“It’s not a race for first-time competitors,” said Beth Haney, who knows a thing or two about grueling events. In addition to being a triathlete, she’s the current race director of the Barr Trail Mountain Race, set for Sunday, July 17.
“It’s a very difficult race mainly because of the elevation gain,” said Haney, who has competed in both the Barr Trail race and the Pikes Peak Ascent.
She pointed out that the first half of the race, from the starting line to Barr Camp, gains 3,630 feet in altitude. Then there’s the second half, an all-downhill run back to the trailhead.
The race’s reputation as a tough competition hasn’t discouraged 400 runners from registering for the event, the maximum number the U.S. Forest Service, which owns much of the land on the side of Pikes Peak, will allow.
“We opened registration on March 1; we were filled up by the end of that month,” Haney said. “Many of the runners also competed in the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile in June and will compete in the Pikes Peak Marathon in September as part of the Garden to Peak Challenge.”
The Barr Trail race begins at 7 a.m. at the Gog Railway Station on Ruxton Avenue. It climbs about 6.3 miles to Barr Camp, at 10,200 feet, and then returns down the trail to the finish line on Hydro Street.
Approximately 60 percent of the runners are male this year, Haney said, adding that she would like to see more women runners participating in the event.
“Unofficially, we call it the ‘mini Pikes Peak Marathon’ because the course is the same as the marathon, except it only goes up about halfway to the summit and then back,” said Haney, who was a member of the USA teams that competed in the 2013 International Triathlon Union’s World Championships in London and in Rotterdam, Netherlands, in 2017.
The Barr Trail race was established in 2003 as a rigorous training race for the Pikes Peak Marathon, largely through the efforts of Ascent and Marathon champion Matt Carpenter, a Manitou Springs resident.
It became the second leg of the Garden to Peak Challenge (formerly the Triple Crown of Running) in 2016. The race was cancelled in 2012 because of the Waldo Canyon wildfire and again in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Like the marathon, inclement weather on the side of Pikes Peak can play a critical role in the outcome. Typically, runners can expect about a 20-degree difference from the starting line to Barr Camp if the weather cooperates.
The course record for women is 1 hour, 47 minutes and 57 seconds, set in 2010 by Brandy Lisa Erholtz. Joseph Gray established the men’s record of 1:28:34 in 2017.
Runners will find four aid stations along the course: at the top of the Ws at Mile 1.9; No Name Creek at Mile 3.1, Bob’s Road at Mile 4.2 and Barr Camp.
The aid stations will be staffed by members of track and cross-country teams from area high schools, including Manitou Springs High School, who compete for prize money that is used to support their teams. Runners vote for the best aid teams after the race.
The Barr Trail Mountain Race is an event that definitely gives back to community nonprofits, Haney said.
Recipients of entry proceeds include the Rocky Mountain Field Institute, the Trails and Open Space Coalition, El Paso County Search and Rescue and the Barr Camp facility, groups that support hiker safety, the conservation of public lands, the preservation of green space and the creation of area bikeway and trail networks.
Information: barrtrailmountainrace.com.