By Jim McAllister
1979 was a watershed year for me. In 1975 I had started running in an effort to drop some pounds as I was nearing the 235 mark on my six foot, five inch frame. The running boom had not kicked in yet, so, I received some strange looks from those who thought perhaps I was insane for wanting to gain some semblance of being in shape. Remember, this was the mid '70's. Disco, drinking, steaks with butter soaked baked potatoes, and smoking were the norm. Friends would drive by me and offer me a ride home. I would say, "Hey, moron, I'm running to get in shape. Don't you think a ride will defeat that purpose?" They didn't get it.
By August of 1979, I was in the best shape of my life. I had added sit ups to my workout routine and was now a hard 192 pounds. I was still a bit large for distance running but I held my own against a lot of the little guys in half marathons and marathons (26.2 miles). I lived in
Kansas City at the time and a group of us started the Kansas City Track Club which attracted lots of runners. At a local race I got to meet 1972 Olympic Marathon Champion and
Boulder resident
Frank Shorter. What a great guy! I was young, "marathon tough" and everything was peaking!
So, what's the big deal about August of 1979? That is when a group of us decided to go to
Colorado Springs and do the
Pike's Peak Marathon. Why not? After all, we had done plenty of races, including marathons. My personal best was 3 hours, 12 minutes and most of the guys in our group had done that well or better. On to Colorado, let's show Pike's Peak who is boss!
It is now race day and I am lined up at the starting line and a thought hits me: "I wonder if the altitude is going to be much of a factor?" Well, it was, but the strange thing was it didn't seem to affect the women who went with us as much as the men. Some of the ladies that ran 5 or 6 minutes slower than I did in 10K races easily beat me at Pike's Peak. Adding to the difficulty was that in those days the race was done on a rustic trail going up the mountain which required running on an uneven surface plus jumping a couple of creeks along the way. It didn't help that the natural adrenaline of being in a great place like Colorado doing a race at the famous Pike's Peak caused me to take off too fast at the start. I knew from experience that every minute saved at the beginning of a distance race meant a two minute withdrawal at the finish but the excitement got to me.
The Pike's Peak ascent is 14 miles with the last part consisting of switchbacks. By the time I reached those switchbacks all I could think was, "Why am I here?" The girls were going by me like I was standing still which didn't help my ego but all I could think was, "Just finish, dummy!" Finally it was over. The top of Pike's Peak looked like a scene from "M*A*S*H*. I have never seen so many people sprawled out with IV's stuck in their arms! I managed to finish 419 th out of 552 with a time of 4:21:44. Fortunately, I didn't need an IV but that Coors sure tasted good. The whole thing was a great experience but for those attempting the run I have one piece of advice: Throw in some altitude training and good luck!