• Copper Mountain,
    Colorado,
    United States
  • September
  • 3 miles/5K, 6 miles/10K, 13.1 miles/Half Marathon, 26.2 miles/Marathon, 50K, Relay, Other
  • Trail Race
  • Event Website

Ben Lamers

Shorewood, Wisconsin, United States
25 79
2018
"Copper Mountain 50k"
Overall
T-Shirts/SWAG
Aid Stations
Course Scenery
Expo Quality
Elevation Difficulty
Parking/Access
Race Management
Ben Lamers's thoughts:

What. A. Race.

Seriously, the whole Under Armour race day experience at Copper Mountain was fantastic, regardless of if you were running the 5, 10, 25, or 50k races.

I got out to Denver the Tuesday before the race, partly to give my body time to adjust to some altitude, and to see some friends. If you're flying into Denver, Copper Mountain should be about a 1.5 hour drive from the airport, but it'll take you closer to two hours because of traffic on I-70.

Packet pickup for the race is offered for most of the afternoon beforehand, and also on race morning. I grabbed my packet the day before, mostly since I could. There were a few booths from Under Armour and Fleet Feet set up, but don't come to the expo expecting to find and buy all the things. It is a nice little village for runners, though, and had way more post race (more on that later).

Quickly, let's talk about the race shirt. First of all, it’s an Under Armour hoodie, so you can't get much better than that. I've already worn mine a few times. It's very plain, so don't expect any over the top designs, with a logo on the back, and the logos for each mountain series race on the sleeve. I would've liked something to indicate Copper Mountain specifically on it, but that's fine.

I ran the 50k, which was the first race to start off at 7am. If you’re staying in Copper Mountain, which most people do, it’s super easy to get to the start. Just about all of the hotels are within walking distance. We got lined up in the starting chute, and away we went!

As with any large trail race, the start can get a bit congested as everyone is navigating their way onto the single track. It wasn’t too bad, but you could get bottled up on some of the switchbacks going up the mountain. But this was only in the first quarter to half mile, so it was no big deal at all.

The way up the mountain is a little over a 10k (by my Garmin) and there is only one aid station on the way up, and then another at the top. There are five Aid Stations set up on the course, and you pass one twice, so it’s kind of like 6. One of them is about 1k from the finish, though. If you’re doing the 50k, there is an AS at the Start/Finish line, so you can restock for your second loop there. All AS had water, powerade, and various fueling items. Aid Station 2, at the top of Copper, had the most things for you.

While the course winds you around jeep roads and single track, it is SUPER easy to follow. The course was extremely well marked, and included the occasional mile marker. On any corner that might have been a question, there was a volunteer there.

The post race area was rockin. Literally, there was a band. I didn’t explore the area much, because I was spent after the race, but I know they had various recovery items including foam rollers, stretching areas, and post-race massage. Oh, and each runner received a free beer, obviously the most important thing.
I absolutely loved the experience of this race! Super challenging course, but if you’re gonna run a tough race what better place than here. A couple days later, I was actually looking to see if the other two UA Mountain Running races fell into my calendar.

Highly recommend this bad boy.

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