Home

Yesterday afternoon I hit the half-marathon trail for the first time since I've decided to conduct the event. It was a rush to get up in the hills and take some video of potential challenges offered by the course. I only went up 2 miles past the top of Maple Campground but it was a productive hike. Thanks to my Garmin Forerunner I was able to download my points when I arrived home. See the image below for my path. I will post the video I shot later. Tomorrow I will head out with my Dad to explore the trail from the Diamond Fork side. I'll post more pics and video shortly thereafter.

There are probably more reasons to not start this venture than there are to start it. However, the genuine excitement I feel in starting my own events company is more than I can resist. My Dad raised me to dream big and never stop climbing until my blood runs cold. I know that sounds a little old fashioned but I'm glad to give credit to one of my life heroes by sharing how much he has impacted who I am today. My Dad inspires me every day and, despite taking some blows during his life adventure, he continues practicing what he preaches as he takes Rokit Fuel Nutrition to new heights and never gives up on his dreams.

On a more formal and business-centric note, I'm excited about this company because I feel there is  a need in the Utah and regional market for some solid winter endurance events. Every summer is saturated with more events than I care to count. I realized just how many when I worked for Rokit Fuel for awhile and was directly involved with sponsoring several events. We sponsored the Leadville Trail 100, the Red Rock Relay, LOTOJA, the Utah Valley Marathon and a bunch of other endurance events. I made some key observations during this period. The most important was that I didn't want to compete with any of them. They are doing a terrific job and they are good at what they do. I'm perfectly happy to be a participant in as many as my wallet and heart can handle. The other realization that has continued to permeate my thinking is that Utah needs a better balanced series of winter events in order to help the hard-charging triathletes, marathoners and other insane athletic types keep their edge during the winter months. I realize they are getting by right now but I'm confident Ninety Degrees South will offer them a better, much more exciting alternative. 

I recently read a book by Jim Collins called Great By Choice. One of the key principles he discusses is the concept of shooting bullets, then cannonballs at a new idea or strategy. This is the approach I'm taking with the Snow-Shoe Half-Marathon. We'll have a Pilot event in 2012 but will limit participation to 50 people (primarily consisting of friends, family and acquaintances. This will allow us to work out the details without the burden of keeping several hundred people happy and moving along through the course. I'm sure we'll stumble here and there but with a smaller group, we will be able to learn important lessons that will propel us into a successful official launch in 2013. I anticipate limiting our first 'real' year to 250 racers but we'll just have to see how things go after the pilot event.

I want to express my gratitude to the good friends, family and race directors of other events who have offered their advice and who, I'm sure, have prevented me from making serious mistakes during these initial months of launching a new event company. There is much work to do and, with an MBA program starting in a couple weeks, a full-time job, and beautiful wife and five children to boot, there will not be any dull moments in my life over the next 75 years... just the way I like it! 

Here's to a successful future full of soul-stretching, heart-pounding, confidence-building winter events that will help those involved learn that we are made of more than we might have previously thought.