By Gordon Wright

The Buena Vista Heritage Museum boasts, on its heirloom-wood and slightly dusty top floor, a model train exhibit without peer in Chaffee County.   According to a dot-matrix banner taped to the wall, the U-shaped diorama was created by the Buena Vista Model Rail Road Society and it boasts a stunningly life-like replica of the Arkansas Valley Smelter.   

The second floor of the BVHM is also the site of the 2008 GORE-TEX™ TransRockies Run, and there’s little question that the Heritage Museum has never seen such a collection of sleek athletes.  A pop-up tent rests at the base of the stairs — a bower of athletic shoes and technical apparel courtesy of Salomon, one of the main sponsors of the race.  Inside, the racers shuffle through the registration process, signing release forms, collecting bounteous shwag and patiently waiting for their laminated ID cards.

For all is dusty appearance, Buena Vista is a beautifully appropriate venue for the start of America’s only running stage race.  The nearby Arkansas River makes it a white-water beacon, and Outside Magazine named it one of the Best Towns in America in 2005.  The old railroad and mining town has only 2,200 residents, many of them retirees, but its location on a high plateau between Salida and Leadville give it a Banana Belt environment.  The handsome historic downtown features outdoor stores, river outfitters and plenty of latte outlets and good cafes where, as my friend Marty would say, they’re no stranger to stinky cheese.

We’re at 8,000 feet here, and the Collegiate Range looms large and panoramic in the mid-distance. The elite athletes have rolled in chicly close to the end of the registration, as Adam Chase, Anita Ortiz, Max King and Erik Skaggs picked up their race numbers on the table in front of me.

Soon, the pre-race presentations begin, where the athletes will watch a video of last year’s race and get a course preview.  After that, the race is on — and won’t stop until August 30^th.