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Steamboat Springs — It almost seems impossible to believe given the heights Allen Belshaw has reached.

The Steamboat Springs doctor regularly finishes near the top of the season-long Steamboat Springs Running Series standings. He is one of the Yampa River Valley's most accomplished distance runners and a regular atop the podiums for 50- and 100-mile ultra-marathon trail races across the region.

But the 42-year-old running maniac is missing one thing from his running portfolio.

"I've never run a marathon," he said.

That's a problem he hopes to remedy Sunday. After 11 years laying rubber from one end of Steamboat to the other, Belshaw will run his first Steamboat Marathon.

Plenty of questions remain in his mind.

Where will he finish? What kind of pace should he push? What kind of toll will the 26.2-mile run down from Steamboat Lake exert on his body?

"I don't know," he said Wednesday, preparing for his final days of training. "We'll see what happens. I may totally blow it."

That doesn't seem likely given some of the experiences Belshaw has racked up throughout the years.

The Steamboat Lake starting line sits at an elevation of 8,128 feet. That shouldn't cause too much concern. Belshaw was second last year in a 75-mile stage race in the mountains around Steamboat. The trail on that three-day journey rarely dipped below 10,000 feet.

Forecasters are predicting a cool 58 degree day Sunday, but even if the temperature spikes, Belshaw has no reason to worry. He won a 145-mile stage race last year that took place mostly in temperatures above 96 degrees.

He's opting for the Steamboat race this year instead of a 50-mile race near Provo, Utah, that he's run nine times previously. He won that event last year in a little more than nine hours.

Still, halving his time won't be enough to be competitive Sunday.

Last year's winner, Jason Saitta, won his eighth Steamboat Marathon, recording a time of 2 hours, 36 minutes and 2 seconds.

Belshaw said he likely will have to alter his style if he's to earn a top finish.

"I've been trying to work more on speed, just to get the leg speed I'll need for that downhill," he said.

Runners will make their way down from North Routt County on Routt County Road 129. The long distances on hard asphalt will be another change to which Belshaw must adjust.

"It will be harder on the knees and harder on the joints," he said. "I expect to be out of commission for a week or so after the race."

The main difference, though, may be that after years of distance excellence, Belshaw is on the verge of a new kind of race.

As he counted down the days until he toes the starting line, he said that thought was enough to give even a seasoned veteran butterflies.

"I remember my first 100-mile race," he said. "I was trying to get advice from everyone. I didn't know what I was doing. I asked one guy if he'd run a marathon. He said, 'Yeah, I've done four today.'

"I'm a little nervous, but it's fun to get nervous. The way you do races, you have to try them and just see how you do."