Preparing for the Pikes Peak Marathon

The Pikes Peak Marathon, the oldest continually held marathon in the United States, is renowned for its grueling 26.2-mile course, which takes runners from the base of the mountain to its summit, pushing the limits of endurance and altitude. We spoke with HydraPak athlete Daniel Leung about his experience from last year’s race and got his tips for runners facing the challenge of high-altitude running. From his preparation strategies to his race-day mindset, Daniel shares invaluable lessons for conquering the mountain.

Pikes Peak is one of Colorado’s famed 14ers. This race is known to be a steep and challenging course. Did you do anything specific to prepare for this race? 

Last year, I signed up for the Pikes Peak Marathon two months before the race, so I had pretty minimal time to train and prepare, specifically for the altitude. I’d been running all summer and racing trail races with lots of vert, so I felt I was in OK shape to finish this one. I did a lot of intervals and went for a few longer runs in my backyard (i.e. Panorama Ridge + Black Tusk, which I highly recommend if you are ever in the Vancouver area).

I knew the race would be a hot and steep one, so I spent a bit of time researching the course and aid stations to come up with an efficient fueling strategy while still minimizing the weight I was going to be carrying. 

What was your hydration plan for race day? Did you have a different strategy for going up vs. going down? 

Going into race day, I wanted to prioritize hydration, weight, and efficiency in that order. I knew that I would need around 1L of water, 400mg of sodium and was targeting 110g of carbs per hour. With that in mind, I also knew that my pace would be much slower going up, meaning more time between aid stations. So, I opted for a hydration vest with 2 x 500ml SkyFlasks with the SpeedFill caps and a single 500ml SkyFlask Speed on the way down. Going up, I had electrolytes in one flask, and a carb drink in the other. The SpeedFill caps made it easy to refill at the aid stations, and mix in my STYRKR Mix90 whenever needed. In case you’re curious, I’ve put together a chart with my hydration and fueling plan with a few updates based on what I learned last year below. Keep in mind nutrition varies from person to person and this is just what worked for me!

Hydration - Uphill: Norrøna Senja 7L vest with: 2x HydraPak SkyFlask Speed 500ml
Hydration - Downhill: 1x HydraPak SkyFlask Speed 500ml 
Shoes: Nnormal Kjerag (though I’d also consider the Arc’teryx Sylan with more cushion, since this course is quite runnable)
Mandatory Jacket: Norrøna Falketind GORE-TEX PacLite – This was perfect as it was extremely packable (size of fist) and light, while still meeting the mandatory gear requirements. 
Shorts: Norrøna Senja Shorts — These are amazing as they have a slot at the back to sling your shirt around for when it gets super hot, and the deep pockets around the waistband makes it easy to carry nutrition without any slopping around. 
 
Tell us about the race? What was the most challenging and the most fun? (Favorite parts, pain cave etc.) 
 
The most challenging part was definitely the switchbacks near the start (the “Ws”) before Barr Camp and then the switchbacks at treeline before getting into the alpine. I personally don’t like running in the trees because I find it to be quite repetitive and boring, so those parts were just a slog for me. I was definitely in the pain cave going up those last few switchbacks before getting into the alpine. Not sure if anyone else does this, but anytime “are we there yet” comes into my mind…I just start singing “Just Keep Swimming” from Dory in Finding Nemo to keep myself going through the pain cave. 
 
I really loved the alpine part and basically the whole downhill portion of the race. Since the course is pretty runnable, it was pretty easy to get into a nice rhythm cruising downhill. 
 
How’d you prepare for the elevation? 
 
This was something that I was very worried about going into the race. Coming from the coast at sea level, I’d never run at that kind of altitude before. Although it’s obviously best practice to taper weeks ahead of the race, I made the last-minute decision to run up Mt. Bierstadt 2 days before the race just to test out my lungs. While I don’t recommend this, I felt the tradeoff of breaking my taper in order to know what it might feel like to “bonk” ahead of race day was worth it personally. There are quite a few studies around hydration and altitude, so I would recommend loading up on more hydration & carbs than usual before, during and after the race! 
 
Were there any lessons you learned from the race that you’ve applied to your training or mindset since? If you could do it all over again, what would you change, if anything?
 
I underestimated how runnable this race was, and also underestimated the heat. If I were to do it again, I would have loved to work in some heat training into my build. This is updated in my above fueling plan, but I definitely under-fueled on Sodium by opting for water instead of Skratch at some aid stations. 
 
Mindset wise, I would say go in with as much positivity as possible. Positivity goes a long way in calming the nerves ahead of the race, and you also have the ability to uplift other racers with positivity on-course (this is one of my favorite things about trail races). I had a little tumble around 5 km from the finish and will never forget the other racer who checked in with me and encouraged me to get back up. Their positivity made a huge difference and was exactly the boost I needed at the time!