Runners spend 24 hours climbing, descending Grandeur Peak for clean air
Feb 11, 2018, 10:27 AM | Updated: Feb 12, 2018, 9:15 pm
While most hikers take it slow as they ascend Grandeur Peak, this group was in a hurry to raise money for clean air.
About 120 runners participated in the Running Up for Air competition to benefit Breathe Utah. They ran up the trail to the summit and back down several times. Some planned to run from 6 a.m. Saturday to 6 a.m. Sunday.
“We can get clean air up at the top, but the only way you can get up there is you got to earn it,” said Roch Horton, one of the organizers.
Joe Heywood drove from Wyoming to participate.
“This is rough! It’s so steep going up and so steep going down,” Heywood said as he descended the mountain for the last time.
Heywood spent several hours making trips up and down.
“I got in five summits, so that’s about 30 miles, 13,000 feet of climbing,” Heywood said.
Some runners had people pledge money for each foot or lap they did. Heywood said he was happy to sacrifice his body for a good cause.
“I think it’s worth it,” Heywood said. “It’s worth the suffering to hopefully raise some awareness and push some money toward those organizations that are trying to clean up the air.”
