I started out just after 4:45am in hopes that I wouldn't have to descend Barr in the dark. Chilly morning with temps around 38 and felt pretty cold at the summit even after sunrise. Barr was pretty empty and only saw a few other people out aside from a mouse and a rabbit. Sunrise was beautiful. I brought along a pretty full pack, as it was my first time running this far, and I wasn't sure what all I'd need. Started out with 2 full bladders of water and brought along a Sawyer filter with a screw-on bladder just in case (it came in handy). Didn't really know what nutrition to bring since I usually just do salt pills, so I did an assortment. 1 Cliff bar and 2 Cliff Z-bars (for kids - but I like them!), 4 Honey Stingers, 1 GU, 12 Salt Sticks caps, and a decently large stash of gummy bears - heard from the Boulder Boys they're clutch. I kept the pace conservative for the first ascent with a good bit of hiking. Barr to A-frame always feels like the crux on the East side with just how steep and technical it gets (hard to hold any speed). It snowed last week, and I was hoping most of it would be gone but had the first sighting at about 9.3 miles in. From there all the way to the summit it seemed to get worse. The main problem being that the snow that doesn't melt is exactly the sections left on the trail that turn to ice from being packed down by footsteps. Some sections were good snow (that is dense, but not ice and you can still run on it), but the last 0.5 miles of Barr definitely had some sheets of ice, and I had to be careful. Luckily didn't take any falls on the way up or down, but the pace suffered compared to what I can usually hold in those sections. Devil's Playground got a little sketchy on the boulders, but the snow was actually kind of nice in that it made it a little easier to route-find from other people's footsteps. Cairns were certainly helpful too. Once I got down from the boulder section, it was easier going, and I actually ran into a couple big horn sheep. After reaching the Crags trail, I picked up my pace a little. Still snow, but not enough that I couldn't dodge a good portion of it. Descending the main hill on the Crags wasn't too bad. A lot less snow on the West side until down below treeline. Hard to hold speed just because of the steepness, but not awful. There were a lot more people coming up the Crags than were on Barr, but it was later in the day too. After tagging the trailhead sign, I started back up, but felt I definitely needed some food and water. My bladders were close to empty, and I wasn't able to get down anything other than the gummy bears and the GU. Attempted a Z-bar and immediately lost my lunch (not that I had any). Decided to stick to the gummy bears and see if they could get me through (surprisingly, they did!). Stopped at the last creek crossing on the way up Crags (that crosses the trail) and filled up my bladders with water from my filter. Then came the real crux. That Crags hill is just so darn steep. Dropped down to a 35 minute pace on my worst mile, but there wasn't much I could do. Tried to take breaks, but not too often. Just kept pushing. Cresting the hill was a huge milestone, and I was able to begin jogging a little again once reaching Devil's Playground. After summiting the second time, I was feeling pretty stoked and took a little break at the sign before heading back down Barr. Got a little lucky in the sense that a good bit of the snow had melted on the trail by then, but was more slushy than ice, and I was able to pick up the pace a little. After hitting A-frame, pretty much all the snow was gone, and I was able to start pushing the pace harder. The only downside was that I had run through my filtered water back at the start of Devil's Playground and was feeling pretty thirsty. Considered dropping by the stream at A-frame, but felt like I would be wasting time since it wasn't on the trail, so I decided to just keep pushing to Barr Camp. Once there, I drank 2 full bladders from the Sawyer and filled up one of the ones for my vest. From Barr, I was able to start getting into a flow and held good speed. Felt good to pass the Incline Connector trail and knew I just had to hold on. Lots of people in Manitou for Halloween, so I did a good bit of weaving and bobbing to finish out the run. Mad stoke to have not only completed it but to have done it feeling strong. My best run yet.