Tate Behning left the bike and wetsuit at home for the weekend, toeing the line with many of the most decorated mountain runners in the Front Range to tackle the Barr Trail race, which starts in Manitou Springs, CO. The race, with 6.3 miles up to Barr Camp and back down with total climbing of 3,630’ and an average grade of 10% on the ascent, promised to be a real challenge for all the racers. Behning felt strong at the start and found his way into the top ten, turning around at Barr Camp in 7th place. Shortly after the start of the descent, he lost one spot to former USATF mountain running champion Bernie Boettcher putting him in 8th. Near the bottom, he heard footsteps behind him to see former ITU triathlete Logan Wealing quickly approaching. He just managed to hold him off across the finish line, keeping his 8th place spot and finishing in a time of 1:38.31.
Behning was pleased with the effort, “So many of the best distance runners in Colorado that take part in this race – I knew it would be a challenge to make it into the top 10. Each year the field keeps getting stronger and stronger as well. It’s a great race to be part of though because all the race entry proceeds go back to the community. Sometime in the future I’d like to try to train more seriously for this race and improve upon my performance.”
Look for Behning on Thursday nights out at the Boulder Stroke & Strides, where he’s in the hunt to win the series.
