He just felt like running ...

Running and promoting running -- that's what Brad and his wife Nyla are all about. In addition to busy careers (Brad is an occupational therapist) and raising four children, Brad and Nyla have been organizing trail races since 2006 and recently added a road race in 2013.

 

Brad began running trails to stay fit after moving to Texas in 2001, and by 2005 was completing a 30k. His talk today was focused on Ultramarathon running, and the description of what that entails had the Daybreak membership shaking its collective head. Ultramarathons began in earnest by the 1980s with the primary event being a 100 mile run in what is now known as the Western States Endurance Run. Gordy Ashley, known as the father of the Ultramarathon, first ran what was then a horse event. "Starting in Squaw Valley, California near the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics and ending 100.2 miles later in Auburn, California, Western States, in the decades since its inception in 1974, has come to represent one of the ultimate endurance tests in the world." (Source: www.wser.org).

 

According to Brad, Texas is the 2nd most active state for endurance running out of approximately 70,000 people now running seriously. The demographics are interesting, including that 33.4% of the athletes fall into the 30-39 age range and 4% in the 60-69 age group. Among races of interest described by Brad is one near Durango, CO where the total ascent is 33,000 feet. That is airliner cruising altitude.

 

Sir Edmund Hillary, when asked why he climbed Mt. Everest replied "because it's there." Brad says "I run to burn off the crazy." Keep running Brad, and encourage all of us to get out there and keep the body parts working!