Rebecca Brown found the perfect Ironman Arizona training race for TEAM STL. It's the Pikes Peak Marathon which will redefine what you call running. Sure, the marathon starts out like a lot of races on Any Street, USA. But the first left turn will have you turning in the direction of up! During the next 10 miles, as you gain almost 6,000 vertical feet, your legs, lungs, heart and mind will be worn to a ragged nothingness. But it won’t be until your last three miles, with still over 2,000' of vertical to go, that you will realize where the Marathon got its moniker—America’s Ultimate Challenge.
There’s a reason trees don’t bother growing above 12,000' on Pikes Peak. They can’t!
Makes one wonder if trees are smarter than runners. Above treeline most runners take 30 minutes or more, some much more, just to cover a mile. What little air remains can’t satisfy the endless stream of zombies hoping only to survive their next step—a death march right out of a scene from Dawn of the Dead. Adding insult to injury, it might start to snow!
Then, if you are on the deluxe tour, you run back down for the second half of the Marathon. Along the way protruding rocks are waiting to send you crashing to the ground mangling flesh and only temporarily masking the pain of blood filled blisters. Meanwhile, the temperature has often risen by more than 30 degrees since the race start but that will be good preparation for Ironman Arizona.
Click here for entry info if you dare!!!
Amid a firestorm of controversy, Tommy Rosenthal unveiled his design for the 2009 Team STL jersey (see above). The design was immediately panned by all critics for its failure to incorporate the TRI BULL that was developed in 2008. Tommy's creation was a throw back to the very popular 2007 design and was well received by Mike Pepper who was thrilled that someone else picked up the ball and created the jersey so that he did not have to. Teammates were amazed that Tommy had time to accomplish this major feat considering his unbelievably busy work and training schedule that is heavy on training. Make sure that you contact young Rosenthal to place your jersey order immediately because with such a hot design these jerseys will not be on the shelf long.
