NEVER SUMMER 60K – Colorado (July 26, 2024)

Strava link: https://www.strava.com/activities/11990036810

The Never Summer 100K and 60K events are high-elevation races (the whole course is run between 8,500′ and 12,000′ above sea level) held in late July, when thunderstorms above treeline are always a risk. This made this a little intimidating, coming from flatland Michigan. I was actually signed up to run the 100K in 2023 but ended up deferring, and then dropping to the 60K distance. During this race, I felt pretty fine with that decision! It was a brutal but beautiful course!

My Michigan friends Matt and Dave also registered for the 2024 running of the 60K and we booked a VRBO near the start/finish line. Unfortunately, Dave wasn’t able to make it. Matt and I flew into Colorado on separate flights and met up in Golden for a delicious dinner at Sherpa House (thanks Colleen for the recommendation!). The next day, we did some easy hikes near Loveland and Fort Collins before driving the Poudre River Canyon on Highway 14 to check into our cabin and swing by packet pickup in Gould. We ate dinner at Stockman’s Bar in Walden and I got to catch up with a couple of friends, Pat and Chris, that I had met in the Grand Canyon on a rim-to-rim-to-rim adventure in 2021! They were both running the 100K!

The Never Summer 60K, put on by Gnar Runners, started at 5:30am on Friday, July 26, 2024 (the 100K event was on Saturday, so we didn’t cross paths with those participants on the course). It was light enough to not need a headlamp, and we were treated to a nice sunrise as we embarked on our journey!

Matt and I ran together for the first third of the race. The first couple miles were pretty flat, and allowed us to get some running in before we began the first major climb of the day.

The views as we climbed were worth the effort!

My friend Chrissy was running the 60K as well, but fighting off a cold. She decided to head back to the start line after the first climb but I was able to say hi (and finally meet her in person!).

Matt and I topped the first mountain, but the gain was short-lived.

The course dropped down the other side of the crest, into a valley of pines and wildflowers…

… before rollercoastering along a scenic ridgeline.

The image below is looking back the way we’d come.

Then we followed a steep descent that dropped us down about 1,000′ in elevation, through a lush forest that smelled like Christmas and suddenly opened up to a stunning view of Lake Agnes and the Seven Utes mountains.

Every runner around us that emerged from the dense trees to come upon this view of Lake Agnes stopped in their tracks and uttered the word “Wow!”.

We wrapped around to the north end of the lake, and the views continued to impress.

The trail led down a v-shaped gully filled with scree and then joined a gravel road that provided a nice, runnable descent into the first aid station at about mile 11.

I topped off my hydration bladder and snacked on some banana and sandwich wedges before Matt and I set off on the next section. We found ourselves climbing up a rocky trail wet with a trickle of water, and it was warming up. I took a moment to splash some stream water on my sunshirt sleeves for the cooling effect of evaporation.

As we climbed through the pine forest, we caught occasional views of the Nokhu Crags from the other side. This was at approximately mile 13 on the course. I was glad to have Matt’s company for the first third of this event. On the climbs, and with the elevation, I wasn’t going to be moving any faster going up, but with a long descent of more than 2,000′ vertical feet coming up I wanted to run that faster so at this point we split up and I took on the rest of the course on my own (and with random race participants I was leapfrogging along the way).

Before dropping down into the valley we did a little out-and-back lollipop loop to another scenic alpine lake (Michigan Lakes – not to be confused with Lake Michigan, which is somewhat larger and located further east). I posed for a race photographer on the loop, which I’m glad they had us do because it was a great view and didn’t add a lot of extra distance or vert.

I opened it up and ran the long descent pretty quickly, passing several runners along the way.

At the bottom, things flattened out a bit and the course remained runnable, so I took advantage of that.

After a mile or two of easy gravel road and short bit of singletrack through some aspens and meadow, I reached the second aid station. The volunteers and food offerings here were excellent! I ate several slices of quesadilla and watermelon, topped off my water bladder, and used the porta-potty. This was roughly the halfway point of the course in terms of both distance and climbing, and I knew a finish was highly likely as long as the weather held. That was my fear, as the sky darkened.

Soon after departing from the Diamond aid station, the sky opened up. The sky was a patchwork of clouds, and it looked like it could either pass quickly or rain for a while. The drops were heavy enough that I fished out my waterproof jacket (the $50 Mac in a Sac jacket I bought in Scotland last year for Ben Nevis Ultra, which I have come to love and which saved my ass there and again in Iceland when my friend Coree and I got caught in horrendous weather on a mountain). I live for adventure, and Never Summer 60k was an adventure for sure!

The heavy rain didn’t last long, and the jacket got stifling warm on the next steep climb, so I took it off after a mile. This was the longest, steepest climb and took us to the max course elevation of 11,857′ at the summit of North Diamond. From a jeep road (chute of wet, loose, grapefruit-sized rocks) to an extremely steep (up to 48 degree slope) slog up undefined trails up the shoulder of the mountain above treeline. This section wasn’t as rough as it could have been because I met a runner, Samantha, on the course and had someone to chat with as we ground our way up the mountain, slow and steady.

Oh yeah, and thunder rumbled from the dark clouds. I was anxious about the upcoming ridge run, which was very exposed should a storm move in…

Looking back down North Diamond. This climb started at that highway you can see in the left side of this image:

This part was hard. I got into a rhythm of taking three steps, and then pausing to catch my breath, and repeating. My pace was probably 40 or 50 minutes/mile at that point. But the gradient and elevation seemed to be affecting everyone around me, and I actually moved passed a few runners on the way up.

The souvenir from that climb was this sick race photo!

From the summit of North Diamond, looking north at the ridgeline I’d be running next. Sounds of thunder were more distant rumbles, but rain looked likely.

Heavy rain in the direction we were heading! It was really windy up there, but fortunately I completed the ridgeline without facing lightning or heavy rain.

I was really happy and relieved to finish the ridgeline and hit the left turn that would take us all the way back down a jeep road to about 8,500′ elevation. The remaining third of the course was all going to be below treeline, meaning that I’d be relatively safer if a storm hit and that finishing was almost a surety. I had plenty of time (enough to walk it in if I had needed to, but I was good to keep running). Almost a surety, because injuries can happen… and there are bears, moose, and mountain lions on that course…

After the Montgomery aid station, I was able to run down the jeep road for five miles of technical but relatively quick descent.

Down below 9,000′ elevation, and with the clouds parting and intense sun shining, it began to feel hot.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much shade for the next few miles to and past the final aid station at Bockman Road. I topped off my hydration one last time at the 50K mark and kept on moving. Only eight miles to the finish!

This gravel road was easy and runnable, except for the heat and sun exposure and fact that I’d developed a minor headache from pushing all day at elevation. I made sure to keep drinking and eating, and I splashed water on my shirt sleeves at the few opportunities the course provided me.

There was one last climb, through a pine forest, before a nice descent and then flat final two miles to the finish line. This part actually reminded me of the North Country Trail a bit. And it seemed like the most likely section to run into a bear or moose. But no large animal sightings at this race. That’s ok, I suppose.

I passed several people running the last descent and flowy final miles to the finish line.

I completed the Never Summer 60K in 11:36:06. Well under the 15-hour cutoff. With the elevation-related headache, I was glad to be done at 60K and not 100K although now, a week later, I kind of wish I had done the longer course. Maybe someday!

I grabbed a veggie burger and other snacks at the finish line party and hung out with other runners (geeking out about all the races we all want to run next) until Matt came through the finish line. Success!

Looking back at my splits, I was pretty surprised to see how many positions I moved up considering how tough I felt the course was (and how slow I had perceived myself to be moving).

In the final 2/3 of the race I moved up 67 spots from 228th place to finish in 161st place. Started slow and steady and just kept at it… didn’t dawdle at aid stations, and I think my strength as a trail runner is technical descents. I usually do pretty well on those!

So, I took a few days off to rest and recover after Never Summer 60K, right?

Right?!?

No.

Ran a 10K section with >1,000′ gain on the Run Rabbit Run 50 mile ultramarathon course the following day (Saturday), and then summitted four Colorado 14ers on Sunday (DeCaLiBron loop), and then ran 8 tough miles with my friend Juliet on Monday morning and then a 1,000′ run-hike up and down the First-Second Flatiron Trail in Boulder Monday afternoon. Maximum fun on a four-day Colorado adventure!