The gentle hues of autumn aspens lining a misty trail off Hyde Park Road were offset by bloody chaos as spurts of runners barreled down a finish line only to bend over for coughing fits and for some, medical attention.

Juniper Hunter, 51, still bruised and bleeding in multiple spots from the 12-mile run, first remarked on the beauty of the fall colors before getting into the demands of a deceptively difficult race.

“ It’s rainy. I wear glasses. ... The descent’s really fast, and very rocky,” Hunter said, catching his breath. “And with the aspen [leaves] all over the rocks … you can’t read the terrain.”

“But it went better than I thought,” he laughed before getting cleaned up by medical staff.

It was the 39th year of the Big Tesuque Trail Run, bringing around 200 runners to the Ski Basi

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