RACE & COURSE HISTORY

The history of speed ascents (some may refer to an FKT or “fastest known time”) on Kendall dates way back to 1908 and quite a history it is...

It was August 1908 and Silverton was a mining boom town. A conversation about mountain climbing between a saloon owner and another man in town moved towards Kendall. The one man said he knew a man who could ascend and descend the mountain in an hour and a half. A wager was made ($200) and local 53 year old miner Neil McQuieg was recruited to attempt the feat. He climbed straight up the face of the mountain (presumably up the avalanche chute) and made it to the top in one hour seven minutes and 40 seconds. He blasted himself back to town to finish in one hour thirty-one minutes 42 seconds. Although the bet was lost, it was quite an achievement and word spread through town like wildfire.  Labor Day of that year another miner, Myron McWright who was 21 years old successfully lowered that mark to 1 hour 27 minutes 25 seconds. Not satisfied with his time, Myron attempted to lower his time just 4 days later on a rainy afternoon after drinking at a saloon and accepting a wager for $60.

He failed to return to town by nightfall and a rescue party found his body near the summit. He either fell off a cliff on his descent or succumbed to the elements (it was snowing at the top of the mountain). This quickly snuffed any known attempts at speed climbing Kendall until local Ouray mountain runner Rick Trujillo shattered the existing record in 1975 by running a 1:23:07 which still stands today. Inspired by Trujillo’s run and his own running of the Pike’s Peak Marathon, Bill Corwin came up with an idea for an annual run up Kendall (but instead using the road and a minor scramble to the peak at the top). Thus the Kendall Mountain Run was born in 1978 and has been held each year since.