Racers prepare for annual Pikes Peak Ascent, Marathon event

Take a deep breath while there’s time. Come this weekend, runners will have to cherish every bit of oxygen they can.

The 69th annual Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon begin Saturday starting with the romp up Pikes Peak.

Both events have their highest number of participants since 2019 prior to the pandemic and a plethora of new runners will compete in this year’s festivities.

Here are a few items to keep tabs on during the annual event.

Weather

It’s doubtful inclement weather will impact this year’s Pikes Peak Ascent. Saturday’s race, which begins at 7 a.m., typically takes around 7 hours for the final finishers to arrive.

Jordan Linder, Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon race director, said, “Saturday we’re a-go as normal” since snow is expected later in the day on Pikes Peak, but not during the early portion of the race.

As for Sunday’s Marathon, stay tuned.

“We’re monitoring the weather for Saturday night into Sunday,” Linder said. “We’ll communicate that throughout the weekend for marathoners who may be affected. We’ll communicate that primarily through Facebook. We have Instagram as well and a text feature this year so we can text our registered runners up-to-date information.”

As of Thursday afternoon, Manitou Springs will have a low of 41 degrees and a high of 57 and a 50% chance of participation Sunday.

Participation

Nearly 2,000 runners will race in the Ascent and 916 will compete in the Marathon, which Linder said is the highest total of participants for both events since 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last year, more than 1,450 racers competed in the Ascent while 673 ran the Marathon. In 2019, nearly 1,700 runners ran up Pikes Peak and 723 signed up for the Marathon.

Linder said they’re grateful to see numbers continue to increase post-pandemic.

“We’re grateful that the sport of running has continued to be at an all-time high and is increasing,” Linder said. “We’re seeing all kinds of different runners out on the trails. What’s most exciting is whether this is their first trail race or first mountain run, all of the runners are exceptional for being courageous enough to start.”

New Pikes Peak Ascent record? (Again?)

Maybe, but Linder said not likely.

Rémi Bonnet broke Matt Carpenter’s 30-year-old record last year and finished the Ascent in 2 hours and 20 seconds.

Bonnet will not participate in this year’s climb up Pikes Peak and in 2023, second place finished more than four minutes behind the Swiss runner.

“We had the luxury of watching the 30-year-old record be broken last year, so that’s probably not happening this year,” Linder said. “Obviously, it’s possible, but Rémi isn’t here to run it or break his record this year.”

Among the slew of runners are Joseph Gray and Seth DeMoor who, throughout the years, have constantly finished in proximity to one another.

In 2019, Gray won the Pikes Peak Ascent at 2:08.59 while DeMoor placed second at 2:12:45.

DeMoor won the Pikes Peak Marathon in back-to-back years from 2020 to 2021 and, in 2024, finished second overall.

During July’s Barr Trail Mountain Race, Gray clocked in at 1:33:10 and had a photo finish to edge out Jonathan Aziz, who won last year's Pikes Peak Marathon.

“You always want to come out and defend your title,” Gray said after his win at the Barr Trail Mountain Race. “It’s more special now being a master’s runner (40 and older) and competing with the young bucks and still being able to get some (wins.)”

posted Friday September 20th
by Marcus Hill