Speedgoat 2014

Cody will not be writing a race report on Speedgoat 2014. Sadly. He is still sidelined and none too happy about it. He decided that we should go spectate and live vicariously through the "lucky" men and women who had the chance to run this year. I took along my camera. And was obnoxious. Cody rarely gets the chance to sit with me during an actual race. I think he forgot just how many pictures I take, how often I stop and how quickly I get distracted from what we are talking about.
So, a quick (forever long) plug for Speedgoat in pictures.

Early morning ride up the Tram. Snowbird is awesome this way- a quick ride to the top while all the runners are slogging their way up the mountain. 

The sun coming up over the course as everyone sets up their spectating spots.

 A lighter view of the second half of the course with Larry's Hole Aid Station down there in the bottom.

 Sunrise touching the top of the Twin Peaks. No runners are expected for a bit still, so Cody and I decided to work our way down to the lower grounds. We spent a good amount of time on a ridge between a turning in the course, so we just had to walk a bit from one side to the other to see the front runners and still see the later runners as well. Convenient? I think, yes.

 This part of the course is visually awesome. The runners come up the switchbacks on the gravel rock slide. A zoomed out shot.

A flowery shot. 

Oh, and the first runner (Sage Canaday) coming in to the switchbacks. He has his eye on the $1000 for the first man to the top of Hidden  Peak. 

And a zoom in on the rocks. There is a runner in there. I promise.

Then a quick turn around to see the spectators, um, spectating on hidden peak. Lots of cowbells here.

Down the other side of the ridge after a quick sprint down Hidden Peak.

I kept seeing the "Regulator" sign and thought how appropriate it was for this race. 

Looking down in to Larry's hole. Spot the runner and it gives you a sense of scale.

This is the climb up out of Larry's Hole and on the way to Baldy. Grueling to watch, I can't even imagine doing it. Or paying for it.

Cody cursing his mono and counting the days, hours and minutes until he can run this race again.

Climbing Baldy and looking back at Hidden Peak and the Tram Station where the spectators still spectate.

I tried to convince Cody to go on and hike ahead of me. I pretended that I was taking pictures but I was really trying to catch my breath. This part of the hike gets my heart rate up. Cody insisted (quite chivalrously) that he would stay by me. My racing heart sank a little at the fact that my mono ridden, spleen enlarge-ed husband was still more spry up the mountain than I. 

But my slow tread up the peak was not without it's benefits. This is the back of Timp and just to the left of Twin Peak.

 Perhaps this is why so many people love to hate this race. So worth the agony to the top.

Cody climbing up the ascent to Baldy. I am pretty sure he just wanted to prove he can do it, mono and all.

Then resting. I only saw one actual racer sit, and even then for just a minute as the hecklers (racer wannabe's) spectating here gave him a hard time. He quickly got back on his feet and out of the line of fire. 

We only stayed through until around noon, being that our children were performing manual labor, meant for us, at Grandma's house. Don't worry, they were paid handsomely. By Grandma.

And there you have a peek at Speedgoat. The Karl Meltzer Test of Endurance and Sanity. Or, more acurately, "Proof of Endurance but not Sanity." For a look at my other photos of this race, have a virtual walk on over to my flickr page. Link is to the right, over there ------>