Race to the top

Crazy or brave? Maybe a little of both. Two of the Garmin guys training for Pikes Peak are engineers and one’s a pilot/aviation sales manager. So I know they’re darn smart. And it’s not like they don’t know what they’re getting into. Except for Jim, the newbie of the bunch. One of them, Steve, has made the legendary Pikes Peak Ascent a total of 11 times. Here’s what Steve had to say: “It’s certainly an addictive race and there’s always something to remember. Like the year I needed stitches in my knee, the time it snowed up top, or the year the local racing champ got his head handed to him for starting off too fast.” Check Steve’s MB activity here. For Shane, this will be his third time to tackle the beastly Peak. “I did the Ascent in ’03 and ’05. It always takes a year off to forget the pain and gain the courage to sign up again. It’s very hard but extremely fun and rewarding.” See Shane’s ’05 ascent stats and other MB activity here. As for Jim, he’s more of a 5K to 10K runner, but after his first half-marathon a year and a half ago, he was inspired to run greater distances and greater challenges. Jim said “I really think this ascent thing is nuts, but I’m pretty easy to talk into just about anything as long as it involves fun. When you combine pain and suffering with friends and fun, it’s an irresistible combination!” 

The Garmin trio will be undergoing some serious training with their Forerunners from now until race day, and they may even do some altitude training to get in condition for the extreme elevation changes. In the first 10 miles of the race, they’ll gain almost 6,000 vertical feet. But the killer is the last three miles, with over 2,000 vertical feet to climb. More updates to come.

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