FITNESS AUTHOR
Amy Willis
RUNNING BIG BEND n One Austinite and runner shares what it was like to run in one of Texas’ most beautiful locations.
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n early April, 20 adventurous trail runners headed west to Big Bend for Trail Roots’ first Runcation of 2021. Just after the 2019 trip, the world closed down due to the COVID-19 pandemic and, after a year of isolation, runners were ready to reunite and reconnect. This annual trip has been coveted by Trail Roots members and friends for years, but for many, it was their first experience of this sprawling and majestic landscape that defines the border of Mexico and the United States. We all piled into cars stuffed to the brim with camping gear and snacks, left Austin and made the long trip to Terlingua, an old mining town just outside the parks where we’d set up camp for a few peaceful, cell phone-free days. After unloading and pitching our tents, we chowed down on homemade chili stuffed in baked potatoes, then fell asleep in our tents beneath the famous Texas
JUNE 2021
starry night sky, anxiously awaiting our first run in the morning. At 6 a.m., Trail Roots founder and owner, Erik Stanley, led a morning meditation followed by breakfast and coffee. Once we gathered our gear, we drove to Big Bend National Park to run two trails. To our surprise, there was a significant wildfire in the basin and all but one of the trails were open to runners. Luckily, the Window Trail, which is one of our favorites, was open and we ran the five-mile trail that meanders down into a canyon, surrounded
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by massive rock formations and ending at the famous “window.” We carefully hopped on stones across a stream with birds and butterflies flapping past. Early morning is always the best time to run and, with fewer people on the trail, nature captivates all of your senses. It’s an incredible feeling to be running in a wild national park and see all of your friends run by with huge grins on their faces, occasionally stopping for a photoop. At the end of the trail, we came upon a “window” which was the top side of an ancient waterfall in
