheit! Which wouldn't necessarily have been a problem--I could've run all 16 miles in that temperature and been fine--except that it was a beautifully sunny day, without a cloud in the sky. By the time I'd finished my first 8-mile loop, the sun had been shining consistently, the temperature had creeped up to above freezing, and the snow had almost entirely melted off the trail, turning it into mud. That was less enjoyable to run through. I can't imagine the folks who were going 32 miles!

This was a tough race. It started at a pretty high elevation to begin with (over 7,000 feet), and had a climb of an additional 500 or so. Still, I finished in 3:17:32, and I'm happy with that.