In 1991 Fred Vance was living in Colorado where he met Jim Nolan.
Jim was a walker/mountaineer who climbed all of Colorado’s 4,000-meter peaks; for the record, there are 54. Just the year before, Fred had managed to get to the bottom of his first 100-mile race, the famous Wasatch 100, where he discovered the world of ultras and was hooked, so a question arose and he asked aloud:
“How many 4000-meter peaks can be connected in a distance 100 miles?”
Back home, Jim Nolan went to work and returned with the answer for Fred, after drawing a hand trace on two maps.
“Fourteen” was the answer.
You could have made it to the top of 14 4,000-meter mountains in 100 miles of development at most.
The route planned to connect 14 4000-meter (14,000-foot) peaks from Mt. Massive at Mt. Shavano. The total elevation gain uphill was about 27,000 meters.
Fred, not having to think about it too much, decided that he would try to go through this crazy chaining in the coming summer of 1992. Jim would assist him, it was crazy, but he had to.
However, as is often the case, the “important things” are not all about running, and that year Fred moved to California, where he had found a new job. The project was skipped, but that idea never left Fred.
By 1998 Fred was an established ultrarunner. That was the brightest year of his career. It was a magical year in which he had succeeded in a feat deemed radical by ultrarunners themselves.
He had managed to run in the same year three of the most infamous ultra races in existence at the time (but actually the ones that are even now considered the toughest). After Barkley Marathon (he had made it to the bottom of the Fun Run – 60 miles) he had managed to kiss the end rock at Hardrock, although due to lung edema from the altitude it had taken him 51 hours, going off the official cutoff. After four days, Fred was at the finish of Badwater 135, a 250-kilometer asphalt desert race in the middle of summer, with temperatures to melt your shoes on the asphalt, finishing tenth.
In just that the year of grace for Fred, Nolan’s 14 was born.
The name?
Jim Nolan referred to it as “the Death Run,” while for the three pioneers Fred Vause, Blake Wood and Charlie Thorn the name chosen was Nolan’s 14 in honor of their friend. Finding themselves at a table in the restaurant, the three decided that it would become a competition (the first competition took place the following summer, in 1999).
Wood was a solid runner, a former Hardrock winner as well as a seven-time finisher, he was also the third in history to finish Barkley Marathon, after 58 1/2 hours of suffering. Thorn, another great Hardrock loyalist, fourth in 1992 and second in 1993. The three knew their way around the thin, rarefied air and the great rocky mountains of Colorado-they were up for the challenge.
In 1999 the three pioneers found themselves together, with materials that we will now judge unsuitable, at the Fish Hatchery campground, not far from Leadville. Their attempt ended after 36 hours (for Thorn and Wood, who had taken a wrong turn several times and had run out of food ) and after 48 for Fred Vause; all three managed to bring home “only” 7 peaks out of the 14 in their plan.
They walked back to the base, no one giving them a ride as they tried to seek their fortune by hitchhiking.
In 2000, the following year, 6 people set out, and with a great exploit Wood managed to concatenate as many as 11 peaks before raising the white flag on a day marked by violent thunderstorms. Of the six participants besides veterans Wood and Hardman were Joe Florio and Jim Nolan who were persuaded to start with Vance because “having volunteered the year before they had earned a bib.”
Instead, Fred Vance decided that from that year forward he would serve other runners who wanted to try to bring home Nolan’s 14: when it comes to the attitude of ultrarunning and a sense of community among those who run ultras.
For the record, Fred Vance never managed to finish Nolan’s 14 in his lifetime.
But the real question was: was it really possible to get to the bottom of that “Death Race?”
Yes. The following year there were 12 participants and as many as 4 succeeded in the feat. The usual Wood, who thus sealed the end to that obsession; Mike Tilden-who won the race with a time of 56 hours and 22 minutes; John Robinson; and Jim Nelson, the Oregon boy fresh off a “one-two” Hardrock 100 and Western States 100 in the same year.
The cutoff for the test was therefore 60 hours.
The race was held one year in one direction and the following year in the opposite direction.
I think it is worth dwelling on the attire in which one of the participants, Matt Mahoney, approached the race:
cycling pants from which I had removed the pad, a synthetic T-shirt, a light k-way, rain pants, a wool cap, and polypropylene gloves. Having left without a backpack I tie everything I do not use to my waist, as footwear I opted for Merrell Sprint Blasts, without socks.
Matt Mahoney is currently the person in charge of Nolan’s 14 list. He is a former lecturer (retired since 2015) specializing in Data Compression research, passionate about the social impact of artificial intelligence in society, Sudoku and, of course, ultrarunning.
He managed to run 11 of the 14 fourteeners in just over 60 hours of effort. Even Matt Mahoney could never close the Nolan’s 14 line.
In 2002 only John Robinson succeeded in repeating the complete crossing. He is keen to point out in his race report that the distance is the same as in Hardrock 100; only in Hardrock you only climb one 4,000 mountain, while in Nolan’s 14 are 14. In his words Nolan’s 14 is on1 a whole other level of difficulty than Hardrock 100.
Eric Robinson, on the other hand, was able to tick off nine summits in his first year (in 2000). The following year, sleeping 6 hours out of the 60 hours of the race managed to reach 11. In 2002 he set out with the idea of hiking at least 12, reaching La Plata, and then aiming for the 13th peak (Mt.Elbert) without ever sleeping. He also managed to climb Mt.Elbert, but missed the last summit. Eric came from a family very devoted to running; he had run his first marathon at the age of 6; however, he never made it to the bottom of Nolan’s 14 peaks.
The end of the race and the beginning of the FKT
From 2003 onward, the race was canceled. As a result of restrictive regulations on the national park in which the course takes place Nolan’s 14 stopped being a race and evolved into an FKT, where anyone can go when they like and try it out.
There is a database on the Internet with all the attempts throughout history, maintained precisely by Matt Mahoney (and it existed then). The Forest Service discovered the site and found that there were these runners (in the peak year as many as 15) organizing this “event” with even aid stations. They contacted Vance by email to inform him that it was illegal to do events, that the race was canceled, and that they would fine anyone who showed up in the starting area.
By the end of the era of the event’s officiating there were only 3 runners able to make it to the end: Tilden and Wood in 2001 and John Robinson in 2002.
Interest in Nolan’s 14 dropped and went in the direction of oblivion. A few attempts almost all of which fell far short of the goal, until 2012, when Matt Hart, a boy from Boulder Colorado who was in very good shape that year (he won Tahoe 100 and finished third in Bear 100) and none other than Mr. Jared Campbell broke the silence by managing to close the thing in 58 hours and 58 minutes. After about ten days Eric Lee was the third person of the year to close the trial.
Jared Campbell returned two more times to try the course, printing a 56:39 along with Gary Robbins and a 53:29 paired with Luke Nelson, still going on to trim the record time.
Many top athletes then tried to take it for a spin. Anton Krupicka believed it was possible to run the route in 30 hours (half the cutoff time), and at 2:00 a.m. on June 24, 2013, he set out to make the crossing from north to south. He stopped after 7 peaks and 13 1/2 hours at full speed, pursuing that idea judged by many to be a bit arrogant.
while his partner, Joe Grant, who tried to assist him that day, managed to add it to his personal collection after 49 hours and 38 minutes of effort no less than two years ago (2018).
In 2005 also came the first women’s repeat by Missy Gosney and Anna Frost in 57 hours and 55 minutes, while the current record belongs to Iker Carrera with 47:40 supported by crew, while the solo record is by Andrew Hamilton who succeeded in both directions in 51:24 and 53:39.
Do you want to know the success rate?
about 15 percent.
Do you want to know how many people succeeded in 2019?
One, 22-year-old Justin Swantek in 55 hours and 19 minutes.
Do you want to know what you win?
Absolutely nothing.
Do you want to know how many Italians have succeeded?
None, although rumors have it that a DU athlete is training specifically for an attempt…
Do you want to know what it feels like to get to the bottom of Nolan’s 14?
Practice.