Adam Loomis navigating steep terrain at the 2025 Speedgoat 50km at Snowbird, where he finished 4th. Photo: courtesy of Mike McMonagle // MRM Photography.

TELLURIDE, Colo. — Park City’s Adam Loomis won the 40-mile Telluride Mountain Run, the one for which the event registration page warns, “TMR is extremely difficult,” and “Prepare for a difficult day in the mountains.” Then, in all caps, it reads, “THIS IS NOT FOR BEGINNERS,” and finally, it advises, “This is a technical race, not a trail run.”

Loomis, 33, a storied and successful competitor, had no illusions otherwise. He arrived for the race, which started at 5:00 a.m. at Telluride Town Park, where the finish line was also located, to run the 64-kilometer race with its five checkpoints and 15 hours of allotted time.

He didn’t need it. He barely needed half of that 15-hour cutoff time as he crossed the finish line way out ahead in first place in seven hours, 49 minutes, and 59 seconds (7:49:59).

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Telluride, Colorado. Photo: Adam Loomis.

Second place went to Sean Van Horne, who lives near Aspen, Colorado, with a finish time of 8:32:34, and third was earned by Midway, Utah’s Patrick Parsel in 8:51:33. The out-of-town podium placers beat out the fourth and fifth place finishers on their local trails—runners who both got to sleep in their own beds the night before.

This was Loomis’ first year racing the Telluride Mountain Run, and he chose it for the beauty of the setting and the challenging and technical terrain. The race averaged an elevation of nearly 11,000 feet, topped out at 13,500 feet, and included a section of true mountain ridge running up and over Telluride Peak.

Telluride, CO. A friend of Adam Loomis and his dog scouting the trail with Loomis. Photo: Adam Loomis.

“That section, known as the ‘mile-and-a-half in the sky,’ was a highlight of my race,” Loomis told TownLift. “The ridge was lined with Search and Rescue personnel, which was both reassuring and a good acknowledgment of the legitimacy of the terrain. Overall, I was really satisfied with the effort on the day and the time that I ran.”

It was the fastest time in the current, post-pandemic version of the full course, although some years the race course has been diverted around the Telluride Peak section due to thunderstorms. For example, last year’s winner ran 7:33 on the shortened course.

“It was inspiring to race in such an incredible environment with a lot of history — dating back to the Utes who first settled there and then followed by a booming mining era,” he continued. “It also included sections of the famous Hardrock 100 course. I’m definitely hungry to spend more time in the San Juan Mountains after this experience.”

Looking forward, he’s racing the Rut 50K in Montana in mid-September. Following that, he’s hoping to have his first overseas trail race experience at Ultra Trail Cape Town in South Africa in November in the 100K distance, which is part of the World Trail Majors circuit.

In his down time, Park City Ski & Snowboard Nordic Coach Loomis shares his proven skill, knowledge and passion as a manager of the Moose on the Loose kids summer trail run series and the age 14 and up Sept. 6 Fall 5K Trail Run, register here.