MAD MISSION: NINJAS ON SNOWBOUND TRAILS

THERE’S NO BETTER WAY TO EMBRACE WINTER RUNNING THAN WITH SNOW. AND ALTHOUGH THERE ARE LESS OPPORTUNITIES IN AUSTRALIA THAN IN NEW ZEALAND TO HIT THE SNOWYCOVERED TRAILS FOR YOUR DAILY DOSE OF RUNNING, THERE ARE LOTS MORE FACTORS TO CONSIDER – ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE AN AUSSIE ABROAD. KATE ALLMAN RECENTLY FOUND HERSELF EXPLORING THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS IN THE AMERICAN STATE OF COLORADO, WHERE TRAIL RUNNING THROUGH SNOW AT HIGH ALTITUDE BROUGHT WITH IT A WHOLE NEW LEVEL OF CHALLENGE. SHE TESTED HER METTLE AND ALONG THE WAY, MET THE WILD LOCAL RUNNERS WHO GAVE HER ALL THE INFO SHE NEEDED.

WORDS: KATE ALLMAN IMAGES: KATE ALLMAN, JONATHAN CHAVES

Who knew air could be so brutal? The burning, biting, muscle-clenching power of it.

As a trail runner who gravitates towards training in regions of relatively clean air, I rarely question the invisible fuel that oxygenates my muscles. But in February, as I stomp through the teetering peaks of the San Juan Mountains in Colorado at 2800 metres above sea level, I am meeting its suffocating and savage dual personalities.

I’m in the remote mountain town of Silverton in Colorado, on an anticlockwise road trip through America’s most adventurous and outdoor-oriented state. This is an Old West frontier town that was once the epicentre of Colorado’s silver mining boom in the late 1800s. Fortunes were found and scuttled among the peaks between here and the larger centre of Durango, about an hour’s drive to the south.

The town by rights should have become a ghost town when the mining boom ended in the early 20th Century. But today, a stubborn population of trail runners, hikers, mountain bikers and outdoor adventurers remain in the region. They relish the raw and undulating playground of their wilderness backyard, which sits at altitudes almost double the peaks of Australia and New Zealand. Admittedly, most choose to swap their running shoes for ski boots in mid-winter when I arrive.

Running through snow at this kind of altitude sees air take on harsh new identities. Sucking in huge gulps of it isn’t enough to get power to my legs. Areas of exposed skin –my cheeks and the lower part of my ear lobes sticking out from a fleecy headband – are howling. This morning is minus 10 degrees Celsius according to the weather apps but the wind chill is even more brutal.

“You guys are next-level dangerous,” a local says, wide-eyed, as she passes my husband and I crunching through the snowy town to our hotel.

My impression is she doesn’t often see trail runners attempting the February snow, clad in ankle-length running tights, thermal tops, windbreakers, gloves. I’m grateful for the Gore-Tex lining on my Asics Gel Trabucos keeping my feet dry, and snowadaptive Oakley Sutro sunglasses blocking this environment’s stunning white glare. I contemplate we must look like winter ninjas.

“If there’s a zombie apocalypse, I’m coming with you!” the woman shouts.

I stifle a self-satisfied grin and try to keep up our snail pace. My ankles are as heavy as ski boots after less than an hour of highaltitude running at minus 10 degrees Celsius. We’re on the way back to the crackling fireplace of the Wyman Hotel on Elm Street, and I couldn’t be more grateful.

Records, Altitudes & The Cold

This short stint of exposure my husband and I battled through is nothing compared to the feats achieved by locals in the Silverton and Durango area.

The region is home to the Colorado Trail, one of America’s most famous running and hiking routes stretching 782km between the capital, Denver in the northeast, and Durango in the state’s southwest. It’s one of the most scenic trails in the country, and admirably eco-friendly, as the entire trail was built and is maintained entirely by volunteers through an organisation called the Colorado Trail Foundation. It covers 58 peaks along the way, with its highest point sitting at an elevation of 4,045 metres. And yes – before you ask – there are plenty of wild women and men who run (or attempt to run) the entire thing.

Local owner of running store Durango

Running Co, Brett Sublett, was part of the first team to complete a non-stop, roundthe-clock relay across the entire trail. In 2017, he and a team of four other runners finished the track in 3 days, 15 hours, 54 minutes. There’s no official tally of times set on the Colorado Trail, but Sublett says the team’s finish time beat a supported runner’s record set earlier the same year at 8 days, 30 minutes. It even surpassed a mountain biker’s record time of 3 days, 20 hours, 46 minutes.

“Where we started near Denver, there were so many parts that had easy access by road and vehicle. So, we started by running really short, fast segments, four or five miles at a time and just trying to go as fast as we could,” he explains.

“There were a lot of handoffs and a lot of exchanges. Then, as we went into more remote sections of the trail towards the Durango end, up in the San Juan’s, there were sections that were close to 20 plus miles because we couldn’t get any vehicle access.

“I was reasonably fit but all the rest of the guys who did it with me were about 30 years younger than me. I was 51 and most of the guys I did it with were under 30.”

Most of the Colorado Trail runs above 3,000 metres. It’s the kind of altitude that trail running in Australia simply can’t measure up to. No wonder this crazy Aussie was feeling a little out of breath. However, I’m grateful to hear even Brett finds the thin air at elevation challenging.

“We all spend a lot of time at elevation, but I notice it. Especially when you’re trying to run fast,” he says.

“When you’re trying to push the pace, it gets really uncomfortable. My advice to runners coming to visit is that the biggest issue is often weather at elevation. Storms move in quickly, before you have time to get down. There are storms, lightning, rain, even in summer. You need to be able to identify weather and respond – get down off the trail or hunker down if necessary.”

Daggy Durango?

If the state of Colorado is the outdoor adventure capital of the US, the city of Durango where Brett lives could be the trail running capital of the state. It’s an epicentre for outdoor adventure, slightly friendlier in winter for its sunny weather and lower-altitude starting point than the snowengulfed routes we tackled at Silverton.

“You come to Durango because it’s in the San Juan Mountain range of the state and the peaks down here are just a little more jagged, a little steeper and a little wilder,” he says.

“We have really good access to them from Durango. I can get off work and go run up to 13,000 feet after work. There’s not too many places that you can have that kind of access.”

In the 1990s, USA Today famously dubbed Durango the ‘worst dressed town in America’, referring to locals who seem unable to change out of running and ski wear, no matter the occasion. These days the title is held up as a badge of honour. To the extent that the town hosts an annual dress-up party called Snowdown at the end of January, where any combination of fluoro, lycra and daggy clothing fits the dress code.

Local trail runner and Team USA athlete Anthony Kunkle loves the down-to-earth, welcoming community of athletes that his fashion-snubbing town attracts.

“I’m definitely proud where I’m from. Wherever I travel abroad or in other states I’m representing Durango. I absolutely love where I live,” he says.

“It’s the best place I’ve ever lived to train in the winter. We get snow but we get more sun than anywhere in Colorado. It’s high desert, just north of the border between New Mexico and Arizona. Being at the terminus of the Colorado Trail is such an interesting spot to live – where the desert meets the mountains.”

If Durango is the epicentre for trail running in Colorado, Kunkle might be its unofficial mascot. He lives in a house of endurance athletes just a few miles from the mouth of the Colorado Trail, on the only road in from Durango.

“I’ll regularly use the last four to five miles of the Colorado Trail for my bread-and-butter training,” Kunkle says.

“It feels like something really decadently privileged to have this in my backyard.”

Kunkle’s home has become known as a halfway house for runners passing through. Hikers and trail runners attempting a section of the Colorado Trail often drop by for free snacks, showers, a sauna, laundry. He extends the invitation to any readers of Trail Run Mag hoping to try and run the trail themselves.

“I’m happy to say to anyone reading this article who wants to go running on the Colorado Trail, I would welcome you to come and visit. We’ve got sponsor products, clothing, prototype shoes, an infrared sauna. We swim each morning in the creek, which is just above freezing temperature, and we use low red lights after sunset. We’re all about staying grounded,” he says.

“If you’re in Durango and you’re into running, hit me up. No questions asked.”

Colorado Trail Essential Gear Checklist

Shoes – staying warm requires staying dry. Opt for a waterproof, Gore-tex membrane and good grip. The Asics Gel-Trabuco 11 GT-X are a reliable choice.

Sunglasses – snow blindness is a thing, so be sure to protect your eyes. Oakley Sutros use the same Prizm lens technology as their ski goggles to make vision clearer in both harsh sunlight and lower lights when the clouds move in on mountains.

Bottoms – kicking up snow can make your bottoms cold really fast, so it’s good to opt for a water-repelling pant like Oakley softshells. At minimum, keep your ankles covered with long running tights and socks.

Top – if you choose waterproofing in the pants, wear a more breathable layer on top. Thermals, down or fleece layers that can be peeled off and stuffed into a pocket are ideal.

Gloves and headband/beanie – essentials for low temperatures, keep the skin covered and out of frostbite’s way!

INSIDER KNOWLEDGE: Kate Allman is a freelance sports and travel journo based in Sydney. She’s someone who rarely stands still, reporting widely for newspapers, magazines and TV. It’s fitting for the lifetime runner, who grew up training on hills in the Southern Highlands of NSW and was a state rep cross-country athlete.