Distance today = 52.43 km; Total distance = 5366.86 km; Location = Poncha Pass Summit – 38 28.335′ N, 106 05.265′ W; Start time = 0819, Finish time = 1608

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/170373821

Today I passed one of the weirdest signs I’ve ever seen, in a little town called Villa Grove. On the front of the local butcher shop, in very official sign-writing, it read “Hippies Must Use Back Entrance – No Exceptions”. What the…………??????????

I began the day in Saguache (pronounced Sar-watch), a town that deserves a mention. It’s a lovely little place, with a very friendly diner/bakery, but the thing that stands out is the theatre. Owned by Chrissie (I hope I got the spelling right) and decked out in Art Deco style, it hosts live theatre performances on a regular basis, staged by a theatre company made up of locals. Tonight they are putting on a stage production of Titanic, which sounds like a titanic achievement in itself. I would have loved to be there to see how they deal with the sinking ship scene, but I’ve had to run on. Good luck to them – I hope the theatre and the company continue to have great success.

Today’s running consisted pretty much of one long climb. I finished the day at the summit of the Poncha Pass, at 2,756 metres (9,042 feet) in elevation. This is the highest I’ve been so far in the run around the world. It’s 110 metres higher than the Col du Galibier, one of the most feared climbs in the Tour de France. It’s also higher than all but one pass in Europe, the Col de la Bonnette, and it’s only 46 metres lower than that. But, don’t despair, I expect to go even higher in the days to come.

Off now to have a Saturday night drink at a picturesque bar on the banks of the local river. Ahhh, the joys of journey running!!!

PS The tracker is showing me in the town of Poncha Springs, but my official run location is about 12 km south of there, at the Poncha Pass.