A 60-year-old Michigan woman died Friday morning during a 100-mile ultramarathon through rugged Colorado mountain terrain, San Juan County officials said.
San Juan sheriff’s officials and Silverton Medical Rescue crews were called to the Little Giant Trail near Gold Lake at 9 a.m. when members of the Hardrock 100 safety team started CPR on a participant experiencing an unknown medical issue, Silverton officials said in a news release.
Rescue crews took over resuscitation efforts after hiking into the area, but the woman, identified as Elaine Stypula, was pronounced dead at 10:27 a.m.
Additional information about what happened before event crews started CPR was not immediately available, said San Juan County spokesperson Deanne Gallegos.
Event organizers confirmed a runner had died and offered condolences in a post on the Hardrock 100 website.
“Our hearts are with their family, friends and fellow runners as we grieve this tremendous loss,” event organizers wrote. “We are committed to caring for runners, crews, volunteers and all members of our community through the event’s duration and beyond.”
The Hardrock 100 is a 102.5-mile course through the San Juan mountains, starting in Silverton and looping through Telluride, Ouray and the ghost town of Sherman. Runners traverse 13 mountain passes, including the 14,098-foot summit of Handies Peak, and cover 66,394 feet of elevation change, according to the event’s website.
The average time to finish the course is nearly 40 hours, and runners must travel through steep scree climbs and descents, snow packs, river crossings, boulder fields and trails near sharp dropoffs during the day and at night.
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