Ray Kenny stood out as he crossed the finish line in the Kodiak Ultra Marathon’s 21-kilometer race.

The 68-year-old crossed the finish line at Big Bear Lake, California, surrounded by runners half his age, with a time of two hours, 46 minutes and 26 seconds this past Sunday. Kenny finished 58th overall out of 105 runners and first in the 65-69 age division.

“I wasn't thinking about winning the age group, but we've been training for six months or more running around here, running around in the Colorado trail, Dry Fork, you name it,” Kenny said. “ … I knew I'd have a pretty good time. I was happy (being) 40 minutes ahead of second place.”

Kenny taught geology at Fort Lewis College from 2001-2017. Before that, he taught at New Mexico Highlands and also did research at the University of Colorado.

The retired Fort Lewis professor has only been running ultramarathons for a few years. He began running races in Arizona with some friends he graduated with from Arizona State University. Kenny and his wife have been avid backpackers, trekking thousands of miles off-trail and in the Grand Canyon.

Despite his success this past Sunday, the 21K race was no walk in the park for Kenny.

“It was challenging because it was 2,000, 2,250 feet of elevation gain,” he said. “We start off basically running to the top of the ski area. So it's pretty hard but it’s a beautiful trail, so it’s a lot of fun.”

Kenny is already looking ahead to his next race, the Desert Rats by UTMB 50K in Grand Junction in April 2024.

bkelly@durangoherald.com