What did you like most about the race: (183)

1. The amount of money donated to the various organizations 2. I did much better than I expected!

A chance to run up to Barr Camp in less crowded conditions

A good judge of what to expect if doing the PP Marathon.

A little competition for carpenter ha ha — really I liked the atmosphere of camaraderie of mountain runners

Abundance of free stuff, great aid stations and most importantly, great runners to compete against. This race brings out a lot of talent.

Adventure with friends

Aid station challenge, Support of local high school track teams and non-profit organizations.

Aid stations were fun, participants generally had a great attitude

Aid stations, proceeds benefit non-profit orgs, race packet pickup at running stores

Areas of trail where it leveled off giving my legs just enough break to start in on the next ascent. The pockets of cool and shade really revived me. Scenery was inspiring also.

ATMOSPHERE

Atmosphere of camaraderie

Awesome and challenging trail, friendly people, well organized, it was nice that Matt greeted people as they finished

Awesome organization and a local event

Barr Trail, of course, but it’s just overall a nice event

Camaraderie

Challenge

Challenging course

Challenging course, great competition

Cheering squads

Coming down

Coming down the mountain.

Course, organization

Downhill, finish line, good grub(actually, I just came to see beautiful, fit women in skimpy outfits)

Elite competition

Everything

EVERYTHING!!! The awesome trail, the insane downhill, the wonderful organization, the NASTY final hill, the free energy food at the finish, the running stores booths at the awards, and the unique awards themselves.

Excellent organization and sponsors

Explaining to people that I actually paid money for the privilege of running a crazy race halfway up Pikes Peak and back down again

Felt like a big prestigious race even though it was small and intimate.

Fresh air

Fun run to Barr Camp with GREAT Support

Going down hill.

Going up

Good Competition, I hope to be there next year.

Good workout

Great course. Nice idea with the high school aid station competition. Good overall competition this year. The splits included in the results are great; it really helps to break down and analyze the race.

Great field, awesome competition, gives you a good idea as to where you are in the world of trail and mountain running. Loved it, with all the pains.

Great support and a good aura about the people there

Great support, wonderful race organization

Great volunteers!!!!!!

Great web site, well organized, the e-mail updates, great trail

Great workout — Get to be in the mountains

Having the other runners in the race cheer for each other.

How well it was run.

I finished

I just love running on Barr Trail, especially the lower portion. Also all of the organization and information was excellent, and I thought the aid station challenge was just super!

I like the course. It is a great challenge and a great tune-up for the Ascent.

I like the sponsors.

I love Barr Trail

I loved the aid station challenge aspect. Lots of enthusiasm and support. Great overall organization and of course the location — beautiful.

I thoroughly enjoyed everything. A highlight was the announcer and his endless wit.

It felt friendly, not too big, it had good support, it was well organized, liked the pre-race communication and I liked some of the stuff we got at the end — bars, water bottles, t-shirt, etc.

It is open to beginners

It was hilly

It was on Barr trail and a good distance for many runners.

It was the first race I ran where the overall winner shook the hand and greeted all finishers — great idea Matt.

It was very well organized with the athletes being central. It is easy to tell a race where an athlete is one of the organizers.

It’s not too long, to the point and a good test. Plus, it is well organized.

It’s on Barr Trail.

Just right.

Just the race itself

Liked that EPCSAR got some proceeds. This race seems to care about so much more than others — great packets and very competitive. The splits you take are very helpful — thanks!

Local flavor; high school aid stations.

Location

Location

Location, location, location

Love the Barr Trail and being able to go up and come back down as a training run for longer mountain races.

Loved the date change. Fits perfectly with training for the Peak.

Matt Carpenter congratulating all finishers, and high school sponsored aid stations

Matt Carpenter greeting each runner at the end even though he had finished the race more than an hour and a half earlier. I ran the race for my son Tim and seeing Matt C, Jeremy W., Scott G., and Rryan P. (who later spent the night with me before returning to Portland), coming down the mountain from BC, were motivating experiences for me and truly inspirational as I ran for my son. And then reading about Julie Flint Bryan... wow, I was also greatly moved by her inspirational! Thank you all for not just a great race, but one where I truly walked away with a sense that this race is destined to get better because of the underlying motives and individuals associated with it. The race’s cause is so simple and yet necessary. 100% of the proceeds going to help those groups associated with the peak and young runners. Great idea. In this sense it contrasted to the PPM and PPA because to my knowledge very little of the money that is made on these other two races is given back to the mountain or young runners, let alone any of the runners that have made the later two races famous.

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Nice to see the leaders on the way down as I ascent. High school H2O stops.

On Pikes Peak

Organization and H.S. aid stations

Organized. This was nothing short of the most organized race I’ve seen in the 31 years of racing. I thought the Marine Corps Marathon was great, but with the distances and elevations involved in getting everything in place on time, this race takes the cake!!!

Pacing/training for ascent

People

People at aid stations

People seem to get very competitive at this race which leads me to push myself a little harder than I otherwise might.

Pikes Peak and the people

Pretty much everything is good — I like having the high school aid stations.

Race director

Relaxed attitude and the donations given out

Relaxed, friendly organization and race.

Running on beautiful Barr Trail.

Running up the mountain. I really liked the trail.

Scenery

Selection race

Setting, scenario, and challenge

Small number of runners

Small, friendly, local.

Strong field. Pretty women. Lots of free STUFF.

Support / small race

That there is so much to eat and drink.

The aid stations

The aid stations were the highlight of the race.

The aid stations, support

The aid stations.

The aid stations. Very motivating!!! Great groups of kids!

The atmosphere — having fun with friends.

The attitude of the runners and supporters

The challenge

The challenge

The challenge

The challenge and competition.

The climb

The competition amongst the schools at the water stops.

The competition and the hype!

The course

The course

The course

The course — Barr Trail is both beautiful and a tremendous challenge for me.

The course and the interaction with fellow runners.

The course itself

The course up to Barr and back is challenging and pretty. I love being able to see everybody coming back or going out. The whole thing is well organized and the people that show up to run all seem very nice. It’s a friendly albeit competitive group. It was a blast!

The course, the aid stations

The course, the competitive field and prize money for the overall winners. Also, the high school aid station challenge and the local donations... Very cool.

The course.

The course.

The distance. Not too crowded. Pikes Peak!

The enthusiasm of all the runners and the aid crews. It made it a whole lot of fun.

The enthusiastic aid station attendants. Well prepared, very entertaining, and encouraging! Liked that it started on time too.

The environment, and the challenge.

The fact that so much of the money raised goes back to the community.

The feeling that Matt and the race coordinators really care about how the runners feel during, before and after the race. Starting with the informative pre-race e-mails, continuing on with the excellent aid stations, the fact that all the proceeds go to good causes, and finally, getting a chance to participate in a race that is so much fun! Even when you’re a middle-of-the-packer like me, you are rewarded with watching (and sometimes feeling the breezes of) world-class runners as they fly by. Add that to the beauty of Barr Trail and you’ve got a race made in heaven.

The finish! Actually, the friendly nature of runners and crew

The friendly people and crossing the finish line

The fun atmosphere, that the emphasis is more on having a good time than on serious competition

The great, challenging trail. The competitive field. The outstanding Incline Club representation. Matt standing in the finish gate shaking hands with all finishers. Excellent race kit.

The high level of competition.

The high school kids

The incredible people in the race and helping with the race as well as the trail itself!

The money goes to an excellent cause!!!

The number of runners and the creative, uphill finish line!

The organization was outstanding. It was a very competitive race this year. Which after a little reflection, I decided I liked.

The other runners were great, very courteous. Also the train whistle at the start was great.

The people involved — both competitors and volunteers/organizers.

The people, the atmosphere, and definitely the mountain

The people. All the participants, volunteers, and other people hanging out were just the nicest people I had met in a long time. The kind of thing that reaffirms my love of running when things get hard.

The race itself

The race was extremely well organized. I also appreciated the quality of support during and after the race.

The scenery

The short uphill finish was great!

The size and great people all around from the racer’s to the volunteers.

The student manned aid stations

The support that the competitors gave to each other

The trail

The trail

The trail!

The trail, the organization

The trail.

The uphill and the views on the way down.

The uphill and wonderfully organized

The uphill challenge

The weather was fantastic. Everyone was very nice.

This is the best organized race I’ve run. Sponsorship was excellent, awards were great, great volunteer support!! Organizers should pat themselves on the back for a job well done!!

Trail

Trail

Trail and Competition.

Tuff call, everything was done so well....

Uniqueness and excellence in all aspects.

Uphill

Very exciting field

Very organized-enjoyed the entire event-great website!

Very well organized

Very well organized, nice that several local high schools and organizations get cash to further their efforts. I appreciate all the hard work someone did obtaining that much sponsorship.

Very well-organized; aid stations

View

Views

Well organized

Well organized

Well organized

Well organized — very challenging — very competitive

Well organized Elite field

Well organized, friendly people, the aid stations were great (very motivating), all of the workers, the Gatorade, the finish line, the view . . . . Overall great experience. It was well worth the drive:)

Well organized, great aid stations

Well organized, plenty of aid stations, and plenty of refreshments at finish

Well organized, very friendly and fun oriented, great location, overall good feel, nice awards ceremony

Well Organized. Much more fun than doing the accent

What makes one race stand out over others is the quality of the aid stations, Barr Trial had very good aid stations.

When I was all alone for a few moments along the trail, hearing only my own labored breathing and no one else’s! Matt shaking our hand as we crossed the finish and thanking us for coming out was a really cool gesture for us mere mortals.