"Devil take me!" I shouted as I first glanced at the magnificent desert landscape as I was violently jerked awake by my master, Don Quixote, swerving to narrowly miss a passing vehicle.
"You evil rascal! How dare you try to impede my quest in this land! You can try but a noble knight like myself will never be intimidated this easily!" furiously shouted Don Quixote, waving his left fist high up in the air while holding tightly to the steering wheel with his right hand.
Senor Quixote continue to shout and curse furiously but my mind has silenced his tantrum as I have become accustomed to his tirades whenever he feel slighted and becomes convinced in his wild delusion that the entire world was out to impede his quest to honor lady Dulcinea.
Instead, I stared in awe the vast landscape unfolding ahead of me. I have never witnessed such a landscape quite like this: vast expanse of arid land stretching as far as eye can see dotted with rugged and iconic mesas, each with flat-topped plateau carved over millennia by erosion stand like ancient sentinels, their sheer cliffs revealing layers of rocks that tell the geological history. I marveled and wondered about the ages of these mesas.
According to my master, this land is called Colorado, which is renowned for its diverse geography and stunning landscapes. The kingdom is characterized by the majestic Rocky Mountains that dominate its center, boasting a number of peaks over 14,000 feet! As these mountains extend westward across Colorado, they eventually give away to the high desert landscapes that characterize western Colorado.
"Sancho, look at this magnificent landscape! I have read many books about brave knights adventuring into new realms in search for adventures and glory. But, surely, none has ever ventured into a place quite like this. Let us traverse these lands in search of our glory with valor in our hearts, for even in this wilderness, the spirit of chivalry will ensure we find an adventure worthy of our noble quest!" said Don Quixote as exited the highway and drove towards downtown Fruita, Co. for the race expo to gather race bib and provisions for the race.
Next morning, we woke very early and drove to Fruita Monument High School to catch a shuttle to the starting line for 5:00 AM start.
After the national anthem and Lose Yourself by Eminem to pump-up runners, my master and 200 or so runners set off for an epic 63 miles across high desert landscape of southwest Colorado.
I accompanied my master for the first mile, which was on a dirt road, after which the course took a sharp turn into a steep mountain trail. Here, I waived goodbye to Don Quixote, watching him fade into the darkness as he climbed up the mountain in a long line of runners visible only by their headlamps, and quickly made my way to the first aid station, Moore Fun #1 about 5 miles away, to wait his arrival.
According to my master, the hike up through the mountain pass was bit difficult as the trail was filled with rocks and stones as the trail made its way through up and around large mountain rocks and runners had to navigate this section in the dark aided by their headlamps. Once he reached the top of the mountain pass, he could look out into the darkness and see the dotted lights below from a town that's still asleep, wondering if Toboso, the home of his lady Dulcinea, would look like this in the dark...
It took couple hours for Senior Quixote to arrive at the aid station and I rushed out to greet him as I saw him running down the mountain pass as the sun was starting to rise.
"Master, how are you feeling? I heard from volunteers that this was a real challenging section of the course!" I asked anxiously.
"Yes, my good friend, Sancho. Though it was difficult due to the trail being technical I was able to manage relatively well due to fresh set of legs" my master noted.
At this aid station, I quickly refilled his water bottles and saw him set off for the next section, which is a 4-mile loop (coming back to the same aid station) running on well maintained single trail on top of giant mesas overlooking the Colorado River. According to many volunteers, this is the start of the most beautiful section of the race!
It took little over an hour for me to see Don Quixote back at the aid station. My master was in a good spirit and looked strong so far into the race (about 10 miles so far). Here, I bid my master farewell again and made my way to Rabbit Valley aid station, a major aid station that 20 miles and 3 aid station away, to wait for his arrival. To get to Rabbit Valley, he would continue to run along giant mesas overlooking the Colorado River for about 15 miles before reaching the I-70 highway and running along it to get to Rabbit Valley.
As I bid farewell to my master, I wondered and worried what adventures and mischiefs were waiting for him in this land. Senor Quixote looked strong and in good spirit but this was still early in the race and I know that having accompanied my master on many of these races, his mind can go into a delusional fantasy and hallucination once the sun reaches its maximum strength and his mind and body weakens with time. I prayed to the Holy One that he keeps my master safe.
According to Don Quixote, he made his way through the course, enjoying the breathtaking views along the way. Vast high desert landscape of Southwest Colorado with dramatic and colorful terrain that has been shaped by millions of years of erosion and running along flat-topped mesas and steep-sided cliffs that rise sharply from the surrounding land. Running along the trail, he marveled at the power of the Holy One to create something so spectacular and amazing. He vowed that he would recommend this race to every runner he meets and asks about which race to run.
About 15 miles into the race, running along top of mesas, he started to feel bit heavy. "Sancho, though I was running in good spirit and felt good, I was feeling bit heavy and noticed that I was breathing hard," noted my master. "I first thought that this was because I was eating too well from fine provisions you prepared for me at aid stations, but eventually came to a conclusion that I was suffering from a mild altitude sickness having come from a sea-level town of Seattle and I was running at 5,000ft+ elevation," said my master.
"Devil take me!" I shouted. "Altitude sickness! What is this sickness that you sick of, Don Quixote. Is this caused by a wicked potion made by an evil enchanter to impede valiant Catholic Christian knights on errantry?" I asked wondering what evil my master had to deal with.
Despite the feeling of bloatness and heaviness, Don Quixote persevered on, quickly arriving at Pizza Overlook (14 mile) and Cross Roads (18 miles) aid stations. By the time he arrived at the Cross Road aid station, the sun was at its highest, bearing down at my master with its full intensity and having been out in the wilderness since early morning with altitude sickness continuing to take its tolls my master's mind was becoming overburdened. Add to this overburden, the Apple Watch Ultra, the watch that he had purchased just 6 months ago, started to malfunction and freeze, annoying my master as he furiously pushed side buttons to get the watch to work.
"Ahhhhh, this evil watch!" shouted Don Quixote. "I spent over $800 just 6 months ago for this and this has to be the world's most useless endurance watch ever! I bought this for its 60 hour battery life but it won't last even half of that and it freezes every time I need it to work!"
Don Quixote finally arrived at the Run Rabbit aid station (33 miles) having persevered through hours of intense heat. Here,
intese heat. coming towards the Run Rabbit aid station, where I anxiously waited for his arrival wondering if he kept his mind despite blistering sun.
