From Severe Asthma to Running a Half Marathon

Jason, left, with his friend, right, and cousin in the back.

Jason, a friend of Routes, never played sports growing up. He had a severe case of asthma that landed him in the hospital. By the time he graduated from college, though, he had aged out of his asthma. So, he decided to try running. He was able to run a ⅛ mile around his parents’ house - and do it a few more times in the following days. The next week, he did a ½ mile. Over the following weeks and months, he kept adding distance. Finally, a couple years later in 2020, he tried his first race - the Super Half Marathon in Colorado Springs. 

Jason running at the Garden of the Gods.

Over a 1,000 runners compete in the Super Half Marathon (13.1 miles) the morning of Super Bowl Sunday. Jason’s first year running the Super Half he tried to keep up with the other runners who passed him and he ended up burning out at Mile 11. He had to walk most of the way to finish. His 2nd year, in 2022, he paced himself much better. And in 2023, he ran a personal best time.

Jason lives near Ute Valley and runs there regularly with his hydration pack. He also loves running Garden of the Gods and is a regular at the Jack Quinn’s run on Tuesday nights. In recent years, he learned he has a condition called tachycardia - which makes his heart stutter. Running a couple times a week actually helps his heart beat normally.

Someday, Jason would like to run the Pikes Peak Marathon! 

Medicine Wheel: Trail Advocates

Cory, near Garden of the Gods

Cory Sutela, director of Medicine Wheel Trail Advocates, stopped by Routes the other day. Medicine Wheel is a non-profit organization of “mountain bikers who build, protect, and share inspiring trail experiences” in the Pikes Peak Region.  

Cory shared that Medicine Wheel was originally started by Brian Gravestock in 1991. Brian found mental and physical healing from being on the region’s trails. Inspired by the native american tradition of the Medicine Wheel, he created MedWheel as a way to encourage people to connect with nature and to improve cooperation among trail users. Brian wanted to provide a way to let trail users heal themselves as well as the trails. This work has led to the vision of creating a world class network of mountain biking trails in the Pikes Peak region. Read more about this history here.

Cory became the director of Medicine Wheel in 2019 after serving on the board of directors for many years. He originally moved to Colorado Springs from Canada in 2004 to work as a SRAM engineer. He first learned about Medicine Wheel when he volunteered at Red Rocks Canyon Open Space at a Medicine Wheel Trail of Love Dig Day - MedWheel’s volunteer building and maintenance program for the trails we all love. 

Ribbon cutting at Lake Morraine Trail

Medicine Wheel has had their hands in many of the trail projects around town in the last 30 years like Chutes and Ladders, Lion trail, Codell and many others. They spent 20 years bringing the Lake Morainne Trail to completion. They had to coordinate with State Senators, Colorado Springs Utilities, the State and National Railways, multiple landowners, and the Army Corps of Engineers. One of the most rewarding parts of this job for Cory was cutting the ribbon on the Lake Moraine Trail (and the recently opened Cresta Bike Park). 

Trail of Love Dig Day on Rattle Rocks at Ute Valley.

Cory mentioned during his visit to Routes that Medicine Wheel is in need of volunteers - not only for Trail Love Dig Days (which are posted regularly on their website) but also to attend public meetings, find sponsors, curate their social media, and in communications to help share Medicine Wheel’s story with the greater public. 

Additionally, Medicine Wheel partners with community organizations like Rocky Mountain Field Institute, Pikes Peak Outdoor Rec Alliance, Trails and Open Space Coalition, Concrete Couch, Upadowna, Friends groups in parks and open spaces across the region, schools, and businesses. MedWheel always seeks additional business, individual and organizational partners.

You can also follow them on Facebook  Instagram  Youtube  . 

THE INCLINE: FROM 600 to 6,000 FT.

By Nate Van Noord (RO staff)

Aaron, my former housemate from Detroit, came to visit last summer - his first time to Colorado. He was in the midst of training for his first marathon, the Detroit Marathon, and was hoping to continue his training while here. I warned him, though, that Detroit’s elevation above sea level is 600 feet and Colorado Springs 6,000. He said he couldn’t wait.

So, before he arrived, I sent him a list of potential spots and he picked a run at the Garden of the Gods and hiking the Incline. Our Garden run wound through the park, gave him some views, and ended at Siamese Twins.

The next afternoon, after he finished his virtual work meetings, we headed to The Incline in 90-degree heat. On the shuttle bus to the start, I mentioned a little bit about the history of The Incline. It was originally a railway for about 80 years until 1990 when a rockslide washed out the railbed and the Cog Railway decided not to repair the tracks. It then became a fitness trail that attracts folks from all over the country, if not the world, for its 45% grade and 2,000 feet in elevation gain.

I also mentioned a few people have ascended over 1,000 times in a year and the fastest time to the top of the 2,700 steps is under 17 minutes. With the heat, he assured me, he was just trying to finish this bad boy. 

There were surprisingly a handful of others on the trail surviving the heat with us. Halfway up, we took a break for a couple minutes.     

After soaking in the view, we kept on trucking and made sure to walk in the bits of shade on the edges of each step. We passed a woman six months pregnant, a dad and 8-year-old son, and a couple in their 70s.

We made it to the top in 34 minutes - not bad for a couple flatlanders.

After taking the Barr Trail back down, we headed to Yellow Mountain Tea Shop in Old Colorado City for a little cool down. 

Three months later, Aaron finished the Detroit Marathon in 3:31 - and this Spring a half marathon in 1:31.

KEEPING IT FRESH: RIDING TO RIVENDELL ON A RIVENDELL

By Nils Eng (local schoolteacher and friend of Routes Outfitter)

“Yet the deeds will not be less valiant because they are un-praised." –J. R. R. Tolkien

The most current event poster on my garage wall is the 2017 Tommyknocker 10, a mountain biking endurance event in Silver City, NM, almost five years ago.  As the first day of Spring drew closer, I found myself searching the internet in vain for an event that interested me. 

If I’m honest, I craved a new experience and some new “swag”—something tangible to look at or hold and remember the fun of an event, just like my aging poster. I also desperately needed a goal to give my riding some direction--some focus as winter drew to an end. 

The problem is, I don’t enjoy racing any more.  I ride my bike to explore now, and I don’t think I ever want to make another visit to the Pain Cave.  The thought of riding my bike in circles around the same course over and over as fast as I can just isn’t appealing anymore.  I want to explore!  I want to see new things!  …and I want to drink coffee while I do it.  Thus, the Ride to Rivendell was born.  

To back up a little, I’m not a winter person.  I know that’s blasphemy in Colorado, but being from New Mexico, and a non-skier to boot, winter in Colorado is something I’m still coming to terms with.  To get me through this past winter, I decided to try to read The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and The Silmarillion by the first day of spring.  With the epic journeys of Bilbo, Frodo, and Sam reverberating in my mind, I decided to make my own event—a challenge inspired by Bilbo’s journey to Rivendell.  The touring bicycle I happen to have is made by a California company called Rivendell.

I decided that I would ride my Rivendell to “Rivendell.”  Doing a little digging, I found that it took Bilbo and company 39 days to walk the 397 miles from his home in Bag End to Elrond’s house in Rivendell.  That would be my goal.

As for the swag, when I reached Bree and The Inn of the Prancing Pony (at 85 miles) I’d treat myself to a Prancing Pony pint glass.  If I finished the challenge, I’d buy myself a Green Dragon Pub “event” T-shirt (for you non-hobbit nerds, The Green Dragon is Biblo’s home pub).  Along the way, to make it more interesting, I’d create a list of challenges I had to complete. 

By the end of the 397 miles, I’d try to visit at least three regional parks, have tea three times, coffee three times, visit three ponds, ride three regional trails, and ride in all four cardinal directions from my house.  

Over the next thirty-nine days, I did just that.  I rode early in the morning to work, seeing deer, skunks, rabbits, and nearly colliding with a turkey.  I rode in the snow, I rode in the rain, and I rode in the sun.  I created new and interesting multi-surface loops, connecting single track with bike paths and open roads as I tied many of our amazing city’s parks and open spaces together, stopping frequently for tea and coffee.  In short, I had a blast, and I learned that, for me, I just need a little creativity to keep my riding life fresh.  

RACING, VOLUNTEERING, AND FINDING COMMUNITY

A fun personal story from a friend of Routes and local community member…

Moving to a new state amid a global pandemic was not ideal. Leaving my family and friends to pursue this new adventure with my boyfriend of two years was already a leap out of my comfort zone that I didn’t think I was entirely ready for…or capable of. That I arrived as Colorado shut down and mandated masks didn’t help. Soon, I secured a traveling job that put me at risk of infection and kept me from exploring my new home. Then I received an email that crushed me.

“It is with deep regret that we must cancel the full marathon and relay for this year….” 

madmooseevents.com

I had been training for a year to do the Niagara Falls International Marathon with my best friend…and having to take the deferral to 2021 felt like all the work I’d done didn’t count. It seemed like life was dumping disappoints on me, and I needed a positive goal to focus on. I registered for the Valkyrie Trail Marathon in Cheyenne Mountain State Park to give me something to work towards ⎯ a challenge to distract me from how left out I felt as all my friends’ lives moved on without me.  

Months passed and I couldn’t shake this feeling of being utterly untethered. There would be pops of color when friends and family came to visit and then it would all dull back to the same gray of my everyday life. I ran to keep myself from admitting that it felt like I had made a mistake. I couldn’t understand how I could be so torn between such a beautiful state, holding the possibly of the life I always saw myself living and still wanting to move back to a state filled with humidity, mosquitoes and all my loved ones. I don’t know that I’d ever felt so lonely. 

September faded into winter and then spring, and the Saturday before my race I flew home from a work trip in Seattle. That Thursday my dad and sister flew in to spend the weekend with us and to cheer me on.

We hiked some of the course and at the Garden of the Gods and made tamales from scratch. A blink later, it was Saturday morning. My dad and sister left early for their morning volunteer shift, helping to set up the start/finish line and the aid stations.  

My boyfriend and I drove to the state park blasting Pusha T’s “Untouchable” on repeat. I felt recharged on the weekend’s positive energy and ready to go. My sister, dad and boyfriend were going to post up at the aid station I would pass four times throughout the race, and every time I saw them the whole table of volunteers erupted into cheers. It carried me through. 

madmooseevents.com

I finished my first trail marathon 24 minutes under my goal time while enduring some major stomach issues the last 5 miles. I was exhausted and so grateful for the whole experience. 

It wasn’t until we got back home late that afternoon that the true magic of the race unfolded ⎯ after forcing down lots of fluids, cooling down and reliving the race mile by mile for my family. 

My dad handed me a mask with a sharpied phone number and said, “I made you a friend. Here’s her number.” 

Little did I know, this was the turning point I had been needing. 

Another volunteer assigned to the table started chatting up my incredibly quiet dad, and today, she is one of my best friends. She helped me build a strong and supportive sense of community here in Colorado, and I have finally found where I fit. Within the running community here, I’ve found my people and everything that was missing.