The San Juan Mountains live up to their mythical proportions.
Last weekend my neck muscles got a good workout from constantly looking up at
the risen earth solidified into rock over millions of years. The span from the
ground up to the tip of these mountains seems miles long. On the drive into Silverton,
CO I saw peaks jutting upward into the sky all around me. The road twisted
around corners and revealed even more mountains the closer we got. My friend
Devon was driving me and his friend Avery toward the toughest 100 mile race in
the country, The Hardrock 100 Mile Endurance Race. As we drove through the
night the near full moon made the mountains glow and also created magnificent silhouettes
of the surrounding mountains. We took it all in and knew it was only going to
get better come daybreak. In the meantime I was comfortable in the backseat and
tried to get some rest before the excitement began.
From the moment we
arrived into town we were like little kids, giddy and full of anticipation. We
even made a comment about how empty the streets were at 4:30AM. Wasn’t this the most competitive 100
mile race this year? Where were all the spectators and racers? Well apparently
they were soundly asleep or just slowly waking up. This race has one of the
longest cutoff times for a 100 mile race at 48 hours and of the 140 racers only
100 would cross the finish line in that time. So it comes to no surprise that
for those 140 racers they wanted to get to the finish line rested and ready to
pummel their bodies for the next two days. We met one racer who had trouble
eating in the morning. He looked nervous and his feet were taped up heavily
from many training miles. We talked with him a bit and wished him luck. Our
presence must have been appreciated since when he asked who we were here to
support and we replied no one, he looked impressed. It was unique that us three
Ultrarunners were here simply to be spectators and take in the race like any
other major sporting event. The difference was that this sport was taking place
in very remote parts of the mountains. Not only is the course difficult to
traverse by car, but getting to the aid stations is a bit of a hike too.
The crowd eventually formed near the start and soon we were
among the best mountain runners in the world. Watching these world class
runners mingling amongst each other was interesting. They appeared so similar
to most runners but the main difference is that they had an air of confidence
about them. Some were very talkative (Killian Jornet) while others (Dakota
Jones) kept to themselves. Soon the runners lined up and the countdown began. Devon
and I stood near the start to watch the supercharged stampede of the greatest
in the sport run right by us. I felt so privileged to watch firsthand what was
sure to be a historical race in the Ultra community.
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| Killian chatting it up pre-race |
The street emptied and we made our way to get some morning
drinks at a local bakery/pizzeria/brewery. Once there we got advice on where to
set up camp and plan our stay for the next day or so. After finishing our
breakfast we got to Mineral Creek and set up camp along the creek. There wasn’t
much to do since it would be at least 10 hours from the start until we would
see the runners come through Ouray at mile 43. Avery was feeling spryly and
felt the need for a run. Having only drank a few "morning sodas" I decided it
would be good to get the legs moving and join him. Devon stayed at the camp and
got some rest since he had driven throughout the entire night. Avery and I set
off with no destination in mind except to climb high into the mountains. We
followed the first trailhead we saw that took us to Clear Lake. It was an
alpine lake that rested just above tree line near 12,000 feet in elevation.
Usually at that altitude you can see a pretty decent view of the surrounding
area. Not in the San Juans. Our view was limited since there are multiple
mountains that reach 14,000 feet surrounding the entire area. We settled for a
view of a pristine lake with snow caps suspended along the bowl rim that fed
into the lake. There was another trail that looked like it might go toward the
summit but we still had a race to see so we called it and headed back to camp.
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| A fine "Morning Soda" |
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| Another Hardrock fan. |
Once at the camp we took down some food and hydrated with
some leftover breakfast sodas. Just as we were settling down after the run a
storm came in and we took shelter while is passed. It turned out to be a smart
decision to come back to camp after all. Getting caught in the mountains while
a storm passes is no fun. We ended up staying at camp a bit longer and found
out the leaders had already passed through Ouray so we reassessed our plan and
decided to head toward Grouse aid station at mile 58.
While waiting for the leaders we once again mingled with
support crew and volunteers. The crowd was very relaxed and even the dozen
media personnel seemed easygoing. This was definitely a beautiful section of
the course where the runners would start the climb up Handies Peak, the only
14er they cross along the course. While waiting I couldn’t help but think of
the incredible grit and determination processed by these runners. I’ve climbed
a few 14ers since my time here but I couldn’t fathom running for 50+ miles and
then having to summit one. But that was one of the reasons I wanted to be here.
I needed to witness that passion to do such a task. I wanted to be inspired so
that I could one day accomplish an amazing feat such as these runners were
doing. While perched above some of the switchbacks I got to see the dichotomy
of differences in the elite runners. Killian was like a well oiled machine and
kept moving along without much hesitation. The runners that followed exhibited
a more human appearance. They seemed exhausted but determined to keep moving. We
followed suit and kept moving along to the next part of the race.
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| Killian cruising on by with pacer Ricky Gates |
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| Meeting Anna "Frosty" - part of Killian's crew and pacer |
We stopped in town and talked with some more crew members
before eventually going back to camp to rest for a few hours. Those few hours
turned into more than we planned and we awoke to find out that Killian had just
broken the “untouchable” course record by 40 minutes. This was a huge surprise to
us and even if we hadn’t overslept we still would have missed him by 15 minutes
if we had gotten to the finish line by the time we had originally planned on.
Once we arrived to the finish the fourth place runner Jeff Browning had just
passed through. We would stick around here until Timothy Olson sauntered in at
13th with wife and child at his side. Seeing him finish was amazing
and definitely worth the wait. But the finisher that left me feeling most in
awe was Tsuyoshi Kaburaki. He finished in 6th and he, without a
doubt, had the biggest smile on his face. He was so proud to have finished such
a tremendous race with over 33,000 feet of elevation and intense storms (one
runner had even been struck by lightning). Tsuyoshi had a large gash on his jaw
from a fallen rock that hit him during the run. Also his left knee was bleeding
indicating a fall or more rock getting in his way. The way he ran into the
finish chute with hands raised and waving to the crowd excitedly left me
feeling stunned. If I ever could finish one of these races it would be my
intention to do so with the same gusto and attitude that Tsuyoshi had. I’ve
seen some pretty amazing finishes but this one definitely took the cake. Even
after Tsuyoshi was out of the finish chute when I saw him walking around I had
to clap for him again and he gave me that same ear to ear smile with an acknowledging
bow.
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| Tsuyoshi with a huge grin in the finish chute |
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| Tsuyoshi officially becoming a Hardrock finisher by kissing the "Hardrock" |
I can’t say I will ever run this race, but I might give the Softrock 100 a try someday.
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