{"id":21486,"date":"2025-07-11T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/under-a-big-tent-runners-find-joy-in-the-san-juan-mountains\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T22:06:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T04:06:53","slug":"under-a-big-tent-runners-find-joy-in-the-san-juan-mountains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/under-a-big-tent-runners-find-joy-in-the-san-juan-mountains\/","title":{"rendered":"Under a big tent: Runners find joy in the San Juan Mountains"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango
Durango runner Kyle Curtin talks about the gear and shoes he is packing on Wednesday that he will use as he competes in this year\u2019s Hardrock 100 race that starts today in Silverton. The Hardrock is a 100-mile run with 33,197 feet of climb and 33,197 feet of descent for a total elevation change of 66,394 feet with an average elevation of 11,186 feet. The low point is 7,680 feet in Ouray and high point 14,048 feet on Handies Peak. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Nearly 150 runners. Almost 33,200 feet of vertical climbing. A grueling 102 miles through rugged terrain and extreme altitude of the San Juan Mountains.<\/p>\n

The starting gun is set to go off at 6 a.m. today, and this year\u2019s competitors in the Hardrock 100 will take off from Silverton into the tall mountains.<\/p>\n

Many will take two days to reach the finish line. Some may not finish at all.<\/p>\n

Just two days before the race, Durango ultrarunner Kyle Curtin seemed surprisingly calm for someone preparing to run the notoriously difficult race for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t get super nervous, really, for races anymore,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"The
The only nutrition Kyle Curtin will consume during his approximately 24-hour run will be Tailwind Nutrition liquids and gels. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He was focused on staying healthy, downloading music to his watch and packing his gear \u2013 which included a large supply of Tailwind liquids and gels, the only calories he planned to consume during the roughly 24 hours he hoped to be on course.<\/p>\n

Curtin has run about one 100-mile race a year in the 15 years since he first stepped into the world of extreme endurance running.<\/p>\n

His strategy for the Hardrock is simple: run his own race, don\u2019t go out too fast. It\u2019s not a sprint.<\/p>\n

When the going gets tough, he said, the plan is to take in more calories. Fueling is critical.<\/p>\n

The casual way Curtin spoke about the run, and his many feats of endurance \u2013 last year, he broke the record for the fastest completion time on the Colorado Trail \u2013 masked the difficulty of the sport he has spent years training for.<\/p>\n

But he said what he does isn\u2019t all that special.<\/p>\n

Anyone could do it, Curtin said, with enough preparation.<\/p>\n

But does everyone want to?<\/p>\n

This year, the race runs counterclockwise, and runners will summit Handies Peak \u2013 elevation 14,038 feet \u2013 at mile 38.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Hardrock 100 racecourse map.<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Running at high altitude for such long periods takes a toll, both physically and mentally.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour body behaves differently at those kinds of extremely high elevations,\u201d said Brett Sublett, Hardrock course director and a three-time finisher. \u201cIt gets really hard to ingest any kind of food, and a lot of times you have to get most of your calories from a liquid source.\u201d<\/p>\n

Runners have reported hallucinations and even falling asleep mid-step.<\/p>\n

Sublett said he\u2019s never seen things that weren\u2019t there, but described the mental decline during the race as similar to sleepwalking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did have an experience where a friend I was pacing thought he saw people sitting around a campfire,\u201d Sublett said. \u201cWe were out on the trail, in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night \u2013 there was no campfire, and there were no people.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said he kept his response vague.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want to be like, \u2018You\u2019re losing it, buddy.\u2019 I just wanted to give him confidence that everything was fine,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The average finish time of the Hardrock 100 is 40 hours. And for any race of a similar mileage, it takes intense time and dedication to be properly prepared.<\/p>\n

What is it that draws ultramarathoners back to the punishing races like the Hardrock year after year?<\/p>\n

Sublett\u2019s theory: Optimism. And the love of a challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last miles of a race you\u2019re miserable and uncomfortable, and you\u2019re like, I\u2019m never doing this again,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd then you finish the race, and literally three hours later, you\u2019re like, \u2018OK, well, next year I\u2019m going to do this differently.\u2019 It\u2019s kind of funny that people are like, never again, and then you talk to that same person the next day and they\u2019re like, I\u2019m signing up next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Kyle
Kyle Curtin must decide what high-tech socks he will wear while competing in this year\u2019s Hardrock 100 race. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

The benchmark in ultrarunning is often not about placement, but self-improvement. Runners push themselves to beat their own previous efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cRacing isn\u2019t really all that big a part of it. It\u2019s more about challenging myself,\u201d Sublett said.<\/p>\n

Curtin echoed the sentiment. He\u2019s been running ultramarathons since 2010 and said his motivation goes far beyond competition.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s something I enjoy doing, and I enjoy getting better at \u2013 trying to better myself physically,\u201d he said. \u201cI like the competition side of things too, but if the races didn\u2019t exist, I think I would still run.\u201d<\/p>\n

Living in Durango, Curtin is fueled by his love for the surrounding landscape.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s just such cool terrain around where we live, and by foot is the best way to get to mountaintops and into the wilderness,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also the camaraderie.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing able to share those experiences, I think, is something that brings joy to me while running,\u201d Curtin said. \u201cI really enjoy that feeling of just moving in unison together \u2013 and the shared understanding of what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtin ran his first 100-mile race in 2010 after reading \u201cBorn to Run.\u201d Inspired by his competitors, he went back two more times to run that same course.<\/p>\n

His athletic peers have continued to motivate him. Watching Killian Jornet, a world-renowned endurance runner, finish the Hardrock alongside Durango local Jason Schlarb in 2016 added more fuel to his fire, Curtin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat 2016 race was the first one that I kind of watched and I think that was pretty inspiring,\u201d he said. \u201c\u2026 He\u2019s (Jornet) won every race, has the record up Mount Everest. He\u2019s done everything. So it\u2019s pretty cool to see somebody like that come to a local race.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018We have a big tent\u2019<\/div>\n

Since the inaugural race in 1982, interest in the Hardrock 100 has only grown.<\/p>\n

This year, 3,022 people from all 50 states and 75 countries entered the lottery for one of the 146 available bibs, said Dale Garland, race director and one of the event\u2019s five co-founders.<\/p>\n

For many, the wait spans years. It took Curtin a decade of trying to finally have his name pulled.<\/p>\n

Ultrarunning has gained more popularity over the past two decades. When the race first started, it offered a really unique challenge, Garland said.<\/p>\n

Now, in Garland\u2019s words, \u201cYou can\u2019t throw a stick and not hit a 100-mile run someplace in the United States or in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

But what makes the Hardrock 100 special was never just about the length.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople come to Hardrock because they want to be part of a community that celebrates not only athletic accomplishment but family and commitment. Being a part of the Hardrock community is something pretty special, and people seem to gravitate to that,\u201d Garland said. \u201cWhether you\u2019re a runner or pacer or a volunteer or whatever you do \u2013 you\u2019re a part of our family. We have a big tent.\u201d<\/p>\n

It takes hundreds of volunteers to put on the event each year, and each of the 146 runners has a crew that supports them, trying to make sure the runner crosses the finish line and kisses the rock.<\/p>\n

\"Diana
Diana Finkel of South Fork kisses the hardrock after finishing the 2010 Hardrock 100. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>du1-i-syn<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"The
The finisher\u2019s rock at the Hardrock 100 in Silverton. (Durango Herald file)<\/span>John Livingston\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

\u201cNo one runner is doing all this on their own. They\u2019ve got a whole team of people behind them that are sacrificing as well,\u201d Sublett said. \u201cSo that feels really good when you cross the finish line \u2013 that you know it was a team effort.\u201d<\/p>\n

Curtin\u2019s race crew is staffed by many of the same friends who supported him and accompanied him on his record-breaking run on the Colorado Trail last year.<\/p>\n

Over the years, as the endurance sport has picked up steam and transformed into a multimillion-dollar industry, Hardrock has remained a nonprofit entity, Sublett said. It is what has drawn him to continue participating in various capacities, year after year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not necessarily about running fast or raising money,\u201d Sublett said. \u201cIt\u2019s just about being in the mountains and giving everybody a good experience and getting to share this beautiful place that we\u2019re lucky enough to live in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those interested in following the race can access live footage on Mountain Outpost livestream on YouTube and track the runners\u2019 live locations on the Hardrock GPS tracking site.<\/p>\n

jbowman@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Brett Sublett\u2019s name was misspelled in a previous version of the article. The Durango Herald was provided with incorrect information. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Athletes, Hardrock 100 community find shared meaning in rugged landscape<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":21487,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2185,28,976,1914,1562,327],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-21486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-hardrock-hundred-mile-endurance-run","tag-headlines","tag-outdoor-recreation","tag-running","tag-san-juan-county-colorado","tag-silverton"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21486","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21486"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21486\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77331,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21486\/revisions\/77331"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21487"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21486"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21486"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21486"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=21486"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}