Silver Rush 50M

”I actually look forward to the beast showing up, because every time he does, I handle him better. I get him more under control” - Lisa Batchen Smith

2:45 am wake up call. Had everything packed the night before so all I needed to do was make sure I had my coffee and oatmeal (w/ blueberries, banana, peanut butter, turmeric, cinnamon & and a little bit of Aunt Jemima’s syrup) and take care of my daily dooties. It’s remarkable how taking a shit before a race can have such an impact on you mentally and physically. When’s the last time you didn’t take a shit before a race and felt great? Case closed.

Out of the house and in the car by 3:50am to reach Leadville by 5:30am to drop off my drop bag which would be provided to me at mile 25. In the drop bag, I packed the following: shirt, shorts, socks, shoes and extra nutrition. On the way towards Leadville I called Mama and Papa to tell them I loved them and mentally prepare myself for what was to come.
Being at the start line was surreal, I looked back at the months of training that began in December to prepare me for this exact moment that I never planned on doing until May..

A few minutes before the start of the race, the race director (Ken Chlouber), announced over the speaker that the first male and female to get to the top of the legendary Silver Rush hill, would receive an automatic entry into the Leadville 100 however they would also have to finish the Silver Rush 50 before the cutoff time of 14 hours to receive that entry. This hill was about 100 yards at around a 15-18% grade going up. If you wanted to roast your legs before the race even began, this was anyone’s chance! We all stood together as they played the national anthem and BANG! The race was underway at an elevation of 10,035’ I opted to slowly walk up the hill doing my best to save my toned and muscular legs for the 50 miles to come.

Mentally, I broke the race up into 3 parts:
The first 25 miles
Getting to mile 35
Bringing it home at mile 40 which was entirely downhill to the finish

Part I:
Was incredibly conservative for the first 25 miles as I had no idea what to expect or what my mind/body was capable of at such a long distance. Simply walking up and jogging down was my main objective. No issues for the first 5 miles until I decided to eat half of a Bobo bar and ingest a salt tablet. Within minutes I could feel my stomach churning. I kept reminding myself of the experience I had during the Rim to Rim to Rim where I became incredibly nauseous, but the feeling eventually went away. This allowed me to accept the feeling, walk when I needed to, and just keep moving forward. Got to the first aid station (Black Cloud Outbound) at mile 7.5 (+900 ft. gain) not feeling the best but it was manageable. Refueled with water, pretzels, ginger ale for the stomach and other shit that I don’t remember.

Mile 8 began the first real climb which was about 5k and 800 ft. of gain. Nothing special about this section other than the front runners were coming down as I was going up. Met a woman (never asked for her name but for story purposes we will call her, Monique) who had done Silver Rush 50 five times and was training for the Leadville 100 which she DNF’d last year at mile 94. I immediately made Monique my pace marker to know where I should be throughout the day. After asking for advice she said take it easy on the climbs and jog down the descents (winner winner chicken dinner). Had my poles for the entire climb and once I got to the turnaround (11,885 ft.), I put my poles away and began jogging down. Not too far into the descent, I felt a sharp pain in my left knee anytime I didn’t step properly. This forced me to slow my pace down to around 13-minute miles, which sucked but I knew if I went slow enough, the pain would be sustainable.
Printer Boy Outbound aid station was at mile 14.5. Kept it short and sweet, grabbed a handful of potato chips, GU chew cubes (which were an incredibly quick and easily digestible energy source), electrolyte drink in one flask, and water in the other. Continued the descent from the aid station to 10,760’.

Climb number 2 was +1,300 ft. in 3.2 miles, up to 11,950’, which was the steepest climb of the day. It forced me to become efficient with using my trekking poles, match each step with an opposite pole strike. Left foot forward, right pole strike, right foot forward, left pole strike. I can’t express how advantageous it was to have poles supporting me on the climbs. Managed to stick behind two guys who were pushing up the climb while others were pulling over to the side to take breaks and catch their breath.

Venir Outbound was the third aid station at mile 18. From there, it was a gradual 7-mile descent to the halfway point (11,185’). Sticking to the game plan of short and sweet visits at the aid stations, I refilled once again with electrolytes and water in my two flasks, shoved my face with PBJs, M&Ms, salted watermelon, potato chips and cookies. Was still feeling a little pressure in my stomach from all the snacks I’d been eating throughout the day but kept on moving. Still having knee problems, it was tough to enjoy the downhills. If I went any faster than 13min miles my knee would make it clear that I needed to slow down. This is where Monique dusted me, and I lost sight of her. Towards mile 22 I was becoming envious of the people who were able to jog downhill... Thinking of the past when I wasn’t injured and I could go balls to the walls on sprinting down hills like a mad man but I had to keep forcing myself to be in the present.

Right as I arrived to the halfway point, and fourth aid station, Stumptown, it began to lightly hail. Dark and vicious clouds began rolling in and engrossing the trail that we had to return on. It was an awesome sight. Not giving a shit abou the weather, Stumptown was my opportunity to sit down for 3 minutes grab whatever I needed from my drop bag and mentally prepare for part II of my Silver Rush 50 journey.

Part II:
Of everything I packed in my drop bag, I only took the Spring Energy gels which would provide me quick and efficient energy in the later part of the race. Ate some more PBJs, watermelon, pretzels, chips, and M&Ms. Even took a to go cup where I filled it to the brim of chips, pretzels, and chocolate. Swapped my electrolyte combo for caffeine and kept the other flask with water.

Once I left Stumptown, it was still mildly hailing but I was stoked to climb and progress with the journey. Had service for a moment so I facetimed my mom, dad, and good friend Mike who were all very supportive and provided me with an emotional boost. Spirits were high despite my legs being very tired as I kept plugging along the 7-mile climb averaging 15 minutes miles. I was in the zone with my poles focusing on being as efficient as possible. For the first time in the race, I began passing people. Setting internal goals of passing every person that I could see in front of me, slowly but surely. One mile from the fifth aid station the race was at 11,850’ and I could feel my head’s pulse.. I was surprised that the altitude never affected me up until that moment. This prompted me to keep pushing up and get down as quickly as possible. Planning for the steepest descent of the day after the climb, I popped a Tylenol beforehand because I knew it would help with my knee.

Venir Outbound aid station at mile 31.5 was a huge mental marker for me, 11,950’. ¾ of the way done and the toughest climbs had been conquered, I just needed to focus on getting to the final climb which was also the first. Resupplied and moved onto the steep descent. Two miles into the descent my stomach was prohibiting me from going faster than 15-minute miles. With no one in site, I veered off the trail and into the woods to release some pressure. Found a good-looking log, popped a squat, and got back on the trail a few lbs. lighter. Shout out to David for reminding me to pick up baby wipes prior to the race.

This was a pivotal moment in the race for me. My stomach was back to normal, the Tylenol was kicking in and I was in a great state of mind.
I jogged into Printer Boy inbound aid station, mile 35, and everyone was screaming, “lucky number 7!”. One of the volunteers who had a cow bell in hand seemed stoked at the fact that I was jogging this far into the race and kept cheering me on right up until I made it to the aid station tent. A 15-year-old kid was nice enough to grab my flasks for me, fill them up, and put them back in my running vest at the same time I was consuming more junk food. I had hit an all time high for the day.

Part III:
Leaving Printer Boy, I was a new man. Mentally I acted as if I was going out for a 15-mile run on fresh legs with an incredible night’s rest. It was as if a switch flipped inside of my head. I knew once I got to the top of this final 5k climb, it was a 10-mile downhill stretch. My confidence was beginning to rise, and competitive nature started to gradually flow through my veins.

On the last climb of the day I was ready for a push. Popped in my headphone and started listening to Lowkey Tech on Spotify. My trekking poles and I became one, it was if I had 4 legs all moving rapidly in sync. While others were dragging their feet, I was making moves passing one individual after the next. Half way up the climb, Monique was passing me going down.. I knew where I needed to be. Throughout the last climb I would get shivers down my spine and could not stop smiling. It was a feeling I’ve never experience before nor would I ever imagine having a feeling like this 38 miles into a race.

At the top of the final climb, it was game time. My confidence was oozing, I had run the race as conservatively as I possible up until that point because I didn’t know what to expect. I feared failure, blowing out, my insecurities that always prevented me from going fast. With these last 10 miles I wanted to embrace everything that held me back in the beginning of the run.

From miles 39 – 41, I was planning my strategy for the final 7-mile descent to the finish. Rolling into the final aid station, Black Cloud Inbound, volunteers were shocked that I was running. I told the cowbell volunteer who saw me the aid station prior to hit that cow bell for me so fucking hard, which he did. Filled up my flasks as quickly as possible, grabbed a banana and some pretzels and was out of there within a minute.

This is where my life changed. I was the most confident I’ve ever been. Managed to pass Monique two miles into the descent. Feeding off the people walking or dragging their feet, I only wanted to go faster and faster pushing myself further mentally and physically. Anytime my mind would tell me to slow down I would go faster. Anytime I would have any doubts I would accept it and immediately toss it out. Altitude? What altitude? Knee pain? What knee pain? Pain at all? Fuck it. I wanted to dig and that’s exactly what I did for the last 9 miles. I cried multiple times during this for doubting myself in life and not appreciating what makes me, me. Words could not describe the emotions that were exploding through my body while maintaining the following times:
Mile 40 – 9:54
Mile 41 – 10:04
Mile 42 – 8:33
Mile 43 – 8:31
Mile 44 – 7:51
Mile 45 – 7:18
Mile 46 – 10:38
Mile 47 – 9:46
Mile 48 – 10:13
When I got .3 miles from the finish, they had a very steep 158 ft. descent that could seriously mess up anyone with tired legs or who wasn’t confident enough in their downhill abilities. With the crowd cheering and amazement that I was still running, I decided to give them a show and made that descent my own. Crushing through it, ignoring any thoughts or feelings that deemed otherwise. Right before crossing the finish line, I stood there in a one-legged tree pose to exemplify being grounded with myself then jogged it in to receive a time of 11 hours and 13 minutes. This was the greatest race of my life.

Conclusion:
Being hard on yourself is normal. It’s what forces you to be accountable for your own actions. With that said, there is a healthy balance of being accountable for your actions and not being too critical to the point where you never think you’re good enough.

If you learn to embrace and appreciate everything you fear, you’ll learn far more at failing than you would at doing everything right.

Do not think too hard or too long on something that has gone or went.. Despite Denver airport not allowing me to bring my trekking poles through security and forcing me to check it into Southwest who ended up losing them, shit happens. Time goes on and in the end I’ll get it back one way or the other. You’re only limiting yourself to a fixed mindset.

Lastly, appreciate the individuals that bring support into your life. Cannot thank my family, my friends and everyone in the MRC for getting me to this point in my life..

One Love,

Gabe