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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Trans-Rockies Run

Man, if I were running these days like I did in 2005, when I tried the Leadville 100.... The Gore-Tex Trans-Rockies Run looks like an amazing event, modeled on the multiday alpine stage races in Europe. In the inaugural event in September, up to 150 teams of two racers will run from Beaver Creek, Colorado, to Aspen: six days on trails, forest roads, and pavement, totaling about 125 miles, camping each night at a tent city set up and torn down by the race staff. The course:

Stage 1: Beaver Creek to Camp 1, 10-15 miles, 2,500-3,000 feet
Stage 2: Camp 1 to Camp 2, 25-29 miles, 6,000-6,500 feet
Stage 3: Camp 2 to Leadville, 15-19 miles, 1,700-2,200 feet
Stage 4: Leadville to Camp 3, 24-28 miles, 3,500-4,000 feet
Stage 5: Camp 3 to Camp 4, 16-20 miles, 3,500-4,000 feet
Stage 6: Camp 4 to Aspen, 22 – 26 miles, 6,000-7,000 feet

I suppose if I ever were going to train for one mountain stage race, it would be the Ultra-Trail Tour du Mont Blanc, 163 kilometers around Europe's iconic Alpine summit. But this new race looks darn good!

3 comments:

randosteve said...

Yes...this does look like a cool event!

Anonymous said...

You forgot to mention that it costs over $1,200 per person!!! Yikes. That puts this seemingly great race out of financial reach for nearly everyone. Too bad.

Dougald MacDonald said...

Yeah, $1,200 does seem high. I checked the Ride the Rockies bike tour, which is one day longer, and it costs $315 in 2007. You get meals and some other bennies during the Trans-Rockies Run that you don't get on Ride the Rockies, but still.... Proof will be in the registration. If they meet their sign-up goals, then it wasn't too expensive.