El Vaquero Loco - The prettiest mountain race this side of the San Juans. I am surprised that this race has not gained the popularity of the Top tier of trail runners in the west, but I am not complaining. Other than 'El Patron' Luke Nelson, the race is usually up for grabs. Be prepared for lots of climbing and being distracted by the pristine mountain lakes and spectacular views. If you can manage to avoid too much distraction, a great time is guaranteed. This being my second attempt at dethroning Luke I gave myself a lofty goal of destroying my PR and winning the race. Spoiler Alert: Yep, Luke won again (5 for 5). Oh, well maybe next year. A few details: First climb - Joe and Luke slowly pulled away from me at 30 seconds a mile. I pulled away from the rest of the guys at the about the same rate. Looks like I am running by myself today. Balls - The descent off balls (named by snowmobilers due to the cajones needed to ride that mountain) went well, but Joe and Luke FLEW down it and were long gone. Lakes - By far the coolest part of the race. Amazing sunrise accented by the smoky red sky. Pristine mountain lakes without a ripple on the surface. Its to die for. Long descent from lakes down to the turnaround - The rain sprinkled a bit and everything was clicking. Took it pretty easy and really enjoyed the long run-in to the aid. Until about 2 miles before the turnaround. I was starting to stress my timing. I was going to arrive right when the 25K started. I would have 80 people to pass. Not ideal. In my distress, I missed a step and twisted my ankle and went down hard. Ouch. Turns out I didn't need to worry as I arrived 5 mins after they left and had thinned out by the time I caught up to the back of the pack. Turn around - I was 5 mins ahead of my 2010 time. Not great, but at least it was something. Grab some food/drink at the aid and retrace my steps. Joe and Luke were absolutely killing it. They were 14-15 mins ahead of me by my best estimate. I was also ahead of 4th/5th/6th by nearly the same margin. No problem, I was tired but my legs weren't sore. As I got moving back up the mountain, I realized that although I have run a fair amount this year, I really haven't done enough 'training' to really hammer it. So, I just did the best I could. Right before the first aid station after the turn-around (mile 20), I saw Fast Evan (Honeyfield) taking pics. He decided to join me for a while and that was a nice pick me up. He gave me an update on Luke and Joe. Luke was killing it and Joe was fading quickly. Me smelling blood, picked up the pace. As I came into the aid, I saw Joe sitting on a Log not looking too hot. "What's wrong joe?" "Sick." He had apparently lost his last few meals and was struggling to have the energy to move. I wished him well and thought I might see him return so I kept the hammer down and kept passing the 25K runners. I was now in 2nd place, but needed a miracle to have Luke come back to me. That is ok, I am happy with 2nd. Lots of hiking/running/sightseeing ensued. I thought I was still ahead of my 2010 pace, but wasn't sure. I got to the top of 'Balls' and only had 4 miles and 3200' of descent left. Too bad my legs decided to not cooperate. The trail was just too rocky and steep for hokas. My feet were jammed into the front of the shoes and the pain was horrible. I am really not sure those are the best shoes for this course. I managed to pass 2 more 25K runners and make it to the finish. I was sad to see that my 5 min lead on my PR pace had shrunk to just over 2 mins. Oh, well. Mission accomplished. I beat Joe AND got 2nd place AND ran a PR. Poor Joe. He had a hard time recovering and had to walk back to the turnaround and wait for me to come pick him up. Not a good day for him. Although I have to say he had an awesome 15-18 miles. Maybe too awesome as the blowup was spectacular. Live and learn. Luke? Yep he got ANOTHER course record and broke 5 hours (by 20 seconds). Amazing. He even did it un-tapered as he is focusing on UTMB in a few weeks. What a show-off. The day was topped off with huckleberry soda, hamburgers, a swim in the freezing lake and lots of driving (both to pick up Joe and to drive home). T- 5:37:12 (30 miles) 9000' vert 
Pictures courtesy of Fast Evan Honeyfield - 
Awesome VIDEO of the race Evan Made...
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