A couple weeks I was in the most beautiful spot I've ever
been on earth. Now, I realize I haven't been everywhere on earth, but I do know
that Ouray, Colorado was absolutely beautiful.
I was in Ouray (pronounced “YOU-ray”) to help a friend,
Matt, attempt the Ouray 100 miler. It is
a 102-mile trail run that covers over 42,000 feet of elevation gain, climbing
the peaks, passes, and mountains around the city of Ouray. Ouray is known as the “Switzerland of
America” because it is a beautiful mountain surrounded by mountains that seem
to go straight vertical in every direction.
Matt’s event started at 8:00 on Friday morning, and he did finish…47
hours and 59 minutes later.
I was with him for about 20 of the last 24 hours of that
event, and it was memorable for multiple reasons.
1-I have never seen such distinct and rugged mountains,
coupled with incredible wildflowers.
2-It was hard! When I
was with Matt during the parts of the course on Saturday, we were at or above
12,000 feet for the majority of it, and the temperature was in the
mid-90’s. While it’s a “dry heat” and
it’s not the humidity we are used to…that arid air seems to dry you out and
dehydrate you much quicker. I seemed to
always have a dry mouth. Couple that
with the fact we were often without aid (as in, drinkable water) for 4-5 hours
at a time, and I found myself rationing the water I was carrying. Not my best planning.
3-With the long day came some serious fatigue. Obviously!
The course is sadistically designed to leave two of the most difficult
climbs to be the last two climbs. And we
would be starting these two at about 10:00 PM.
The first climb went to the Old Ouray Mine…which is probably amazing in
the daylight but was downright haunted at night. But still…truly amazing. I hope to go back again in daylight hours,
and on fresh legs.
4-The time with a great friend like Matt was incredibly
rewarding, and also the camaraderie among the other runners and pacers was
just—well, I honestly get emotional when thinking about it.
Finally, it was time for the last 10 miles of the course.
Which is actually more like 13. You can make a trip up to Bridge of Heaven, and
then come back down. In the climb up, you gain 4800 feet of elevation. It is
non-stop climbing. By this time, I had been up for close to 24 hours and Matt
was approaching 43 hours and 90 miles! To say we were both a little bit shaky
on our feet would be an understatement. For me that also included all kinds of
hallucinations. I’ve never really
experienced the before, but every root on the ground was actually a snake, and
all kinds of shadows were bears or mountain lions or who knows what else! I kept asking myself, “Does Colorado have
poisonous snakes?” I still am not
sure. As we were climbing in the dark
using only headlamps and body lights, every shadow was a person moving…or maybe
just a ghost. I was on high alert, and
it was like nothing I’ve experienced before. I was also incredibly weary and
unsure of my foot placement, and considering some of the cliffs that the trail
was on, it took extra concentration to make sure my footstep was a good one.
Seeing it was so dark now you couldn’t really see how far down any cliff went,
and it might’ve only been 10 feet, but it also could’ve been 200.
As we continued to climb to Bridge of Heaven, I was doing
math in my head about how slowly we were moving and how long it was going to
take to get to the top. At several moments, I thought I can’t do this. I’m
going to get to the top and then not be able to make my way back down. I don’t
think I have ever been that tired in my life… So then think about how Matt was
feeling! We would take turns being the leader in our 2-human caravan, and I
would do my best to set a steady pace and not fall over while leading him and
then I would find a spot to sit down. Matt would sit down next to me. His eyes
were closed almost immediately for a bit of a nap. Then I’d tap him and tell him…”back to the
grind.” When Matt was leading me, I was constantly fighting the thoughts of needing
to turn around. I would tell my brain to shut up. I knew my body would last longer and could do
more than my brain could…I just needed to take that next step. With each step, we were closer to the
goal. As small of a step as it was, it
was still closer to the top of Bridge of Heaven. I would also watch Matt when he was leading,
and notice he was unsteady on his feet. And I knew I could not leave them up
there. I also knew that at the top that we would see the sunrise, and it would
be the most beautiful view of the entire event from what we had heard.
As we continued, still in darkness, we would see other
runners’ headlamps bouncing down the mountain towards us. They had already
summited and were on their way back to town.
I was focused on making sure we didn’t get off the trail, but I was also
distracted by the incredible stars in the sky. You combine those incredible
stars which were moving and twinkling more than anything I’ve ever seen before,
and these runners coming down the mountains from several miles higher up than
us, and I found myself trying to decipher between stars and runners’ headlamps!
I often had doubts seeing how far up those runners were and
how far we still had to go. We are averaging at this point about a 45 minute
per mile pace as we climb. But we continue to climb, one step at a time. As I
said earlier, I knew all along that Matt was going to finish, so it was just a
matter of whether I decided to join him in this last segment and be there to
see it. Matt is incredibly tough, has
accomplished some amazing feats, and I knew he would finish, even if he later
shared with me he had serious doubts the entire time. To me, it was just a matter of whether I’d be
there to see the top of this mountain and then go back to the finish with
him. I just had to keep moving and stay
with him. Despite being more tired than I’ve ever been and was asking more of
my body physically than I’ve ever asked of it before, it would have been so
much worse to quit on him.
Finally, there was a bit of light coming up and we could see
our destination—the Bridge of Heaven mountaintop. It was amazing what the
little bit of dawn and daylight did for us.
Those last final switchbacks were some of the toughest. I think Matt could really feel that the end was
in sight, and he was pushing for that mountain top, and in fact he gapped me
along the way as I tried to keep up!
As God would have it, we arrived at the top at 6:05 AM
Mountain Time. Sunrise was scheduled for
6:07. Absolutely amazing…and the
greatest reward we could have received.
Just take that next step.
Remember, you CAN do more than your brain will tell you
can.
Your health is your TRUE wealth. Take care of yourself through nutrition,
exercise, and chiropractic.
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