More on Boston - plus La Luz!

Shalane's 2:22 effort comes up short
courtesy of Google images

Two weeks later I'm still stoked from Meb's impossible Boston win. I unfairly left out any detail of the Women's race in my prior writeup due to the massive burning man-crush.

Quickly then - Shalane Flanagan was the runner all eyes were trained on, the one with the best chance of breaking the Boston curse and redeeming the City and the race from last year's tragedy. And she appeared to be channeling God because she ran lights-out. Unlike the men's race, the women's field wasn't about to let a runner of Shalane's caliber charge off without covering such a move. End result was a brilliant run by Shalane that dragged the field well under the course record but put five women between Shalane and the victor's olive wreath. She did nail down the American course record, took 3min off her career best (at Boston!) and is now the 3rd fastest American all-time (behind Joanie and Deena). Solid effort, but she was visibly crushed that she couldn't come through for her hometown. Better analysis of the race by Tony Reavis here.

Then there's this, tweeted out by the folks over at Pikes:

"... now holds the American course record at the Boston Marathon". Flanagan testing the ascent at Pikes Peak back in the day. Interestingly, her time isn't remotely close to the age-group record of 2hr 39min, which is pretty effin' fast. Faster than the guy typing this anyhow.

And this leads me to the broader topic of the summer trail racing season. It's here sons! Pikes is mostly full but there's still room in the Wave 1 Ascent field. Qualifying times are 1hr40min for a half marathon or 3hr45min for the marathon. Whadder' ya waitin' for? If you haven't yet laced up for a race with over 7800ft of elevation gain than you're really just piddlin' away your time and training, aren't you? Aren't you?

La Luz and the Rock Slide

Second note on running the summer Classics:  La Luz is still accepting entries into their registration lottery - extended through midnight of Saturday May 10th. Race day is August 4th. I'm getting one of those lottery spots and I'm sending that slot trail like Meb/Shalane on an April morning in Boston. Hide the women and children (Erica Baron excepted since she kicks my ass).

And the third marker on the summer Classics, Imogene:  Registration opens (and closes) the morning of June 1. Race day is September 6th. This race is so rad, I'm hoping the logistics fall together for me to return to this beaut this year. Plus Ouray now has their own brewpub (as does Ridgway), so there's that.

Related Posts:
 - La Luz Trail Run Recap 2013
 - Pikes Peak Ascent - trail report
 - Imogene Pass Trail Run 2013



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