Ultrarunning’s Young Guns

Indeed, the trio is relatively unmoored from responsibilities that could inhibit their running. Erik is working for Rogue Valley Runners, a running store in Ashland, Oregon owned by superstar ultrarunner Hal Koerner. Kyle, after couch surfing with Krupicka for a while, is now living in Silverton, Colorado, renting a room from a friend and doing some work for the Mountain Studies Institute.

Krupicka has perhaps the most excellent trail-running bum resume: he's living in his truck in the town of Leadville and working in a coffee shop. "I shower at the aquatic center in town," he says, "And all my hot meals are right there at work."

Both Kyle and Krupicka are sponsored by New Balance, which provides them not only with all the gear and apparel they need, but also a small stipend that, for Krupicka at least, is enough to live on - if you're willing to call a Chevy your home.

This running bum lifestyle belies the vast intelligence all three possess. Krupicka is the most garrulous of the three, engaging, energetic and possessing a Jesus of Nazareth look (if Jesus logged 175 miles per week). He graduated from Colorado College, where he ran track and cross-country, and, like the Skaggs, majored in Environmental Studies.

All three have a deep and intimate connection with nature. Growing up in the small farming community of Niobrara, Nebraska, Krupicka was a nature boy from day one. "My parents just raised me with a real appreciation of the land and nature. My dad was the director of the Small Farm Energy Project for the Center for Rural Affairs. We had a really simple lifestyle, living off the land. We had a huge garden, an outhouse and wood heating," he recalls.

Their thoughtfulness is easily apparent, especially in discussing the balance between competitiveness and their love of the outdoors. "I grapple with the competitive element of racing," notes Krupicka. "I wonder how important that is to me. I'm really competitive, and if people say there's no ego element to winning races, they're lying. But really, what I love most is just running in the mountains."

That is a sentiment shared by Kyle, who says, "Mostly it's a balance of joy. I'd be pretty happy just doing long adventure runs by myself, because that's my favorite thing, just being out there in the mountains running. But I do have a pretty competitive side."

Krupicka and Kyle managed to find a revealing balance in this spring's Red Hot 50K race in Moab, where they entered together and blew everyone out just miles into the race. "We were just cruising that race, and planned on winning it together," says Kyle, "But with about a mile and a half to go, we were just jogging along and some guy blew by us. We weren't even paying attention, and the guy was a good runner, too. We had to hammer for a bit, but in the end we put three minutes on him and crossed the finish line together."

Together - and with a new, shared, course record.

Erik's boss Hal Koerner is 32, theoretically in the prime of his career and defending champion of the Western States. He thinks that the youth brigade is a welcome development in ultrarunning.

"They're just very humble and genuine guys," noted Koerner. "It took me ten years to win the Western States, but they run smart races and have incredible drive. People don't realize that it's not beyond them to run 35 miles per day in training."

Koerner will be back at Western States in 2009 to defend his crown, but likely will have at least one of the young guns to contend with. If that bums him out, it isn't apparent. "It's invigorating to the sport. It's good to see them re-write what's supposed to be going on."

The real question remains: is this as good as the young guns will get? Will they crush more course records as they mature, or will their bodies break down, pummeled by too many miles? Or will they simply tire of the competitive element of ultrarunning and jog off in pursuit of more soulful, solitary adventures?

Kyle, for all his race wins, is also proud of a few other feats. In early 2007, he circumnavigated the entirety of Mt. Rainier, pounding out the 93-mile Wonderland Trail in only 20:53. And in November of 2006, he ran the Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim in 7:37.

Both runs, needless to say, broke longstanding records.