This was my first marathon in over 7 years, capping off my first year back running. I'd done a few halves, and prior to running the 26.2 here, my longest run was 13.1, so I was excited, but also a little concerned.

The race starts up at a trail head several hundred feet above Breck in September. If your picturing that in your head, you'll see fall colors, high mountain peaks, and vast views of the valley below. Its pretty spectacular. It starts out with a sweet downhill into and thru Breckenridge up until around mile 8 or so. At this point, I was running Boston qualifying time, so I was having a great time! Then you cross the highway over into a very fancy neighborhood, where I'm assuming every house is owned by movie stars or CEOs. Fun scenery, for sure, but the uphills began. The uphill went all the way around the neighborhood. I'm pretty sure we didn't ever come back down. I don't know how that even is possible (I know...it's not possible)!

At 13.1, there is an aid station. A few people I'd seen throughout were running along this straightaway, and the overall feel of this race was felt here. Everyone was friendly, waved, cheered each other on. This was motivating, because after that (neverending) uphill, having some encouragement was a game changer.

But alas, this didn't last long, and I was getting tired. We ran back to the highway we'd crossed and continued down the path, which is actually a bike path that goes from Breck to Frisco (maybe further, we only went partway)

We ran several more miles and came to what was probably a school, but by this time, I don't actually think I was processing what my eyes were seeing. We got to turn around, and I am excited to say, return the run back to the start/finish line!

The run back to the starting line was a grueling beast of a trek. I don't think anyone killed this section, other than the winner, WOW, a girl that finished this in a time that most would be happy to do a flat marathon at sea level in.

At the finish, we were given really cool hand made finished medals. This, along with our half sleeve tees were pretty solid swag. We also got a reusable grocery type bag to hold our stuff, with art made by a local artist who also ran the race and was a pretty nice guy.

I ended up winning my age group. 1st out of 5 in about 4 hours and 10 mins, which I must say, I was beyond happy with. I had never won an age group award, so I took off and ate with my mom and niece who came up to meet me at the finish line. I reached out to the race director and they agreed to meet up the next day, and I got an awesome trophy, again, hand made of wood, which I'm tempted to carry with me in my pocket everywhere I go and show off how this 215lb guy won his age group in a marathon at 10k feet!

I will most certainly be back in '19, but this time, I'll be shooting for 3:45 or faster, which would match my best "flat" marathon time!