2000 Mile High Metric Challenge 100K/75K/50K/25K

The 2000 Mile High Metric Challenge offered athletes 4 distances to race: 100K, 75K, 50K, and 25K. These 4 races attracted a total of 77 athletes primarily from the Rocky Mountain region. The course was a newly designed 25K road and trail loop of moderate difficulty.  Approximately 17K were on the trails and 8K were on roads or asphalt bike path. The entire Mile High Metric Challenge course lies within suburban Denver's Chatfield State Park. The altitude ranged from 5600 feet to 5800 feet. Temperatures at the start were near freezing, but quickly warmed to 70 degrees with 80% humidity. Gusty winds also added a degree of difficulty on raceday.

The 100K event began at 6:00 AM. Bruce Pulford of Fort Collins, Colorado, defending 1999 100K Mile High Metric Challenge Champion, took an immediate and commanding lead in the opening flat miles. In his wake, several minutes back, were husband and wife Peter Bakwin and Stephanie Ehret of Boulder, Colorado. Peter Bakwin is a powerful and experienced ultrarunner, who recently ran the Rocky Raccoon Trail 100-Mile in an excellent time of 16:35:17. Stephanie Ehret is one of North America's best female ultramarathoners with everything from a second place at the Leadville Trail 100 to a stellar 128.99 miles at the Across the Years 24 Hour Run. Following the front 3, were 7 more runners, striving to compete the 100 kilometers this day.

At the end of the first of four 25-kilometer loops, Pulford arrived in 2:12:36, and held a 4-minute lead over Bakwin and Ehret. All three looked very relaxed, confident, and in control. At 50K Pulford entered the main aid station first in a time of 4:24:33 and began to root about in his rucksack for supplies. While Pulford was doing so, Bakwin entered the station.

"How far off the pace am I?" asked Bakwin, not seeing that Pulford was in fact right there still gathering supplies.

"You are now in the lead" I told Bakwin.

Bakwin responded by pressing the accelerator and upping the pace to 8:20 per mile, a serious pace indeed with 50 kilometers to go on this day when the temperatures were steadily rising. Pulford was not about to roll over and die. He responded to this challenge by matching Bakwin's pace for several miles. However, by the end of the loop at 75K, Bakwin held a lead of almost 10 minutes over Pulford. Bakwin hit the 75K mark in 6:37:50.

Bakwin continued his steady-paced assault on the 100K completing the distance in 8:58:32. Pulford withdrew just a few kilometers into the final 25K loop.   Interestingly, of the 10 starters, Pulford was the only athlete who did not finish the 100K event.  That is price of excellence though.  Bruce went for the win and raced boldly until he could not.  I greatly admire that in an athlete and look forward to his next appearance at a MW Running event.  I also admire Bakwin's style.   He raced with precision and attacked Pulford with an unnerving steadiness and a mid-race surge, and backed it up with a final lap that was almost as fast as his first.   I hope there will be a rematch between these two fine Colorado runners.

In the meantime, Stephanie Ehret led the women, and for that matter everyone else in the 100K, to place second overall and first woman in 9:36:24.

In the 75K race, Adam Chase dominated the field wire-to-wire finishing in 6:26:43. Theresa Daus-Weber won the women's 75K event in 8:58:26.

Dave Mackey annihilated all the 50K contenders winning in perhaps the best performance of the day: a 3:27:11 for 50 Kilometers. Mackey is thinking about moving up to the 50-mile distance later this year. Should he do so, there will be some added extra competitiveness at this summer's 50-mile classics. In the women's 50K, Julie Thenell, running her first ultramarathon, bested the field with a solid 5 hour flat performance.

In the largest race of the day, the 25K, speedster Warren Kish reeled off a 1:44:39 to earn the first place trophy. The women's 25K champion was Juli Clark in 2:06:37.