Kremer takes second place at classic Imogene Pass race

“I knew the pain was going to be over soon enough”

Crested Butte Community School second grade teacher Stevie Kremer opened her season of running back in April when she placed 50th in the women’s field at the Boston Marathon, posting a sub-three-hour time.
On Saturday, September 11 Kremer took her talent to the trail to compete in the 37th Imogene Pass Run, finishing in second place behind three-time race winner and course record holder Kerri Nelson.
Close to 1,600 athletes signed up to run from Ouray to Telluride via Imogene Pass. The course is 17.1 miles long with over 5,000 vertical feet gain, reaching its highest point at 13,120 feet.
It was Kremer’s first time at the event and she was there at the suggestion of a friend.
“Shari Sullivan [Marshall] convinced me to do it,” says Kremer. “And I’m a much better uphill runner than a downhill runner.”
Sullivan Marshall has run the Imogene Pass race before and laid out a plan for Kremer for the summer to prepare her for the race. The training involved running two times a day, once in the morning and again in the afternoon, throughout the summer.
The training runs included several miles on the trails in the Crested Butte South area as well as the occasional charge up the Gunsight Pass road, with adjustments made accordingly.
“If I couldn’t get miles in I’d at least get in some hills,” says Kremer. “Shari was the best coach.”
Kremer came into the race with almost no knowledge of the actual course.
“I had never seen the course,” says Kremer. “Shari and some friends warned me that mile nine is the steepest mile, and knowing that definitely helped.”
Sullivan Marshall also warned Kremer to work up to the front as soon as possible, since the race bottlenecks a half-mile in when 1,500 runners try to turn off of Highway 550 and onto a jeep road.
“I didn’t have a watch to check my time,” says Kremer. “I got to a pace and stuck with it. I knew the pain was going to be over soon enough.”
When the crowd thinned out, Kremer realized she was leading the women and held first place all the way to the top of Imogene Pass.
“I knew Kerri was going to be in front of me and my goal was to keep her in sight,” explains Kremer. “When I got to the top ahead of her, I was so happy, but she wasn’t far behind and I knew she was faster on the downhill.”
Kremer admits some trepidation as she headed down the jeep road bound for Telluride.
“The downhill was steep, loose gravel,” says Kremer. “I personally think the downhill was tougher than the uphill.”
Nelson eventually passed Kremer at mile 12, but Kremer held onto her pace to finish in second with a time of two hours, 40 minutes and 44 seconds, a mere two minutes behind Nelson and fast enough to place her 13th overall.
“I didn’t know what to expect with my time,” says Kremer. “I was super surprised.”