“The rewards of accomplishing that run create memories to last a lifetime,” she wrote. She set an IPR record in her age group and, at 75, holds the title as the oldest woman to finish the race. “To Imogene” watercolor artist Linda Sherman also submitted a passage for the book. “I appreciate every single person, every runner brave enough to become an author, who contributed a piece of themselves to the book project,” said Hammonds. Flagstaff is familiar with those types of stories and this book was a way of collecting them.” People were digging deep in a way that expressed what the race meant to them. Kate McGree wrote a beautiful essay talking about her fear as an elite road racer taking on a trail race. Nick Irvine’s passage reads like a Victorian love letter – it’s over-the-top, and also very sincere and loving. “Julie’s entry in the book describes someone doing it for the first time and the desire to be part of the Flagstaff running community. “I was inspired by the vulnerability of all the runners,” said Schrag. “The more fun we had, the more content we created.” “We realized this book could be anything. Hammonds, who ran her first Imogene Pass Run (IPR) during the production of the book, recounts brainstorming sessions that inspired their creativity and resulted in interactive exercises included in “To Imogene,” like a “dress yourself” paper-doll-of-sorts page, note-taking space for “Mad Libs” and fill-in-the-blank stories. “The big publishers have consolidated and some have gone away,” said Schrag, “but there’s been a flowering of small independent publishers filling a niche as a vibrant part of the community. Schrag and Hammonds had never met before, but soon became co-editors in the project and founders of Soulstice Publishing. “Something inside me said, ‘I want to be a part of that.’ It was just this wonderful passion project and Myles said, ‘Sure, come on in!’” Schrag put out the call for stories in 2017 and Julie Hammonds, former managing editor of Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Arizona Wildlife Views, enthusiastically answered. I am forever indebted to Fon and Chris for making it possible.” Later in these pages, you’ll hear more about Fon Cordasco, a woman I never met, and Chris Gomez, a man I have thankfully gotten to know better in the development of ‘To Imogene.’ They are the reason a vision for the book you now hold took shape. He writes, “This book was conceived in the days after the 2016 Imogene Pass Run. In the introduction, Schrag explains how “To Imogene” is about relationships. “We don’t think we’ll be just a Flagstaff publisher by any means, but we found through this process that the Flagstaff community has powerful stories to tell.” “What we realized in the course of producing the book, there’s a real desire and maybe a need for people to express their messages through books with soul,” said editor and distance runner Myles Schrag. Through skinned knees, twisted ankles and tears shed summiting the 13,114-foot pass and decades of memories forged by Flagstaff runners, “To Imogene” is also the birth of Soulstice Publishing. It chronicles experiences from more than 70 local runners who have been called to the mountain pass that connects Ouray to Telluride, Colorado.įrom astronomer Nat White’s “Amazing Grace” trombone solo on the abandoned mining road, to oncology nurse Chris Gomez’s second place finish carrying the race bib of a beloved Flagstaff runner, “To Imogene” is like chicken soup for the Flagstaff soul and a compilation of love letters from a long-distance romance. A collection of heartbreak and triumph, a grammatically correct scrapbook, a gallery of original watercolor paintings and a distance runner’s training guide, “To Imogene, a Flagstaff Love Letter,” is an artfully illustrated and emotionally fueled book of many books.
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