For most people, running a marathon is an extreme mental and physical feat. A standard marathon, though, was not enough for Elliot Singer ‘20. Having run cross country her sophomore and junior years and the Broken Arrow Sky Race—a 26k in Squaw Valley— last summer, Singer was looking for a new adventure. Last February, while browsing Instagram, Singer stumbled upon the TransRockies Run, an ultra race that spans more than one hundred and twenty miles over six days in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado.
Singer said, “I was looking around for trail races and I saw it on Instagram. I signed up on a whim, which in retrospect wasn’t the smartest thing because a 26k is a little longer than 16 miles and this race was a lot longer than that.”
Running TransRockies took an immense amount of physical training. After giving herself a few weeks of recovery after track season, Singer began a specialized training regimen to prepare herself for her first ultrarunning race, which was only ten weeks away. Ultrarunning is defined as any distance longer than a traditional marathon. In preparation, Singer would complete three long runs a week on back to back days. Her training schedule was strategic as it mimicked the long, hard days of the race. At the start of her training, Singer’s long runs were around eighteen miles, but by the end of her training, Singer completed a thirty-mile run. On the days in between, Singer would swim, elliptical and bike to prevent injuries.
During her training, Singer also worked as an intern at the San Francisco General Hospital. Wheeling stretchers around and fetching things for doctors, Singer had very few moments when she was off her feet. However, Singer saw her work at the General Hospital as beneficial to her training.“Having the mental capacity to go on a really long run and then go to work for five or six hours was very helpful.”
One of the most difficult parts of the TransRockies Run is the altitude at which it takes place where there is less oxygen. The elevation ranges from 7,400 to 12,600 feet above sea level. To prepare for this, runners travel to places with high altitudes and train there. Other than climbing Mt. Rainier earlier in the summer, Singer was in San Francisco because of her work in the hospital, which did not give her a significant amount of time to acclimatize. After a lot of research, Singer found that going in the sauna after her workouts when her body temperature was still high would prepare her body for the altitude. By the end of her training, Singer was spending up to thirty minutes in the sauna. To pass the time in the heat, she usually read.
After ten weeks of intense training, it was finally time for the race.
The TransRockies race is composed of six daily stages, each with varying lengths and elevations. Each stage begins at eight in the morning and as the racers finish, they are brought to the next camp. There, they fuel up for the next day, roll out their sore muscles and sleep.
There are a wide variety of participants in the race. Some are seasoned ultrarunners, others are competing in their first-ever multi-day race. Singer was surprised to run into her childhood camp counselor who was also running in the race.
Singer was advised by other runners not to overexert herself on the first stage as the later stages were more difficult. However, after crossing the finish line of the 20.8-mile day, Singer felt fine. She quickly realized that she had placed fourth out of all the women in the race. It was at that moment when she realized that she had a chance at a spot on the podium.
Coach Jeff Gardiner, Singer’s cross country coach at Lick, noted, “Clearly she wasn’t just making it through, she was doing extremely well and it was pretty obvious as the race progressed that she has found her way to compete.”
Going into the race, Singer just wanted to finish, but after all of her training in the summer, she was ready to do more. By the end of the race, Singer’s times were the second fastest out of all the women, behind a professional runner. If she had competed in the men’s race, she would have placed ninth.
photo courtesy of Sportograf
Singer has increased her mental capacity for long runs since her first cross country season in order to even compete in this race. Singer said that during her initial cross country season she “had a hard time racing at first. I quit and did not finish a lot of races because I was so anxious about them. Cross country during my sophomore and junior seasons has really helped me with that. I was able to carry a lot of those lessons into the big mental challenge of running three, four, five hour days.”
Singer has loved the mountains since she was a child. This race was the perfect setting for her as it combined her love of nature and running. While running for several hours a day, she was able to truly appreciate the beauty of her surroundings.
“I got to see so much of Colorado because you are traveling across the state. I was blown away by Leadville, Vail, Aspen, all of those places…The flowers were incredible. There was this one day when we were up on Vail and there was this huge field of orange Indian Paintbrush. I have never seen flowers like that before.”
Gardiner said, “this was almost a perfect form of competition for her, being in a place she feels very connected to.”
Running gives Singer an escape from the stress and pressures of being a high school student. She runs without music, focusing instead on the little things such as her footing or when she will eat her next energy gel.
“I think it is one of the few times in my life when I am truly present and I lean into that when I am running. It is a unique feeling that I am not able to have in other parts of my life…It gives me refuge.”
When asked what standout qualities Singer has that make her able to succeed in such a difficult race, Gardiner responded, “Elliot has a very strong internal world that gives her strength and helps her engage with what she is doing.”
Singer has many future plans for running, but the one she is most focused on right now is her final season of cross country at Lick. Though the races are much shorter, she is ready to implement her physical and mental training in order to help the team win another state title.
Wow! What a stud! Thanks for writing such a great article, Sofia!