[450 Strong]

Starting at 8,000 feet, racers gain a total of 12,000 feet during this 101-mile enduro. Considering my lack of high altitude training, I hoped for an easy start up the 2,000 ascent to Muddy Pass. But I quickly found myself in a five-man pace line riding at 12 to 15 miles per hour up hill. The local Vail "valley boys" were starting school early. I had no idea what suffering I would face as I tried to stay with the pack of locals over Muddy Pass and down the fast, awesome descent to the Four Eagle Ranch checkpoint. Banking around a guy in a lawn chair at the halfway point, I was jubilant, having put some time on those guys during the downhill. A big climb back up to Muddy Pass and I was home free, back to the finish…or so I thought.

"The relentless climb took the spring out of what was left of my legs and I watched the local boys come up one by one, mentally counting off the finish spots my lowland legs were giving up..."

I didn't realize that Muddy Pass was just a warm-up for the big, mind-boggling climb up June Creek. This was the last big climb: 3,600 vertical feet. That’s when the local boys showed why they let me get away from them. My oxygen-deprived brain clicked in about halfway down to the Vail Valley checkpoint three, as the stony, rain rutted descent kept my mind in check. We had 30 miles to go after passing through checkpoint three and a 3,600-foot, wind-sucking, leg-quivering climb up June Creek awaited my nagging body.

The relentless climb took the spring out of what was left of my legs and I watched the local boys come up one by one, mentally counting off the finish spots my lowland legs were giving up: eighth, ninth, 10th place. I slowly watched them ride by, leaving me to stew in the virtues of training at altitude. The welcome relief of Muddy Pass and a 20-mile, 2000-foot, rolling descent was short-lived. Pouring rain turned the red sandstone road into a tire gripping, mud slinging, interval session. I was constantly looking over my shoulder for hardened "valley boys" looking to make my life more miserable.

The last 10 miles ticked off painfully slow, but luckily most of it was downhill. I just put my head down and grinned and bared the remaining uphill sections. I was just trying to hold on and keep my 12th place status in tact to the end. Highline Sports & Entertainment put on an awesome race, the checkpoints were well manned and provided lots of encouragement. The Vail Ultra is definitely world class. From now on, I’ll be training at elevation.

—Pat Norwil, MountainZone.com correspondent