1999 Pikes Peak News Archives
1998 Pikes Peak News Archives
12/29/98 Six more personal accounts of the race were added to the learn before you burn section.
11/25/98 I stopped by the TCR and got copies of the 1981 and 1983 race results. This just leaves 1985 that I am needing
to have all the results back to the last course change in 1976. Further I am only missing 1968 - 1973 to have ALL the
results since the start of the race in 1956! As always please let me know
if you can provide me copies of missing results or have any other photos, stories or whatever that you could send to me.
11/9/98 Four new questions were added to the Pikes Peak trivia game.
10/17/98 While out in Minneapolis for the Twin Cities Marathon, Pete Tonsits and Bill Kurtz visited Bill’s brother Chet and got a copy of the book Foster Sons of Pikes Peak: A Biography of the Pikes Peak Marathon written by two time winner and one time course record holder John Rose. It has all the results from the first 12 years of the race including the little known about 1936 race!!! Incredible photos and stories about the races and the history of the marathon make this a true treasure.
9/17/98 The 1999 Pikes Peak Event Entry Form was put up today.
8/27/98 I have gotten so many comments on my count-down timer that I have made it available for use by others for a $5 “donation” that will help offset
the costs of this web site. Check out the details here.
8/25/98 NS3 users should be able to see the count-down timer at the top of the page. Thanks to Sheri Wright for taking the time to test it for me.
8/24/98 The “final” official results for the 1998 races are now up. [PPA/M results moved to pikespeakmarathon.org in 2015] These include several corrections over the results that have been up for the last week.
8/23/98 Sid and Liz Steinweg of CSB Services, Inc. sent me the 1990 Pikes Peak results which they had saved from when they were in
charge of the results — no typing needed here;-) Skyrunner.com now has 11 years of results in the archive [PPA/M results moved to pikespeakmarathon.org in 2015] and is
always looking for help to expand it. I need copies of all the results before 1973, and the results from 1981, 1983 and 1985. I need help with input for any year prior to 1987.
8/20/98 Got word that the count-down timer works in IE3 so those users should see it at the top of the page now. Still looking for a NS3 tester to test out my code.
1998 Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon stuff
8/14/98 I went to the pasta dinner for the Ascent runners. It dumped more rain in about a 2 hour period than I have EVER seen — it is shaping up to be a perfect day for them tomorrow!
8/13/98 While surfing the net I ran across some more personal accounts of the race. Paula Vaughan wrote
an excellent piece
about her 1997 Ascent. Dr. Richard P. Marsh, formerly editor of American Cryonics, gave a talk on
August 25, 1990, titled The Positive Triumph of Negative Entropy[link no longer works] which recounted the joy he experienced when finishing
the 1981 Pikes Peak Ascent. This talk must have been something because he used Pikes Peak to explain his one question — “where is the mountain” — about the option of living forever.
8/11/98 Barr Camp put up the race banners while I was doing an Elk Park run. When I got back down to Manitou the start banner was up — here we go!
8/10/98 I took a shovel and a pick to the “swamp” just before Barr Camp. Hopefully the trench I dug will drain some of the water off of the trail. Keep to the left
on the way up and you will be fine! After a run to the summit I hung out in the summit house for almost 6 hours. It snowed very hard for a while!!! They even had to close the road and bring in a snowplow! While up there I talked to one of the engineers on the COG train. They are sending up someone on Saturday to keep Ascent runners off of the tracks.
8/6/98 The “Out There” section of the Colorado Springs Gazette featured the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon as
its cover story.
8/2/98 Up there on the right somewhere you will find some trail running tips for going up and down hills.
Also the question “what should I wear on race day” was addressed in the Pikes
Peak Ascent & Marathon FAQ. For some reason I get this question often despite the fact that is well covered in the confirmation booklet.
7/28/98 After analyzing splits from many training runs the pace calculator and
chart was updated. The top of the W’s split was decreased by a very small amount so it is a smidge bit faster.
The “French Creek” split was increased to be a good bit slower. A new split halfway between “French
Creek” and Barr Camp at the sign which reads “PIKES PEAK SUMMIT 7.5, TOP OF INCLINE 2.5” was added. These
updates were also made to the course description.
7/26/98 While staying at Barr Camp over the weekend I went out Elk Park Trail and cut away the two trees that had fallen over the trail. Parking at Elk Park and running
over to Barr Camp and then on to the top is still one of my favorite ways to train on the Peak. 20 of us from the Incline Club showed for the group run today so it was a lot of fun!
7/21/98 5 more photos were added to the course description. Two of the area by the 2 mile to go sign and one of the 1 mile, the Cirque and 16 Golden Stairs signs.
7/16/98 I am still in need of NS3 and IE3 testers for my counter program.
7/4/98 There is no snow left on the Barr Trail:-) While most people on Pikes Peak were busy watching the
ecodestruction (the car race) me and 3 other runners cleared rocks off the Barr Trail from the top down to
just above the 16 Golden Stairs sign. Most rocks fall onto the trail when the snow melts however some come from the
yim yams that visit from whereverville and think it is neat to see how far they can throw a rock off of the
summit of Pikes Peak — a potentially deadly endeavor!
6/30/98 Here are some more general tips for getting up the Barr Trail from the Trails & Open Space Coalition of the Pikes Peak region [link no longer works].
6/10/98 If you are using version 3 of either Internet Explorer or Netscape I am trying to find out if my count-down timer (see next post) will work for you. Please try it and let me know.
6/6/98 For version 4+ browsers a count-down timer at the top of the page will compute the days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the Pikes Peak Marathon start.
6/1/98 Three links to other’s accounts of running on the Peak were added above. Reading about other people’s races
is a great way to learn. One talks about the mistakes of the first year and doing better the next. The other mentions how
he underestimated the effects of altitude on his predicted time!
5/30/98 A live weather graphic was added above for those like me who think this is way more high-tech than walking to the window to see how they should dress for a run;-)
5/26/98 Because most of the e-mail questions I get seem to be the same ones over and over I have added a Pikes Peak Ascent & Marathon FAQ! It is small now but it addresses the most common questions including those that relate to training and altitude!
5/25/98 The Pikes Peak Marathon is now filled meaning both races are closed!
5/17/98 Well, it was predicted on the 8th that the races would fill 2 weeks early. The Ascent will close 2 weeks and 1 day early! If your Ascent entry is not postmarked by tomorrow the 18th — don’t bother! The Marathon is at 94% and should close around the 26th.
5/8/98 Ascent entries are at 85%. Marathon entries are at 84%. Both should fill about two weeks ahead of last year when they filled on June 2th and June 6th. In other words they should both be filled by the end of this month!
5/2/98 Colorado Springs Utilities Water Resources put a new weather station on top of the Peak with real-time information on the www [link no longer works].
4/9/98 Ascent entries are at 56% — 24% ahead of last year when it filled on June 2th. Marathon entries are at 55% — 8% behind last year when it filled on June 6th.
3/22/98 Got an e-mail from Jeff Allen who says that Barr Camp will be offering discount prices to runners training for the race. Instead of $10 for a bed and $7 for dinner it will be $5 for each.
I can not think of a better way to spend a weekend training for the Peak and have done just that on numerous occasions!
The only drawback is after a couple of days of peace and quite as you head back down and approach No Name Creek you will be saddened when you hear the distant rumble of the city below:-(
3/1/98 Ascent entries are at 753 of 1,800, Marathon entries are at 397 of 800.
Also I found out the split times for the Ascent waves. For the men, any time faster than 4:16 will be put in the first wave. The split time for women is 4:35. Again times WILL be verified so do not bother trying to “pad” your times!
2/11/98 Chuck Wilt, a former Barr Camp caretaker, has put together some info on Barr Camp as well as a good collection of articles about Fred Barr, builder of both Barr Camp and, of course, the Barr Trail. Also be sure and check out
the El Paso County Search and Rescue home page. They have all of their rescues for the last 3 years listed most of which take place on Pikes Peak. Be sure to check out the month of August for a view of the Ascent and Marathon from another perspective!
2/10/98 Ascent entries are at 567 of 1,800, Marathon entries are at 322 of 800. This is now only 12% ahead of
last year.
2/5/98 I have learned that the TCR is working on one of the biggest complaints I hear about — the Ascent wave start.
Or more precisely, people getting into the first wave when they have no business being there. It turns out
that many people “pad” their times — some by more than 1 hour — to get into the first wave. Frankly,
I think these people should be DQ’d but the TCR is more generous and just puts the offenders back in the second wave where they belong!
To do this the TCR checks predicted times with previous year’s results. Further, unless a “first timer” can
provide appropriate justification they will also be put in the second wave. I think this is great because
everyone gets hurt by the selfish act of “padding” so please don’t do it — it is cheating, plain and simple!
2/5/98 The current records page [PPA/M results moved to pikespeakmarathon.org in 2015] was updated to reflect the fact that the TCR
has updated 9 records to agree with all but 2 of the records that I have listed.
2/1/98 The rates for Barr Camp were updated after I got an e-mail
from Lisa Carpentier, one of the Barr Camp caretakers.
1/29/98 Ascent entries are at 510, Marathon entries are at 241. This is 24%
ahead of last year when the races filled on June 2nd and 6th. Dave Zehrer, the TCR
president, will let me know the #s as they progress so keep checking back.
Bottom line: there is NO need to waste money using FedEX to send in
your entries — at least not YET. Also, when you receive your confirmation booklet
you will see that the TCR has updated the course records. I am happy to report that
they have fixed 9 of the 11 items I have marked as wrong on my records page. [PPA/M results moved to pikespeakmarathon.org in 2015] Once I see a booklet, I will take away the footnotes... Finally, Skyrunner.com was
mentioned as a good place to get information. But you already know that;-)
1/7/98 Sandy Canright tells me that if you mention the “Friends of the Peak” when you
buy your Peak Pass (see 12/19/97 below) $5 will be donated to the group to help support their work days, field trips and educational projects.
1997 Pikes Peak News Archives
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