5th- ThunderChief 5k. Boulder, CO...1st in 15:37
This was my first race back from Colombia on a brisk icy morning. The race started on the CU Boulder Campus. The morning was bright but all of the side walks we ran on were icy. During the race I ended up falling on one of the turns. Thankfully I was ok and ended up cruising in 1st with a time of 15:37 However, I felt like the course was about 40 seconds fast. It was more of a 3 mile race vs. a 3.1 mile race. Regardless, it was a solid workout.
18th- Powerman Alabama. 5m, 33m, 5m. Birmingham, AL...4th
With lots of snow storms and delays in Denver area I finally was able to make it safely into Birmingham, AL. I had a wonderful homestay with Tanya and Jeff Beck. It was nice to race with a few other people I knew such as; John Phillips, Dereck Treadwell and Uli Bromme.
Dereck took the first 5 miles out while I cruised in 3rd. Then came the 33 mile bike with 3 laps and in each lap there was roughly 23 turns!! I thought it would be wise to bring my road bike with my tt-bars because of all of the turns. However, the TT bike was the way to go. On the last 5 mile run my fastest sprint was from the finish to the port-o-potty.
Overall it was an alright race and a great trip! I learned a few things such as a TT bike will pretty much always be faster on any course and that I probabaly should eat dinner a little sooner then later to prevent runs to the port-o-potty.
26th- Atomic Man Duathlon. 10k, 40k, 5k. White Rock, NM...1st
My friend, Tate Behning and I took a little road trip together down to New Mexico. It was my first time in New Mexico as well. The road trip went well as we crashed on the floor of the race directors home. The morning was brisk but the sun soon came up to make it a pleasant temperature to race in.
In the first 10k run I cruised in 3rd overall. Scott Nagelkerke, who used to run for Western State had a solid lead on the first run while Tate rolled in 2nd. On the bike I quckly made up ground. The course was rolly, then a solid climb and then back down the climb to the rolly road again. I came off the bike in first and ended up running my last 5k strong to finish 1st. I had the 2nd fastest bike split and I believe the 1st fastest last run split.
After the race Tate and I stopped at for while and explored Bandelier National Monument.
http://www.nps.gov/band/index.htm
May
2nd- Lookout Mountain Hill Climb. Golden, CO (cycling)...2nd

This hill climb cycling race was a short but sweet race. The field was loaded with over 80 guys! I managed to stay out in front with another 5-8 strong cycling pulling up the mountain. When I got close to the top it was foggy. I was looking for the finish but couldn't find out where it was. Then the next thing I know there was the finish only 8 feet infront of me while I was in 2nd. I had more in the tank and was hoping for a victory. However, I settled for 2nd with a 12 pack of beer for a prize to celebrate.
9th- Barking Dog Duathlon. 5k, 30k, 5k. Denver, CO...6th
The Barking Dog duathlon was the most competetive duathlon I have done in Colorado. There were lots of fast guys there racing with me. Ripetide Multisport brought their whole squad so I knew my work was cut out for me. I cruised in 6th overall, behind (listed in order of finish) Josh Merrick of Ripetide, Justin Hurd, Jordan of Ripetide, Andy Bigelow, and Tate of Ripetide. I was happy how the day went for me with the tough competetion. Sometimes I train with the guys from Ripetide Multisport. They have a great group of guys! You can find more about them on their website at www.ripetidemultisport.com
23rd- Apple Duathlon. 5k,33k,5k. St. Cloud, MN...9th
Josh Merrick and I traveled together to MN. It was a very short trip. After our plane landed we had to drive an hour to get to St. Cloud. Once we got to our hotel we had to put together our bikes. By that time it was really late and we only ended up getting maybe a max of 4-5 hours of sleep that night.
There were a number of talented athletes in the line up. Justin Hurd, Josh Merrick, Ryan Guilano, David Thompson. I knew I had my work cut out for me. On the first run I ended up cruising in with the lead pack which I was very happy about. On the bike I was slowly losing ground which was frustrating. On the last run I took off and ended up running the 2
nd fastest spilt. Unfortunately I had lost too much ground on the bike was finished 9
th overall. After the race I knew I needed to spend more time on my bike...although it didn't help that my brake pad was rubbing a little bit against my rim. This race was qualifier for Short Course World Champs and only the top 3 in this race qualified. David Thompson, Justin Hurd and then Josh Merrick qualified. After this race I was hoping I could make a spot on the team with my resume.
25th- Bolder Boulder 10k. Boulder, CO (road run)...27th
This was my first time ever running the Bolder Boulder. There were over 50,000 people in the race! The biggest race I have ever
competed in by far. The course is not a fast one with a fair amount of hills. During the race about 6 people or so yelled “GO PRE” as I ran by them with my thick mustache. I ended up with a sprint finish to take 27th overall in a time of 33:20 on my watch. The offical net time was 33:24, hense it took me 4 seconds to get to the starting line. I was happy with my race and the whole experience of the Bolder Boulder.
You can see me finish by out kicking a few people with a time of 7:33:25 on the video. http://www.thedenverchannel.com/video/19559956/index.html
June
6th- Triumph Development Vail Pass Half Marathon,Teva Mountain Games. Vail, CO...5th place

The Vail Pass Half Marathon was an uphill marathon climbing 3,000 or so feet to the finish. This was my first year competeting in the Teva Mountain Games and there were some top guys in the race such as Rickey Gates, Matt Carpenter and Simon Gutierrez. I started the race a bit more dehydrated then I normally do. I think I drank too much coffee instead of water. Because of being a little dehydrated it was difficult for me to find my stride. The grade was not that steep going up Vail Pass but I sure expended some calories going up it! I rolled in 5th overall and hydrated with lots of water. After I congradulated Rickey Gates on his win as we both enjoyed a beer on the tail gate of a truck.
7th- NATIVE EYEWEAR 10k spring runoff. Teva Mountain Games. Vail, CO ...6th place
I decided to run the 10k trail run the day after the half marathon. This course was a tough real trail race with some parts of 25% grade uphill and some decents around 15% or so. The field was even more competetive then the half marathon. I ended up rolling in 6th place overall beating some other runners I have never beaten before. It was a hard double but was glad I raced both races. The Teva Mountain Games has a great atmosphere with all types of athletes such as rock climbers, kayakers, mountain bike, BMX, road cycling, fly fishing and even dog jumping.
13th-Big Sky Duathlon 4k, 25k, 4k. Bennett, CO...4th

The Big Sky Du ended up being short du to flooding on the dirt road section. Therefore the run ended up being a 3k instead of a 4k. This favored the cyclist since my cycling needed some work. I came in 3rd
on the first run and then again lost some ground on the bike and came back with the fastest last run lap to finish 4th. If I had another 1k on both runs I might have finished 2nd overall.
Reguardless it was a fun quick race. John Phillips introduced me to this young man Collier Kempton who certainly has a future in Multisport. He is also going to be competeting in Short Course World Champs for the Juniors.
20th- Mount Washington Road Race 7.6 miles 12% grade. North Conway, NH (road mountain run)...9th
In mid june, I flew back to New England to run in the Mount Washington Road Race. My sister and brother-in-law (Justin) drove me to my race and watched me. The nice thing about Mt Washington is that there is only one hill. Yeah...one hill that is 7.6 miles and 12% grade. Yeah it was a tough one! I ended up finishing 9th overall. I ran for my friends team to support the Central Massacusetts Striders. After I finished I ended up running all the way back down Mt. Washington to greet my sister and Justin.

Pushing it up to the finish.
27th- Bluegrass 10k. Madrid, NY...1st

My friend Peter Mallet and I ended up running a race next to my
hometown. Peter ran the 5k and won it and I won the 10k. For a prize, Peter won a carved bear and I won a carved squirrel! That's northern New York for you!
July
2nd- Stroke and Stride 5k.

This was my first day back in Colorado after being at sea level for 2 weeks. On the morning of the stroke and stride I ran 11 miles. Then I went to the Boulder Stroke and Stride to do a secondary esay run and got lured onto running on a team. This one man swa for me as I ended up running on already dead legs and sucking through the thin oxygen air again. I ended up running even splits and clocked a 16:42 5k.
4th - 4k on the 4th. Boulder, CO...9th
Why not run a 4k on the 4th? So I did and finish 9th overall. After the race I cooled down with my friend Adam Chase and had a great breakfast burrito during the awards. I won my age group category was won a case of Avery beer which lasted me a month after sharing with about 5 other people.
19th- South America Duathlon Championships 10k, 40k, 5k. Envigado, Colombia...4th

Back in Colombia!!! Loved every second of it! I hung out with some great friends such as Ricardo, Carmenza and Tatiana.
Racing in Colombia was a great experience. South America Duathlon Championships was a draft legal race with some great competetion. My friend Ricardo from Colombia is very strong, Silivo Gu from Edu who is a 3 time Olympican was also in the race. I ended up finishing the first 10k run in about 7th place. Then getting on the bike there were about 4 of us together. This one guy from Argentina and I were the only one pulling for the first 2-3 out of 10 laps. Shortly after I started to develop bad cramps in my calfs. Every time I started to push more then 300 watts my calfs would cramp up bad. Therfore I just settled somewhere around 250 watts and was still the only guy who was pulling. There ended up being a total of 10 guys or so in my group and no one wanted to pull except me. Then going on to the last run I made a quick transition and ran the 2nd fastest time placing 3rd overall. I ended up getting cramps in my calfs because I got dehydrated and 1 water bottle wasn't enough. It was so hot with a blazing sun! I snatched one bag of water on the bike which did help. Overall I was pleased with my race and this was one of the most exciting/fun race I had competed in this year. I really like the draft legal style of duathlons.
26th CARRERA ATLETICA RECREATIVA 10K BODYTECH. Medellin, Colombia 6th

I was warming up and looked at my watch as it read 7:53:11. Alright I am going to head over to the start. As I make my way over to the start I see people already running with the starting clock reading 30, 31, 32. What the heck I thought? They started 6-7 minutes early? Well I jumped into the race and tried passing people, jumping on to the side walks just to get around. I found out that I wasn't the only one as a few other fast runners passed me. My friend Tatiana said she heard a girl saying something like “I'm going to sue them! I was planning on winning and they started early with no warning!”
I ended up finishing up 5th or 6th overall. There was some prize money for the top 3 but even if I did start with the other I might have only gained 1 more place higher. Reguardless it was a solid workout/race for me in another country!
August
15th- Pikes Peak Accent 13.3 miles Manitou Springs, CO (mountain run)
Ryan Dorsey was a trooper and woke up at 5 to make the drive to Manitou Springs, CO with me for the start. As I did about a 200 meter warm up Ryan gave me a few last words of encouragment. I lined up on the front wearing some gloves because it was a brisk morning and who knows what the weather will be like almost 8,000 feet up. Thankfully I made the right call in wearing gloves cause my hands always seem to get cold. The race started out with a group of 5-6 runners as I trailed behind about 50 meters on the 1k on the road. When we entered the trail I was joined with Kevin Tilton. He set a solid pace crusing up the trail as I was on his tail. I ran around one turn as a tree stripped off my sun glasses from the top my hat. I turn around and took a few strides back to pick up my sun glasses. When I started back up the trail Kevin had good lead on me as he started to creap away.
Around mile 5 I ran past this beauitful doe mule deer who was standing as still as ice. The doe was literally 3 feet away from me. From mile 6-10 I did not feel the greatest. I had lost 2 spots and was in 10 place. From mile 10-13(finish) up above tree line where there are all rock, I started feeling much better and passed 3 people. I ended up finishing 7th overall in a time of 2 hour and 30 minutes. This was the first time I had ever steped foot on the trail and I was happy with my first ascent.
After the race Ryan and I drove back to Woodland Park. In the afternoon, I cycled down to Manitou for the awards ceramony and then back up to Woodland Park for a solid hour and a half post ride. That evening i met up with an old high school classmate (Danelle (Barr) Schrader who i haven't seen since high school which was 7 years ago. Danelle has a beautiful child and her husband also ran Pikes Peak Ascent. It was certainly nice to catch up Danelle.