"Next fall, skip Imogene. I know many in the Flagstaff running community eagerly await Colorado's annual Imogene Pass Trail Race, but it's not without reason I suggest passing by such a popular event. There's a word for it, one word that deserves the same kind of recognition in our community: Paatuwasqatsi.

Paatuwasqatsi. It's a Hopi word that means "water is life," a core tenet of the tribe, and a concept that we are beginning to embrace in the Southwest. It's an idea, an issue, a way of living that is part of living here: water is life, and there is not enough to go around, to irrigate our fields, flush our toilets, support our industries, and keep our rivers healthy.

Paatuwasqatsi. It's also a run, an event in the heart of the Hopi, a rare chance to explore a world both proximate and distant. A fundraiser for Hopi water rights, a challenging run, and an educational opportunity, it's done as a solo 50 kilometer run (31 miles) or as part of a three- or six-person relay team. I discovered the event during my first summer in Flagstaff, when a friend, knowing I was a runner, handed me a flier, saying "The Hopi know a little about distance running." I dropped my registration in the mail that day.

The run left me humbled, both physically and emotionally. It was a hot day, and it was hard to imagine running without the aid stations, and the volunteers that carried food and water into the backcountry, let alone trying to eke a living from the land. I ran, through sand, over cliffbands and across the mesas, and tried to imagine how long I would last on my own out there, desperate for food and water. The line between comfort and survival can be thin."

Get the Story:
Bret Sarnquist: High Country Running: Paatuwasqatsi: Water is life (The Arizona Daily Sun 3/13)