In 490 B.C., a soldier named Pheidippides ran a great distance to carry a message to Athens, Greece, from a city called Marathon, according to legend.
But Andrew Hahn’s got him beat.
For most of us, running 50 kilometers of trail Saturday at nearly 7,000 feet above sea level would make for quite a weekend. We would hit the hot springs, get a massage or at least sleep in the next day. But the 40-year-old Hahn, a medical researcher from Albuquerque, isn’t just anyone.
Instead of plowing into the pillow, he got up early Sunday went for another run. A 26-mile run.
“I guess it just makes for a good weekend,” Hahn said after a second-place finish in Sunday’s marathon, part of the second annual Animas Surgical Hospital Durango Double over the weekend. He was fourth Saturday in the 50K (31 miles).
Matt Kelly, race director and mastermind behind the event – part trail run, part road marathon – said the city is perfect for such an endurance challenge.
“Doubling is a running term for running races back-to-back,” Kelly said. “And there aren’t many places that do it. We realized we had the ability to set this up, an opportunity to take advantage of the best we have to offer.”
Kelly said the concept morphed out of the short-lived Durango Marathon that ran from 2002 to 2006, but the new trails within city limits are a better representation of what Durango is all about.
“Durango is not an easy place to make a living. It can be a little challenging,” he said. “We all live here for a reason, and 31 miles of trail is part of those reasons.”
The event offered various distances for participants. Saturday’s trail runs used much of the popular Telegraph Trail system, with 25- and 50-kilometer runs, and Sunday’s half- and full marathons ran along the Animas River Trail, with full-length marathoners continuing on La Posta Road (County Road 213) before turning around.
According to Kelly, there were about 450 registered racers from 26 states and Canada.
The men’s marathon winner was Lance Hamlin, who finished in 3 hours, 15 minutes, 8 seconds. The women’s winner was Erica Gabreski, finishing in 4:01:26. The half marathon winners were Jonathan Short of Denver and Catherine Fenster of Durango.
Saturday’s 50K winners were Herald Neidl of Steamboat Springs and Jenn Shelton of Durango. In the 25K, Scott Simmons of Durango won the men’s division and Kristy Falcon of Salida won the women’s.
Amy Collins, 40, came from Las Cruces, N.M., and ran in the 25K and half marathon. She said she’d be back again just to run in Durango.
“You look around at all the trees, the river, the snow, it’s awesome,” she said, catching her breath after Sunday’s run. “Seriously, it’s beautiful. I’m stunned.”
Collins, an assistant professor at Doña Ana Community College, said that for her, running is a lifestyle.
“It’s what we do,” she said pointing to her friends, “We run, we stay healthy and we live our lives.”
Jeffrey Nelson also ran two events. Visiting from North Dakota, he said running in the mountains has its challenges.
“The second day, you’re a little sore. It’s cool, and you’re a little stiff,” he said. “It just takes a little more grit to get up and get back out there.”
Kelly said the event wouldn’t happen without help from the 200 volunteers, organized by the race beneficiary, the Women’s Resource Center of Durango.
“To coordinate hundreds of volunteers, that kind of manpower and expertise, there’s not a lot of organizations in town that have the ability.”
The Women’s Resource Center will receive a minimum of $10,000 from the event’s primary sponsor, Animas Surgical Hospital, Kelly said. Executive Director Liz Mora said the center helps more than 900 women annually, and they share a good partnership with the event. The center provides educational support and other resources for women in the area.
“We work really well together,” Mora said.
Kelly, too, called it a good match.
“It fits well with a group that is doing so many amazing things in the community,” he said.
Other racers were just happy to be outside running on a gorgeous autumn day.
Kaylee Moore of Denver even made new friends on the trail.
“It was exhausting, but fun,” she said. “And beautiful. I saw my first tarantula, though. It was gross.”
As legend has it, that heroic run was the end of the road for Pheidippides. But at the finish line in Buckley Park, Hahn was oddly relaxed, enjoying some food. He said he doesn’t know of many events like this one.
“It’s a trail and a road race,” he said, showing no sign of running almost 60 miles in two days. “So, there’s that temptation. Can you do both?”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
