As I write this Matt Hart is headed up and over the top of Copper Mountain on day 3 of his epic Colorado Trail run. He left this morning a little later than planned, but the extra sleep is good for him (and me) and he is feeling ready to keep moving fast.
Two days ago he began running from the Waterton Canyon trailhead outside of Denver at 4 am. While he ran, I drove his van around to different spots to crew for him. This is a feat in itself, since the van is a VW eurovan intended for the roads. To put things into perspective, I’m pretty sure the damn thing doesn’t have suspension, and this makes for a rather jolted ride along dirt roads. Everything went well throughout the day until the very end, when we suffered from a problem called “dumbass crewchief” that involved my going to the wrong spot to pick him up and him finishing the run with no van and no supplies. Oops. This created no small amount of fuss, but I eventually managed to retrieve him from the terrors of a chain smoking veteran housed in a dilapidated trailer and we pushed on in our journey.
Day two saw Matt off at 5 am using his poles right from the start. Roch Horton and Black Diamond were kind enough to donate a pair of awesome poles for Matt to use on the trail, and he has carried them nearly the entire trip thus far. He ran up and over Kenosha pass, down into South Park, up and over Georgia Pass, down into Breckenridge and then up again and finally over the ten mile range into Copper Mountain, finishing at about 10:00 pm. Part of the way he ran with Scott Jaime, who came out from Denver to run and share his experience from running the trail last September. Scott had to return home, but his advice and information continues to be extremely helpful to our cause. From Breckenridge to Copper Matt had the company of Good Ben Reeves, co-crew-chief and friend of everyone. Ben has given us his home, his time and his experience, without which we would be in a lot worse shape. Thank you Ben.
Most people who run the CT plan for months in advance; we planned for less than a week. This puts a lot of stress on everyone involved and can slow the supply train considerably. Nevertheless, our sponsors have come through admirably. Clif Bar sent a goodie box full of energy and an exciting, unmarked new gel for us to test. Nuun hooked us up with enough electrolytes for a lightning storm and Black Diamond sent over some awesome poles that Matt says he couldn’t do without. But Montrail above all has stepped up to the plate with gear, shoes and support from the outside. Montrail has been in trail running from the beginning of the sport and they continue to support huge adventures in beautiful places, like Matt’s attempt at running an average of 58 miles per day along the Colorado Trail. Matt refuses to run in anything besides the Rockridges – a testament to the durability of Montrail’s road/trail hybrid shoe. Seeing how they hold up on this terrain proves that nothing but time can wear out these shoes. This didn’t happen overnight. Montrail tests their products for years on the toughest trails on the planet, like the Colorado Trail, and the result are the highest quality trail shoes on the market.
Keep checking Matt’s twitter page throughout the day and the week for periodic updates on his progress, and I’ll try to post a few more blogs online before he finishes. But I have to get out to Camp Hale and start making him some pancakes before he blows through there without me!
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I enjoyed getting the chance to see Matt on top of Kokomo Pass as he was fast enough to pass me while I was on a Mtn bike. Good luck to Matt and the crew during his quest to set a new record. He allowed me to take a cool picture of him on Searle Pass next to the Colorado Trail post.