Regardless of the official times, if a team races in the 80+age group of the Gore-Tex TransRockies Run, they always win everyone’s respect.   Last night, I had the honor of meeting a group of women that I will forever revere with the highest of admiration.  And, quite clearly, there is a reason that race Director Aaron McConnell is getting international calls for status updates from their friends in Germany; with a combined age of 257, Team Millipede and Team Ducktail of Muenster, Germany, may just be some of the most extraordinary athletes in this testing Colorado terrain.

Julia Suwelack, Helga Landfried Teodoruk, Hildegard Durynek and Almuth Hecking took up running at an age that most women start to consider retirement.  Hailing from a one of Germany’s better-known running clubs, LSF Muenster, these fleet-footed femmes turned their golden years into almost two decades of racing, traveling, pushing themselves to extremes and, as of late, trekking between high altitude tent villages with hundreds of like-minded running zealots.