Welcome to Colorado, Wylie Mangelsdorf! The Alaskan transplant has finished as high as third in the famed Mount Marathon and now brings those mountain running skills to Colorado. Mangelsdorf talks training, Alaska, and, of course, Mount Marathon, in the below interview.
Wylie, welcome to Colorado! How did you go from Palmer, Alaska, to college in Elsah, Illinois, to now living in Lakewood, Colorado?
Thanks! So far I have been loving it here. I was born and raised in Alaska and gained a real appreciation for the outdoors and mountains. I always thought, if I was going to be anywhere else in the US, it would be Colorado. However, before making that move, I had to complete college, which is what brought me to Elsah, Illinois, where I attended Principia College. My freshmen year I was able to attend while both my older sisters were there, which was a lot of fun! At Principia I ran Cross Country all four years and then Indoor and Outdoor Track on and off while I was there. During college, I gained a huge love for running and coaching, as well as some amazing friends. One particular friend grew up in Golden, Colorado, which made it pretty easy to move out here after a semester of coaching Cross Country at Principia this past fall. Now, as of mid January, I am a Coloradan living with one of my best friends from college. Someone else who went to Principia College and who has become a great connection is Kipp Keller, the owner of seven New Balance Stores across the country, two of which are located here in Colorado (one in Aspen Grove, Littleton and the other in Cherry Creek). With that connection, I was able to move to Colorado and work for New Balance – a job I am loving. I am very excited to see where this job takes me because I have already grown so much in so many different ways. There is talk that our stores may be starting some training programs for the public and our customers. I love working with runners and I have an interest in coaching, so the prospect of New Balance possibly offering some training would be right up my alley. Now, that I am all settled in, I have fallen into the steady routine of work, exploring this beautiful state of Colorado, running with my new Alaskan Husky dog (Jetta), and doing workouts to get in shape for some fun races this year!
You did pretty well at Alaska’s Mount Marathon race a few years, third in 2013 and sixth in 2014. How awesome is that race? What are the chances of finding anything in Colorado that might compare to that?
What a race! It is by far my favorite race I have ever competed in. I would argue it is what made me the runner I am today. Ever since 2001, I have been trying to get into that race, and as of 2013 I finally made it in! It has helped motivate me and push me through my training, and made me grow as a racer! Mountain runners are one of a kind. They are all so friendly and helpful to all the other racers out there. Whenever I run mountain races, it is like everyone is on one big team, and we are all pushing each other to break personal bests or course records. As far as the race itself goes, Mount Marathon is my favorite mountain in Alaska and has lots of beautiful views throughout the race! However, it is no walk in the park. Mount Marathon is incredibly steep, people call the downhill a controlled fall, and the race is known as the Super Bowl of Alaska. I have been searching for something similar since I moved here, and the two I have found so far that are working well for my training, are racing up Mount Morrison near Lakewood and the Incline in Colorado Springs. Mount Morrison is good for its length and some of its steepness, and the Incline is great for its vertical climb in a short distance. That being said, I am still searching for more options to train, especially something to work on my downhill speed.
Did you see that Kilian Jornet is racing this year’s Mount Marathon? Common belief is that he’ll break the course record, but what do you think?
Kilian Jornet sure does have an impressive running resume! It is very exciting to see him entered in the race. I do think he will be making the Alaskan race way more known to the rest of the world, and I would not be surprised if it becomes more popular over the next few years. What this means to me is our top Alaskans will be stepping up their game to try and stay ahead of the pack. I am very excited to have an opportunity to race with some of the greatest mountain racers in the country and the world.
I read that you’re targeting the U.S. Mountain Running Championships in Bend, Oregon this summer. That race is incredibly competitive these days, so what are you doing to prepare? Who are you training with, and where?
As far as qualifying for the U.S. Mountain team, I am honestly just focusing on Mount Marathon. The races are two weeks apart, so it will be similar training. Most of my training takes place on Green Mountain in Lakewood, just above my apartment, and then making a trip the the incline every other week and Mount Morrison, on the opposite weeks. I am basing my training program off how we trained at my college, which has served me well. In addition to uphill and downhill training, I have found running on flat ground has also been beneficial. I’ve gotten good results in past years with this training regimen. I’m a big fan of the saying, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it.” As far as who I train with, it is usually myself and Jetta (my dog), but every once in a while, I will meet up with a few friends from Colorado Springs that have been on the US team in the past.
What other races do you have planned for this summer?
As of right now, I am only planning on doing two more races. The Cherry Creek Sneak, which is going to be right around our New Balance store in Cherry Creek. That one will be fun because it will be a way to help promote our store a little more to all the runners in Colorado. The second one is Bolder Boulder, which should also be a blast because I have heard so many fun cool stories about the race, and it should have a lot of great competition. I may do a few more, but we will have to wait and see.
How do our trails compare to those in Alaska? About the same technically, but without the chance to get as remote?
Yes, definitely not as remote. There have been some similar, but the main differences have been that the trails here are way more accessible, which makes for a lot more options for nearby runs. Second, the trails here are at a lot higher elevation, which makes for great training. The only thing I wish we had here is a downhill rock scree similar to the downhill on Mount Marathon because that part of the race is just as important, if not more so, than the climb up. All in all though, I have had no complaints about the trails here.
I’m a big fan of several of the Alaskan reality TV shows – Bering Sea Gold, Gold Rush, and Flying Wild Alaska, for example (and Alaska in general). What’s your favorite, or are all of these shows incredibly ridiculous?
Honestly, I don’t think I have ever watched any of those. I don’t watch a lot of TV, so it would be hard to really say much on those. All I would guess is that reality in Alaska would be a bit different then what a TV show might portray. I’ll have to check them out and get back to you on that!
Thanks Wylie, and good luck this summer!