24hrs of Palmer Lake

I drove down south of Denver this past weekend to cover the inaugural "24hrs of Palmer Lake" for Trail and Ultra. It was originally just a training run loosely organized by Israel Archuletta, but he decided to make it official with permits and the permission of local authorities. He did a great job having planned to run in his own event while simultaneously keeping track of the entry process and running his own social media posts as well.

The coolest thing for me was watching my 8 year old son, Jalen, jump into this event at the last minute. He decided he was going to go for his first marathon and started jogging and walking laps from 8am on Saturday. By 9pm that night, Jalen was pretty worn down. His main complaint was his feet and how sore they were. He told me his body hurt but he kept telling himself, "Fight to the finish."

I paced him for about 6 more laps and did all the things I would do for an ultrarunner in a long race. He was definitely slowing down and experiencing all the things that happen to veterans of the sport. Jalen reached 20.5 miles and I suggested another break in the camper. I told him it was ok if he wanted to stop because he truly had gone as far he could. He had tears in his eyes and agreed. 

All in all, it was a great weekend of running and covering the race. I put together this race video as well.

Run long and prosper,

Jerry

24hrs of Palmer Lake: Race Video 2014 from Jerry Armstrong on Vimeo.