Golden Leaf Half Marathon - Aspen, CO

A race should be a celebration of sorts for the place in which it is held. A showcase of the location for the riders or runners who often travel long distances just for that event. Most races are based around the city or place where it is held - The Seattle Marathon, the Tour de France, the Bolder Boulder and so on. Ideally, the race route rises to the occasion, providing a challenging race while at the same time giving its participants a reason to come back year after year.

This is of course my ideal race, and thanks to the persuasive abilities of Max, I headed up to Aspen for the Golden Leaf Half Marathon to race in, what is now, by far, the best race setting I have experienced (although the Seattle Marathon and the Shamrock Run are both fantastic as well). The race starts at the base of Snowmass Mountain with a 1.5 mile climb up access roads to the beginning of Goverment Trail. This is a serious climb, gaining almost 800 feet before the trail cutoff. It fractured the entire pack of runners almost immediately. Thankfully, after the first section, the race turns down onto the singletrack and heads slightly downhill for most of the race. The trail is narrow, strewn with rocks and branches and passing people was difficult. However, the race runs through meadow after meadow full of Aspens that have already turned for the Fall. With my eyes constantly on the ground in front of me to prevent myself from tripping, I couldn't help looking up toward the trees and trying to take the whole scene it.

After the race winds through both Snowmass and Buttermilk it dumps you into the Maroon Creek area, where it picks up the bike path, and a dirt path through a meadow, before eventually winding into the streets of Aspen, where it finishes at Koch Park, at the base of Aspen Mountain. The finish area added icing to the cake. Great food, lots of water, and a raffle that gives a way a ton (as in, so much that Max said that almost everyone gets something. Except for me). And all of this for only a $35.00 registration fee. It was incredible, and made me want to move up to Aspen even more. The whole vibe was very inclusive and community oriented. Definitely my new favorite race.

Government Trail - Aspen, CO

I explored Government Trail on another one of those days where I decided it would be a good idea to ask Max for a good trail run to check out. He guided me toward the base of Buttermilk Ski Resort and an access road leading up to the Government Trail, which runs from west to east along both the Snowmass and Buttermilk resort mountains. The trail actually starts in Snowmass Village, and is used in the summer for running and mountain biking (it is basically a single track trail) and in the winter for cross-country skiing. To access the trailhead, you have to take an access road from the village up to the trail. It is best to ask around town (try the Ute Mountaineer or the Hub) for exaclty where the trail starts, as I have not been able to find anything online that provides a good guide.

For our run, Max and I started at the base of Buttermilk Mountain and ran up an access road about a mile before we connected with the trail (actually we hiked a lot of it as "run" to Max is somehow equivicated to "easy mountain bike ride," as in "it should be a good run, it is an easy mountain bike ride"). We then followed the trail east until it dumped us out near the Aspen Rec Center, near the base of Aspen Highlands. From there we hopped on the bike trail for a bit before the trail begins running through a long grass field, which again dumped us out onto a paved trail which we followed all the way into Aspen.

Overall, the trail is a net downhill, but runs at about an elevation of 9500 feet before it winds down into Aspen. The trail runs through some incredible scenery, but is a bit rocky so watch your footing.

Smuggler Road to Hunter Creek Loop - Aspen, CO

Every time I ask my friend Max, resident extraordinaire of Aspen, CO, where I should go for a run he manages to guide me toward something which usually begins with a mile long death march up a mountain. It never matters how I describe to him the run I want to go on. Saying something like "I want something with a bit of gradual climbing, but nothing too intense" is somehow translated in Max's head to "I want to run straight uphill, with an incredible amount of altitude gain, and perhaps the possibility of being mauled by a mountain lion." Hence, I now have experienced Smuggler Road, sans mauling.

Smugglers Mountain Road is on the northern part of the valley that houses Aspen, near the Hunter Creek condos, about 1 mile from downtown Aspen (map here). The road is dirt, and relatively steep, winding up about 800 feet before the cutoff for the Hunter Creek Loop. It is frequently used by hikers, runners and mountain bikers, but is wide enough to accommodate everybody. When I did it there were not too many people, but reports from some of the men folk in town indicate that the road is usually filled with attractive women denizens of Aspen.

After climbing up the road, there is a cut-off for the Hunter Creek Loop, take that until it winds down to a T in the trail, from there go right and then take a left at a bridge that crosses a creek (do not cross the bridge). You will follow the creek for a while, which should be on your right. Eventually the trail will dump you into a wider section which angles downhill and is a bit more rocky. You will come to another bridge. Cross it and take an immediate left (I missed it the first time, it is somewhat hard to see). Follow this trial down. Be careful, as you are basically running down a boulder field. When I did it I was right behind a guy that managed to trip and sandwich himself between two boulders. This trail will dump you off into the Hunter Creek Apartments area, which is about a half a mile to the west from the start of the run (map here). The entire run took me about 1.5 hours.

Aspen, CO

We just got back from visiting a friend in Aspen, the epitome of Colorado ski towns. It is literally everything I picture when I think of a ski town; a great mountain that is within walking distance of almost any place in town, incredible snow, great apres-ski opportunities, and of course, insanely expensive pricing on everything. My usual gauge for determining the expense level of a town is the cost of a double-shot Americano. In Portland, or even Boulder, the average price for a 160z Americano runs about $2.20. In Aspen, I usually pay closer to $3.00. So, I generally assume everything in town will run about 36% more than I'm used to paying.

Like other ski towns, many of the people that live there are divided into the locals, the migrant worker force and the seasonal residents. The migrant worker force consists mostly of incredibly wealthy European kids that have come to Aspen to run a lift line and drink as much as they can. The seasonal residents are people like Kevin Costner and Goldie Hawn. On our visit we walked past Lance Armstrong, who was in town training for the Leadville 100. His training group included the friend we were visiting, leading to a few somewhat surreal "how was Lance feeling today" type of conversations. This is why Aspen is my paradigm of a proper ski town.

Apart from the glamour aspect, the town is a great location for some of the most scenic riding and running that I've done, and Aspen Mountain has a couple of great trails that are good for hiking or running. Although not as expansive as Boulder, the riding is incredibly scenic and just as easily accessible. The Hub is a great shop in town that can provide some knowledge about some great local rides.