Awards ceremony

Some photos from the Hardrock awards ceremony...

Three Johns - congratulations to all 3 for excellent finishes!


John with Alan (pacer) and Adam (runner), two guys we saw quite a few times from Handies Peak all the way to the finish. Great running, y'all!


Christy and Ted Mahon - another strong team!


Phil and Andy, our Aussie friends - well done!


John repeating the Runners Vow to "promise to pay more attention to my family and friends, at least until November when the next Hardrock application form comes out..." :)


Marty and his son Nicholas - congratulations!


Another set of finishes for Scott and Liz - well done!


Mark Heaphy getting his finisher's items:


Playing around with the camera:


Greg wore his own graduation hat! He was *very* excited, as well he should be:


Roch Horton and his band singing, "My Running Shoes Don't Fit Me Anymore". Where else can you get 3 hours of food and entertainment like this?


John being recognized by Dale and Lois:


Yay John!


The women's winner, Diana Finkel - who ALMOST took the whole race overall! Simply amazing.


Jared Campbell, the overall winner, who caught Diana in the last 10 miles. What a race!


Too much fun for one morning! Congratulations to all Hardrock runners, you are incredible.

Hardrock finish line!

I made it to the finish line in time to watch John SPRINT down the street - wow! He was flying! We didn't carry the good camera on the course (left it in the truck in Ouray), but luckily John had toted the GoPro around to Cunningham and I had it at the finish line to capture a couple of photos.

Here he comes!


Running for the Rock:


Trying to stop coughing long enough to Kiss The Rock:


On top of the world (or at least the Rock)! He was actually completely surprised to be in the top 10 (finishing 9th!), as he was only trying to break 31 hours at that point. He did it - in 30:59:05.


Amazing finish! He did so well, and I had such fun pacing him overnight. Thank you to everyone for your great long-distance vibes, for cheering him on, and for your love and support.

HRH in Telluride

After the start of the Hardrock race, I drove around to Telluride, did a couple of errands, and then hung out at the aid station to watch the runners and wait for John.

The lead runner at that point, Scott Jamie, looking good:


Another Duckie on the trail?


The town of Telluride and the area of the next climb on the course:


Young Nick Pedatella doing great, in second at that point:


John Anderson currently in third place:


Jared Campbell running down with poles, looking comfortable:


Diana Finkel, lead woman:


Karl Meltzer, running by the Duckie on the log:


Darcy Africa, 2nd place woman, in the aid station:


Here's John! He had a much better climb up Oscar's this year and wasn't too hot. He was doing great on eating and drinking, and setting a good pace:


Apparently he got lei'd at Chapman:


Quite the lucky shot on the way out of the aid station, totally didn't plan this:


Smiling and happy!


Starting up the hill (well, mountain) toward Virginius Pass:


Ted, not far behind, who would catch John on the uphill so they could run together for a while:


The Telluride leaderboard, with John in 16th place. Only 7 runners in the current top 15 would still be ahead of John at the finish line, and only Ted would eventually pass him to finish in front. John was just getting started.


Oh, and the Telluride aid station rocks, especially the comm crew! They had printouts from the website for frequent updates, someone radio'ing down from the hill to tell them who was coming, and then one loud guy yelling out the runner's number so their crew would be ready. Awesome.

I had a fine morning in Telluride and a nice drive back around to Ouray. I'll tell my "pacing story" soon, but first I'll post some more photos of later events...

Hardrock - race start

Welcome to Hardrock! We were up bright and early this morning, under clear skies (although the forecast for later today/tonight isn't so great), and John was ready to go:


Our friends Deb and Steve Pero - she was next on the wait list and *really* wanted to run. At the last minute (when it was clear that all the other runners were present and accounted for), Steve dropped from the race so she could run. Very emotional!!


(If another wait listed runner wasn't obviously watching closely and also ready to run, John may have done the same for me - but I was further down the wait list and it wasn't likely to have worked. Glad one husband got to give such a gift to his wife!)

A gym full of pre-race runners and crew:


John showing someone that yes, he was going to run, regardless of his current set of clothing:


At 4 minutes to go, he decided it was time to shed the jeans:


3 minutes to go, taking off the sweatshirt:


2 minutes to go:


1 minute to go - time for a quick stop in the bathroom:


Luckily my watch was 1 minute faster than the official clock. Here is the actual "one minute to go" shot:


And... go!


He's moving so fast, he's blurry:


On their way out of Silverton:


Is that a Ducky on the trail?


A trail marker in the early morning light:


The leaders crossing the road - I believe Karl Meltzer somewhat hidden and then Scott Jaime?


The leaders crossing the creek:


Go John!



He's easy to spot when he wears a red shirt (thanks John!):



Marty and his son Nicholas:


Andy from Australia:


John Sharp, one of many runners who shook Steve Pero's hand when they saw him by the road:


Go Rick!


Here's our hero:


A nice morning for a run! In fact, the Kamm Traverse is on the slope that's in the sun in the background:


Rockfall on the drive to Ouray (not long after, I saw a plow headed in that direction):


Well, that was a lot of photos, but it will likely be my last post during the race so I tried to make it count :)

John's doing great - his time at the first aid station is very close to his time in 2008 and he's hoping to be more prepared for the climb up Oscar's this year. I'll see him in Telluride (yay!) and then join him in Ouray. Should be a long, interesting, fun, exciting, possibly wet night - my first time actually "in" the race. Sweet!