Trail running; it’s something almost every Backbone employee loves to do in some capacity. Whether they’re escaping into the Tetons, taking lunch runs on Colorado’s front range, or running ultra marathons across the High Rockies, Backbone employees have a certain place in their hearts for scenic single-track. There is, however, one individual on the Backbone team with an unparalleled love for the sport and her name is: Elinor.
One of the Roaring Fork Valley’s foremost experts on the topic, our in-office guru represents Newton Running, talks running shoes with media all day every day, and offers sage advice to untrained trail-running rookies. Elinor also brings Backbone’s running culture to the next level having accomplished such feats such as the Leadville 100–one of the longest and toughest races in the Rockies–and most recently, the San Juan Solstice 50 miler. When not hustling for her clients or exploring the Rocky Mountain wilderness on foot, Elinor will occasionally author a piece about the virtues of trail-running.
In her latest freelance assignment for Apsen Magazine, Elinor profiled the world-class trail running scene that exists just outside the Roaring Fork Valley and the athletes that revel in it. Check out some excerpts from her piece below, or visit Aspen Magazine to read the full story. (Images and text courtesy of Aspen Magazine)
“When asked why trail runners gravitate to long, relatively remote routes like the Four Pass Loop or the relatively mild Conundrum Creek–which offers a very runnable and scenic 9-mile jaunt to a natural hot springs–the answer is about tapping into the sport’s ‘Zen-inducing’ effect that isn’t achieved in road running.”
“With so many trails here–and up and down the Roaring Fork Valley–Aspen’s trail-running community can seem to be small and dispersed. It’s not until races such as the Ute Mountaineer’s Golden Leaf Half Marathon, held each September on the Government Trail from Snowmass to Koch Lumber Park, that trail runners congregate here in any great number.”
