Hardrock - Silverton to Cunningham and back

After catching a couple hours of sleep in Silverton, I managed to get on my feet in time to see Killian Jornet crush the previous course record.  He came dancing into Silverton in 22 hours 41 minutes, amazing!!  I was lucky to get to listen to some of the interview questions and watch the media surrounding him:

Time to get going up to the Grouse aid station.  Kelly (Ryan's girlfriend) and I got there with only a few minutes to spare before Ryan showed up.  He did great on the hike over Engineer Pass!  That massage in Ouray was a miracle cure.

Putting on sunscreen for day 2:

John looks a little loopy after staying up all night.  Happily, Kelly and Ryan look good for the start of the next section of the course, a climb up and over Handies Peak:

Go Kelly and Ryan!

Pretty early morning light in the mountains:

Starting up the trail... we wouldn't see them again until dark:

Back in town, we caught Ted coming to the finish, yay Ted!

Nice job:

Darcy coming in for the win on the women's side:

I started up a hike along the course backward from the finish, following it over Dives-Little Giant pass to the final aid station (Cunningham).  It was an afternoon of beautiful scenery:

Also cheering on runners heading to the finish - go go go!

I enjoyed taking pictures all the way up and over the pass:

It's John Sharp!  Doing great John!  Getting some help from his pacer, Gina, with getting rocks out of his shoes:

John seems just a little tired:

Pretty lake on the way to the pass:

A cairn and columbines:

A cloud briefly rolling through...

The last challenging descent for the runners:

Beautiful evening lighting:

The other side of the pass:

Runners just about the finish the last climb:

Go Betsy!

Watching our friend Jeff climbing up from Cunningham:

Hi Jeff!  Doing great!

I headed down to the aid station and took a nap while John watched for Ryan and Kelly.  John woke me up when they arrived and I got ready to pace Ryan on the final section of the course.  Ryan was still climbing well, so we made it to the top with no issue.  Ryan told me he was seeing things that weren't actually there, and he was happy to tell me about them (always entertaining).  Rolls of toilet paper, a dumpster, a big fish, a longhorn, some trash, a polka-dot purse.  My favorite was when he walked up to a cairn and stood staring at it.  I asked what he saw, and his reply was, "A pile of rocks."

The downhill trail was tricky, especially because Ryan's feet were hurting.  They hurt worse when he kicked rocks, so he was trying to avoid that but it was difficult.  We took it slow down the upper section.  Once we found the road he picked up the pace and we made good time down to the creek crossing.  One last long, long trail to go!  Finally we popped out at the ski area, made short work of the roads through town, and reached the Hardrock rock:

Congratulations Ryan and all Hardrock finishers!  You are inspirational!

Hardrock weekend - notes from Ouray

John and I were excited to get the chance to see Hardrock this year, starting with an afternoon/evening in Ouray.  The aid station was decked out in a Christmas theme!

We made it to town in time to watch the frontrunners, starting with Kilian Jornet.  It was neat watching him run, so light on his feet.

Julian Chorier was not far behind:

Then Dakota Jones:

And Sebastien Chaigneau:

Joe Grant also leaving the aid station with cameras everywhere:

Timothy Olson, who looked like he was slowing down - but he stuck it out and finished, nicely done!

Checking out the lights on the bridge into the aid station:

We hiked up the course a ways, catching Diana Finkel running down the hill:

Go Darcy (eventual women's winner)!

First time I would see this part of the course in the daylight, so that was fun:

I was awed by the gorge below us:

Pretty town of Ouray:

Aid station menu so you can spend the next mile deciding what you want to eat  :)

Hey Ted, looking great!

Jared, always so gracious and accommodating, doing an interview with the guy in the truck driving down next to him (yes dude, he's one of our heroes too):

One of several deer we spotted that weekend:

Ted and Christy starting up the long climb toward Engineer Pass:

Jared hiking out of town (no sunglasses needed this time):

We were excited to see Joe Prusaitis and John Sharp from Texas - John was looking good, running well, and ready for a beer apparently:

Entertainment from John and his crew:

John and John...

We really enjoyed seeing runners come through over the hours, especially a few folks that we know.

Our friend Ryan made it in with tired legs and shooting pain in his hip.  Brad, the aid station caption, convinced him to try a massage, and it worked!  Instead of dropping out like he was planning, Ryan got up and headed up the trail with John pacing him up the next long climb.  Yay, go Ryan!!