Goal is to keep entries running, not walking

Race is qualifier for world championship

By Meri-Jo Borzilleri/The Gazette

There’s a race for people — arguably not of sound mind — who want to run up Pikes Peak.

There’s a race for people who want to run up Pikes Peak and then down it.

So why is there now an event, the Barr Trail Mountain Race, for people to run partway up Pikes Peak and then down?

If you must know, head for the Barr Trail race’s starting line near the cog railway this morning at 7.

The 12-mile event, promises director Larry Miller, will be different from the popular Pikes Peak Ascent, where the finish line is at the 14,110-foot summit. It’s also different from the famous Pikes Peak Marathon, where the summit is just one big turnaround, the midway point to more agony.

In the Barr Trail race, the turnaround is Barr Camp at 10,200 feet, just below tree line. Not that this is easy, but ...

“We wanted a race,” Miller said, pointing out the two better-known events are so brutal many competitors are reduced to walking at some point. “You get above timberline, it gets to be a walkathon at the higher altitude.”

The Barr Trail race doesn’t have the cachet of the Pikes Peak tests, but it will test even the fittest quads. They’ll be there. Seven former members of the U.S. Mountain Running Team have entered, including local Matt Carpenter, the guru of grueling hill climbs and defending champion.

Not only has the race grown in popularity in only its second year — Miller cut off entries at 352, 51 more than last year — it has grown in stature, too.

It will be used as a qualifier for the World Mountain Running Trophy in Arta Terme, Italy, on Sept.15-16. The top male and female runners today will earn a spot at the world event’s start line and $850 each from the Barr race to get there.

High school running teams can also earn money by manning aid stations along the way in the High School Aid Station Challenge, where schools compete to become the best water stop.

All entry fee proceeds go to these nonprofit organizations: the Barr Camp Foundation, Friends of the Peak, El Paso County Search and Rescue and the All American Trail Running Association.

Meri-Jo Borzilleri may be reached at 636-0259 or merijo@gazette.com

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