Colorado Springs: Rhonda Rodgers, 72, a grandmother from Michigan celebrated her birthday earlier this month in style by running and walking on the challenging Pikes Peak trail, west of downtown Colorado Springs.
“Our father passed away in December and she (Rhonda) was feeling lonely. We wanted our mother to feel good and decided to have short vacations in Colorado Springs,” daughter Courtney Engstrom said.
What is astonishing is that the 72-year-old could climb a steep flight of 2700 stairs in rarified air, the altitude varies between 6000 feet at the base of the trail to roughly 8000-plus feet at the summit, in 80 minutes. A young and fit person might take an hour to cover the same route.
Pikes Peak trail routes are a favourite with local fitness freaks as well as those visiting Colorado Springs on weekends primarily because it is taxing on the lungs and legs.
After the steep climb, Rhonda, her two daughters and grand-daughter, also ran three miles downhill.
Rhonda doesn’t have a lean frame synonymous with distance runners, but has a big heart and strong lungs. She revealed that she was a cross-country runner in her college days. Perhaps, which was why she could conquer the trail faster than people half her age. “I still run twice or thrice a week in Michigan (where she stays). That’s why I am able to enjoy this trail,” she said excitedly.
With support from her daughters and teenage grand-daughter, Rhonda was undeterred on the steep route. “Mom, take a break if you are tired,” Rhonda’s younger daughter Courtney Engstrom advised her mother en-route when she felt breathless.
“How about you, do you also run cross-country,” she asked me while catching her breath on the trail. Indeed, it was a bit of a struggle to keep pace with the Michigan family.
Halfway through, I almost gave up. My lungs were fine but my legs were numb. At times, I had to crawl to move forward as the incline was so steep.
The family kept motivating me to keep going and scale the summit. “You made it,” Courtney said when I reached the summit.
Seeing people in the age group of 60-plus, including Rhonda, proves that age is no bar and it’s all in the mind.
Courtney and her elder sister Joslyn O’Dell were distance runners in college. “We still follow a fitness routine,” said Courtney.
It was a memorable time for this Michigan family as they scaled heights in Colorado Springs. Their journey to the summit started at 7.30am and were back around 10am. “We made it. It was certainly a race against time,” Courtney said.
