I've been up and down the Malan's Basin trail in Ogden a whole bunch of times over the years and not once did I ever think running up and down that trail for 6 continuous hours sounded like a good idea.  I'm still not sure how Aric Manning and his merry band of HUMR runners concocted this little event, but I'm glad they did cuz 6 hours of Malan's is a lot of fun.  Don't get me wrong: it sucked and it hurt and at about 9am I thought it was the worst idea ever, but after I soaked my gut in PBR and hog meat, it was the best idea ever.  No mud, colored chalk, barbed wire or man-made walls, just a 2000 foot hill covering 2.5 miles for 6 hours.  As crazy and dumb as that sounds, I can't wait to do it again

Well, the plan was to have two runner spotlights in May, but we got behind with all the ‘stuff’ going on in May.  Without further delay, let us introduce you to our June Spotlight Runner: Forrest Stuart.  After what Forrest accomplished this weekend, maybe it was better he got the whole month of June instead of splitting May.  We’ll get to that shortly, but the beginning of the story starts in 2008 when, at the age of 54, Forrest decides to go out and run his first marathon (Ogden Marathon of course) in a time of 4:50.  He came back the next year at Ogden and ran the half marathon and came back again in 2010 and ran the Ogden half marathon again. It was later that summer when the tides began to shift for Forrest after running the NUTS Trail half marathon on the Ogden Bonneville shoreline trail. Once you’ve experienced a little running on dirt and rock, it changes everything; colors seem brighter, food tastes better, life gets less complicated and all the daily trappings aren’t as daunting.  Anyway, Forrest started to hit the trails hard after the NUTS race. Up next was the XTERRA Xduro Trail race later that same year then the Buffalo Run 25K in the spring of 2011 followed up by another Ogden Marathon finish. Forrest topped off 2011 with the Logan Peak trail run in the summer.  In 2012 Forrest made another big leap into the ultra running world with a finish at the Buffalo Run 50 miler followed up by a PR at the Ogden Marathon by running a 3:59. Forrest dipped into insanity for 10 hours & 46 minutes at Snowbird Resort when he ran the Speedgoat 50K – (did you know the Speedgoat 50K course has more net climb per mile than the Hardrock 100?).  Not sure why the race directors call it Where’s Waldo, but Forrest ran that 100K too in 20 hours.  If you complete a race like Where’s Waldo (64 miles) you know 100 miles will soon be on the docket.  

That brings us to 2013 where Forrest ran the Moab Red Hot 55K in February and then ran another Buffalo Run 50 in record time (10:47).  This set Forrest up at his first attempt at 100 miles in Bryce Canyon last weekend.  Forrest said he was anxious going into the race; who wouldn’t be, it’s 100 miles?  The Bryce 100 is a first year race and boasts close to 20,000 feet of climbing.  With the help of HUMR’s Debbie and Breein, wife Pam and a little shoe called Hoka, Forrest conquered the distance in 33 hours.  The rumor is that at the finish line everybody was emotional and crying and because of all the drama Forrest ALMOST broke out in tears.  Congratulations Forrest!

There were many great and inspirational stories stemming from the Ogden Marathon this year but the one that caught our attention was Forrest pushing his friend Rich Abbey across the finish line in a four-wheeled contraption fabricated by Cory Johnson at Old School Body Shop.  Cory sent me a picture of this ‘wheelchair’ in April and I thought maybe it was something he was going to tether to a horse…or a Clydesdale.  The real story was Forrest’s good friend (Rich) was suffering from ALS.  Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s disease and is a progressive degenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. The progressive degeneration of the motor neurons in ALS often leaves patients paralyzed and will eventually lead to death.  In honor of his friend, Forrest commissioned Cory to build the wheelchair then put together a relay team at the Ogden Marathon and pushed Rich the last 3 miles and through the finish line.  Well done, Forrest.  

It’s been our honor to become acquainted with Forrest and look forward to some HUMR running this year.  More on the Happy Utah Mountain Runners to come…In the meantime you can read all about Forrest at www.stridersrunning.com

Its been a crazy couple of weeks with the Ogden Marathon, getting the new Ogden STRIDERS open and preparing for the No More Victims Half Marathon, 5K & Kids K...but we pulled it off.  Thank You to everybody who helped out in some way. 

Memorial Day was almost a disaster when the trusty Bronco broke down at midnight as we were setting things up, but brother Jason came through in a pinch with his truck, and alas, Memorial Day was a success!  We even got lucky with some mild temperatures and perfect running weather.  When it was all said and done, we all raised some money for the No More Victims foundation.  Thank You to all the runners who came out and ran and supported a great cause. We have extra shirts for sale at STRIDERS, the proceeds of which will benefit the foundation.

School is out (well, almost) and summer is here.  Be safe as you train this season for the many, many races and fun events in the upcoming months.  Let us know if we can help you in anyway; we'll see you on the road, on the trail, in Layton and now in OGDEN!

Peace.  

Results from the Half Marathon & 5K can be found here: RESULTS

The new Ogden STRIDERS is open and rolling full time Monday thru Friday 10am-7pm and Saturday's 10am-6pm.

The number up there is 801-621-1444 or 801-621-1333.

If you're new to STRIDERS, we perform a free foot and gait analysis (no appointment necessary) to help find the appropriate footwear for your specific needs. We have a full line- up of shoes, apparel, accessories and nutrition from brands like:
Asics. Super Feet Gu
Brooks Sole Cliff Bar
Mizuno Sof Sole ProBar
Saucony Spenco PowerBar
New Balance Straussburg Sock
Nike Pro Tec First Endurance
Hoka Speedo Hammer
Altra Zoot Honey Stinger
Salomon CEP Prev
Vibram Sweaty Bands Ultimate Dir
Inov-8 Smith Optics Nathan
Sanuk Skull Candy Geigerrig
Teva SunCloud CamelBak
Adidas Garmin Headsweats
Pearl Izumi Timex Body Glide
Smart Wool Injinji Balega
Wright Sock Thorlos Petzl
Black Diamond Moving Comfort

If we don't have it and you need it, we'll track it down!

We are sooo excited to FINALLY be in Ogden! Thank You all for making it possible. We hope to see you soon.

There's a lot going in this weekend with the Ogden STRIDERS opening and the Memorial Day holiday on Monday, but we want to invite you to the No More Victims Half Marathon, 5K & Kids Mile. The event benefits the No More Victims foundation which helps young victims of sexual abuse.

The races start at 6:45am on Monday at Jensen Park in Syracuse. Registration is open at STRIDERS and online at www.strideracing.com

More info on this blog and at www.stridersrunning.com

Please call too if you have questions at 801-728-9121. Email at striders@stridersrunning.com

Both Layton & Ogden STRIDERS locations will be OPEN on Memorial Day from 12pm - 4pm. 

That there on the left is Forrest Stuart from the infamous Happy Utah Mountain Runners tribe. Forrest has waited almost a decade to buy a shoe from Ogden STRIDERS, so we felt inclined to sell him a shoe earlier this week when he paid us a visit in the new shop (it was really a bait and switch situation cuz Forrest thought we had IPA on tap but we sold him a shoe instead).

Forrest has a big 100 mile race coming up in Bryce Canyon, so we want to wish him luck; we're all confident he's going to conquer the mountains in Garfield County. Forrest is an incredible person and HUMR, we'll have more to share about him soon....

Ogden STRIDERS is about 69% ready, but you're all officially invited to come in and see us!

Visiting hours are from 10am to 7pm M-F (10am-6pm on Sat).

All of us at Striders are excited to be full time members of the awesome Ogden running community!

We're getting things rolling at our Ogden location!  It's going to be a busy week with the Ogden Marathon on Friday (expo) & Saturday in addition to getting the new store ready...but it's better to be busy than bored :-)

Our first official event at our new Ogden location was the AutoLiv Race for Life 5K & 2 Mile Walk this past Saturday morning.  It's an honor to get on board with such a great event and community partner in AutoLiv.  The Race for Life 5K & 2 Mile Walk has been benefiting Ogden Charities and local families in need for over 20 years.  We can't wait for next year and look forward to working with AutoLiv in making this charity event bigger and better every year; here's to another 20 years!

We want to thank Tom & Jamie Remkes for being such great friends over the years and for introducing STRIDERS to the AutoLiv family and the Race for Life charity.  We can't wait to get this Ogden store open; we're almost there, stay tuned for grand opening details...

 

Every month we like to introduce a runner in the community who has inspired us or displayed some mettle we believe should be recognized.  Our May Runner Spotlight, Don Mueller, not only inspires but 9 years ago Don introduced us (STRIDERS) to the running community.  In early 2004 when Kristin and I were just getting started, we had some friends and co-workers who were runners but we really weren’t connected to the running community.  Don helped us make that connection, and for that we’ll forever be grateful.  We officially opened the STRIDERS doors in February ’04, but in January we had a soft opening with family and some friends.  To this day I’m not exactly sure how Don found out about that ‘event,’ but he was there early and was almost the last to leave.  He bought a couple pairs of Wave Riders, socks, GU a hat and he left wearing a STRIDERS shirt.  We were thrilled and excited to know a real runner liked our shop and was even going to send all his running friends in to check out the new store.  Don knows some people; they started coming soon after and they keep coming almost 10 years later. 

Don’s marathon running career began in 2002 when he ran the Ogden Marathon in 5:27 then came back the very next year and ran it again in 3:55.  Since that first marathon he’s shaved his Ogden Marathon time down to 3:36 (2010) and in 2007 ran his PR at the St. George Marathon by running 3:32 – he was 54 years old!  Don will run his 10th Ogden Marathon this month and be the newest 10 year club member.  I don’t know; Don says he’s 60 years old but I want to see his birth certificate – he doesn’t seem to age and the older he gets the stronger he becomes.  In 2010 at age 57, Don ran his best Ogden Marathon (3:36) and then his first ultra distance at the OV50 with a 10:07 finish.  In 2011 Don decided he wanted to be a swimmer and a tri-athlete too and completed the Boise Half Ironman in 6:50.  2012 was his biggest year yet: It started with the Buffalo Run 50 (11:35), the Ogden Marathon (3:48), the Spudman Triathlon (2:44) then the Skyline Mountain Half Marathon (2:52). 

Here we are in 2013, Don is 60 years old and he’s getting ready for his first Wasatch 100 Endurance Run in September.  Don’s first marathon of 2013 was the Boston Marathon a couple of weeks ago.  The Boston Marathon was Don’s 60th birthday present; he had completed Boston twice prior and was thrilled to have the opportunity to go back. Don had just turned the corner onto Boylston Street and was about to finish when the bombs went off.  His wife (Kim) was at the finish line waiting for him.  Kim heard and saw the second explosion, but luckily was not in harms way.  Don was rushed off the race course by military personnel and the next 3 hours were pure chaos as he and Kim tried to find each other.  Exhausted, cold, hungry and panicked, Don spent the next 3 hours after the explosions walking around downtown Boston looking for Kim.  It was their son, Matt, who finally connected with both of them on the phone and set up the rendezvous where Don and Kim finally found each other.  We were all relieved to hear Don and his family were all okay. We can only pray the rest of 2013 will be peaceful and happy.  

We're sure Don will have many emotions as he finishes the Ogden Marathon in 2 weeks. Boston affected us all, we'll never forget but the best way to show we're not afraid is to keep running.  

Many of you already know Don, but if you're just getting acquainted, it was a pleasure and an honor to make his introduction.  You can read Don's questionnaire at www.stridersrunning.com  


May will be a 'doubleheader' Runner Spotlight month.  Some stories just can't wait...stay tuned for more local awesomeness.