In the Roaring Fork Valley, one need only go for coffee to encounter an acquaintance who participates at a high level in outdoor sports. Each year, countless local residents podium at trail races and in various snow sport competitions. The Sopris Sun receives more tips lauding sports accomplishments of siblings, children, parents and friends than there is room to print. We spoke with Carbondale-based coach, writer and athlete Zoë Rom for her perspective on athletics in the Valley.
In her case, Rom noted that her early running days were a matter of convenience and cross-training. “I started running in high school because I was bored. Then, in college, I worked as a backpacking guide and I used running to get in better shape for guiding.” While she’s been athletic her whole life, that wasn’t what brought her to the Valley.
“I actually moved here for a career in journalism — not to chase snow,” Rom quipped, arriving in 2018 to work at Aspen Public Radio fresh off a graduate degree from CU Boulder. “I immediately fell in love with the work hard, play hard vibe in the Valley,” she said. Having moved to Carbondale in 2019, she joined Trail Runner Magazine as an editor that summer and worked for Microcosm Coaching — each based in town.
“The joke is that instead of soccer moms, Carbondale has 50K moms,” Rom laughed, before elaborating that she sees many multisport athletes who run for both cross-training and for fun. She attributes this, in no small part, to the geography.
“Access in the RFV is unparalleled. You can run a 14er, ice climb, backcountry ski, cross-country ski, kayak or swim in an alpine lake — all before your lunch break,” she quipped again.
That variety of outdoor activities “attracts a certain type of person who’s called to extremity, but also wants to live in a down-to-earth community of like-minded people,” Rom continued. “This Valley is full of former dirtbags who now have a mortgage and kids, which makes it a great place to chase adventure and still have friends to grab brunch with.”
And you never know who might be an extreme athlete. “I think this Valley is a hotbed of stealth crushers. The person who cuts your hair or fixes your car has probably recently completed a 100 [mile] race.” Overcoming economic realities here in the Valley is yet another challenge.
“This Valley can be a difficult place to live. It’s expensive, a bit isolated and, let’s be real, the food scene leaves something to be desired.” But, she continued, “Everyone who ends up staying here is very bought in and dedicated.” That specific mix of obstacles can even be motivating. “This is a hard place to wind up by accident, and it takes a lot of work to remain in the community here. You have to work hard to stay here, and you have to play hard to remind yourself why you work so hard.”
As a journalist — who has had bylines in the New York Times and High Country News (and was the editor-in-chief of Outside Magazine) — Rom has made some notes about what she would like to see change in the running and sports communities, broadly speaking.
“I would love to see more emphasis on mental health in the endurance-sports community. I particularly see a lot of men working through or masking feelings through endurance sports,” she stated.
Inclusivity within the culture is another important component to her. “I would love to see more serious conversations about how to fix the systemic issues that make it more difficult for certain folks to participate in endurance sports — like housing justice, childcare, healthcare, and environmental justice,”she shared. “So much of the framing of endurance sports in media and popular culture relies on a false narrative of heroic individualism that rings shallow to me, and pushes lots of folks out of the conversation.”
Rom finds more purpose in running, beyond just winning. This past summer, she was the second woman across the finish line at the Leadville 100, in just under 21 hours and 28 minutes. But, to her, the appeal of the sport is more meditative.
“There’s something about endurance sports that speaks to the way my brain works.” She elaborated, “I like that running gives me a space to be the person I want to be in moments of challenge and difficulty. It’s a microcosm for a lot of the challenges that life throws at you. You can learn how to navigate failure, setbacks and disappointment, and even success, in a psychologically safe way.”
In addition to coaching, journalism, podcasting and racing, Rom is the co-author of “Becoming a Sustainable Runner,” published in August 2023. You’re likely to encounter her running streets and trails around the midvalley with a bag of Sour Patch Kids in her pocket.
