Saturday, May 14, 2011

Trail Run W/Anton Krupicka At Dreamy Draw Park



So, after picking up my race packet a few weeks back for the Cave Creek Trail Run at The Runner's Den in Phoenix, I notice on my departure a display for New Balance's new minimalist line of footwear. After checking out the setup I realize through a flier that Anton Krupicka will be in Phoenix on May 14 for a trail run at Dreamy Draw Park followed by a Q & A session followed by an autograph session and showing of the documentary Indulgence back at the store. I could not believe it at first but after realizing that Tony was in fact actually making the trip out to this barren wasteland I was psyched to say the least. In the short time of following the sport and lifestyle of Ultramarathon running I have found most of those involved to be very honest, humble, down to earth folks who for the most part have a very simplistic attitude towards not only running but also to life in general and I think no one exemplifies this more through their actions than Tony. So I was really looking forward to getting to lace 'em up and hit the trails with a huge inspiration of mine.
The first thing that struck me about Tony was his humility. He comes across so honestly in both his calculations of himself as well as the world around him and it seems as though he does it so effortlessly. I found myself more taken in by his thoughts on things outside of the running world than I did with the trivialities of running. But, moving forward we all hit the trails and I soon found myself staring at the back of his singlet which quickly started getting smaller and smaller as the run kicked into high gear. The trail was nice, kind of your classic valley desert trail with some smooth sections and also some more rugged technical strips. All in all it was a decent trail and a beautiful morning for a run. Tony for the most part kept it at a decent pace and at the tail end of the run even stepped off and waited for our group which was about 30 seconds behind the lead group to catch up and then continued on to the trailhead parking lot.
It was surreal getting out there with Tony and sharing with him the mountains that we have here in Phoenix. I cant than him enough for coming out and sharing his time with us, it was a trip. Great day, great run, great guy! Thanks New Balance!

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