If you’ve ever been caught in a severe storm above timber line, you understand race organizer Ron Ilgen’s decision to shorten Saturday’s Pikes Peak Ascent from 13.32 miles to 7.6 miles.

Instead of running to the top of America’s Mountain, 1,800 competitors were forced to stop at Barr Camp.

Anita Ortiz of Eagle has earned six victories in either the Ascent or Marathon, and she planned to arrive at the top of Pikes Peak sometime around 10 a.m. Saturday.

She did not.

“It’s a bummer,” she said.

But she understood and supported the decision.

She laughed as she ate a post-race meal. She was thinking back to a day she was standing with friends at the top of Mount Evans. A lightning storm rolled in, and her hair stood straight up.

She knows what might have happened Saturday to several hundred runners.

“They made the decision for the people to keep them safe,” Ortiz said. “It turned to be a great day, and I don’t have any hard feelings for what he did. I think it was smart. You can’t take that risk. It could have been really, really bad.”

Instead of taking a chance on really, really bad, the race was shortened.

“It’s just all fun,” Ortiz said. “It’s a great place to be. It’s a great mountain. It’s a great group. It’s just all great.”

Matthew Roberts traveled 860 miles from Helena, Mont., to Manitou Springs for one reason: To run in the Ascent.

“I’m not overly disappointed,” he said. “I understand. It was a beautiful day and a beautiful trail and I am very grateful.”

Like Ortiz, Roberts has endured his share of scares while running. One minute everything is fine, and the next everything is dangerous.

Ilgen fully understands the disappointment. In 2000, he took an epic flight to Japan to compete in the Mount Fuji Ascent, a 13-mile race with 10,000 feet of elevation gain.

Weather forced organizers to shorten the race.

The Ascent had never been shortened for all runners, and Ilgen wanted to continue the streak. He met with members of the El Paso Search and Rescue team Friday night and was told the weather looked dire. Ilgen held off shortening the race until 5:30 a.m. Saturday.

He knew a few hundred of the fastest runners would get to the top without a problem, but the majority of the runners faced a chance of severe weather.

The vicious hailstorms of the past few weeks were on his mind, too.

“That chance of lightning, that’s what really scared us,” he said.

If you’re running above timberline, there’s no place to escape a storm.

The noise and the terror are overwhelming and the danger is entirely genuine.

Ilgen was talking about the cancellation in the tent where several hundred happy yet disappointed runners gathered to eat and talk.

A woman walked up to him, patted his arm and said, “You did the right thing.”

Yes, he did.

Racers compete in the 63rd annual Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs on Saturday, August 18, 2018. The Pikes Peak Ascent was altered this year for safety reasons due to weather on the top of the mountain. (Photo by Kelsey Brunner/The Gazette)Racers prepare for the 63rd annual Pikes Peak Ascent in Manitou Springs on Saturday. The Pikes Peak Ascent was altered this year for safety reasons due to weather on the top of the mountain. (Photo by Kelsey Brunner/The Gazette) (Kelsey Brunner/The Gazette

Kelsey Brunner, The Gazette )