My wife just found my official Pikes Peak Marathon T Shirt …
And … here is the story of that 1984 adventure:
My buddy, JC and I often ran 10K and 15K races plus a marathon or two together… more in his case. We had also spent time skiing and hiking in Colorado. When it was suggested, or I should say, when we were summoned by the Marque de Sade (from which the word “sadist” comes) we had no option but to sign up for this ultimate challenge. With a height of 14,115 feet and a vertical of almost 8000 feet (that’s 16,000 feet up and down) we started training. I was so nervous that Patti and I went to Colorado one month before the marathon so I could train at altitude. To cap that off I had her drive me to the top one afternoon and I ran the 13 mile Barr Trail downhill so I could see and assess what I was in for. Frankly, this scared me even more. In fact I could hardly walk for two days. Needless to say, back in Arkansas, I spent countless additional hours training by running up and down Pinnacle Mountain, a 1000 foot vertical peak in West Little Rock.
Saturday, August 18, 1984.
JC and I plus our wives actually arrived on the 17th to join about 50 other slightly insane Arkansans at a Manitou Springs pizza and pasta restaurant for a little carbo loading.
Race Day … after a relatively good nights sleep, I added hot water to a packet of instant oatmeal, called that my breakfast and drove to meet JC at the starting line. Even at base elevation it was cold … in fact there was a slushy snow on the ground and on the trail all the way to the top.
Full disclosure, JC was and still is a much better runner than I and he finished about two hours before I did. I’m proud of my buddy because subsequently he qualified for Boston and also ran the NY and Marine Marathons. I must add, I am proud of myself as well for completing this challenging marathon.
The two pictures above show JC and me almost at the top of Pikes Peak where we would turn around and start the quadricep pounding downhill for the next 13 miles. This is clearly one of the most personally satisfying and memorable achievements of my life.
So, what do my other buddies do when I return to Little Rock? They were ready!
Yes … they were ready. Unknown to me, DKR, one of the guys in our group that takes a trip together each year, reached out to Patti, got my Marathon shirt, had copies made and surprised me one evening, We were all getting ready to go to dinner. I went to change clothes and when entered the room, eight smiling guys were sitting there proudly wearing their own Pikes Peak Marathon T Shirt. We were an impressive bunch at dinner that night. Nothing like having good friends that can keep you humble. Thank you guys for another special memory.
Jim Dailey 