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! 

Biking Oil Well Flats - Day Trip Series: Part 2

My mountain biking mentor, Bob, moved back to Florida summer of 2022. (Read story here). Before he left though, he had me hanging on for dear life down Captain Jacks and roughed me up on the Black and Blue Loop at Ute Valley. But some trails we didn’t get to and he assignment them for homework. One was Oil Well Flats near Canon City.

Since Routes is closed on Mondays for our cold-season hours, I made a day trip. It was a little over an hour to the trailhead and on a weekday in October, no other cars in the parking lot. The night before, I downloaded the MTB Project app. There was a detailed map at the trailhead, but heard from another Routes staff of a lot of turns and forks.

The trails were rated mostly blues and blacks. The blues were technical - both going up and coming down. I had to hike-a-bike on at least a few occasions. But it gave me an opportunity to stop and take in the views of the Pike-San Isabel National Forest in the distance. The route took me a little under 2 hours. I skipped most of the blacks, otherwise I might still be out there.

After, I drove into Canon City and had lunch at the Bean Pedaler, a coffee shop and bike shop in one. The huge brownie baked that morning was delicious. I sat and people watched other customers coming in - locals stopping in for a quick cup and tourists just finishing a rafting trip.

I walked around Canon City’s historic downtown and was pleasantly surprised by the old architecture, all the restaurants, and cool little shops. Come to find out it’s the 3rd oldest city in Colorado. And with The Royal Gorge and Arkansas River nearby, I’m sure they receive plenty of visitors.

Next time Bob is back in town, we’ll have to head down there for a ride and a brownie. I’ll show him I understood the assignment.

Racing Aravaipa's MTB Summer Series in COS

Trailblazers is a group of mountain bikers, runners, and hikers that congregate at Trails End Tap Room every Wednesday night to hit the trails at Red Rocks Canyon Open Space. Also, Trails End has a mountain bike race team that races throughout Colorado. 

Curt Mulick is both a Trailblazers’ regular and a Trails End Race Team member. Originally from NY State, Curt started riding at age 25. His friend lent him an extra bike, a Trek 8200 hard tail with a big cushioned seat, and he started riding that bad boy all the time. He moved to Colorado in 2016 to study mechanical engineering at UCCS and since then has been riding all over the state (albeit with a new bike).

His first race was in 2018 - the WMBA Purple Pursuit on The Air Force Academy’s Falcon Trail. Four years later In 2022, he dove in and absolutely loved riding in the Moonrise Summer MTB Series - a local Friday night race series hosted by Aravaipa. 

He participated in the first one, Lunar Liftoff, at Cheyenne Mountain State Park in June. The race was split up into the ‘Never Evers” for first time riders, Juniors ages 9-17, Intermediates, and Experts. The race had 70-80 riders and Curt finished the 7 mile, fairly technical route in 42 minutes and change. He enjoyed Aravaipa’s beer garden and quesadillas afterward and appreciated having the full weekend to recover.

In July, Curt participated in the 2nd race of the series, The Gravity Grinder at Ute Valley. It was a beautiful 3 lap, 2.7 mile course. And he finished the season off with The Quarter Crusher - the final race in the series at the techy Palmer Park.

Ladies getting ready for The Lunar Liftoff

Curt also volunteers with Aravaipa pre and post race, which gives him $10/hour in credits for future races.

You can find Aravaipa on Instagram, often tabling at Trailblazers on Wednesday nights, or at other group rides around town. Aravaipa also hosts trail running races and a Monday night run at Fossil Craft Beer Co.