I’ve
put in a lot of miles in Colorado, although most of them are on skis. In 2016 my ski trip coincided with the
Westminster Trail Run outside of Boulder, so I decided to log some running mile
as well. Weather in Colorado that
week was great for skiing, not as great for running. We made it to the race start where temperatures were in the
upper teens (my watch data has the temperature for the run logged at 21
degrees). We huddled at the start
to get last minute instructions from the race director. Apparently there were a couple spots to
watch out for on the course, he listed 4-5 intersections to make sure we didn’t
miss turns, identified 5-6 slippery spots, and a few more places where the trail
narrowed, so to watch out for runners coming the other direction. But other than that, things were great;
there wasn’t anything else we needed to know (having absolutely no idea what
the course was like, the long list of suggestions were not so helpful).
The
trail was relatively flat, winding through natural areas, around ponds, and
through small neighborhoods. From
what I could tell, the trail was a mix of pavement and packed sand. Unfortunately it was hard to tell the
exact surface due to the layers of snow, and ice, and after a few runners,
slush on top of it. Wishing I’d
packed ice skates, or at least something with more traction than my road shoes,
I carefully picked my way through the race, thankful that I managed to stay on
my feet for the whole thing (I did see a runner slip on the ice and fall into a
puddle of slush several inches deep).
Following
the race (having thawed my frozen toes) it was time to continue on to Aspen and
log more miles on the skis slopes.
