Apt taps into self, surroundings
to complete ten centuries
By Jason Willis Hickman

Last year's winner Kirk Apt placed ninth this year

"I had run all night and got to see the sunrise the next morning," Apt says, still with wonder in his voice. "The moon was still up over the highest peak in the range and the sun started illuminating the mountains. It was breathtaking. There are times like that in every run when the beauty of the place almost makes you stop dead in your tracks. That's basically why I do it."

Maybe that explains why he's completed ten centuries, including last year's Leadville Trail 100 race, which he won.

This year's Leadville event will be the 11th 100-miler in the decade-long ultra career of the massage therapist from Crested Butte, Colorado.

Competitors in endurance sports often face rough weather, blisters, digestive problems, stress-related injuries, and fatigue. And for ultramarathoners like Apt, the endeavors are measured not in hours, but in days.

July's Hard Rock 100, in which runners climb 11 passes over 12,000 feet high, led him through southern Colorado's San Juan mountains for 35 hours. And wind and rain pelted him for most of the 20 hours and 33 minutes it took him to win last year's Leadville. Apt's heart rate often stays elevated for up to two weeks after he grinds out an ultramarathon.

While runners often dote on the multitude of demands they make of their bodies, Apt turns his focus outward. From his doorstep in Crested Butte he can find idyllic training grounds in any direction and enough altitude to prepare him for Hope Pass, a 12,600-foot monster of a ridge that hits Leadville participants at the 45- and 55-mile points.

"The challenge is inherently enjoyable," he says. "To look inside your being to places you thought existed, and to produce the strength, stamina, and grace it takes to get through one of these races is really satisfying."

"I just try to stay relaxed and calm and tap into the energy of my surroundings," Apt says, adding that Leadville surroundings always include spirited backing from race volunteers, support crews, and other runners.

Ultra running is a sport generally featuring more camaraderie than cutthroat competition, and as much as runners compete with each other, the crux of their struggle is in producing the resolve and tenacity required to survive the altitude of Leadville, the heat of the Western States, and the terrain of the Hard Rock.

"Everybody out there wants you to succeed, and that's true amongst the runners as well," Apt says. "It's always great to see a friend do well."

While Apt credits much of his success in ultra running to others, including friends, support crews, and his longtime girlfriend, Keith Frates, he trains and races without a coach.

"You get a cumulative training effect over years. In this kind of distance running you actually get stronger year after year, and as you get older you get mentally tougher as well," he explains. "I guess after 10 years of running you just kind of figure out what works."

And three weeks before race day in Leadville, with a smile on his face rather than a grimace, Apt sets out for a 32-mile training run in the Rockies, hoping that, like last year, he's figured out what works.

Jason Willis Hickman, a freelance writer from Bellingham, WA, was support crew for a runner at last year's Leadville race