Anton Krupicka did the loop as a training run on July 17, 2009. He reports as follows:
I went counter-clockwise at a pretty standard training pace for most of the day and didn't inject any significant pace until the last 20 minutes or so, so it's definitely something that can be lowered. Especially since I had to take a few obligatory gawk-and-stare stops...such an epic run.
Splits: Crater split, 19:30; Buckskin pass, 1:02:30; Snowmass Lake, 1:35:45; Trailrider pass, 2:04:25; North Fork river crossing, 2:37:05; Frigid Air pass, 3:26; West Maroon Pass, 3:53; Crater split, 4:34 (making 4:14:30 for the "true" loop) and then another 12:55 back to the parking lot.
Also, I'd be interested in a GPS distance on this run. I wasn't running that slow today, but if it's 28 miles I was still doing over 10min miles? Damn. Also, I was cranking the downhill from Crater back to the parking lot, so I feel like it has to be more than 1.25 miles (of course, there were plenty of tourists/hikers clogging things up).
INCREDIBLE flowers today! -- Anton Krupicka