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! 

From Couch Potato to Winning the Pikes Peak Marathon

Tina, at the top of Mt. Harvard.

Tina Mascarenas, friend of Routes, stopped by the shop the other day. We sat down with her, over a bottle of kombucha, to hear about her recently winning the 2022 Pikes Peak Marathon. 

Tina grew up in Colorado Springs. Her mother got her and her siblings into rock climbing and Tina also into gymnastics. And when she was little, her grandpa bribed her and her siblings to hike the trails around town. 

But while in her 20s, Tina “got fat, partied, smoked, and did nothing”. Her brother, though, challenged her to start running. She loved the structure running provided and started running all those trails her grandpa took her on. A year later, she placed top 10 for her age group in the Pikes Peak Ascent. Two years later in 2017, she won the Pikes Peak Marathon. 

Jogging up The Incline.

We asked her what was different about winning the Pikes Peak Marathon in 2022. She mentioned tweaking her diet and consuming more gels and Gatorade during her training runs to significantly increase her calories. As a result, she felt great during the race and loved the cooler temperature (the race was moved back a month in 2022). She ran a personal best 3:03 ascent and an impressive 1:33 descent.  

At Routes, though, we were curious to learn how it’s possible to pick up running as an adult, and in the span of a few years, become world class. Tina explained that when she decides to do something, she is all in. And a lot of the skills she acquired as a gymnast in her youth translates to running trails - especially downhill. For instance, as a gymnast, she learned muscle control, finding a line and fully committing to it, and the awareness of always knowing where she was in the air. All these attributes come in handy as she bombs downhill and launches off rocks. 

Competing at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Thailand.

Plus, Tina enjoys the social side of running - especially among the running community here in Colorado Springs. After winning the 2022 Pikes Peak Marathon, she qualified for a spot on Team U.S. to compete in the 40K race at the 2022 World Mountain and Trail Running Championships this past November in Thailand. She placed 25th and competed alongside a couple of her training partners from The Springs.

And to boot, Tina admits her genetics have helped her transition into being an elite runner. Her younger sister, Megan, is a 3x world bouldering champion. Her mother, at age 63, still climbs six days a week - including big walls in California. 

And her grandfather’s persistence paid off. He instilled in her a joy for being in the mountains - now running trails as one of the best in the world.

A Spiritual Experience: Ascending Colorado's 14ers

Blanca Peak

People enter into the wilderness for different reasons. Some crave the solitude and slower pace. Others love being out there with friends and talking about life - with beauty as their backdrop. For Pastor Kevin Feldotto, it is a time to be with God - of prayer, meditation, and developing next week's sermon in his head. 

Originally from Nebraska, Kevin moved to Colorado Springs in 1989 to help start a church. A few years later, he started trail running and eventually did the Pikes Peak Marathon. And then, he did it eleven more times. 

Little Bear/Blanca Traverse

Even after all the trail running, it didn’t dawn on him to start climbing Fourteeners (a 14,000 ft. peak) until 2013. Nine years later, he’s done Pikes Peak 75 times.

As a pastor, he has Fridays off…and while his wife worked, he often would make a quick summit of Pikes. It is one of his favorite Fourteeners as he has met lots of interesting folks on Barr Trail and at Barr Camp.  

By summer of 2022, Kevin had completed 48 of the 58 Fourteeners.

At first, he did the easier ones - afraid of those with lots of exposure. But as he honed his skills as a rock climber, he gained more confidence to do the class 3 and 4 Fourteeners. Even as an experienced hiker now, he still does a ton of research on each Fourteener, is careful not to be overconfident, and always takes someone with him on the more difficult climbs. 

This Fall (2022), he is taking a sabbatical and hopes to do the rest of the Fourteeners, including the last one with his daughter and son who are in their 20s. When he hikes with others, it is still a rejuvenating time of introspection and enjoying God’s creation. At age 63, he will become one of roughly 1,400 people who have climbed all of Colorado’s Fourteeners. 

Northstar

Kevin is a campus pastor at Woodmen Valley Chapel Southwest.