What possesses 21 sane people to run 20 miles from Cascade Village to Silverton along Highway 550 over Coal Bank Hill and Molas Pass on the last Sunday in February each year?

Of course its Wiggy's Fun Run and as any one who has done it can attest, it is truly a celebration of life and fitness.

I was first initiated to this run back in 1992 when some old time, crony runners decided to take a young, green Fort Lewis College student on "some run up north of town." Little did I know with what I was getting involved.

With breathtaking winter views of snow-capped Engineer Mountain and the Grenadiers, the scenery could not possibly be any more exciting.

Durango resident, Keith Paris, claims that this run is a highlight of the year. Paris says, "It’s low-key and a great challenge to do something that I used to think was pretty impossible".

This run has no entry fee and although there is no promised aid, invariably there were a few brave husbands, wives, boyfriends and girlfriends strung out along the route who were willing to offer wayward runners some water or a ride if needed.

There were lots of smiles and a few grunts during the run two weeks ago. Wiggy's has had its share of ups and downs with attendance as low as two people a few years ago but this year with the beautiful almost spring-like weather; there were a record 22 participants.

Durango resident, Warren Eaton, 65, completed the run for the 4th time while his wife Carolyn treated tired runners to fully stocked aid stations of Gatorade, Gu, water, bananas and oranges on top of Coal Bank Hill (yes, its only a hill!) and Molas Pass.

Carl Jess, from Farmington, made the trip to Durango for a good early season high altitude training run as he continued his preparations for another Hard Rock Endurance Run. Buoyed by a recent 17:09.15, 8th place finish at Rocky Raccoon 100-miler in Huntsville Texas, Jess blazed to a leading 2:40 finish at Wiggy's.

At age 43, Jess admits, "I've been doing the same kind of training for years and all of a sudden I'm running better times than ever before".

If Jess figures out the secret to running his fastest times past the age of 40, I certainly wish he'd share them.

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There is a fast 5K run and 1-mile event for children tomorrow morning at Santa Rita Park at 10 a.m. This event is a fundraising effort for the Durango Motorless Transit/Fort Lewis College Scholarship Fund that was recently started to help area high school students attend Fort Lewis and join in the cross country running program. Registration begins at 9 a.m. and the $10 entry fee is good for an individual or entire family.