The race started at 6:00 am and the start line was easily accessible. There was a ton of port a potties available at the start line, BONUS! No one likes to wait when they have to go. The first three miles were the easiest part of the race. This part of the run took you around Estes lake. Very flat not much of a challenge. Here it comes, mile 4, the first hill. It was a challenge ain't going to lie. This was one of the biggest hills in the race starting off with 7497 and then ending at mile 5 with an elevation of 7600. It was your shorts distance with such elevation gain. Then it was smooth sailing till mile 6 where we started our slow uphill climb from 7500 to mile 9 at 7900. This was exhausting. I felt drained when I got to the top. My lungs felt great though. I had no breathing issues with the elevation but it certainly is a difficult course. The last few miles were smooth sailing! I saw the marker for mile 11 and lit up, I knew I would complete my hardest run to date. So the inner beast came out! I was not letting anyone pass me. Especially a woman that looked to be in my age group. These last few miles were a lot of down hill miles. Mile 10 was at an elevation of 7760 then we went till mile 13 with an elevation of 7576. Just before the finish line was one small hill but nothing compared to what I just endured. Lol. There it was the finish line and it was amazing.

This was a great race the race company didn't miss a step in my opinion, they had aid stations starting at mile 3 then every 2 miles with water, Nuun, Fuel (energy gel) & port a potties. They had a ton of photographers along the course taking pictures, I actually ended up buying them, they came out phenomenal. They actually ran a 24 hour special when they released them for $20. For all your photos!! The end of the race they gave ya a box of goodies (snack bars, cheese, chocolate covered craisens, dried fruit, ext) chocolate milk (my favorite go to) I believe they had banana's also. The great thing too was the start and finish line were in the same area.

This company is also great for their award's they go 5 deep in the age group of both men and women. They also have a masters class and award the top 3 and I got an annual park pass for getting in that category.

The only complaint I think I could mention was there wasn't a great place to rest after your run. This was in front of the Stanley hotel in a huge open field. The problem was this field is used by wild animals so there was a ton of waste in the field.
FYI... Since this company puts on races in remote areas (national parks) their race expo is very small. Come prepared, this is not like a rock n roll or Disney expo. If you forget your running sneakers............sleep in!

I would highly recommend this race and this companies races.