Skaggs Brothers: Evil Aliens or Force For Good?
By Gordon Wright

They are "freaks of nature." Aliens. Running machines or maybe mutants. The Skaggs brothers are all that, as well as affable, funny, laid back and leading the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run.

The consensus among the other competitors is that the Skaggs, Erik and Kyle, have been sent here to demolish the race, tear it apart and carry it back to whatever groovy outdoor performance lab from which they have recently sprung. Part of the quiet intimidation they've laid on the rest of the field comes from their appearance: Erik, 25, and Kyle, 22, look like whitetail stags and run about as fast. Leaner than a couple of Slim Jims, they glided effortlessly over the mountain passes of Stage One that had other racers gasping in their wake. Add in some climber/dirtbag attire, moderately long hair and their incongruously youthful miens and it is clear why most ultra runners - who range from "mature" to "grizzled" - find them otherworldly.

Kyle, at age 22, and older brother Erik, 25, are among the new wave of the sport of ultrarunning who are re-writing record books and revising the notions of just how well seasoned you need to be to win.

The duo came slowly to running, growing up in a tiny town in southwest New Mexico, hard by the Gila Wilderness. Kyle, the blonde of the pair, notes, "Being outside basically all the time in this really isolated area was a huge formative experience for us."

Erik, sporting a sparse mountain beard and dark hair, ran track in high school. As Kyle points out, however, "We didn't even have a cross-country team. And I despised track." Kyle did figure that being in good shape would help his rock climbing skills, so he took up running around the time he matriculated at Evergreen College in Washington State, where he quickly scored a cross-country scholarship at the NAIA institution whose motto, "Never Underestimate Geoduck Pride!" is made, if possible, even more hysterical when you know how to pronounce geoduck, ("GOOEY-duck").

When Erik would come home for winter break at New Mexico State University, his little brother would bug him to get out for a training run, and, according to Erik, "I got my ass kicked. I got a little sick of that, so I started training."

What they have done since graduating college and joining the Montrail/Nathan UltraRunning Team has been nothing short of spectacular.

Kyle broke John Stamsted's record for circumnavigating Mount Rainier on the Wonderland Trail by pounding out all 93 miles in just 20:53 (Stamsted, an ultra-cycling legend, had established the mark of 24 hours in 2005).

Keen to break more records, Kyle also recently set the Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim standard, firing through 42 miles and two ungodly ascents in just 7:37. That run broke a 25-year-old record, and also saw Erik pace Kyle through two "Rims," though he admits now, "I was shelled by the last leg."

That experience daunted Erik not the least, as he once again paced Kyle over the last 50 miles to a breakthrough performance in this year's Wasatch 100, which Kyle not only won, but (sensing a pattern?) set a new record of 19:35.

While Kyle's race resume may have more spectacular results, Erik isn't far behind, especially given that he ran his first ultra in 2006. The two are perfectly matched in pace and temperament, blending a laid-back attitude with a nut-crushing competitiveness that beat the rest of the field by nearly a minute per mile on day one.

Like Leadville 100 (2006) and Rocky Raccoon 100 (2007) winner Anton Krupicka, who is all of 24, the Skaggs are avatars of a new movement in ultrarunning. Billy Simpson, also a Montrail/Nathan runner (though considerably more seasoned), says, "It's a new day. These guys are the real deal." So is Simpson, though his hardware for the day came with teammate Whit Rambach, who won the 80+ division stage even though they were a half-hour behind the Skaggs.

No one gets rich running ultras, and the bros are too humble to start counting on a nice four-figure paycheck for winning the GORE-TEX TransRockies Run. They're "running bums," according to Kyle, who has a job in Silverton but is soon to relocate to Ashland to work with Ian Torrance and Hal Koerner, who are opening up a new running store, Rogue Valley Runners. As for Erik? Well, he's a real running bum, and is crashing on his brother's couch as they carve up the trail running world.

While the kids lead by many minutes, there is a more disturbing development. Kyle notes that, "This was the day we thought we'd get beat, because it was really short and fast. We're pretty recovered from Wasatch and getting stronger.'

How can Kyle feel so good ONE WEEK after winning the Wasatch 100? After setting a new course record? And with his older brother setting that torrid pace for the last 50 miles?

Simple. They're still kids. Or aliens - the verdict is still out.