This story has been archived from the Monday, August 18, 2008


CARPENTER STILL THE KING

Manitou Springs runner posts his third-fastest time in ninth victory

PHOTO BY J. RACHEL SPENCER
Manitou Springs’ Matt Carpenter won the Pikes Peak Marathon for the ninth time on Sunday, finishing in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds.
Manitou Springs’ Matt Carpenter won the Pikes Peak Marathon for the ninth time on Sunday, finishing in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds.

By KATE CRANDALL
THE GAZETTE

Matt Carpenter looks forward to the day his Pikes Peak Marathon record falls.

And, aside from continuing to compete in the Marathon, he’s doing everything he can to make that happen.

He invites challengers and pupils to meet him on his mountain for weekly runs with the Incline Club between November and August.

He’s handed over loads of advice online and even printed a manual on how to train for and conquer the 26.21-mile race from Manitou Springs to the summit and back.

“I have a passion for the mountain,” Carpenter said. “There’s nothing more exciting to me than to see 60 or 80 people take off up the trails on a training run.”

But Sunday on Barr Trail, as in most of the nine Marathons he’s won, he was all alone.

In the time it took for Carpenter to run one or two extra miles in his hometown of Manitou Springs to cool down, runner-up Dave Mackey finally crossed the finish line on Manitou Avenue.

“He was completely gone,” said Boulder’s Mackey, 38, an accomplished mountain runner who finished 15 minutes behind Carpenter’s time of 3 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds.

Grand Junction resident Keri Nelson, 27, captured the women’s title in 4:39, nearly 40 minutes ahead of Superior’s Bronwyn Morrissey, who ventured for the round trip after top-20 finishes in the 13.32-mile Ascent the past two years.

Nelson’s margin of victory is second only to a win of nearly 2 hours in 1973, when the women’s Marathon featured only two runners in its second year.

PHOTO BY J. RACHEL SPENCER
Pikes Peak Marathon competitors ran up the Barr Trail on Sunday. Matt Carpenter, 44, won the 26.21-mile race from Manitou Springs to the summit and back for the ninth time, finishing in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds.
Pikes Peak Marathon competitors ran up the Barr Trail on Sunday. Matt Carpenter, 44, won the 26.21-mile race from Manitou Springs to the summit and back for the ninth time, finishing in 3 hours, 36 minutes, 54 seconds.

To understand true dominance, though, look to Carpenter. His 1993 Marathon record of 3:16:39 still stands, as does his 2:01:06 Ascent record, which he established on the front end of that 14,115-foot summit climb. His descent record (1:15:33 in 1993) also remains intact.

“He makes running and breaking 4 hours look so easy that it seems like the rest of us guys should be able to do it,” said Bernie Boettcher, a 45-year-old from Silt who finished third for the second straight year. “I’m not sure anyone would ever be able to break his Pikes Peak Marathon time. It’s like a Phelpsian-type record” — a reference to Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps.

Last year, Mackey caught a glimpse of Carpenter with 3 miles to go, closing the gap to about 30 seconds. But Carpenter found a way to keep his streak alive, winning by less than 2 minutes.

PHOTO BY JERILEE BENNETT
Alice the llama and Polly the dog watched Sunday as second-place finisher Dave Mackey neared the end of the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs. The pets came with Manitou Springs residents Julie and Al Foster, background, and their other dog, Charlie. Matt Carpenter won the race for the ninth time.
Alice the llama and Polly the dog watched Sunday as second-place finisher Dave Mackey neared the end of the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs. The pets came with Manitou Springs residents Julie and Al Foster, background, and their other dog, Charlie. Matt Carpenter won the race for the ninth time.

On Sunday, Carpenter didn’t take any chances. He built an estimated 14-minute advantage by the time he reached the summit, his homemade screw shoes having no trouble on the residual snow and ice from Saturday’s storm.

His winning time was within 3 minutes of the agegroup record he established in 2006 and his third-fastest overall, topping his first Marathon time at age 24 by almost 2 minutes.

“I’m kind of tired of second,” said Mackey, who has finished behind Carpenter in his three Marathon attempts (2001, 2007 and 2008). “It seems like I’m always a bridesmaid. I’m pretty competitive, so of course I want to win it. Some year, I’ll win, but not if Matt Carpenter shows up.”

That might be a long wait.

“It’s his race and his world,” Mackey said. “I don’t have a choice. I can run my best race and Matt is still in control.”

Carpenter, 44, says Father Time will catch him eventually. But on Pikes Peak, one can’t be so sure.


Copyright 2008, The Gazette, a division of Freedom Colorado Information. All rights reserved. Used with permission.


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