What happened to Heikki?

ASH FORK, Ariz. — Under blue skies and popcorn clouds, it is easier to see the allure of this gritty place that became Heikki Ingstrom's home when he stopped running.

In the heat of a summer day, it is blissfully silent. The nearest town is six miles away, and crows float above pinyon pines and scrub oak in this high desert community a day's drive from where Heikki built his life as a legendary runner in Salt Lake City.

Without the pavement moving under his once-flying feet — without running — the rural area had most of what the 47-year-old Utahn held dear throughout his life: peace and quiet, nature's embrace, room to roam and plenty of space for his dogs.

He seemed happy for a while after moving to the northern Arizona community, according to his friends and his mother. His lifelong sense of humor kept Heikki and his new family lifted when even the water tank behind his mobile home was as dried up as his ability in the sport in which he had made his name. But a few months later, Heikki was dead.

"His running style was at once powerful and smooth.'

— Richard Barnum-Reece, editor of Utah RunnerTriathlete magazine

The trophies and plaques are laid out like a golden quilt.

St. George Marathon, second place, 1986.

Silver State 50K/50-Mile Endurance Run, first place, 1992

Kettle Moraine 100 Miler, Eagle, Wis., second place, 1996.

Arkansas Traveller 100 Miler, male runner-up, 1996.

Quicksilver 50K/50-Mile Race, fifth place, 2001.

Wasatch Front 100 Endurance Race, first place, 1994.

In fact, nearly every year through the 1990s, there is a plaque recording Heikki's presence in the brutal Wasatch 100.

This is only about one-tenth of the awards Heikki collected in more than 20 years of marathons and endurance races. The rest are boxed in the basement of the Avenues neighborhood house where Heikki lived on and off since 1970.

Friends talked about Heikki at a recent gathering of elite runners in Memory Grove.

It was the perfect place to remember Heikki, said Tim Seminoff, who called Heikki his mentor. Seminoff looked north toward City Creek Canyon, half expecting to see his friend pop out of the canyon and run over.

Every week — right up until Heikki left town with a woman no one had met and few knew about — he was logging 100 miles on local roads and trails. His friend has moved on, Seminoff said, "but his spirit is still here."

During the years he was running, the collection of awards — and fan base — for the 6-foot 2-inch, blond-haired athlete continued to grow.