Follow up on 2010 Jupiter Peak Steeple Chase

Yesterday was the 2010 Jupiter Peak Steeple Chase and it was a blast. I finished injury free and enjoyed it thoroughly. I had no idea what my time would be so that wasn't a big deal to me. I just wanted to finish injury free and have fun. Here are some pictures from the race.

Here is my best shot of the starting line, although nobody is actually lined up yet. We started about 50 feet or so up this dirt road. In this race it is important that you find the right spot in the pack near the start because it becomes difficult to pass once you hit the singletrack. About a minute before the start of the race I realized I had forgotten my inhaler. I had to run to my car and I got back to the start about 30 seconds too late. So I had to do a lot of passing in the first 4 miles or so to find people that were at my pace.

At the beginning of the race I recognized a few friends from Pinebrook, the neighborhood in Park City where I grew up. Pictured above is Mike Rasmussen from this group.

Here we are approaching Jupiter Peak, the first of two peaks to be summited during the race.

Jupiter was by far the more strenuous to climb. I found myself crawling up parts of it, mostly because my legs needed some help. In this photo I think you can get a pretty good idea for how steep it was.

At the summit of Jupiter Peak.

There is a pole at the peak.

Here I am with Rob Hanel at the finish. We both had a lot of fun and were in good spirits. Rob orchestrates a lot of adventurous events that Backcountry.com pays for employees to participate in. He's pretty fast and I was very happy to finish close behind him. Backcountry.com was a sponsor for the Jupiter Peak Steeple Chase this year and because of that I got to run for free. What a great deal!

Jupiter Peak Steeplechase

For a couple years, I have been anxious to run a race in Park City, UT called the Jupiter Peak Steeplechase. The race is put on by the Mountain Trails Foundation. It is a 16 mile run from the base of Park City Mountain Resort to Jupiter Peak, the highest peak at the resort. This involves around 3,000 feet of elevation gain.

Two years ago I couldn't run it because I was injured. Last year I couldn't run it because I was injured. Last year I got sick of being injured and decided to do something about it. Most notably, I started barefoot running, but I have made other changes too. I listen to my body a lot more when I run. I am more disciplined about cutting a run short if something doesn't feel right. I have been much more consistent about running and have avoided overtraining. I even started eating a lot healthier.

This year it has all paid off. I wasn't even planning on running this race this year until my employer, Backcountry.com, offered to pay my way. Yay Backcountry.com! Because of my efforts, and perhaps good luck, I found myself ready to run the race and able to accept Backcountry.com's offer. I am very excited.