Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for hills and trails near Fort Collins, CO
In the spirit of friendly competition, and because it's
interesting, I'm compiling a list of Fastest Known Times (FKTs) for trail runs
in the Fort Collins area. Hopefully, this will encourage more Fort Collins
runners to get out and enjoy running hills.
What is a Fastest Known Time (FKT)? In the context
of this page, it is simply the fastest time clocked by a runner on a particular
(often informal) set course. The reason I do not call these times 'records' is
because I do not pretend to be all-knowledgeable about whether someone has ever
run the course faster in the past. Hopefully, if they have, they will report it
to me so I can list their time. So, by definition, 'fastest known time' means
the fastest time that has been reported to me. Of course, full honesty in
reporting times is vital, otherwise they won't mean anything.
If you have a time to report, please
send it to me.
Fort Collins FKT News for 2009
06/05/09
A bevy of runners smashed the previous ascent FKT for
Towers Road this morning (the previous FKT of 0:34:41 had been broken by Dan
Turk on 04/30/09). The time to beat is now 0:30:47, set by Eric Bergman. Eric
was ascending at an average rate of 3508 ft/hr! A little over a minute behind
Eric was Nicholas Clark, with 0:31:56. Francis Antonelli ran 0:33:04, and Dan
Turk was next with 0:33:44. Pete Stevensen hit the top in 0:34:31. All five of
these runners were faster than the previous FKT! Dennis Vanderheiden ran a
respectable 0:40:07. A
time
trial report and some pictures are available on
Nicholas's blog.
04/30/09
Today, Dan Turk set the bar a little higher for the
Towers Road ascent FKT. The new time to beat is 0:34:41 (Dan held the
previous FKT of 0:34:52, set back on 03/08/08).
01/17/09
Today Francis Antonelli smashed the FKTs for the
Blue Sky Double and the Northbound. He ran
from Devil's Backbone to Soderberg and then back in a total time of 2:51:05,
breaking the previous time of 3:00:05 set by Jonathan Vigh on 10/07/07. Francis'
first leg lowered the northbound FKT to 1:24:26 (the previous time of 1:32:31
was set by Jonathan Vigh on 10/07/07 on his return leg of the double). On the
return trip, Francis ran the southbound leg in 1:26:45 - this did not better the
FKT of 1:24:10 set by Jonathan Vigh on 10/07/07 (his first leg of the double).
01/10/09
Today Nicholas Clark broke the ascent FKT for
Round/Sheep Mountain with a time of
0:58:23. The previous time of 0:58:37 had been set by Matt Bedoukian on
08/18/05. He wrote up a
report on his blog.
Click here to see the chronological progression
of FKTs from previous years
-
Fort Collins Loop or Point-to-Point Runs
Route
|
FKT holder
|
Time
|
Date
|
Distance
|
Vertical Gain
|
Notes
|
Full Results
|
| Devil's Backbone Loop |
Todd Rivas
Suzette Vandivier |
0:53:26
1:00:27 |
05/22/05
03/19/07 |
6.2 miles |
1070 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners run Source: personal communication,
Suzette Vandivier |
Full
Results |
| Coyote Ridge Loop
|
Steve Saleeby |
0:48:12
|
09/27/76 |
7.0
miles |
1230
ft |
During a
Fort Collins Trail Runners run |
Full
Results |
|
Horsetooth Mountain Trail Race Route |
?? |
0:50:02 |
??/??/?? |
~7.3 miles
|
1850 ft |
Course record holder (set during race),
course may have been shorter than current race course. |
|
|
Park-to-Park Trail Race Route |
Jonathan Vigh
and Todd Rivas |
1:20:56 |
09/18/05 |
~8.3 miles |
2000 ft |
Ran the race route
backwards (counter clockwise). I'm sure there were faster times in
the race though . . . |
|
| Mill Creek Short Loop |
Jonathan Vigh |
1:11:51 |
07/06/08 |
8.92 miles |
1900 ft |
Old FKT of 1:15:56 was
set by Jonathan Vigh on 09/09/07 during a Fort
Collins Trail Runners run. |
|
| Mill Creek Long Loop |
Jonathan Vigh |
1:47:48 |
07/25/06 |
11.4 miles |
2760 ft |
I'm posting my time as a
straw man time . . . |
|
| Redstone Canyon |
|
|
|
13.0 miles |
1150 ft |
Out and back, starting
from the canyon entrance and turning around at the private road gate
at 6.5 miles |
|
| Blue Sky Trail (N -> S) |
Jonathan Vigh |
1:24:10 |
10/07/07 |
10.4 miles |
|
Soderberg Trailhead to Devil's
Backbone Trailhead |
Full
Results |
| Blue Sky Trail (S -> N) |
Francis
Antonelli |
1:24:20 |
01/17/09 |
10.4 miles |
|
Devil's Backbone Trailhead to
Soderberg Trailhead |
Full
Results |
| Blue Sky Trail Double |
Francis
Antonelli |
2:51:05 |
01/17/09 |
20.8 miles |
2700 ft |
Ran north from Devil's
backbone to Soderberg and back |
Full
Results |
| Blue Sky Marathon |
Johannes Rudolph
and Lindsay Habermann |
3:23:46
4:30:09 |
10/05/08 |
26.2 miles |
~4000 ft |
Course record for
inaugural race! |
Full Results |
| Blue Sky Half Marathon |
Jonathan Vigh
Susan Nuzum |
1:31:30
1:43:19 |
10/05/08 |
13.1 miles |
970 ft |
Course record for
inaugural race! |
Full Results |
-
Fort Collins Area Peaks, Roundtrip
Peak, route
|
FKT holder
|
Time
|
Date
|
Distance
|
Vertical Gain
|
Notes
|
Full Results
|
| Arthurs Rock, via Arthurs Rock
Trail |
Mike Smith |
0:33:31 |
07/06/06 |
~3.4 miles |
1140 ft |
Source: personal communication,
Mike Smith |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, South Summit
|
Jonathan Vigh |
0:43:36 |
10/30/07 |
~5.13 miles |
1495 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, North Summit |
Matt Bedoukian |
0:44:37 |
09/03/05 |
~5.2 miles |
1495 ft |
Source: personal
communication, Matt Bedoukian |
Full
Results |
| Greyrock Mountain |
Todd Rivas |
1:15:??
|
??/??/02 |
~6.6 miles |
2180 ft |
Source: personal communication, Todd
Rivas |
Full
Results |
| Towers Road |
Jonathan Vigh |
0:54:37 |
06/27/08 |
~6.8 miles |
1800 ft |
Old time of 1:02:09 was
set on 10/08/06 |
Full Results |
| Arthurs Rock, via Timber Trail
|
Phil Klotzbach |
1:23:24 |
06/15/04 |
~7.0 miles |
1700 ft |
Source: e-mail from Phil Klotzbach |
Full
Results |
| Round/Sheep Mountain |
Jonathan Vigh |
1:45:20 |
06/30/05 |
~9.2 miles |
3100 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full
Results |
-
Fort Collins Area Peaks, Ascent only
Peak, route
|
FKT holder
|
Time
|
Date
|
Distance
|
Vertical Gain
|
Notes
|
Full Results
|
| Arthurs Rock, via
Arthurs Rock Trail |
Mike
Smith |
0:20:04 |
07/06/06 |
~1.7 miles |
+1140 ft |
Source:
personal communication, Mike Smith |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, South Summit |
Matt Bedoukian |
0:27:26 |
09/01/05 |
~2.56 miles |
+1495 ft
|
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, North Summit |
Matt Bedoukian
Sarah Rawley |
0:27:05
0:34:56 |
09/03/05
10/20/04 |
~2.6 miles |
+1495 ft
|
Source: personal
communication, Matt Bedoukian During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full
Results |
| Greyrock |
Todd Rivas |
0:44:42 |
07/25/04 |
~3.3 miles |
+2140 ft |
Source: personal
communication, Todd Rivas |
Full
Results |
| Towers Road |
Eric
Bergman |
0:30:47 |
06/05/09 |
~3.4 miles |
+1730 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full Results |
| Arthurs Rock, via Timber Trail |
Dan Turk |
0:41:50 |
08/10/04 |
~3.5 miles |
+1400 ft |
Source: e-mail from Phil
Klotzbach |
Full
Results |
| Round/Sheep Mountain |
Nicholas Clark |
0:58:23 |
01/10/09 |
~4.6 miles |
+2900 ft |
Source: personal
communication, Nicholas Clark |
Full
Results |
-
Fort Collins Area Peaks, Descent only
Peak, route
|
FKT holder
|
Time
|
Date
|
Distance
|
Vertical Loss
|
Notes
|
Full Results
|
| Arthurs Rock, via Arthurs Rock
Trail |
Jonathan Vigh |
0:12:01 |
07/04/06 |
~1.7 miles |
-1140 ft |
Source: personal communication,
Jonathan Vigh |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, South Summit |
Jonathan Vigh |
0:15:23 |
10/30/07 |
~2.56 miles |
-1500 ft |
During a
FortCollinsTrailRunners Time Trial |
Full
Results |
| Horsetooth Rock, North Summit |
Jonathan Vigh |
0:15:36 |
09/26/06 |
~2.6 miles |
-1500 ft |
Source: personal communication,
Jonathan Vigh |
Full
Results |
| Greyrock |
Todd Rivas |
0:30:?? |
??/??/02 |
~3.3 miles |
-2140 ft |
Source: personal communication, Todd Rivas |
Full
Results |
| Towers Road |
Dan Turk |
0:18:14 |
06/17/07 |
~3.4 miles |
-1700 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners run |
Full Results |
| Arthurs Rock, via Timber Trail |
Dan Turk, Phil Klotzbach, and Jotham Matabi |
0:35:39 |
08/10/04 |
~3.5 miles |
-1400 ft |
Source: personal
communication from Phil
Klotzbach |
Full
Results |
| Round/Sheep Mountain |
Jonathan Vigh |
0:37:18 |
07/28/06 |
~4.6 miles |
-2900 ft |
During a Fort Collins
Trail Runners time trial |
Full
Results |
*** Jeff McCoy ran the south summit of Horsetooth Rock roundtrip in 0:48:23 in the summer of '81.
Assuming that his time to the top was about the same as the current FKT, then
his descent time would have been ~17 min.
-
Boulder Area FKT's for ascents
For more Boulder Trail running records (other routes, both short and long),
go to Bill Wright's
Boulder
Trail Running Records page.
Some of these times comes from Bill Wright's Speed
Climbing site, which has a very extensive list with separate subcategories
for Boulder, Rocky Mountain NP, Indian Peaks, and some Colorado
14'ers. His site is a bit difficult to navigate and includes a lot more
information on the record progression. Since many of the pages can't be linked
to directly, I've collected some of the results that are most interesting to me
(generally, well-defined routes up recognizable peaks local to the Fort
Collins-Boulder area). If the FKT is from Bill's site, I've included a link if
possible under source. The other FKT's are times that people have e-mailed to
me, or from my friends in the
Fort Collins
Trail Runners. |
