Ageless Carpenter lies his way to Pikes Peak Marathon victory
- Details
- Created on Monday, 23 August 2010 00:44
- Written by Brian Gomez
BY DAVID RAMSEY, THE GAZETTE
Matt Carpenter was running down Ruxton Avenue in Manitou Springs on a Sunday morning in August, and I don’t even need to tell you he was alone.
This is one of our rituals of summer, one of those wonders of life that we can count on. Every morning the sun rises in the east and each year Carpenter dominates the Pikes Peak Marathon. He’s won five straight times and 11 times overall. He makes this excruciating run look easy, even fun.
But this time was different.
Watch a photo slideshow of the Marathon.
This time a 46-year-old man had to drag his throbbing right leg down the side of the mountain.
And this time this usually stoic man laughed and slapped hands and luxuriated in what he calls a “rumble of joy” from the hundreds of spectators lining the street and shouting his name.
This run (Carpenter finished in 3:51:34) ranks as the sweetest of any of his victories.
A month ago, Carpenter was barely clinging to hope. His leg hurt from his knee to his groin. He knew he could battle his way to the top of Pikes Peak, but he could find no plan for his descent. He didn’t believe his leg would allow him to compete.
He told his wife, Yvonne, and a few close friends he might skip the race. This was unthinkable. For Carpenter running – and especially running up and down the peak – is close to breathing.
He was terrified to challenge the mountain he so adores.
“And that made me feel alive,” Carpenter said a few minutes after his triumph. “That kept me going. It was that adrenalin shot. Can you do it? If I could do it, if it was a given, what would be the point?”
Carpenter struggled mightily. When he reached the summit, he took a long look at Yvonne, and she could sense weariness in his eyes. Usually, Carpenter runs armed with a look that blends mischief and vitality.
Yvonne was concerned, and she began shouting.
“Go all out” she said, “and don’t pussyfoot down the mountain!”
Carpenter tried to obey, but the descent was as painful as he had imagined. During the nearly 4,000-foot drop to Barr Camp, Carpenter wondered if he could finish.
But he found a slightly sinister solution. He started lying to himself.
He was drenched with sweat, but told himself it wasn’t really that hot.
He told himself there were 30 minutes left when somewhere deep he knew he was at least 40 minutes from the finish.
“I had to go places I’m not used to going,” Carpenter said of his struggle with his body.
He finished with the boldest lie of all. He promised himself he would never endure this self-inflicted torture again.
Yes, Matt Carpenter told Matt Carpenter he was finished forever with the Pike Peak Marathon.
But, of course, that was a falsehood. Carpenter will run the marathon as long as he can stand.
He’s done battling himself. He never will come close to his mind-boggling 3:16:39 time from 1993. He knows today’s Matt Carpenter will never defeat yesterday’s Matt Carpenter.
He remains interested in defying time. Carpenter’s hair is thinning and turning gray, but that’s false advertising. Just ask the rest of the Marathon field if Carpenter runs old.
Yvonne laughed as she stood beside her husband immediately after the race. He was reclining on a cot while taking IV fluids in his arm.
“He’s in denial,” Yvonne said, taking a quick glance at Matt, who looked both tired and jubilant. “He doesn’t want to admit he’s getting old.”
A few minutes later, Carpenter had risen from his cot to offer a startling announcement.
“I’m not going to win this when I’m 90,” he said.
Don’t be so sure, Matt.
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