2005 Imogene Pass Run
The San Juans are some of the youngest mountains in all of Colorado as
evidenced by their dramatic, jagged peaks and crests. Time, wind and
water have not had as much opportunity to file down their sharp lines as
they have in the central Rockies (see Leadville).
The Imogene Pass Run starts in Ouray, Colorado, a sleepy little mountain
town with all the views of Telluride, but without the tremendous growth,
ba-gillion dollar homes, and celebrities. Likely the main reason for this is
the lack of a ski resort in town which has kept it's growth steady but
stunted in relation to it's over-the-pass neighbor.
The race starts in Ouray and heads over "The Pass" and descends into
Telluride. It is mainly run on a jeep trail that twists and switch-backs for
10.1 miles up to 13,120 ft before descending 7 miles into Telluride.
It is no ordinary 17-mile run. You must reconcile yourself with the word
"run", because truly almost no one runs the whole thing. I am told the top
few elites do in fact run every step; I don't doubt this as true, but I am
astounded that it is possible when you see how steep the upper sections
get. I would have to guess at least 30% or more in some sections.
As I have stated before I am a very mediocre runner (marathon PR of
3:25), but here is a breakdown of how my day went:
Miles 0-4 -- very runnable. You can't run particularly fast but it is feasible
to do more than just hike. You will be breathing hard and getting a good
leg burn already, so you need to be careful not to spend too much
currency now. You want to be able to hike/jog strong in the later miles of
the climb. I was amazed that there were a few downhills---I would have
been happier if we didn't lose elevation that we had already gained. My
mile splits hovered in the 12-14 min/mile range.
Miles 5-7 -- I was now doing a healthy amount of hiking. I was jogging
when I could, but this was severely hampered by a sodium depletion
brought on by my own stupidity (that is another article due soon). By this
time I could barely keep my running partners, Ray and Bill, in sight and I
think I hiked a lot more than I usually would have. The trail gets decidedly
steeper here. I had heard that the steepest part of the first 5 miles is not
as steep as the average grade of the last 5 miles to the summit. I have not
checked this yet with my Topo software, but my experience this weekend
tells me this is probably true.
The race promises 5 aid stations (this weekend they had at least 6) and I
think we had passed two or three already by the 7-mile mark. They are
adequately stocked, but it is still a good idea to carry some fluid and/or
calories with you any time you are exerting yourself that intensely at such
an elevation.
My min/mile times had now slipped to the 15-20 min range.
Miles 8-10 -- These last few miles to the summit are significantly steeper
than anything you have run thus far, which can be seen as truly evil or (if
you are like me) sheer genius. There is a pretty significant false summit
right around mile 8.5. You see the trail twist up around and disappear
over the ridge...if you are not paying attention to the mile markers, which
are diligently marked on orange cones, you could be fooled into a false
sense of accomplishment---so watch those cones! I saw almost no one
jogging at this point as it gets steep enough in many sections to nearly
require all fours to ascend short stretches.
You will almost definitely be a bit dizzy and disoriented as you navigate
the last few miles, which is a good reason they have such experienced
and helpful aid volunteers on the summit. By the time I had reached the
summit (of which, the last mile took me almost 35 minutes to complete---I
was hurting) my hands weren't working well enough to allow me to open
the bladder of my drinking system. I had to ask a volunteer to open and
close it for me -- I had just lost the dexterity required to complete this
simple task. The volunteer didn't bat an eye and helped me immediately.
(You can hear the summit aid station cheering people on from about 2
miles away)
After 2 or 3 cups of warm chicken broth I felt like a new man and headed
down for Telluride. The 10-mile trip to the summit had taken me 2 hours
and 39 minutes.
Miles 11-17.1 -- The trip down is somewhat of a blur. It is very steep most
of the time, necessitating a "sitting in the backseat" running style. When
it does flatten out a little you are able to roll downhill with some
impressive speed. The footing varies from "bad" to "truly awful" as you
often have to navigate sections of "baby-head" rocks. These unstable,
insidious little monsters are just waiting for you to step on them with you
foot too far outside of your base of support so they can snap your ankles
into little shards. You pass a lot of mining remnants and the views (when
you are able to look up from your feet) are just as phenomenal as the
Ouray side. There are a few more aid stations on the way down and,
again, the miles are well marked. Soon enough you can see the colorful
roof-lines of Telluride. The trail dumps off Tomboy Road onto a final 400m
of paved descending to the finish line
The pace difference between the climb and the descent, while not
unexpected, are still astounding. As a reference, while it took me the
better part of 2:40 to climb the ten miles up, it took me only 53 minutes to
descend all the way to Telluride.
Perfect weather hallmarked this year. There have been many years of
cold, wet, and snowy conditions to add to the legend of this race. While
the night before the race we were buffeted by 30-50 mile per hour winds
they subsided about an hour before the start of the race and gave way to
clear and cool September conditions.
I will make it back for another go at this race. I like races that at first
glance appear silly. I also like races that don't just "cover a distance". I
like it when they traverse some topograpical barrier. For example "The
Badwater 135" starts at the lowest elevation in the continental US and
ends at the highest. Imogene has that same simplicity at it's core -- " Let's
start in Ouray and run over that mountain to Telluride." That is a madness
I can get behind.