3rd Annual 24 Hours of Tours Schedule

24 Hour of Towers

Schedule
Friday 26 July
I have campsite I41 reserved Friday night.  I'll be there without my family Friday night so if you want to pitch a tent and share my site let me know.  The sites near Soderberg were booked so this site is further down the camp road, near the bathroom by the turn in the camp road.  

Saturday 27 July
8:00 AM First lap starts from the Soderberg lot.  Headquarters will be campsite I41 though.
5:00 PM  Family Lap - Come on out on Saturday afternoon for a low key, casual run/hike/walk up and down the hill with your wife/husband/children/grandparents/friends who don't understand your crazy ways.  Show off our hill to those on the other side.  Depending on pace lights may be needed for the end of the lap.
8:51 PM  Civil twilight ends, about time to get out the glow bracelets and head lamps.  If my kids haven't found them all I may still have a bunch of glow bracelets.

I have my campsite again on Saturday.  If you want to crash on it let me know.  If you have a site yourself let me know that too. 

Sunday 28 July
5:23 AM Civil twilight begins
6:00 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.  The sun will be just coming up
8:00 AM 24 hours are up.
8:30 AM Pancake Breakfast at campsite I41  Even if you didn't run all night (or at all) get out of your tents or drive back up and join us!  

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.  

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 the Soderberg lot.   24 HoT headquartrs will be campsite I41 though, which is down the campground way a bit, by the bathrooms near the bend in the road.  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 8 AM Saturday and 8 AM Sunday.  
• We will define a "lap" as one trip from the sign near the bathrooms in he Soderberg lot 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 I41 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 might 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.

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 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.

Streak no more

I didn't run last Monday.  The streak is dead.  But that's OK, I needed a day off and I took one.  My streak was never about checking off each day on the calendar at the cost of everything else.   So how did I come to miss a day?


I came down with the flu a couple weeks ago, the evening after the last Tortoise and Hare race to be exact.  At least the timing was good.  My wife and kids were all struck down on Thursday but I was able to have a fun Greyrock run on that Friday, run Pete's final 15 miles of March with him and Cat, and then run the Tortoise and Hare race on Sunday before becoming sick myself.  I've never had the "real flu" that I remember, turns out it wipes you out. 


The week I had the flu I was only able to manage a meager 1 mile walk with Sandis and Tonks on Monday but was able to run the rest of the week with Thursday even being an easy effort run most of the way up Towers.  On Friday I was back to work and was a little surprised that I made it through the flu with The Streak in tact. 


It also turns out that laying on the couch all day (with a short run in the middle of the day) while sick is much easier on the body than going to work when you're first "recovered".  I ran but was tired Friday, kept it short on Saturday and Sunday my 20 miles turned in the toughest 10 I've run in a long time.  When I was again dead tired on Monday I decided that running was not in the best interest of my recovery and took the day off.


The decision wasn't nearly as difficult as I once thought it might be.  When I thought about it logically I knew rest was the smart thing.  My streak wasn't a compulsive check it off kind of streak, it was about getting my head back in the running game and I had accomplished that.  There were a few days during the past month that I ran only because of the streak and I didn't like that, I knew it went against the reason I was streaking and I didn't want to become a slave to the number.  Mentally I needed a day off, but was slow to accept this.


I went to bed Monday content with a good run of 167 days of running.  167 days, 1017.4 miles, tons of confidence, and all the speed I had lost, to be exact.  And Tuesday I had one of the best track workouts I've had all spring.  Seems rest can be a good thing, mental and physical rest.


Yesterday I ran for the 6th consecutive day.  I think I'm mostly recovered from the flu, though I'd like to blame my slower than desired late miles of Saturday's run on not being 100% yet.  :-)  I don't think I'm going to call this one a streak though.  I'll get up every morning planning on going for a run, a but if it's not convenient or if I'm too tired or my head's not in it I'll be OK skipping it.  Though that's the first step to being lazy and falling into a rut I think I've learned enough to head that off if it starts setting in.


Long live the non-Streak.