John Garner

"...you're not going to even come close to what you can do unless you're scared every once in a while." --Thom Hogan

City: Colorado Springs State: CO

Favorite Shoe: Hoka Clifton Size: 13ish

Age: 46.4 years old

Marital Status: Very, Very Happy

Family members:
Renée (my better half), Joshua (2000) and Abigail (2004)

What I do for work:
I'm the principal systems administrator for a local county government. I keep the blinky lights blinking and clean up the bits when they spill all over the place.

Places I’ve called home and why I like where I am now:
I grew up in New Jersey.... They don't have any hills out there.

When I started running and what got me started:
I started running to lose some weight back around '98. I then stopped for a few years until a few friends did the ascent in '05 and I had one of those "if they can do it so can I" moments.

In '06 I did the ascent and didn't exactly finish with a smile on my face. Swearing I would do much better the next year I showed up at the first IC run of the '06-'07 season and have not looked back.

What does running mean to me:
Nothing like a nice long run to get over the stress of watching an array with 25TB of data get bricked during a firmware upgrade.

Running accomplishments: View my Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon results
I'm one of only 65 Wave 2 finishers of the 2008 Pikes Peak Ascent.

Managed to snag a top 5 TCR Masters placement in 2014, then a 1st AG in 2015.

What I like about trail/mountain running:
It's quiet and I don't have to watch for cars.

Favorite running trail and why:
Ute Valley park... I live 60' away from the park. The rocks force me to pay attention to where I'm going.

Favorite trail/mountain race and why:
Pikes Peak Ascent. The lack of oxygen produces a nice euphoric effect as you finish.

Best running experience:
Section 16 one frozen sunday morning for an IC run. There was a heavy fog covering the path, and everything was covered in these 1/2-1" ice crystals. It was visually stunning and absolutely silent.

Worst running experience:
2008 American Discovery Trail Marathon. My 'long run' was 14 miles, the course is all downhill, how hard could this possibly be?

2010 Pikes Peak Marathon. I had spent the previous day taking photos of the ascent from start to finish (including the awards ceremony) and neglected to get enough food or rest for the PPM. I would have been better off just running the ascent.

Neatest thing found on a run:
My wallet.

Running related bathroom stop story:
Let's just say that I know the dozen or so good spots to go along the W's....

Running pet peeves:
It annoys me when I can't run.

Other hobbies and interests:
Sports Photography. You can see some of the shots on the front page of pikespeakmarathon.org.

Page last modified: 11/22/2015