Friday, March 02, 2007

Mountain races that won't crash your server


If you tried to sign up Thursday, you know: runners signing up for the Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon (joined by racers from several other events) crashed the server at Active.com. It was only slightly more frustrating than normal for a lot of people who never get in because the race is so popular it fills up the day registration opens.
But there's good news. There are a lot of races in this state that are just as beautiful and grueling as the Pikes Peak Ascent, and cheaper, and won't leave you pounding on your computer in frustration.

Here are some great alternatives:

The Imogene Pass Run
My personal favorite. Run from downtown Ouray to downtown Telluride over an alpine pass. www.imogenerun.com

The Mount Evans Ascent
Like the Pikes Peak Ascent, but not as burly (only 4,000 feet of gain) or as hard to get into. Registration is open now. Visit www.racingunderground.com/mtevans/index.html to sign up

The Leadville Trail Marathon
Not ready for the Leadville 100? How 'bout the Leadville 26? They even do a half marathon.
For more info, visit www.leadvilletrail100.com

The Vail Hill Climb
Yet another race where Manitou legend Matt Carpenter holds a record no one has even approached. This uphill grunt goes from Vail Village to Eagle's Nest. To sign up visit www.vailrec.com/adult_runningrace.htm

And for those of you who think you've raced with asses before, how about the Fairplay Burro Days donkey race? Race 20 miles with a donkey fully loaded with prospecting gear. You must provide your own ass. To sign up visit www.burrodays.com

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I was one of the people who helped crash active.com yesterday (for the Horribly Hilly Hundred's challenge ride in Wisconsin). Active.com's performance yesterday made for the single worst e-commerce experience of my Internet life. My event filled before I could get active.com to not time out. It's sad that a winter's worth of hard training can be wrecked because of a server overload by folks who clearly weren't prepared. A large number of big events were all allowed to open up at 8 AM PST on 3/1/07. I expect it's going to be a couple more days before the sting of this one even begins to wear off. I'm frustrated and angry. No, I'm angry. Active.com is on my list.