A smoky morning greeted runners at this year’s 2nd Annual Silverton 6/12/24 Hour Mountain Runs held at the Kendall Mountain Recreation Area. The run takes place on a 1 mile loop on the Kendall Trail which was hand built by Rodger Wrublik and Jamil Coury in 2010 specifically for the Silverton 1000 mile challenge. The loop is not easy enough being at 9318 feet above sea level, but also climbs 250 feet up to the top of the ski lift on single track trails and a small section of dirt road. This is no Across The Years! The loop was accurately measured with a Rolotape surveyor’s wheel to be exactly 1 mile and runners aim to complete as many loops as possible in their set amount of time. An aid station was setup along with Aravaipa Running’s chip timing system at the base of the hill under a 30 by 60 foot white tent where runner’s kept track of their mileage for the day and replenished themselves with food and drinks.
Runners early on in the race
Tayer Redden, Mark Hellenthal and Teagan Redden having fun
The Silverton 6/12/24 was created as a sister race to the Silverton 1000 mile challenge which has been held on the Kendall Trail loop for the past 3 years under the direction of Rodger Wrublik. Runners start in the clockwise direction of travel, switching directions each loop, much to the dismay of most entrants who find one direction of travel much easier! The trail features sections through the trees, two stream crossings, a series of tight switchbacks and a series of fun rollers on a steep hillside.
Locals Anthony Culpepper and Cody Braford battling early
Criss Furman showing good form
Packet pickup was held on Friday afternoon at Cafe Mobius which is owned and operated by elite mountain runner Megan Kimmel. Runners filtered in throughout the afternoon, a mix of locals signing up for the race and friends from Arizona and Nevada arriving into town for the weekend. The new Run Steep, Get High shirts made their debut and friends gathered in the coffee shop chatting about the run.
10 year old Tajh Redden ran 31 miles
8 year old Teagan Redden also ran 31 miles
All races started at 8am on Saturday morning with only a few entrants opting for the “night option” which began at 8pm. Local residents Anthony Culpepper and Cody Braford battled for the first couple of hours running laps together, pushing the pace in the 24 hour event. Others took a more conservative approach based upon their own race goals. Anthony ended his run early with a bit over 30 miles, but Cody held strong in the 24 Hour race, staying ahead of last year’s winner Vlad Henzl of New Mexico. Vlad ran 83 miles last year to set the event standard in the 24 hour with Cody taking second. This time, Cody (who was also celebrating his 37th birthday) finished with 91 miles and a new event record, pretty good for a course featuring 22,750 feet of climbing! Cody’s run proves a sub 24 hour 100 on this course is definitely in reach, maybe Cody will return for his 38th and go big? In the women’s race, Silverton local Ivy Lefebvre handily won with 76 miles and placed third overall while Anne Pence of Eagle, CO ran strong for 2nd. Other Silverton locals include first time racer and local photographer Criss Furman who ran 48 miles. He just started running last year at age 66 after being inspired by while taking photos at the Silverton 1000! Blaze Braford Lefebvre (12 year old son of Cody and Ivy) ran 30 miles and blacksmith artist Ken Webb not only ran 10 miles but also created some really cool awards for the top finishers. Friends Ethan Pence, 15 and Brandon Sheard, 16 both ran stride for stride to complete 50 miles sporting their CU Buffalo hats on the final loop. There were a total of 17 runner in the 24 hour race.
Some sweet trails on this course
The 12 hour race featured a large contingent of Arizona runners including the Redden kids (Tajh, Teagan and Tayer) as well as Silverton locals Bob Boeder and Tanner Paxton. The winner, Justin Lutick of Fountain Hills, AZ ran a total of 55 miles looking strong all day. Although Stephanie Buettner of Scottsdale, AZ led the women with 37 miles after the 12 hour day run finished, Rachel LaGrandeur of Denver, CO put in 40 miles at night to take the win. Tajh age 10 and Teagan age 8 both ran a total of 31 miles, completing many miles together while their younger brother Tayer ran 12 in between playing around all day. It was amazing to watch these kids so effortlessly put in the miles and run with ease even at altitude.
Ivy Lefebvre wins the 24 hour for the women
Switchback section in the trees
In the “sprint” division, our top 6 hour runner was Aaron Keller of Durango with 33 miles which set a new event record, followed in 2nd place overall by Erin Churchill of Rio Rancho, NM who won the women’s field with 25 miles. Everyone had a great time looping around the course and meeting new people. The smoke from fires in the area was an unwelcome addition to this year’s event, but just another challenge that proved to be no match for these endurance runners.
Check out the two remaining races in the Silverton Alpine Running series: Kendall Mountain Run & “K2” Double on July 20 and Silverton Alpine Marathon & 50K on August 24.