Race Recap: Skirt Sports 13er

Hi all! Today I’m recapping the Skirt Sports 13er that took place on June 14th at Davidson Mesa in Louisville, Colorado. I know it’s a little late, but trust me when I say the lateness of this post doesn’t mean the race wasn’t fantastic, because it totally was. And not because there was cake at the finish, but that didn’t hurt, either.

Photo Credit: SkirtSports Website

Photo Credit: Skirt Sports Website

I ran the 10k, mostly because I know the area very well, and let’s just say that there was no way I was running the last hill in the half marathon course. No way. It’s classified as a cat 5 climb, but, yeah, my eyes say it’s more like a cat 2. It’s a brutal hill, man, and I knew my butt was not ready for that action. So I skipped the half in favor of the 10k. I swung by the Sport Skirts headquarters to pick up my packet the Friday before the race. One of my favorite things about this race was the bib! I loved how they incorporated the elevation map in the design!

See the "get over bad relationship" hill? Yeah...I'm OUT.

See the “get over bad relationship” hill? Yeah…I’m OUT.

The 10k course suited me just fine, nice and flat after the first long hill, and the views can’t be beat. I’ve run/written about this trail before, and it is one of my favorites along the Front Range. As usual, I ran the race without a partner. No matter! The weather was GORGEOUS, and I was looking forward to getting some sunshine and fresh air.

So much inspiration!

So much inspiration!

Start

I know it says finish, but it’s really the start.

The only real hill on the 10k course is still no joke; it’s long and slow, and most of the 338 feet of elevation on the course is gained on that hill. It was less than fun, but I pushed myself to jog as much of it as I could. I didn’t even put my earbuds in. Instead I focused the birds chirping and the beautiful day.

runners

I ran alone for the first two miles until I stopped to take a photo and a nice lady named Rachel Taylor stopped too, and offered to take a photo of me if I’d return the favor. Runner code, right!? Of course I was down, and she snapped this shot of me with Boulder in the valley behind me.

Jenn

Rachel and I ran intervals the rest of the race and I told her the names of the mountains in our view as we ran. She was from Texas, and had driven up for the race. We talked about running, races, and how the running culture is so different between Texas and Colorado. The rest of the gravel trail was flat  as we ran along the top of the mesa. Then, we ran through a paved business district to the finish at a local Home Depot. The course was easy and breezy, and Rachel made the race a lot of fun. Before I knew it, we were crossing the finish line! I even PR’d by 6 minutes!

Finished

I had completely forgotten about the cake! Luckily Rachel reminded me, and we made our way over to the cake tent. The cakes were all gluten free and there were so many to choose from! Rachel grabbed a slice red velvet, and after hemming and hawing between the carrot cake and the chocolate, the chocolate won out. IT WAS SO GOOD! I never knew gluten free cake could be so divine!

SO delish!

SO delish!

Unfortunately I didn’t get any photos of Rachel, mainly because I suck at remembering to do that kind of stuff, but she is awesome. And so was this race. I am in love, and if they do it again, I’m all over it. There was such a great supportive vibe throughout the entire experience. Maybe, just maybe, I’ll do the half. Let’s face it, there’s CAKE at the end, and half finishers get a cute running skirt! Done and DONE! I highly recommend this one, folks!

7 thoughts on “Race Recap: Skirt Sports 13er

  1. You met Rachel! I lOVE Rachel! She’s one of my fellow Skirt Sports Ambassador sisters and a wonderful person. Such a small world to have met her and then two weeks later meet you at Fitbloggin! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT! Glad you enjoyed the race! And yes, you were right to avoid the Bad Relationship. I think I’m still sore from it all these weeks later!!

    • Rachel was the sweetest, Jen! I love that it always turns out to be a small world. I’m so happy I got to meet two fantastic ladies within two weeks! Skirt Sports knows how to pick the sweetest ambassadors!

  2. Man, I’m scrolling through the posts looking at Alaska from Kyle and Colorado from you and then I look out my window and it feels very non-mountainy. And yes, I realize that altitude is real and blah blah blah but WOW. Just, it’s crazy how different our towns are. And I’m sure that you think that my trees are very nice but still. Wow.

    This race sounds really, really cool. And as you know, I love cake. And I would try gluten free cake and probably enjoy it muchly.

    • It IS and awesome race, Meri! You should come west, little lady, and run it next year. Or, you should just move here. Then you’d have the wow out your window too! Trees are very pretty but… And the cake was excellent, and so were the people! I won’t mention the views. Again.

  3. Pingback: 2016 SkirtSports Ambassador | Scootadoot

  4. Pingback: Summer Races…and Beyond – The 2017 Caldera Triple | Scootadoot

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *