Justin Ricks, of Colorado Springs, is a life-long runner and our March Runner Box Colorado Runner of the Month. A former high school star and a 2:22 marathoner, he won the recent Salida “Run Through Time” Marathon against a field that included four past champions.
Justin, congrats on the win at the Salida “Run Through Time” Marathon. I know you’ve had a lot bigger races in your career, but at Salida you beat some pretty legit trail runners – Timmy Parr, Nick Clark, and Josh Arthur, for example. Looking at the results, it looks like it was pretty close. Did it come down to the final miles?
We started the race in a big pack, except for one runner out front. I made a move when we came to the long, uphill dirt road. The group dissolved right away. Tim was able to catch up, pass me, and slowly gain on me until the road flattened. I passed him along a downhill section, and he caught me again in the snow. Once the race started going downhill again, I was able to put a few minutes on him.
I felt like I had secured my position, until I sprained my ankle. I stopped for a few second to assess the injury, but I figured that I should try to get moving again. I wasn’t sure if Tim would catch me on those final seven miles, but I was hoping that because I had built such a big lead he would quit chasing. He was able to gain a bit after the ankle sprain, but I was able to hold him off. Overall, I was really happy with the race considering everything that happened.
It looked like you sprained your ankle pretty badly. How’s it feeling, and how soon will you be able to return to racing? Are you planning to race the La Sportiva Mountain Cup again?
The ankle is feeling a lot better. I was on crutches for the first few days, but after visiting Melissa and Simon Gutierrez at Select PT in Colorado Springs, I was able to get back at it after a full week off. I plan on racing the Cimarron 50k and the Dirty 30 in May, plus the Power of Four 50k in July, with my biggest focus on the Moab Marathon in November, which is the US Trail Marathon Championships again this year. With that schedule, I don’t have time to race the La Sportiva Cup, but maybe next year.
Mad Moose Events, you’re putting on races in and around Colorado Springs now. There are trail and ultra-distance events all over now, how will yours be different? What races have you run in the past that you hope to model certain elements of your races after?
We currently have two events in Colorado Springs, plus one other that should be done with the permit process by the middle of April. We also plan on starting 3-4 more in Colorado and Utah next year, as well.
I have been in the sport for a long time now; my dad ran Leadville and some other classics back in the 90s, when I was a pre-teen. I also spent some time on the roads trying to qualify for the Olympic trials in the marathon, and I am hoping to model our events after everything I have experienced both on and off the roads. We are looking to get our races included in championship-level races like USATF Championships, La Sportiva Cup Races, Skyraces, etc.
The plan is to offer some prize money at a few of our bigger races next year, in order to get a more competitive race up front. We are also focused on the back of the pack runners. For the second year in a row, at Behind the Rocks Ultra, we allowed 5-6 runners to stay on course after the cutoff and even took them headlamps so they could finish. They were moving well and even though the course had officially closed, they had worked hard all day and deserved the right to finish. Those final five runners had a bigger welcome than the winners did!
What’s your favorite item in the Runner Box?
I really liked the variety of different bars and runner “treats.” They didn’t last long, because the kids ate them quicker than I could!
“Leave the research to us, and we’ll leave the training to you,” says Runner Box. The Runner Box is a subscription-based service that delivers a “box” of runner-friendly goodies to you every other month, items like gels, bars, and other accessories hand-picked to add to your running. Many items are new to the market, and new items are expected with each box. A great service for yourself, the boxes also make great gifts and are often themed around holidays.