Quest for Kings 2012

This was Round 2 of the Quest for King's Marathon and our third time summitting King's Peak in the past four years. It was definitely the highlight of our summer and running season. We beat our first time from four years ago by six hours, and beat our last year's time by more than an hour. Our training leading up to this race was much more intense than the previous year, especially on Steve's part. 

As we set up camp the night before we found some other people who were planning on walking King's. They had no idea that a group of runners were going to be on the trail with them. Coincidentally, at the summit we found yet another group of people who walked it all in one day who had started at 3:00 a.m. It was cool to see a lot of people doing it, whether they were part of Quest for King's or not. It was also fun to meet up with the other runners and share stories around the campfire. We all had a good laugh at many of the stories, especially the ones that involved pooping in the woods.

Here's a view of the course, with the trailhead in the bottom of the map.

Henry's Fork Trailhead has an elevation of 9,430'.

A view of the course from the other angle with King's Peak on the bottom right.

King's has an elevation of 13,528'.

We started at 6:00 a.m. running much more consistently than last year and felt really good about our progress up to the Elkhorn Bridge and Dollar Lake. We maintained a steady pace of about 12 min. miles for the first 7.5 miles. 

Jake was the Flash. About 3 miles in.

Steve, shortly after crossing the Elkhorn Bridge. About 6 miles in.

Sam, near Dollar Lake. About 7.5 miles in. Look closely for Jake in the background.

After passing Dollar Lake it's about 3 miles to the top of Gunsight Pass, which has an elevation of 11,888'. We call this part The Steps of Gunsight because it gains elevation quicker than the previous 7 miles. At this point we all had to break from running and walk a bit. We had hoped to run all the way to the top of Gunsight, however, we were making good time so a little walking wouldn't hurt. Our time at the top: 2:24:32.

Gunsight Pass. Sam in the foreground and if you look closely you can see Steve in the background.

After going up Gunsight Pass it's about 2 miles until you reach Anderson Pass. We take the common shortcut of scrambling up a steep cliff of rock scree. There's actually a fairly decent trail leading up through the rocks and without the snowdrift from last year, we made good time. After this point it is mostly bolder-hopping the rest of the way.

Jake and Steve coming up over the steep scree. Gunsight to the left.

I tend to be very nimble on my feet while traversing the boulder fields and if you look closely in the photo above you can see me taking the lead. Steve had maintained the lead until this point. You can also see Anderson Pass on the Left side. Anderson has an elevation of 12,700'. I must have been in much better shape this year because the last mile climb from Anderson to the top of King's seemed much easier. Last year I remember taking two steps and wheezing for a few seconds before taking another step. I thought Steve might pass me at this point but I maintained the lead and was the first to summit.

Jake, taking his last steps to the summit.

Steve, taking his last steps to the summit.

Jake, Steve, Sam on King's summit.

Sam's summit time: 3:41:52

Jake's summit time: 3:46:57

Steve's summit time: 3:48:31

Last year, Steve was first to summit right at four hours. I followed ten minutes later and Brian another ten minutes later. This year we summitted much closer together and broke the four hour barrier. Another thing we decided to change from last year was how much time we spent on the top. We were close to an hour on the top last year, which sure, was a nice break, but a waste of valuable time. So, we snapped the photo shortly after all of us arrived and I took off. Steve and Jake followed just a few minutes later. As I descended I started to see many of the runners coming up from Anderson. It was nice to exchange encouraging words as we passed each other. I felt really good as I ran the boulder fields of Anderson and started the decent to Gunsight. Just before starting down Gunsight I looked up and saw Steve and Jake starting the decent of scree cliff. That was the last I saw of them until the end. This year I ran straight down the gully instead of taking the long switchback. I know it saved me a lot of time. 

I started running on the trail at a slow pace because my legs felt a little wobbly. After a few miles I regained my strength and sped up a little. This point of the race is always rather fun and exciting. The hard parts are over, now we just have to make it back as quickly as we can without letting the bowling ball sized rocks jump up and trip us. It's also fun to pass the many people on the trail. We always get some funny looks and comments from backpackers.

After crossing the Elkhorn Bridge there's about 6 miles left to the trailhead. This year it was an annoying game of dodge the horses. I've never seen so many horses on a trail before. The people riding the horses were not very cooperative in letting me pass them. But eventually, I got by all the horses and was feeling pretty good when I hit the rock slide, which marks about 3 miles from the trailhead. I tried to imagine a regular routine of three miles and pushed my pace a little. It was hard. With every step my body seemed to say, "whoa there, just slow down and walk for a minute" but I pushed through the pain.

At about the last mile a runner came up behind me. I talked with him for a moment and gave him room to pass me, but he stated that he was not in a hurry and was content to finish it out at my pace. So, I felt inclined to push the pace a little more and finish strong. Jake got stuck behind the horses or he may have broke seven hours. Steve decided not to eat anything and was running low on energy, but still did awesome.

Sam's finishing time: 6:46:26. An hour and thirty-six minutes faster than last year.

Jake's finishing time: 7:07:00. Way to go Jake! It was his first real trail run, ever.

Steve's finishing time: 7:09:00. An hour and twenty-three minutes faster than last year.