In our wedding vows, Katie and I promised each other a few things that are not often heard in such a ceremony. We put a lot of thought into these vows and decided that by publicly announcing them in front of our friends and family, we would do a much better job at holding ourselves accountable. Amongst the many promises, a few that stand out are, "I promise to only prepare and feed you nourishing food, to keep you healthy, strong, and exuberant", "I promise to take time to howl at the moon with you and our dog in order to keep the wolf pack united and strong", and "I promise to never stop exploring, seeking adventure, and doing epic shit".
Although everyday is somewhat of an adventure when running your own company, we make it a point to have an exceptional adventure every few months. In the spirit of "doing epic shit", this August, along with EPIC brand ambassador Brian Allen-Aguilar, we competed in the Transrockies Trail Race!
The Transrockies is a six day stage race across the Colorado Rocky Mountains, many miles of which is run along the Continental Divide. This adventure covers over 120 mountain miles of spectacular scenery, over 40,000 feet of quad exploding elevation change, and altitudes of over 12,500 ft! As flat-landers living right above sea level, this race challenged our strength, endurance, and mental fortitude unlike anything we have ever competed in.
Based upon the wildly successful TransAlpine-Races in Europe, this multi-day point-to-point format grants athletes wild and fantastic scenery, while building camaraderie, overcoming adversity and sharing a singular adventure. For Team EPIC, it allowed us to be fully immersed in nature, inspired by its beauty, and survive on EPIC bars.
The race runs from Buena Vista Colorado and finished in Beaver Creek, through the heart of the White River and San Isabel National Forests. The course included a mix of single track, forest road, and creek bed terrains that set each day apart as a unique and memorable run.
One of the most unique aspects of running the Transrockies Race is the establishment of a constantly mobile "tent city". Each morning, we would leave the "tent city" en masse and tackle the day’s course before arriving at the finish where the Event Team had moved in and rebuilt the village from the night before. With gear bags, tents, showers and food waiting, we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening trading stories, healing wounds and recovering in preparation for the next day’s run.
Team EPIC debuted our brand new running singlets at the event and handed out bars and bites to every runner that we came in contact with. Needless to say, the EPIC bars and bites were a huge hit! It was amazing to see so many athletes sharing a common passion for the outdoors as well as high quality meat! We had numerous conversations with athletes who regularly use EPIC during racing and training. A reoccurring dialogue across all 6 days, athletes are grateful for EPIC as a viable low sugar and low carbohydrate fuel source! I must admit to consuming over 48 EPIC bars across the week!
Personal highlights included summiting Hope Pass and bombing down the backside, ice-cold mountain river soaks to heal the legs, running through hours of wildflower filled meadows, and running with professional athlete Tommy Rivers Puzey (and learning that he eats almost 2 EPIC bars a day!).
Taking on challenging adventures such as this has always served a unique role in our lives. To begin, when immersed in nature, we are reminded on a daily basis how fortunate we are to live in a country with such natural beauty. We are humbled by this beauty and reminded that humans are only a small piece of a much bigger picture. Much like the human body, we are inspired to make decisions that create holistic health and wellness for our planet. To create prosperous lands, we must continually look deep into nature and be inspired by ecosystem diversity, seasonal change, and the flow of energy that is unique to each space.
Our team finished 6th place overall and received a lifetime’s worth of stories and memories, a group of new trail running friends, and a deep insight into ourselves. It was nothing short of EPIC!
