Jonathan Vigh's Race Report for the 2004 Pikes Peak Marathon

I realized that I had forgotten to put on my gaiters and that one of the strings was broken. Two minutes before the race, I was still fiddling with the knot. Solving that problem, I popped a Hammer gel about 30 seconds before the gun. This year, the PA system could actually be heard: 'Runner's Ready!' BANG!

The whole crowd took off running, but this year we had to run under a huge inflated banner which read 'Buff Skyrunning World Series'. This caused an interesting compression of the crowd as some people got smooshed into the posts of the banner. The first 0.4 miles along Manitou Avenue are almost flat and deceptively easy. I looked up at Pikes Peak, 7815 feet higher than my current altitude and wondered if I was going to even finish this year's race . . .

This race report is in progress -- there will be less pictures (I didn't take any pictures during the race this year), but we have some before and after shots, as well as some video.


2004 Pikes Peak Marathon	Jonathan Vigh	Unofficial Splits	indicates estimated split times

For fun, here are some color-coded speed zones to help understand my splits	< 0.1 mph: you aren't going to finish if you average this speed for a split	0.1 - 0.9 mph: uh-oh, this is going to take a long time to finish at this speed	1.0 - 1.9 mph: a slow walk -- must be very steep AND less air	2.0 - 2.9 mph: a good uphill walking pace in the steep sections	3.0 - 3.9 mph: walking (this is a fast pace going up hill near 14,000 feet, but rather slow for going downhill)
4.0 - 4.9 mph: a fast hike or slow jog	5.0 - 5.9 mph: a slow run	6.0 - 6.9 mph: a moderate run	7.0 - 7.9 mph: flying down the mountain	8.0 - 8.9 mph: bombs away	> 9.0 mph: inconceivable (you must be Matt Carpenter or Bernie Boettcher)

Pikes Peak Splits (by race signs)	split time	elapsed time	split distance	split pace (min/mile)	split speed (mph)
first 1.32 miles	0:23:21	0:23:21	1.67	0:13:59	4.3
12 to go	0:10:15	0:33:36	0.65	0:15:46	3.8
11 to go	0:15:50	0:49:26	1.00	0:15:50	3.8	2 miles:
10 to go	0:15:50	1:05:16	1.00	0:15:50	3.8	0:31:40
9 to go	0:16:28	1:21:44	1.00	0:13:08	4.6
8 to go	0:13:08	1:34:52	1.00	0:19:51	3.0
7 to go	0:19:51	1:54:43	1.00	0:17:14	3.5
6 to go	0:17:14	2:11:57	1.00	0:21:45	2.8
5 to go	0:21:45	2:33:42	1.00	0:23:55	2.5
4 to go	0:23:55	2:57:37	1.00	0:21:06	2.8
3 to go	0:21:06	3:18:43	1.00	0:22:49	2.6
2 to go	0:22:49	3:41:32	1.00	0:25:43	2.3
1 to go	0:25:43	4:07:15	1.00	0:27:09	2.2
time at top	0:00:00
11.9 to go	0:27:09	4:34:24	1.00	0:27:09	2.2
10.9 to go	0:10:43	4:45:07	1.00	0:10:43	5.6
9.9 to go	0:10:56	4:56:03	1.00	0:10:56	5.5
8.9 to go	0:12:27	5:08:30	1.00	0:12:27	4.8
7.9 to go	0:10:05	5:18:35	1.00	0:10:05	6.0
6.9 to go	0:11:54	5:30:29	1.00	0:11:54	5.0
5.9 to go	0:14:32	5:45:01	1.00	0:14:32	4.1
4.9 to go	0:11:14	5:56:15	1.00	0:11:14	5.3
3.9 to go	0:08:43	6:04:58	1.00	0:08:43	6.9
2.9 to go	0:09:27	6:14:25	1.00	0:09:27	6.3
1.9 to go	0:07:36	6:22:01	1.00	0:07:36	7.9
0.9 to go	0:05:25	6:27:26	0.65	0:08:20	7.2
to end	0:12:07	6:39:33	1.24	0:09:46	6.1


Overall Results
time to top	4:07:15		13.32	0:18:34	3.23
time on top	0:00:00
time to bottom	2:32:18		12.89	0:11:49	5.08

total time	6:39:33		26.21	0:15:15	3.94

approximate time not moving (2 bathroom breaks, changing socks)	0:17:00
approximate time if I hadn't stopped for any reason	6:22:33
next year's goal	5:58:00

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