Joe Giordano

“There is no hill”

City: Littleton State: CO

Favorite Shoe: Mizuno X-10 Size: 11

Age: 47.5 years old

Marital Status: Single

Family members:
2 cats

What I do for work:
Qwest Communications

Places I’ve called home and why I like where I am now:
Gainesville Florida,
Ft. Lauderdale, Florida,
Colonia, New Jersey

When I started running and what got me started:
Started running at age 13 when I went out for the High School Cross Country team. My coach was one of those eccentric running guru/yogi types who established a metaphysical importance to running.

What does running mean to me:
Strength, endurance, companionship, pain. Mostly pain.

Running accomplishments: View my Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon results
1. I've never thrown up during a run. Including the Ascent.
2. Run a few good races.

What I like about trail/mountain running:
1. No traffic
2. Uphills provide a lot of "bang" for your "fitness buck"
3. Less pounding then sidewalk
4. The ever-present danger of stepping on a snake or being eaten by a lion.
5. Bragging rights with all of your flat-land running friends.
6. Being able to "smoke" a sea level marathon.
7. Rocky movies actually mean something.

Best running experience:
The 1987 Citrus Bowl 1/2 marathon. I was 16 and set an 1:25:13 PR, and it seemed like my running was about to take off. I've never run that fast again.

Worst running experience:
My second half marathon in Key West Florida back in February 1986. The starting temperature was 85 degrees, and I had only been running for 6 months. I had heat exhaustion and the only thing that got me through the race was a wet sponge someone handed me at around mile 5, that I used to keep my skin temperature moderately cool.

Running related bathroom stop story:
The 2002 Bolder Boulder. I arrived at the starting line an hour early, and found a locally owned coffee shop nearby. Three cups later I'm cramping up relatively severely, but instead of using one of the many locally available port-o-lets, I mentally tricked myself into using them as interval markers, running to a marker, re-evaluating the internal situation, then trying to make it to the next one.

Running pet peeves:
Urban Trails to nowhere.