[Rain Man]

I got two runs in in June due to a fluke of timing. Today was brutal.

June 30 - Leadville Heavy Half Marathon - It's a "heavy half" because the distance is 15.46 miles instead of the standard 13.1. Finish time 4:26:08. The race starts at an elevation of about 10,200 feet, and then you climb to 13,185 feet in the first half and then come back down. Oxygen is at a premium. The other challenge is that it's on a really, really rough trail so you can't make good time at all on the downhill side unless you want to kill yourself. For a good chunk of it you're running on a very rough trail of rocks that range from orange-sized to cantelope-sized. I made it to the top in 2:30:13, but then it took me another 1:55:55 to get back down. I beat 25 percent of other runners, and I'll gladly take that since high-altitude mountain runners are beasts. 404 total runners.

On June 17, I did the Estes Park Half-Marathon. It's all paved, and goes from about 7,500 feet or so to 8,000 feet or so. My official time was 2:17:50, which I was very happy with because I beat about 55% of other runners. I'll take a top-half finish in Colorado any day. The marathon is billed as the highest all-paved marathon in the U.S., and I'm not sure if that's true of the half-marathon as well. 310 total finishers.

On May 12, I did the Fear The Deer Trail Half-Marathon, which is billed as the toughest trail race along Colorado's Front Range. Finish time of 2:45:27, which beat only 19 percent of runners, but again it was a tough trail race. Elevations ranged from about 6,000 feet to 7,400 feet, but it had so many hills that you actually have 2,800 feet of uphill in total. 76 total finishers.

On April 7, I did the Redline 13.1, a pretty flat half-marathon in the Denver metro area. Tanked it with a 2:09:48, beating only 33 percent of runners. Not a good run for me. 166 total finishers.

On March 10, I did the Gusher Half-Marathon in Beaumont, Texas. Perfect weather, sea level, and a flat course finally let me beat 2 hours, at 1:58:56. I beat 75 percent of other runners. 485 total finishers.

On February 12, I did the Ralston Creek Half-Marathon in the Denver metro area. It wasn't really flat as it gained about 400 feet over the first eight miles, and then lost it. I did okay on the uphill and flew on the downhill with the fastest mile split I've ever recorded in a race. Finished in 2:06:05, which is a Denver-altitude record, and beat 43 percent of other runners. 422 total finishers.

On January 28th I did the Yeti Chase, my first-ever 10K. Relatively cold weather, reasonably flat course with some mild hills. Finished in 59:07, which beat 44 percent of other runners. 310 total finishers.

On January 22nd, I did the Key West Half-Marathon. Perfectly flat, but got pretty warm after Mile 10 and I fell apart. Was hoping to break two hours, but finished at 2:03:23. Beat 65 percent of other runners. 722 total finishers.