Bill Wright knows firsthand the importance of the work done by Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, the Boulder nonprofit founded in 1947; it has rescued him three times. First, when Wright was a sophomore at the University of Colorado studying computers, he went climbing, like many students, up at Castle Rock in Boulder Canyon. On a sunny afternoon, his partner dislocated his shoulder and had to be lowered down in a litter by Rocky Mountain Rescue.

In 1998, Wright was rescued a second time after falling 70 feet from the Flatirons, breaking his back. Then, 15 years ago, Wright decided to do 100 pitches (a section of a climb between two fixed pieces of protection) in a day in Eldorado Canyon. All was going well until Wright’s partner fell 130 feet, leaving both dangling from one piece of protection — his partner unconscious and Wright unable to get back onto the mountain. Once again, it was the Rocky Mountain Rescue Group to the rescue.

Those experiences, as well as having been nearby when local trail running champion Dave Mackey had a boulder fall onto his leg atop Green Mountain, have given Wright a deep appreciation for the group and one of the reasons Wright is once again organizing the Sept. 21 Rattlesnake Ramble in Eldorado Canyon. The 4.5 miler (rattlesnakeramble.org) is the nearest trail race to Boulder and is a fundraiser for three organizations — Rocky Mountain Rescue Group, Access Committee for Eldorado and the Boulder Climbing Community — and is a rare opportunity to race inside the magnificent Eldorado Canyon State Park.

If you have not run on the Fowler Trail, passing behind the iconic Bastille formation with a view of the steep canyon walls across the way, this is the time to do it.“I am a big fan of them,” Wright, 62, said after detailing his rescues during a recent phone conversation. “They are amazing people, who miss vacation, miss family, sometimes miss work to go out in the wilderness for people they do not know. What they are doing is amazing, and I like to sing their praises.”

What Wright himself is doing is also amazing — putting on the race, with his wife, Sheri, herself a solid trail runner, and in past years with his two sons, while teaching computer science at the University of Colorado. He is the paradigm of the hybrid runner/climber — well, in Wright’s case, a climber/runner — who has done many scrambles up the Flatirons with a group of fellow hybrids, some of whom volunteer with Rocky Mountain Rescue. These kinds of hybrid athletes were not common in the early days of the Boulder outdoor community; top climbers like Layton Kor did not interact with runners such as NCAA All-Americans Craig Runyan and John Lunn, miler Tim Cronin or even the original trail runner champ from Ouray and CU, Rick Trujillo.

“There was no overlap at all,” Wright said. The distinction between running and scrambling and climbing began blurring, he said, with climbers/runners such as Gerry Roach, Bill Briggs and Buzz Burrell. “Those guys started the overlap, and I took it and ran with it. I was a climber first,” and he considers himself a climber who runs.

Wright is still running, including every year at the Rattlesnake Ramble. The race features 800 feet of climbing and can be very competitive. Wright, like many in the Ramble, still enjoys testing his limits, whether on the trails or on the rocks. Best of all, he said, is the sense of community the race fosters. Many runners and climbers return year after year, as a way not just to have a fun Saturday morning in a beautiful setting but to give back a bit to the three local organizations that do such good work, from setting logs into trails to making them more accessible to heading into the high country on a dark, cold winter night to find someone who needs their help.

“I like putting on the race,” said Wright, “building the community.” A perk of racing the Ramble is that, because of Wright’s connections and the small field, it is likely everyone entering will go home with some award. Prizes are laid out on a table, and as runners’ names are called, they get to come up and pick their prize. (Kids really like that part of the race).

Another interesting aspect of the Ramble is its lollipop configuration, due to the restriction that runners must remain inside the state park and not cross onto Boulder County Open Space, where competitions are not allowed. “It is a cool way to see the front runners twice,” Wright said of the course. “If you don’t have fun, there is a money-back guarantee!”

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