Stage racing is an endeavor that is taking off in the running world. It can be an intimidating challenge to take on, while also an exciting adventure that many are seeking. Participants experience challenge and fatigue, but often take away a new community, a shared celebratory experience and the newfound confidence in what their body is capable of.
The options for stage races are expanding worldwide. They can range in duration, distance, terrain and more. Many race organizations are also exploring new structures to the multi-day events, such as self-supported racing, point to point destinations and adventure style designs.
I had the pleasure of joining the starting list for the TransRockies Run event in Colorado this past August. TransRockies Run has been an iconic stage race that began in 2007. The TransRockies Race Series (the organization that hosts this race) is a leader in North America for putting on iconic stage race events and includes trail running, mountain bike and gravel bike racing. TransRockies Run is a six-day stage race that covers 120 miles with 20,000 ft of elevation gain! Held in Colorado, it traverses across the Rocky Mountains from Buena Vista to Beaver Creek. You run above 7,000ft (2,150m) elevation throughout the entire race, and reach the highest elevation of the event at 12,600ft (3,800m) when you climb up to the iconic Hope Pass just outside of Leadville, Colorado.
Photo Credit: Alex Zauner
TransRockies Run has been a race on my radar for nearly the past decade, so when the opportunity arose this year, I entered the race without any hesitation. Previously, I completed a three-day stage race, but it focused on shorter distances versus the increased cumulative distance, number of stages and point-to-point camping style that makes up the TransRockies Run design. I didn't know what to expect when I entered the race and was nervous leading into it. There were very notable elite runners with impressive resumés on the starting line. Meanwhile, this was my "celebratory return to racing" race, after one and a half years away from competitive racing due to injury, surgery and an unexpected ankle fracture. To say I was intimidated was an understatement. But, overall this race became one of my favorite experiences that I have had in a long time. It truly became a celebration. I now understand why they call it the "TransRockies Family." I am now a part of this beautiful family.
I could go into the joy of this race, the beauty of the course, the passion of the directors, staff and volunteers, but it would take page after page of stories and narratives. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to provide a summary of my TransRockies Takeaways. These takeaways are focused on the physical components, execution strategies, recovery recommendations and will also discuss the mental benefits of stage racing. Another important highlight will be the camaraderie that so easily develops between racers and the ease of leaning into joy of the experience versus being siloed into the competitive mindset that many of us runners experience during races.
Transrockies Takeaways:
Food is Fuel
I remember after racing the first stage at TransRockies I felt somewhat defeated. I noticed the altitude of Buena Vista and just felt sluggish from the start of this stage. That night at the group dinner, I decided that I needed to eat way more than I had been. I recognized with traveling to the race and being on the road for several days, my regular nutrition and food intake had been diminished. Going forward, I focused on a more plentiful breakfast, snacking as needed, specific nutrition post race for promotion of recovery and restoring calories in my body, and a hearty dinner time meal at the end of the day. When you are competing in a multi-day race it is inevitable that you are going to be in a caloric deficit and your body will be working harder behind the scenes to maximize recovery and restore the energy required to push hard again in such a short duration. Food is absolutely fuel and in the context of a stage race, you simply cannot eat too much. [Hydration was not mentioned but staying on top of fluids and ensuring optimal hydration inside and outside of racing is absolutely necessary as well.]
Recovery Tools are a Must
In a race like TransRockies with 20,000ft of vertical gain, not to mention an equally significant quantity of descent, your body will feel sore and get beat up. You will 100% feel your quads in this race, and likely in many, if not all other multi-day races. Your body will greatly benefit from use of recovery tools, from a physical standpoint. This can include soft tissue work (i.e. foam rolling, self massage), attention to joint mobility (i.e. dynamic stretching, hip mobility drills) and management of your skin integrity and feet (i.e. blister management). TransRockies had an incredible amount of resources available for their participants - leg compression systems from Elevated Legs, therapy guns to pinpoint specific trigger points from Performance Recovery, and massage therapists, who were always ready to provide a solid flush to remove lactic acid from your body or work on any soft tissue problem areas. Outside of the resources provided in the race atmosphere, the race organizers were quite strategic in their route design. Each stage ends near fresh water and the post-race creek dip is an excellent way to jump start the recovery process. There are plenty of options so use your recovery resources! It absolutely helps the body bounce back from day to day.
Prioritize Sleep
This is a hard one during a camping-style stage race event. It is also hard when the race provides such a great atmosphere for hanging out with fellow racers in the post-stage celebration (what TransRockies calls "Chillville"). However, as we know, sleep is when our body can heal, replenish energy and flush out toxins. I highly recommend bringing a comfy pillow and making sure you have the means to stay warm.
Ease Into Early Stages, but You Can Do More Than You Think
There is absolutely a strategy to executing a six-day stage race running event. It is obvious that you should ease into the stages and not go out too hard on the first stage. You should try to be somewhat conservative early on to ensure you can race hard later in the stages when one is more susceptible to slowing down or having "niggles" come up. However, from my experience, I was really surprised and proud of what my body could do day in and day out. I wouldn't say I was terribly conservative on day one and I absolutely WOULD say I felt like I got stronger and stronger as the six days progressed. Of course, I was fatigued and not as strong at climbing, but my body was incredibly resilient and I could push hard each day. This was important to recognize and something I will tell any athlete who enters a race like this one; You can do way more than you think! My body fell back into its rhythm and I was able to enter race mode each day. I honestly felt like the hardest part each day was getting ready in the morning and getting my headspace prepared to go push hard again. It was more challenging to get the fire to go and push, but this is where the camaraderie was magical. We were all in the same environment, dealing with the same things. See the next section for more on this.
Lean Into the Adventure and Camaraderie
This was one of the most beautiful aspects of experiencing a stage race - camaraderie and community. It was absolutely incredible how quickly the environment fell into feeling like a family. You connected through the beauty, the challenge and the mystery of what each stage would bring. This helped me each day as I stood on the starting line, looking at the athletes around me, where we all were simply laughing at the thought of going again! We all were in the same place - not knowing how our body and brain would fare doing another race, especially on the latter stages. These were honestly some of my favorite starting line experiences. This community turned into a feeling of support, a feeling of mutual curiosity and excitement of the individual body. It didn't feel as if we were racing each other, we were racing ourselves and exploring the depths of what we could do. I am a competitive person and I want to excel, but each race start balanced out the desire to go, push and do as well as I could, as well as celebrating what everyone accomplished each day. I loved chasing the top women and closing the gap as much as I could on those final days, while not caring at all that I was in third place. It was such a joy to know I left it out there on the course and could come in and hug the other competitors and celebrate their accomplishments and grit as well. This was incredibly special, especially in my context of being injured and out of my sport, or out of my "normal fitness" for so long. I got to celebrate feeling like "I'm back," but in the context of my desire to push and my joy for the sport was back. This was the biggest takeaway and celebration for me.
Celebrate
The concluding thoughts are more of a summary of all of the above. TransRockies was a celebration. I celebrated my body and I took care of it. I celebrated my ability to dig deep and show up day in and day out. I celebrated what my body was able to do for me and the fact it was stronger than I thought it was. I celebrated our sport and the community of people it gathers. And finally, I celebrated the trails and the beauty of the mountains and the wilderness. We are incredibly lucky to get to do what we do and TransRockies really capitalizes on the celebration of experiencing joy.
Thank you to TransRockies Race Series for being the leader in stage racing events. A side note to this article is that the 2025 edition of TransRockies Run will be the final year for this six-day stage racing event. This is a very sad announcement for the trail running community, but 2025 is looking to be one hell of a celebration year. Be sure to sign up and join in this celebration.
Peak Run Performance is a proud to be the Coaching Partner for all TransRockies Running Events. We specialize in the training aspects for multi-day racing events. Our coaches are familiar with all of the TranRockies Running courses, terrain and variables one may encounter during these events. We have trained athletes from all over the world for these events since this partnership began in 2016. If you are looking to see what stage racing is all about or try to improve your performance and execution from years past, please reach out to us at https://www.peakrunperformance.com/ or send us an email at info@peakrunperformance.com
Brittany Peterson is a Running Coach at Peak Run Performance and a professional trail and ultra runner with the Nike Trail Team. She has had several wins in key races throughout the world and has been a 3-time finisher at the Western States Endurance Run, with 2 of her 3 results being in the top 5. She comes from a background of track and field and road marathon running as well and loves coaching athletes of all ages, abilities, in all terrains and with any goal in mind.
For more information and resources, check out our website at: https://www.peakrunperformance.com/
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