Fit-Pic: Vail Pass Here We Come

Talk about some serious bragging rights these runners are attempting to earn. They're just steps into the Vail Pass Half Marathon, one of the three running-centered events--the Badass Dash and the Spring Run-off are the others--that takes place during the GoPro Mountain Games, held at Vail from June 5 to 8, 2014. With a name like the Vail Pass Half Marathon, you'd be correct if you guessed runners would be running (or walking, stumbling, dragging their legs, etc.) up Vail Pass, whose summit is roughly 13 miles east of the Golden Peak start line.

Fit-Pic: The Mountain Games 10K Spring Run-Off

It could be muddy, it could be snowy, it could be wet. Anything goes at the 10K Spring Runoff at the GoPro Mountain Games at Vail. That also applies to the course's design, which wrapped up, down and across the lower half of Vail Mountain.

Whether you're sloshing through mud and wearing warm layers or you're brushing dust from your eyes and sweating from the start, this race has one constant. It sure is picturesque.

And I thought the Vail Pass Half Marathon had a pretty course, judging from the mile I walked along it. Less mileage doesn't compromise the views, nor is it much easier on the lungs (that's my argument anyway since I ran the 10K and my husband ran the half). Stay tuned for more on these races, I'm still catching my breath and adjusting to the altitude.

Fit-Pic: Vail Pass Half Marathon

And this was only the start of Saturday's festivities at the GoPro Mountain Games in Vail. Runners toed the line at the annual 1st Bank Vail Pass Half Marathon, a race that makes you earn every one of those miles underfoot. For starters, you're running slightly more than your typical 13.1 miles of a half marathon: it's designed to be 13.7 miles, according to the race description, and today's route is 13.5 miles, according to the race announcer.

You're already at 8,225 feet above sea level when you start running at Golden Peak, and you're climbing your way to a 10,600-foot finish at the top of Vail Pass. Lung burn, quad burn, all-out aches and pains. Yeah, you gain bragging rights--and the excuse to do nothing but lounge around the rest of the day--when you finish this run.