Mary's Loop 8-Mile 2025

Ezzy Rostel and Spencer Shellberg finishing Mary's Loop in new record times. View more photos here: ALBUM

If you want to know how the 8.5-mile Mary's Loop Run at Kokopelli Trails felt this year, you can take Ernie's word for it: "G*ddamn that felt good!" 

This Striders-original event has changed hands many times since 1993 and had various iterations (see Conrad's history of the race below), and was restored as a Strider event in 2023. Considering the readjustment back to being a Striders event (and my first event as race director!), the recent unrelenting heat, the overlapping date with Telluride Mountain Run (where Strider Whit Blair won first place!), the fullness we're all still relishing from Thursday's Peach Ice Cream Night, and the various end-of-summer plans folks are wrapping up, we had a wonderful turnout. Spencer Shellberg was the first to finish, breaking the modern-day overall course record (we'll have to do some digging to find what the overall course record is going back to 1993), and Ezzie Rostel was the first woman to finish, also breaking the modern-day women's course record. We didn't have any nonbinary participants this year so that record still holds (but make sure to spread the word that MMS has a nonbinary category! I know there are plenty of local nonbinary runners who could smoke my record). Records aside, a good time seemed to be had by all. Thanks to everyone who came out, to Michelle for taking a break from newborn duties to flag the course, to Conrad and Sheryl for sweeping, and to Tom for doing pretty much everything else there is to do and for helping me learn to direct a race!

-Megan

The History of (the) Mary’s Loop Run
While I was helping Karla Nephew with timing of this year’s Mary’s Loop, it became evident to me that the history of the run should be told. I bumped into an old shirt in the closet and thought I should wear it. And, the Search & Rescue announcer kept mentioning that this was the 14th annual Mary’s Loop and Kokopelli’s Classic event.
The original idea for the race came from Dewayne Deaver, Denise Shirmer, and Jo-Riley Epps. The first race was held in 1993. They had no shirts, no porta-potties, and no permit. Dewayne worked at the BLM and the event became a fundraiser for the BLM Employee’s Association. The first race T-shirts were for the 1994 event, and the artist for the shirt design was Kathy Voth. (This was the shirt I was wearing). All the race T-shirts were of a picto-graph art motif.
Dewayne was transferred to the Salmon Idaho BLM in 2001. He handed the race off to the Strider’s past president Robb Reece. Robb was running races in the Himalayas at that time. The event helped with funding. It was low key. Prizes were painted rocks. One year he ran out of time, so Jay Krabacher helped me put the event on. Very low key, of course.
Robb was with Mesa County Search & Rescue then. MCS&R was interested in taking the event for a fund-raiser for themselves. So, we handed it off to them with the stipulation that if they ever decided to give it up, that we would take it back. Denise tells me that while she and Dewayne put it on, it was a springtime event – that the Indian paintbrush were out in bloom. I don’t recall when it changed to the fall, but do remember it was after Imogene in slightly cooler weather.
-Conrad