Square State Striders raced high, far and fast, but mostly far. Lets dig into some of the many great efforts put up by the squad.
Newest team member Tony Clement followed his own footsteps from the past dozen years up the Pikes Peak Ascent:
"Weather and Remi was all the hype this year leading into my 13th running of the Pikes Peak Ascent. The week prior was a daily check-in with the summit forecast and cameras. Plenty of talks with fellow racers on what to wear and what it would be like up top....traction or no traction, what kind of jacket to carry and ultimately how little can I get away with without comprising weight and bulk. I went "middle of the road" with a long sleeve, light tights and light gloves.....It all worked out fine and ended up with my 3rd best time in 13 years. I was very happy beating my time last year (6 mins faster) but I'm not sure about you, but I'm never completely satisfied with a race unless I podium or PR, and I rarely, if ever podium so it really comes down trying to PR year after year after year. I had to look up my best time for the ascent and it was 3:30:34 in 2014. Practically 10 years ago. As we age, it's easy to fall into the older we get, the slower we get, but I'm not buying it. I felt good going into the race this year. My goal was just to beat last year's time but had a "secret" goal (always) to try to PR if it was going well. I thought my training this year was more dialed in thanks to the help of @bstapanowich. Thanks for the detailed work out plan and also huge thanks to @mstapanowich for keeping me accountable to that plan. Of course life got in the way missing a couple high altitude runs, didn't quite get to my 3,2,1's but overall the training was better than previous years. The plan for the race was to push just a little harder when I feeling comfortable, spend little to no time at aid stations, and really to have fun and enjoy the race. Like a lot of races, I had my usual distractions....random smells from the competition, others not responding to my "great job" comments when passing and then there was that one guy.....from Barr Camp to A-Frame I'm not sure if this man was giving birth with his breathing, was about to die, or just had bad asthma? I seriously thought he may not make it above treeline. He did. He beat me. Maybe I should be breathing harder? So back to Remi, I heard he saw Matt while getting ice cream a few days before the race and he encouraged him to beat his record. How cool is that? Do you think he really wanted his record to be broken? I'm still contemplating this one. And I'm still contemplating breaking my own PR. Will 2024, 10 years later be my year to break my own record? "
BJ checked to see if his perpetual enthusiasm is affected by altitude (no).
Hello my name is BJ and I ran the ascent in 3:59:06. It was a beautiful day and the race was a blast and the donuts were the best part.
Gerald Romero, whom I am still not convinced is being compelled against his will to race more than once a week, doubled on Pikes weekend and them some (of course).
August 12, 2023-- Georgetown to Idaho Springs half marathon- 1st place 50-59-- 9th overall -- 1:24:58
September 3, 2023-- Walt Disney World Castaway Cay 5k- Bahamas--1st overall.
September 9, 2023-- Imogene Pass Run-- Ouray too Telluride-- 10 miles up to the summit and 7 miles down too Ouray- 17.1 miles-- 2:52:29--23 rd overall-- 1st place 50-54.
September 16, 2023-- Pikes Peak Ascent-- 3:07:40-- 103rd overall-- Golden Trail Series race- 1st place 50-54
September 17, 2023-- Pikes Peak Marathon- 6:01-- 4th place 50-54
Jon Teisher did the double: Ascent: 3:43:54 and Marathon: 5:55:55. Then went elsewhere and did something called the Sawatch 50/50- West Line Winder 50k (6:15) & Sawatch 50k Ascent the next day in 8:11. Jon, don't you know all this running is bad for your knees???
"I got those $500 disposable Adidas world record shoes. Don't worry Gerald they are WADA approved."
Cynthia Chau, who decided her first ever trail race would be the Pikes Peak Marathon ripped a 7:19. Cynthia you should know the Fall Series is like only 4 miles and on trails also.
Sam Wood continues to jaunt over mountain tops: "Finished my 6th Leadville 100-mile run and officially retired from ultra-running :) until I run my next one. Ski season is almost upon us!"
James Kaminski also made a Lifetime fitness pilgrimage to Leadville:
"I forgot how miserable 100 milers are, and don’t recall too much of Leadville. But I think I had a really good 40 miles followed by a really really bad 20 miles and somehow managed a solid 40 miles to finish. Here’s some action shots though. Finishing time 26:37:02"
Ruth Black found a race without a stroller category, so ran by herself. Staunton Rocks trail half - Aug 26. 9th female.
"Lots of rain leading up to race day, but Staunton state park dries out impressively fast and there was zero mud on course. Tough course with a fair amount of walking (sad face), but in my defense everyone around me was doing it too. I also learned that technical downhill running is brutal on the whole body.
And you know you’re training for an ultra when your cool down for a half marathon is a wild 5 miles. I’ll be doing the Above the Clouds 50k Oct 7! My first ultra - yippee!"
"This race is outstanding and I want to come back year after year. There are three distances - 13, 24, and 40 milers and I completed the 24. While an official race, it had more of a fat-ass run feel to it with a laid back vibe. The morning prior to the race, I was talking to Amy (fellow Strider!) about my concern for not making the cut-offs in the required time. She suggested that I carb load. She plugged my age, height, and weight into some formula on her phone and said I needed to consume over 700g carbs that day. I tried my very best eating croissants and donuts from "Baked in Telluride", going back to the same restaurant for pizza at lunch, and then eating chicken sandwiches and soft pretzels at "Stronghouse." I made it to roughly 375-400g of carbs and would give the chicken sandwich at Stronghouse 4.5/5 stars. I made my cut-offs, had amazing views, and a stellar time."
Lars Heckman, who spends part of his time chasing STRAVA segments in South Africa, cherry picked some sweet bread basket of America races.
"About 9 months into this jogging (or maybe it's yogging) endeavor I've decided to undertake, I thought to myself, maybe I can go to my hometown of 8000 people and win a 5k they put on (admittedly it is called a fun run). I had no intention of making it so, as my father told me "come home the winner or don't come home at all". After a brutal first mile that had not one, but two significant hills, I thought I would find my bags outside, as I had some company when we crested the second . Fortunately, running at sea level is basically a cheat code and the sly acceleration I threw in dropped the competition. Crossed the finish line to no fanfare (or official timing) in first. 20:20 was the time, but the mission was accomplished.
2 races in 1 week, feels like I'm a true runner again! I should have scouted my second race more closely since it started with about a half mile of what seemed like Tour de France grade decline, and what goes down must come up. Went out way too fast, it was fun while it lasted, hung on to get 6th place. Can't wait for the next!"
Zach Miller, got 2nd at UTMB. He said it was a French race that lots of people know about.
