Second Annual 24 Hours of Towers Schedule

24 Hour of Towers is this weekend,
are you excited?

Schedule
Friday 07 September
Some of us have campsites reserved Friday night.  Ask around if you want to come up, there's probably some room to pitch a tent.

Saturday 08 September
7:00 AM First lap starts from site I53 - say you were there when it started.
5:00 PM  Family Lap - Have you ever wanted to show your significant other or kids or grandma or friends what we go GaGa over every other Thursday?  Bring them out at Saturday afternoon for a low key, casual run/hike/walk up and down the hill.  Depending on pace lights may be needed for the end of the lap.
7:48 PM  Civil twilight ends, about time to get out the glow bracelets and head lamps.  I have a ton of glow bracelets.

There are good handful of us with campsites reserved for Saturday night.  I believe we have the entire north end of the campground to ourselves.  Ask around and I am sure you can find somewhere to pitch a tent.

Sunday 09 September
5:00 AM Last Lap - if you're up for it get out of your tent or drive back up to join us in one last trip to the top and back before breakfast.  We should catch some good sunrise views.
6:07 AM Civil twilight begins
7:00 AM Last laps should be finished.
7:30 AM FCTR Breakfast at campsite I53  Even if you didn't run all night (or at all) get out of your tents or drive back up and join us!

And if you're so inclined (get it!) you can take off a little early and head up to the Horsetooth Rock Trail Race at the Upper Horsetooth Mountain Space parking lot, the race starts at 7:00 AM.  

Breakfast
  Last year I brought my stove and made some pancakes, I'll probably do the same thing again.  If you want to bring something to share you can.  I'll bring my coffee maker, but it's just a normal 10 cup deal so I can't promise how much there will be to go around.

What

  It's pretty self explanatory.  24 hours, one hill.  Come and commune with the big hill, she who makes us stronger, she who litters race leaderboards with the words "Fort Collins, CO".  Come join like-minded trail runners, be it for one lap or to run all through the night, come celebrate Towers Road.  

Where
We will start at campsite I53 which is right across the road from the Soderberg Parking lot of Horsetooth Mountain Park.  If the Soderberg parking lot is full you may have to park 1/2 mile down the road in the Marina parking lot.

Rules

• There really is just one rule, Have Fun!  
• If you're going to count laps to brag or to add to our communal totals they must be done between 7 AM Saturday and 7 AM Sunday.  
• We will define a "lap" as one trip from campground I53 to the corner of the service building in the first grouping of towers, following Swan Johnson and Towers Road, and then back down.
• We'll have a clip board or something at the campsite to record laps so we can sum up totals at the end.

Where is 24 Hours of Towers?
  We'll be starting right across the street from the Soderberg parking lot. Driving directions to the Soderberg lot.  Parking should be at Soderberg unless you have a campsite.  Only 2 cars are allowed per campsite so only pull into the campground if you know you have a space.  If Soderberg is full you may need to park 1/2 mile down the road at the marina.  Be aware that there is a daily parking fee at Soderberg and the marina if you don't have a Larimer County Parks pass.

Night access
  Horsetooth Mountain Park is open all night long but the Soderberg lot gate does close during the night.  I keep forgetting to check the exact times.  If you are in the lot when the gate closes you can still leave by pulling up to the exit as the exit gate is automatic.  The upper, main, Horsetooth Mountain Park lot is remains open 24 hours a day.  I am unsure if the marina lots has a gate to close at night or not.

Campground
  If you are staying at the campground or are in the campground please observe campground rules.  Some of these include quiet hours of 10 pm until 6 am, 3.2 beer only, and no glass bottles.  8 people and 2 vehicles are allowed per campsite, along with 1 camping unit and 2 tents or 4 tents with no camping units.  Daily parking pass or Larimer County pass are required in the campground just like at Soderberg/Blue Sky/Horsetooth Mountain Park.  I am unsure if fires are allowed or not.

Do I have to run all night?
This is probably the most often asked question I receive.  NO, you do not need to run all night.  You can run 1 lap, walk 2 laps, run only at night, do whatever you want.  Remember, there really are no rules.  If you want to come out and meet some fellow trail runners please to so, anything you add to our totals is gravy.

I probably forgot something.  Ask questions on the list or in the comments section here.  See also my other posts on 24 Hours of Towers.

Second Annual 24 Hours of Towers

Saturday 08 September 2012  7:00 AM

North End of Horsetooth Campground (across the street from the Soderberg Lot)
Fort Collins, CO
More detailed schedule to follow

You can see them from almost anywhere in town, don't you want to go up and touch them?

Can it really only be  weeks until we get to spend a Saturday together?  An entire Saturday?  For those new to this, 24 Hours of Towers is a fun, low key, cooperative, 24 hour group run on our Hill.  The Hill that helps hone the edge of a group of very successful runners who call Fort Collins home. Everyone is invited, come run what you can, every lap counts towards our only goal, the big group totals.

Horsetooth Rock as viewed  from Towers Road

As runners we're always trying to best our current PRs.  Well, the 24 Hours of Towers PRs are:

• 78 different runners
• 210 laps completed
• 1502 miles
• 367,500 feet of ascent (69.6 miles)
• Average per runner:
• 2.69 laps
• 19.25 miles!
• 4712 ft. vert. 
• 25 runners with an "ultradistance" day, 4+ laps

What comes first, 100 runners or 100 miles of vert?  Come be part of it and find out.

Bring your (well behaved and leashed) dogs.  They love Towers too, and can be of help on the way up.

To help people set their own goals we've come up with some ideas to help you out.

• The Birthday - Run your age in miles, however many laps that is.
• The Starry Night- Run laps all night, starting Saturday night at dusk.  Slap on some glow bracelets and have fun.
• The Solo- Run one lap up and down.  7 miles and 1700 vertical feet. 
• The FCTR Twelve Pack - If a Baker's Dozen is 13 then a FCTR 12'er has 14 beers.  2 Laps is 14 miles and 3400 vertical feet.  That's a run worthy of a beer or two.
• The Cool Dude - One a lap Sat morning, another Saturday evening when it's cool, and a third Sunday morning, timed to finish at breakfast time (7 AM).  Three laps is 21 miles and 5100 feet of vert, nearly a mile, all in cool weather.  
• The Ultra - 4 laps will give you 28 miles (6800 feet of vert), that's an ultramarathon, and tougher than some 50Ks.  Bonus, we have a generous 24 hour cut off. 
• The Pikes Peak Plus - 5 laps 35 miles with 8500 feet of vertical gain.  Pike's Peak marathon is only (Oops, there is no Only) 26.2 miles and less than 8000 feet of vert.  
• The Meaning of Life - Run 6 laps and you'll have traveled 42 miles (and 10,200 feet of vertical gain).  If you don't find the meaning of life in your 42nd mile you're free to keep running.  
• The Nearly Jemez - 7 laps will leave your GPS reading 49 miles and 11,900 feet of vertical gain.  We know you couldn't sleep at night being so close to the 50 miles and 12,000 feet of vert at the Jemez 50 so we won't judge you when you run out a half mile and back to get the Garmin to turn over to 50.
• The Vermont - 9 laps is 15,300 feet of vertical gain, that's what you get in the Vermont 100.  
• The Leadville - 10 laps will give you 17,000 feet of vert (70 miles), roughly the vert in the Leadville Trail 100.  It saves you 30 miles though!
• The Western - 11 laps is 18700 feet of vert (77 miles), a touch more than the Western States 100 has.
• The Wasatch - 16 laps will give you a respectable 112 miles and 27,200 feet of vert which is just a bit over the 26,900 ft of vert found in the Wastach 100.  With 12 extra miles take solace in the overall grade being less here.
• Mr. October - Nick says he thinks 19 laps is possible.  That's 133 miles and over 32,000 vertical feet.
• The Hardrock - 20 laps would be 140 miles and 34000 feet of vert, basically the vert in the Hardrock 100.  
• The Honey Badger - New this year, running the Honey Badger's age in LAPS.  25 Laps to the towers and back.  If you undertake this one we'll wave the 24 hour time limit.

Even the flat boring parts are pretty

 24 Hours of Towers FAQ

Can I run as part of a team?

  Of course you can.  If you each do 4 laps you can even call it an Ultra Team.

Toughest hill on the hill, doesn't look that bad, eh?

Do I have to run for 24 hours straight?

  Of course not.  Run when you want.  Stop when you want.  Eat when you want.  Drink beer when you want.  You don't even need to start at 7:00 AM if you don't want to.  

Should I be done by 7:00 AM on Sunday?

  If you want to join us for a fun campstove breakfast you should.

Do I need to sign up or register?

  No.  This is not a race, just a bunch of trail runners getting together.  We'll have a log at the start/finish campsite, I53, where you can record what you ran.

Don't take in this view too deeply or you'll trip on that rebar sticking out of the trail just over there to the left!

Will there be other things to do besides run?
  Of course.  We anticipate a crowd at the campground during the day and hopefully into the night.  Last year there was even a boat or two being around for the day.  If the usual FCTR shenanigans aren't occuring at basecamp I'll be disappointed. 

The views get even better once you get up high

Where should I park?
  The best place to park will be the Soderberg Trailhead.  There's a $7 daily fee to park there if you don't have a Larimer county park pass.  The gate to the trailhead does close sometime in the late evening though the park remains open all night.  You can also park 1/2 mile down the trail at the Marina parking lot for the same $7 Larimer county fee.

24 Hours of Towers: Save the Date

Mark the date: 8-9 September 2012

24 Hours of Towers

24 Hours of Towers is less than 5 months away, just 11 once a fortnight time trial hill climbs left to brush up (including one tonight up Horsetooth).  If you want to camp you should reserve a Horsetooth campsite.  The north end of the campground is starting to fill up, with I49-I54 all reserved, hopefully all by FCTRs, but there are still some spots open down that way.

Happy hill climbing.

There is no "only"

Wow!

What started as a crazy, laughable idea became reality last Saturday.  24 Hours of running up and down our big hill, the hill that makes the Fort Collins Trail Runners stronger, Towers, the antenna farm, big sucky mountain, or whatever else you may call it.  I was simply blown away by the participation.  I expected a total of about 25 runners, maybe 20 to start the morning and a core group of 10-12 throughout the day.  Instead I witnessed the Soderberg lot fill and a mass of 56 runners descend on the campsite / starting line Saturday monring.

It got hot fast, temps were above 90 from roughly 10 AM until 6 PM.  The Lory weather station reported a high of 92, but it sure felt hotter than that on the exposed trail, especially with zero cloud cover.  Most runners seemed to adapt and maintain good spirits.  There were some slower than anticipated laps, some adjustments made to the amount of water carried, some trips home for hydration packs, some extra rest, and yes there were some lessons learned about running in such heat.  I spent a lot of that 10-6 window in the shade drinking water and enjoying the company of FCTR.  As temps cooled there was a fresh assault on the hill, culminating in a group of 12 or so heading up for a lap at 10:30 pm.  After that the number on the hill dwindled to 3 and then a solo runner for an hour or so before morning hit and numbers grew for a final lap.

The best view of the rock can be snagged from Towers

Great views of Meeker and Longs if you poke through the trees

A nighttime view of the Fort through the trees from the Westridge junction.

The family lap was also a bigger hit than I expected.  I didn't get an exact count but there were 6 or 8 groups that went out as couples, runners with children, or both, maybe 20+ of us?  Some made it all the way up, some turned back sooner.  I hope everyone else enjoyed sharing this hill with their family as much as I did.  Several husband/wives made it to the top with runners and 4 children of runners.  Sara Speights, Micah May, and my kids Sandis and Stella.  Sara may be hooked, I hear.  Micah did admirably well for a teenager.  Sandis and Stella complained until they had some canine companionship then marched the last 2 miles to the top without a complaint.  Stella was youngest to summit that day and at 7 years old she hiked her age in miles!  She sings and dances and burps and likes to get dirty, I think she's a trail runner in the making.

The families spread out at the beginning of the family lap and my kids on their trip up during the family lap.   

Back to that idea of 24HoT being crazy and laughable. Few, if any, of us would have set out to run laps on Towers in 90+ F heat on our own.  Had this been our plan for the day we likely would have altered the route to hit some shade on Timber or Howard or the Lory Westridge.  As a group we not only worked through a bunch of vert and bunch of hot miles, but we had fun doing it, building on a group mileage total with each lap complete.  Working together, supporting each other, sharing water, accomplishing huge things, and having fun; these are things that make the Fort Collins Trail Runners so awesome.  One great thing about the day was that it was not a competition.  There was not a lot of trying to out do that other guy, but there was a lot of supporting each other.  In the afternoon when many were taking a break a common question was "how many have you run?".  The responses started to come out as "only 3" or "just 2" but soon the group dynamic had numerous people responding to that with "There is no 'only', 3 is a lot of a work", etc.  That was one of my take home moments from the weekend, "There is no only".  It's easy to find someone in our community who has done more than you, and it's easy to lose sight of how great our own accomplishments are.  It is wonderful that the FCTRs create an environment to remind us all of that important point, "There is no only".

The final statistics:

• 78 different runners
• 210 laps completed
• 1502 miles
• 367,500 feet of ascent (69.6 miles)
• Average per runner:
• 2.69 laps
• 19.25 miles!
• 4712 ft. vert. 
• 25 runners with an "ultradistance" day, 4+ laps

Yeah, that's right, 78 people averaged a 19 mile day on Towers in that heat.  That seems incredible, and awesome!  (I am a child of the 80's, I'm allowed to say awesome)

And though it was not a competition, congrats to Cat for completing a 24HoT best 8 laps and Celese, Alex, and Pete right behind her with 7 each.

24 Hours of Towers Schedule

1 Weeks until 24 Hour of Towers!  Are you excited?

Yes, it really is that friggin' beautiful

A Tale of Warning
  So one winter evening last March, bathed in the euphoria of having recently run a 24 hour relay race (and the euphoria of local microbrews) and quite possibly still oxygen deprived after the first Pineridge Downhill Mile, someone thought it might be fun to run up and down Towers Road for 24 hours.  Not just thought it, but spoke it.  If you run in the same circles I run in you know that if a crazy idea is spoken, it will eventually have to happen.  No matter how ludicrous it might be.


24 Hours of Towers
  Here we are four months later about to embark on this silly feat.  In the past 4 months the idea has gone from ludicrous to possible to fun.  Fort Collins Trail Runners kind of fun.  Come and commune with the big hill, she who makes us stronger, she who litters race leaderboards with the words "Fort Collins, CO".  Come join like-minded trail runners, be it for one lap or to run all through the New Moon night, come celebrate Towers Road.


Rules

Towers Road elevation profile, courtesy of Pete Stevenson

• There really is just one rule, Have Fun!  
• If you're going to count laps to brag or to add to our communal totals they must be done between 7 AM Saturday and 7 AM Sunday.  
• We will define a "lap" as one trip from campground I54 to the corner of the service building in the first grouping of towers, following Swan Johnson and Towers Road, and then back down.
• We'll have a clip board or something at the campsite to record laps so we can sum up totals at the end.

Schedule
Saturday 30 July
7:00 AM First lap starts - say you were there when it started.
6:30 PM  Family Lap - Have you ever wanted to show your significant other or kids or grandma or friends what we go GaGa over every other Thursday?  Bring them out at 6:30 pm Saturday for a low key, casual run/hike/walk up and down the hill.  Depending on pace lights may be needed for the end of the lap.
8:47 PM  Civil Twighlight, about time to get out the glow bracelets and head lamps.  I have a ton of glow bracelets.


Sunday 31 July
5:00 AM Last Lap - if you're up for it get out of your tent or drive back up to Soderberg to join us in one last trip to the top and back before breakfast.  We should catch some good sunrise views.
7:00 AM Last laps should be finished.
7:30 AM FCTR Potluck Breakfast at campsite I54  Even if you didn't run all night (or at all) get out of your tents or drive back up and join us!


Breakfast
  We'll provide pancakes for sure at the breakfast.  Please bring whatever you want to share in a potluck breakfast with your fellow trail runners.  We have electricity at the site so if I figure out how to brew large amounts of coffee we'll have that too.


Where is 24 Hours of Towers?
  We'll be starting right across the street from the Soderberg parking lot. Driving directions to the Soderberg lot.  Parking should be at Soderberg unless you have a campsite.  Only 2 cars are allowed per campsite so only pull into the campground if you know you have a space.  Be aware that there is a daily parking fee ($6?) at Soderberg if you don't have a Larimer County Parks pass.


Night access
  Horsetooth Mountain Park is open all night long but the Soderberg lot gate does close during the night.  I keep forgetting to check the exact times.  If you are in the lot when the gate closes you can still leave by pulling up to the exit as the exit gate is automatic.  The upper, main, Horsetooth Mountain Park lot is remains open 24 hours a day.  I am unsure about the Blue Sky lot but suspect it closes like Soderberg because there is a gate at the entrance.


Campground
  If you are staying at the campground or are in the campground please observe campground rules.  Some of these include quiet hours of 10 pm until 6 am, 3.2 beer only, and no glass bottles.  8 people and 2 vehicles are allowed per campsite, along with 1 camping unit and 2 tents or 4 tents with no camping units.  Daily parking pass or Larimer County pass are required in the campground just like at Soderberg/Blue Sky/Horsetooth Mountain Park.


Do I have to run all night?
This is probably the most often asked question I receive.  NO, you do not need to run all night.  You can run 1 lap, walk 2 laps, run only at night, do whatever you want.  Remember, there really are no rules.  If you want to come out and meet some fellow trail runners please to so, anything you add to our totals is gravy.


I probably forgot something.  Ask questions on the list or in the comments section here.  See also my other posts on 24 Hours of Towers.

24 Hours of Towers Update 1

30 July 2011  7:00 AM
Soderberg Trailhead in Horsetooth Mountain Park
Fort Collins, CO

You all hoped we forgot, didn't you.  You should know better than that by now.  24 Hours of Towers is still alive and kicking.  Can you think of a better way to spend a Saturday?  An entire Saturday.

We have previously stated our goal was to have fun, and it still is.  Being a little competitive though, we did notice a couple collective total benchmarks our friends to the south set one April day on Mt. Sanitas.

• 34 Runners
• 240 Summits
• 745 Miles run
• 325,440 vertical feet

It will be fun to see if we can meet or exceed those numbers.  The first should be easy as we've had nearly that many runners out on a single Thursday evening run up Towers and over 100 different people over the last year.  745 miles can be beat with 107 round trips.  That's very doable.  The vert is going to be tougher, it will take 192 round trips to beat that total.  And that is why we need everyone to come out, even to run one lap.  They will all count towards our total.

To help people set goals we've come up with some ideas to help you out.

• The Birthday - Run your age in miles worth of laps.
• The Starry Night- Run laps all night, starting Sunday night at dusk.  With a new moon that night there will be stars-o-plenty to guide your way.  Slap on some glow bracelets and have fun.
• The Solo- Run one lap up and down.  7 miles and 1700 vertical feet. 
• The FCTR Twelve Pack - If a Baker's Dozen is 13 then a FCTR 12'er has 14 beers.  2 Laps is 14 miles and 3400 vertical feet.  That's a run worthy of a beer or two.
• The Cool Dude - One a lap Sat morning, another Saturday evening when it's cool, and a third Sunday morning, timed to finish at breakfast time (7 AM).  Three laps is 21 miles and 5100 feet of vert, nearly a mile, all in cool weather.  
• The Ultra - 4 laps will give you 28 miles (6800 feet of vert), that's an ultramarathon, and tougher than some 50Ks.  Bonus, we have a generous 24 hour cut off. 
• The Pikes Peak Plus - 5 laps 35 miles with 8500 feet of vertical gain.  Pike's Peak marathon is only 26.2 miles and less than 8000 feet of vert.  
• The Meaning of Life - Run 6 laps and you'll have traveled 42 miles (and 10,200 feet of vertical gain).  If you don't find the meaning of life in your 42nd mile you're free to keep running.  
• The Nearly Jemez - 7 laps will leave your GPS reading 49 miles and 11,900 feet of vertical gain.  We know you couldn't sleep at night being so close to the 50 miles and 12,000 feet of vert at the Jemez 50 so we won't judge you when you run out a half mile and back to get the Garmin to turn over to 50.
• The Vermont - 9 laps is 15,300 feet of vertical gain, that's what you get in the Vermont 100.  
• The Leadville - 10 laps will give you 17,000 feet of vert (70 miles), roughly the vert in the Leadville Trail 100.  It saves you 30 miles though!
• The Western - 11 laps is 18700 feet of vert (77 miles), a touch more than the Western States 100 has.
• The Wasatch - 16 laps will give you a respectable 112 miles and 27,200 feet of vert which is just a bit over the 26,900 ft of vert found in the Wastach 100.  With 12 extra miles take solace in the overall grade being less here.
• Mr. October - Nick says he thinks 19 laps is possible.  That's 133 miles and over 32,000 vertical feet.
• The Hardrock - 20 laps would be 140 miles and 34000 feet of vert, basically the vert in the Hardrock 100.  

24 Hours of Towers FAQ

Can I run as part of a team?

  Of course you can.  If you each do 4 laps you can even call it an Ultra Team.

Do I have to run for 24 hours straight?

  Of course not.  Run when you want.  Stop when you want.  Eat when you want.  Drink beer when you want.  You don't even need to start at 7:00 AM if you don't want to.  

Should I be done by 7:00 AM on Sunday?

  If you want to join us for a big campstove breakfast you should.

Do I need to sign up or register?

  No.  This is not a race, just a bunch of trail runners getting together.  We'll have a log at the start/finish campsite, I54, where you can record what you ran.


Will there be other things to do besides run?
  Of course.  We anticipate a crowd at the campground during the day and hopefully into the night.  There is even rumor of a boat or two being around for the day.  If the usual FCTR shenanigans aren't occuring at basecamp I'll be disappointed. 


Where should I park?
  The best place to park will be the Soderberg Trailhead.  There's a $7 daily fee to park there if you don't have a Larimer county park pass.  The gate to the trailhead does close sometime in the evening though the park remains open, I will get the specifics and post them at a later date.

24 Hours of Towers

  Yes the glorious rumors you have heard are true.  The FCTR summer running fun will be 24 hours of Towers.  The date will be Saturday July 30th.  Mark your calendars.  The details are yet to be determined, probably after some beverages at the Trailhead, but the broad strokes are in place.

• Who: As many of you as possible, and any borderline crazy friends you may be able to talk into this.  You can run solo or as relay-style teams.
• What: 7 mile laps up and down Towers road.   As many as you can or want to do in 24 hours.  Here's a great blow by blow up the route from Nick.
• Where: Towers road in Horsetooth Mountain Park.  We'll start/finish each lap at campsite I54 which is right across the road from the Soderberg parking lot.  This makes the route an even 7 miles round trip to make the math easier at 3:00 AM.
• Why: To celebrate the beast that makes us all stronger runners.
• When: 7:00 AM Sat. July 30th to 7:00 AM Sun. morning July 31st.  Breakfast and tall tales to follow, probably at the campground.

We simply want a lot of people to show up and have fun.  To that end, there aren't a lot of rules.

• Run solo, or run as a team.  
• Start/finish each lap at the campground and tag the service building up top.  
• Run when you want, stop when you want.  Drink beer when you want.  Dip your toes in the Reservoir when you want.
• Have fun.

Three of us have campsites in Horsetooth reserved already.  There may still be a couple more available, if you're so inclined, but you're welcome to hang at the sites we have too.

Ask Alex, Pete, or Brian any questions you may have and check back here for forthcoming details.