Megan Kimmel tragically passed away this past week, at the age of 46.
A beloved off-road runner, backcountry skier, hiker, dog mom, entrepreneur, free spirit, family member, and friend, Megan brought joy to the lives of so many. Her loss is felt throughout the world, from those she raced with in the far reaches of the globe to those she shared her home with in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. While most people will know Megan as a world-class runner, she was much more than that.
Megan Kimmel: off-road runner, backcountry skier, hiker, dog mom, entrepreneur, free spirit, family member, and friend. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
Racing and Adventure
For Megan, racing and adventure went hand in hand. She began trail racing around 2003 and found quick success in national-level mountain races, and later in international mountain running, trail running, skyrunning, and ultrarunning.
Megan ran professionally for both ASICS and Salomon during her career, which enabled her to travel internationally and compete. As was true to her free but highly driven spirit, she traveled to and competed in some of the world’s most competitive races, as well as some of the most adventurous — including the 2017 and 2019 Yading Skyrun in western China, which she won both times. When racing in Europe — including lining up for the iconic Swiss mountain race Sierre-Zinal at least twice and placing second in 2015 — she was known for camping her way around the European Alps, and even setting up shop at a campsite in the Chamonix valley of France for a couple of weeks at a time to train. It was both racing and a grand adventure.
Megan on her way to winning the 2019 Yading Skyrun. Photo: Skyrunner World Series
Megan raced hard, but she also knew how to have fun. She ran the Zegama Marathon in Spain at least five times, getting as high as second place in 2016, and was also a champion of the infamous Zegama after-party of her era.
Stateside, Megan thrived at the La Sportiva Mountain Cup, an early mountain running circuit in the U.S. Circa 2009 to 2014, she won the annual series more than once. She won both the Pikes Peak Marathon and Pikes Peak Ascent in Colorado, setting a then-course record in the Marathon in 2018. She also won The Rut 28k in Montana in 2016.
Megan Kimmel in the wind and the dust and the crowds of Sancti Spiritu at the 2017 Zegama Marathon. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
Though she mostly ran shorter distances, she occasionally experimented with ultrarunning. In 2015, she won The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Championships in San Francisco, California, and podiumed at the Transvulcania Ultramarathon in 2019 in Spain’s Canary Islands during her final year of competitive racing. She’s a two-time champion of California’s Broken Arrow Skyrace 52k, which has now been updated to the 46k event.
She wore the Team USA jersey at the World Mountain Running Championships at least three times and was a part of the bronze medal-earning USA women’s team in 2009.
Megan Kimmel running the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase in Utah, 2012. The race was part of the La Sportiva Mountain Cup. Photo: Asics
Home in Southwest Colorado
Megan loved Southwest Colorado, making the high-altitude mining town of Silverton her home starting around 2002, and becoming a homeowner in 2007. She moved to and away from Silverton several times over the years, having made the San Juan Mountains foothills town of Ridgway home for most of her recent years.
Around 15 years ago, Megan opened Cafe Mobius, the coffee shop that would become the heart of tiny Silverton. Eventually, Megan yielded ownership, and the business has since morphed into the Coffee Bear, still the beating heart of Silverton and holding true to Megan’s belief that the tiny town needed a place to gather people for coffee and conversation.
Megan after the 2017 The North Face 50 Mile. Photo: iRunFar/Bryon Powell
She operated Cafe Mobius in the era when supply trucks would not make deliveries to Silverton for such a small business, so she commuted the coffee shop’s supplies from the foothills towns herself. The shop was known for its homemade breakfast burritos, heated in a press and ready to grab on the way out to any morning adventure. It was also a place where Megan would chat with anyone about her adventures, their adventures, and more.
She did all this while still running professionally.
Megan retired from professional racing during and perhaps as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As her running career waned, she moved to her next professional endeavor: opening a whole-foods co-op in Ridgway with friend and business partner, Honga Im. A few years ago, she moved away from that endeavor as well and returned to school to add skills to her massage therapy practice, which had long been a part-time job and passion. She added a certification in structural integration, and her clientele expanded from there.
Megan at her co-op, Ridgway Natural Foods, in Ridgway, Colorado. Photo courtesy of Megan Kimmel.
The San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado, which she’s called home for so long, will feel vacant without the larger-than-life, straight-talking, takes-no-bullshit Megan Kimmel.
Megan was loved by so many, and we are so sorry for the enormous loss you feel. We’d love to host remembrances of her in the comments section. May Megan run in peace.
Megan all smiles after the 2019 Transvulcania Ultra. Photo: iRunFar/Meghan Hicks
