Kremmling running super couple wins Adidas Terrex 20K titles on final day of GoPro Mountain Games

Kremmling couple Eli and Tabor Hemming — arguably two of the best sub-ultra trail runners on the planet — dominated the Adidas Terrex 20K on Sunday in Vail. Eli covered the new one-lap course in a time of 1 hour, 24 minutes and 46.1 seconds while Tabor made it to Mid-Vail and back in 1:43:44.6.

“It does make it a nice drive home,” Tabor said of the husband-wife wins. “You’re both in a good mood.”

“This is always a super fun one,” added Eli. “The whole week is a big party, so, we can’t miss it.”

Fifty-nine runners contested the women’s race. Carmen Graves (1:46:42.7) was the runner-up and Brianne Nelson (1:53:02.3) rounded out the podium. Eagle 36-year-old Heather Pugh (2:10:25.5) was the top local finisher in 14th.

After noticing the plethora of former high school and NCAA track stars on the start line, Eli’s plan was to separate on the 2,000-foot climb to Mid-Vail and hold on during the descent.

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“I saw a lot of (Colorado School of) Mines guys and I was like, these track guys have some leg speed. And I didn’t know what the top of the course looked like,” he said. “Going down the hill, I figured there was going to be a fair amount of service road. A lot more trail than expected. Loved the new course.”

Hemming worked with 10K winner Cam Smith briefly before the courses split up. From there, it was recent Eagle Valley High School graduate Dylan Blair who provided the challenge. Blair has serious trail credentials — he won both the National High School Trail Championships in Salida and the International U18 Mountain Running Cup in Donovaly, Slovakia last summer — but has been focused on running the 1600 and 3200-meter track distances all spring. On Sunday, the two-mile and 5K school-record holder showed very little rust and a lot of guts, gunning past many of the country’s top trail stars from the gun despite only training about 35 miles per week — about 80 less than Hemming.

“Being track training right now, I can get off hard, and I got off hard and I was like, ‘man I am feeling great’ — at least the first 500 meters,” Blair said. “And then a quarter mile later, I turned around to say to (my brother) Tyler (Blair), ‘dude, I’m lactic already.'”

Blair was in second after running a 7:20 uphill first mile. He said he felt like he died during the second mile, where he slid to fourth, but “found a second wind” on the third segment. By the 9,900-foot course high point, the 18-year-old had moved into second. The former Devil was actually cutting into Hemming’s advantage during the downhill before a nasty fall halted his progress.

“I was walking for two minutes,” Blair said. “It really hurt.”

Paul Knight, who finished runner-up at the NCAA DII national championships two weeks ago and boasts a 10K personal best of 28:38.87, ended up sliding by Blair for runner-up honors. His final time was 1:26:50.5 to Blair’s 1:27:00.9.

If there had been a team race up for grabs, the Eagle Valley High School alumni would have taken the title over Colorado School of Mines. Blair’s former teammates Jackson Filmore (1:29:50.1), Jack Packert (1:32:33.6) and Cooper Filmore (1:38:39.7) finished sixth, seventh and ninth, respectively, in the 100-athlete field. For his efforts, Blair bagged $1,000.

“Straight to college,” the Northern Arizona University commit said when asked what he plans to do with the cash. Perhaps a dinner with the family before his 8-hour shift at Red Sky first?

“We’ll see about that,” Blair said. “I might just get a dinner for six for myself. I feel pretty hungry right now.”

Eli Hemming’s focuses for the rest of the season include the Broken Arrow SkyRace later this month, followed by the Mont-Blanc Marathon and the Orsières-Champex-Chamonix (OCC UTMB), one of the most fiercely competitive and popular 50-kilometer mountain ultramarathons in the world. Hemming — a former No. 1-ranked triathlete in the U.S. — won the race in 2024.

“Honestly, I’m just unbelievably fortunate for where I’m at right now. I did not expect it at all. I stepped away from triathlon with the thought of, I’m probably going to have to get a real job,” he said. “I didn’t know a career in trail running was a thing. We just did it because it was the most fun thing we could find.”

The Hemmings live and work on a cattle ranch owned by Tabor’s parents. Eli also roasts beans for the family’s coffee shop and both of them operate a bourgeoning Youtube channel, podcast and coaching business. Tabor said the Youtube pursuit wasn’t about making money, but connecting with the trail community.

“We wanted to be genuine,” she added. “Like, this is our life, we’re not perfect. We have a lot going on. And showing people you don’t have to have this perfect lifestyle to be really good at something you’re passionate about. We have a lot of irons in the fire.”

For Tabor, the theme of the year is health.

“I’ve been dealing a lot of achilles issues the last 18 months, so this season is all about being grateful to be on a start line,” she said. “No matter how the race goes, I was just grateful to be running and be able to hurt aerobically and not orthopedically.”

After dropping out of the Black Canyons 100K at mile 19 this past February, the former standout junior Nordic skier leaned into her skinny-ski roots to cross-train through bilateral Achilles tendinopathy. She’s also been logging more time in the saddle than ever before. Tabor said roughly 80 percent of her training is on the bike these days. Her North star race this year is OCC. Two years ago, she was leading until just past the halfway point before fading and ultimately dropping out.

“I think there’s a lot left in the tank and a lot left to be desired for that,” she said. While that event will take the couple to Europe, Tabor said she prefers to stay and compete at home. It’s one reason the couple decided to come over the pass to the Mountain Games, where she’s been competing since fifth grade.

”It always feels like a hometown race,” Tabor said. “Everyone thinks you have to go to Europe to get this trail running experience, but you don’t. You can find really cool stuff right in your back yard.”