Ray Eck

SECOND HAND LION

“I just wanna live while I'm alive - Bon Jovi”

City: Colo Spgs/Stuart, FL State: CO

Favorite Shoe: New Balance, stability Size: 2E

Age: 66.8 years old

Marital Status: Married

Family members:
Wife, Jean, my coach, and grown children, son, Matt, daughters Tressa and Megan

What I do for work:
Retired at 56 after a successful sales career. Run, bike, ride motorcycles and work out in the gym. I don't have time to work.

Places I’ve called home and why I like where I am now:
Raised in St. Louis, MO. Job transfers to Southern Illinois, Lincoln, Nebraska and then Colo Spgs in 1985. Company wanted to move me to San Jose, CA, but I told them, "No way, San Jose." I winter in Stuart, FL and summer in Colo Spgs.

When I started running and what got me started:
Always ran, but got serious when oldest daughter Tressa started running cross country in high school in the late 80's. Thought that the people running up Pikes Peak were absolutely nuts.

What does running mean to me:
Total freedom. It frees the mind. It definitely made earlier business and personal decisions much easier.

Running accomplishments: View my Pikes Peak Ascent/Marathon results
I have run on top of the Valley of the Kings, the Great Wall, the Haleakala Crater, when the silver swords were in full bloom, and various other exotic locations around the globe.

What I like about trail/mountain running:
You can run on the same trail every week and it will constantly change due to the flora and fauna.

Favorite running trail and why:
Barr trail, none better.

Favorite trail/mountain race and why:
Pikes Peak Marathon. You never know what will happen on race day.

Best running experience:
This started out as my worst. I could not sleep the night before the 2005 Marathon of the Palm Beaches, so I had a scotch. It didn't help so I had another and another, then some more. I didn't sleep at all and felt horrible the morning of the race. I told my coach that I was thinking of switching to the half. My coach said: "That's not like you, what the hell are you thinking?" I ran a 3:29:37 at 59 and won my age group by over 15 minutes.

The night before the 2006 PPM, I decided that one beer wouldn't hurt. I had five. I had run 14 previous PPM's and I ran a PR the next day. I came in second in my age group. Had I been born 7 days sooner, I would have won my age group by 45 minutes. It's all my mom's fault. The idea that alcohol and running don't mix is a myth.

Worst running experience:
Ran the 2003 PPM with giardia. I woke up with a fever and severe cramps on the morning of the run. I had my worst time, barely beating 7 hrs. It was slow and painful, but I had to do it. Giardia and running don't mix.
Also, I was almost run over by one scared Rocky Mountain Sheep on a training run near the top of Pikes Peak, a near death experience.

Neatest thing found on a run:
A crisp $20 bill near the top of Pikes Peak. You can have it back if you give me the serial number.

Running related bathroom stop story:
There has been a few disasters in my younger days, but I have learned not to leave until the septic tank has been emptied.

Running pet peeves:
Perfumed hikers (bears anyone?) who express a shocked surprise at my sudden presence.

Something non running related that no one would guess about me:
In 2008, rode a bicycle from Colo Spgs to Stuart, FL. That's 2,406 miles, if you're counting. I was.

Received the "last rites" at 17.

Other hobbies and interests:
Motorcycle riding. I have three.

Other stuff:
Purple Heart. No, not in WWII.

Page last modified: 12/9/2012