Running and Mountain Climbing at Percona Live Denver

I just booked my travel arrangements for Percona Live 2023.  In case you missed it, one of the most important MySQL Conference of the year is happening in Denver from Monday May 22 to Wednesday 24.  I will be there and I am giving a talk about how HubSpot operates Percona Server / MySQL with Vitess in Kubernetes.  My colleague, Mali Akmanalp, is also speaking about the tools we provide developers at HubSpot to keep their query workloads efficient with as little involvement from the database team as possible.  But this post is not about our talks, it is about running and mountain climbing.

Even if the conference starts on Monday, I will arrive in Denver on Saturday.  On Sunday, I will Run For My Favorite Database with Perconians and other conference attendees.  If you are in Denver early, come cheer for us, or even better, run with us.  We will run the Denver Marathon (this is a scary word, keep reading) as relay teams of five runners (this is already less scary) with legs of 6 to 10 kilometers (totally manageable).  Read Peter's post for the details, including a link to a form for joining us.

Also, even if the conference ends on Wednesday, I will fly back home only on Saturday.  On Thursday and Friday, and still with Perconians and other conference attendees, I will climb Mount Elbert.  Climbing is a big word here, it is my understanding that Mt. Elbert is a not an exposed, but quite a long altitude hike.  The summit is as 4401 meters and the start of the trail is 1400 meters below.  This is not ice-field walking, so not ropes involved (I am a little disappointed, I did more exposed mountaineering in the Alps, but this will be my highest summit).  We might have to cross some snow and walk on ice (I will have crampons in my back-back, but not planning to bring my helmet).  The plan is to drive to the mountain area on Wednesday after the conference, sleep in altitude to start acclimatizing early (altitude will be the challenge of this hike, but it should not be a problem for fit people).  On Thursday, we will do an acclimatization hike, and on Friday, we will wake up early to summit before the afternoon thunderstorms.  Driving back to Denver on Friday might be ambitious, but flying back Saturday in the afternoon will be fine (my flight is at 16:25).  We still have to organize carpooling and accommodations, but these are minor details.  If this inspires you, read Peter's post about Elevating Your Percona Live Experience by Climbing Mt. Elbert, and fill the form for joining us.

I am looking forward to seeing you in Denver, and maybe to running and climbing / hiking with you.  Below, I am sharing an old picture from 2011 when I summited Gran Paradiso in the Italian Alps, and another from 2015 when I finished the Utrecht half-marathon in the Netherlands.  I hope to get other cool pictures in Colorado this year.