John Mills

Grand Canyon Oct 2008

“Close the Incline!”

City: Colorado Springs State: CO Country: US

Favorite Shoe: current Asics Trail model Size: 12

Age: 62.7 years old

Marital Status: Married

Family members:
Wife, Jeanne (30+ years) - world's best wife and support crew. 2 felines and Toby, the running dog.

What I do for work:
Logistics analyst for a DoD contractor. Determining spare parts to support Air Force radar stations around the world.

Places I’ve called home and why I like where I am now:
CA (birth and formative years), AZ, NM, & CO, Greece, Italy, & Korea (Air Force) Colorado has it all - mountains, scenery, 4 seasons, good weather.

When I started running and what got me started:
1973 for weight management while in the Air Force. Then discovered that my wife is an excellent cook......... She cooks, I eat, and the rest, as they say, is history.

What does running mean to me:
Stress management, problem solving, and prolonging my life.

Running accomplishments: View my Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon results
Grand Canyon R2R - 4 times. PPA - 7, Imogene Pass Run - 7, LT100 pacer - numerous. 20 Sailin' Shoes (for the free beer). BTMR all - either run or volunteer. Collegiate Peaks 25, Greenland 15, Turquoise Lake 1/2M, Fall/Winter Series.

What I like about trail/mountain running:
NO hard pavement!. No crowds, never-ending changes in scenery and effort required.

Favorite running trail and why:
Elk Park, in season.

Favorite trail/mountain race and why:
Imogene Pass Run. Best scenery, by far.
Favorite non-race: Grand Canyon R2R - What an experience!

Best running experience:
Completing a Grand Canyon R2R. And pacing at the LT100. Seeing "your" runner finish and knowing that you helped them is also very powerful.

Worst running experience:
Pacing at the LT100. Discovering the water bottle we had been sharing in the dark was covered in blood from the runner's bloody nose.

Neatest thing found on a run:
Various - money, tools, a complete touch-tone desk telephone, aluminum Louisville Slugger baseball bat (some were tough to carry home tucked in my shorts - but that's another story).

Running related bathroom stop story:
The rumor of Ultra runners being able to run while simultaneously peeing is no longer a rumor. Contact Neal (Super Soaker) Taylor for more information.

Running pet peeves:
Headphones at races.

Other hobbies and interests:
Fishing, anything to do with wine, shotguns, and camping. A running-related hobby is earning a First Aid merit badge while running with Teresa Taylor. (I need one more incident to qualify.)

Other stuff:
Run with someone, you always work harder.

Page last modified: 11/19/2012