Club relay marathon race - Denver

Truth or dare wrote:

Was the course long? I realize that the course is at altitude but come on. Over 5 minute pace for the winning mens team. These guys were talking about beating THE HANSONS. Their entire team ran slower than SELL. They only ran a few seconds faster than VERRAN. They ran slower than MORGAN or EBERLY ran for the 25k this past weekend. It is a good thing that the HANSONS stayed home. This race would have been a run away.

Typical letsrun response from someone who was not there and has no idea what they were talking about. Coming from sea level and not having run at altitude before, I expected to run about 10-15sec/mile slower than normal. With the heat, last leg hills, and especially altitude I was 40sec/mile slow...I had a little gas left as we were well out of the money by then but 30sec/mile slowdown was the best I could have done. Our 10k legs were 2min off. Now multiply that across the whole distance...

The last leg was rough and times were very slow. Running uphill was not fun for the guys not used to the altitude.

Understanding all of that, 5 minute miles (31:00), is really sloooooooow. I would think that guys that run sub 5 min pace for half marathons would be able to average that for a 10k at altitude. And 5 minute pace would have won the race by over 2 minutes. I was hoping that the leaders went of course or something.

I expected the leaders to come through just under 5min pace too. I am told by our opening leg that the race went out sub-5 but either it got strategic or it was unsustainable. Remember those sub-5 paced half marathons were probably run in decent weather too...I don't know what the 6am start was like but by the time they got to 18 miles it was plenty hot enough to slow people down on top of the altitude.

Typical statements by two groups:

1) Those who weren't even there

2) Those who could never compete at this level

Why is there no mention of this National Championships on the front page news??

The course had a net gain of nearly 300 feet. What is hidden in that number is that for the first 18 miles there is a net loss of close to 500 feet, then a climb over the last 8 miles in excess of 700 feet. I understand their trying to make the race an "event", but the course is ugly and challenging. Add to that, the fact that Denver set a record of 91 yesterday. At 8 am it felt warm, close to 80, not a breeze.

Hanson's are very respectable...but they would have lost to Boulder Express on Sunday. Only the people who actually raced know how difficult the course/conditions were..

See for yourself:

http://www.coloradocolfaxmarathon.org/coursemap.cfm

Westcoast wrote:

Good job aggies

Yep. And those guys ran in the centipede at Bay to Breakers on Sunday.

I was out running between 8 and 930 yesterday morning, and it was hot ... not a cloud in the sky. Also, for those of you who have never been to CO, there really aren't many/any trees unless you are in the mountains, so practically zero shade.

******

Why on earth they decided to go east to west (uphill) is beyond me. Also, of all the beautiful places in Colorado and even Denver to run a marathon, why would you pick Colfax Ave - widely known for its abundance of hookers and drug dealers? If you watch South Park, "Nut Gobbler" was the hooker who worked "Colfax Point". ;-)

Hansons woud have run 2:04-05 even with altitude.

destroyed wrote:

Hansons woud have run 2:04-05 even with altitude.

Could have, "woud have" (sic), should have...

Then WHERE were they?

Hansons could run sub 1:45, backwards. I'm not kidding. They're THAT good. But they were too scared to show up...and that's all that matters.

The marathon relay is a joke and not for elite clubs like Hansons.

You mean they were a joke when they raced it a few years back...? Is that what you're saying? I thought better of you, I really did...

Why all this talk about what Hansons would have run? And how would any of you know, do they race at altitude very often in 90 degree weather. I'm curious as to why they weren't there?

When we finished it was close to 90 degrees. Even in dry air that is difficult. Looking at the map the last leg gained close to 500ft. I used to think that 5000-6000ft shouldn't be too bad...I was dead wrong...:) The altitude seems to make running uphill much harder than normal. I see that I finished DFL for the 12.2 leg. Nice...:)

Alan

Where did you find the individual splits?