Getting high with llamas at 12,600 feet
By Steve Mohundro
Outside Online

The Leadville Trail 100-mile race tops out at 12,600 feet, site of the Hope Pass aid station that can often lift the sagging spirits of runners who reach the 44-mile mark.

"We act like we're cuckoo up there, like we're selling hot soup or something," says Dee Goodman of Akron, Colorado, who has helped provide physical, mental, and emotional relief to runners for seven years now.

The volunteers at the pass are joined by llamas; each of which hauls 150 pounds of equipment and supplies up to the station. The llamas, numbering 30 this year, are well-suited to high altitudes. Their calm demeanor can help if relief helicopters need to land or if storms brew.

"The weather can do just about anything at 12,000 feet," Goodman says. "Llamas will lie down on the ground when lightning strikes. People climb up on rocks, admire the light show, and risk being hit. Llamas just curl up in a ball, which is smarter."

What began as a struggle to get enough llamas to carry all the needed supplies--Goodman and another man brought seven in 1989--has become surprisingly easy. This year's llamas come from all over Colorado. "I used to have to call around to get people," Goodman says. "Now people are calling to see if they can help."

Volunteers at the Hope Pass aid station see many runners trying to maintain their pace, while others plod in disheartened. It's different from other aid stations, Goodman says, because the runners don't have their family and friends as crew.

"At our aid station we are the crew. We do everything. We like to get (the runners) in good spirits," he says. "In the afternoon, when they still have a climb to go, some are depressed. Some come to us crying. We try to cheer them up."

Goodman says the opportunity for aid station volunteers to talk to runners makes Hope Pass a rare point on the 100-mile course.

"When you're crew at other aid stations you don't get to talk to the runners," he says. "Where we are, we can talk to the runners, see how they're doing."

Some runners arrive in dire straits. One runner last year had survived being swept down a nearby river and had hypothermia by the time she reached Hope Pass. After being attended to and resting, the runner awoke, parted the tent flaps, and watched the llamas grazing calmly. She left feeling fine.

The llamas are "very environmentally sound," Goodman says. "You'll see llamas take a bite of a plant, chew, and then move on to another area. They don't sit in one spot and keep eating. When they leave you hardly notice they were there."

Goodman is bringing seven of his own llamas this year and expects he'll be in charge of the llama crew again next year. He says the perseverance of the runners is what brings him back year after year to this remote yet key aid station.

"The way [runners] keep going is amazing, simply amazing," he says. "We feel good when we do something good for these people."

If you have a llama and would like to help with next year's Hope Pass Aid Station, Dee Goodman can be reached at 970-345-2927.