Harriers News

Sarah Burley, daughter of Harriers member Graham, is running a series of races in America. Sarah's so far sent us pictures and reports on four of her runs. Her next race is the Stadium Stampede 5k on June 30th

This race was tougher than I gave it credit for. Starting at an altitude of 9,712 ft, it was considerably higher than my training altitude in Denver of 5,280 ft. However, it's not often you get to say that you ran a race between ski resorts, which is effectively what this race was. The start was at Copper Mountain, and finished in Frisco, a town nestled near the Breckenridge ski resort. I really wasn't expecting the altitude to hit me as hard as it did, but for the first few miles I felt that I had legs of lead, and was struggling to get enough oxygen to my muscles. Things improved once I found my stride, and the fact that the majority of the course was downhill (Frisco is at 9,100 ft) helped immensely. It was a beautiful run along Ten Mile Creek, a creek which follows the main route through the Rockies (Interstate 70), framed by spectacular mountain scenery courtesy of the Continental Divide (point where rivers on one side flow to the Atlantic, other side to Pacific).

Despite the altitude problems, my finishing time of 56.50 was only marginally slower than my Bolder Boulder time, which I was very pleased (and surprised!) about.

To avoid a blockage at the start (40,000+ entrants!), we were started in waves (700 people per wave) at 30 second intervals, which meant there were always people in front of and behind us. Numerous bands along the route, and local residents cheering us on, made it very entertaining, and the 10k seemed to go past very quickly.

Dad and I paced each other pretty well to start with, but after 2km he started to feel the effects of the altitude, and I pulled away. I knew he wouldn't far behind me however, which was a good incentive to keep up the pace, although the fact that I felt so good at the end was probably an indicator that I didn't really push myself as much as I could have. In any event - I finished in 56.09, Dad in 59.26 and Anne in 1.24.52. At considerable altitude (elevation ranged from 5,378ft to 5,492ft), and in 80 degree weather, that was a pretty good all around effort by the Burleys, so we felt obliged to treat ourselves to some good old American pancakes after the race! Beautiful weather and fabulous race organization made this a thoroughly enjoyable race.

The wonderful, warm, Spring-like weather that Colorado had been basking in, came to an abrupt end this weekend. Battling 60 mph winds, an off-road surface, and tripping over dogs left, right and centre, this was not the ideal start to my race season. However, I eventually finished, in a time of 1.02.23 (place 181 out of 275, 28th out of 45 for my division). I'll chalk this one up to abysmal conditions, and just be glad that I finished!

Beautiful weather and a stable running surface made all the difference this week. There was a large entry in this race - I believe approx 15,000. However, the majority did the shorter, 5k course, rather than the 5 mile run - so apart from a slow start, the course wasn't too packed. My time of 46.08 (place 2577 out of 5082 overall, 831 out of 2407 for females, 215th out of 550 for my division) was a marked improvement on last week, so let's hope that trend continues for the rest of the season.

Sarah Burley's USA Runs