Imogene Pass Run

Time will tell, but the Imogene Pass Run might just be one of my favorite runs ever. I was a last minute entrant. My running mate for the TransRockies Run, Erin, has done this race 9 of the last 10 years and turned me on to it. The Imogene Pass Run (IPR) is a 17.1 mile point-to-point mountain race within the western San Juan mountains of Colorado, run along a route which connects the towns of Ouray (7810 ft.) and Telluride (8820 ft.) by way of 13,120 foot Imogene Pass. Its pretty much straight up, then straight down. The ‘up’ part has an average grade of over 10%, about 8% for the first 7.6 miles and then it increases from there.

The weather was great. About 45 at the start and sunny. Somewhat chilly at the top and windy. On the descent, it actually warmed up enough, due to rising temps and decreasing altitude, that for most of it I was shirtless.

With Erin as my running partner for TR, I was very anxious about my performance in this race. My initial goal was to finish within 5 minutes of Erin if I had any hope of being a good match for him for TR. However, he talked me out of that. He thought that the best barometer would be my ascent for the first 7.6 miles (to Upper Camp Bird). After that, the grade increases significantly and the altitude becomes a huge factor, too. Even the winners of the race walk much of this section and should I struggle there, its not a big deal. Especially since those conditions are worse than anything we’ll encounter at TR. Then, on the downhill, he didn’t think there’d be much point in worrying about my performance there.

I met my goal. Erin’s time to Upper Camp was 78 minutes and mine was 80. Perfect. He kicked my butt over the final ascent by 10 minutes and another 10 minutes on the downhill, but we weren’t concerned about that. I was pretty disappointed when I first finished, but the crowd we were hanging out with quickly changed my attitude. Erin finished 10th overall and 1st in his age group. I was 56th overall and 10th. 1200 total runners, so top 5%. A little lower than I’m used to, but I’ll take it. It was just 6 days after the Monster Marathon, 36 hrs after driving across the country and arriving at altitude, and my first run of its kind. I just missed breaking 3 hrs (apparently a huge deal, just like the 3hr mark in a marathon) by a little under 3 minutes.

The views were spectacular. Actually, I should say ‘breathtaking’. With the scenery and altitude, it was definitely breathtaking. For the first time in my running career, I actually had to walk during a race. A HUGE blow to my ego at first, but then I looked around, saw EVERYBODY walking, and also remembered Erin’s advice. So, I walked, took in the magnificent views, and wondered what the hell I am doing up here?

I’d love to do the race again. What a challenge. Plus, I feel like I got off a bit easy with the beautiful weather…very uncharacteristic compared to previous years.