The Bair Gutsman

Crazy Bob's Bair Gutsman is a mountain race that climbs up four miles to the top of  Francis Peak, then 7 miles down the other side. If you live in Kaysville, Layton, or Fruit Heights, You've probably seen the white structures that people sometimes describe as "big golf balls"on top of the peak. This race goes over that mountain.


My grandpa is an amazing athlete, at 64, and after having open heart surgery, he still does triathlons and marathons. He ran the Bair Gutsman in the 70's, and after finding out about it from my grandpa, my dad wanted to run this hard mountain race. At the time, I was in the first grade. My dad and I started training every morning by running in our neighborhood and doing "army"(a series of push ups, sit ups, and squats). When we started, it was hard to keep exercising every morning, but as time rolled on, we persisted, got into better shape, and could run  faster and farther than before.

I remember feeling a little scared that I wouldn't be able to finish the race, but after doing a practice race up the mountain with just my dad. I discovered that I could not only finish the race, but have fun while doing so.

The morning of the race, my dad and  I woke up extra early so we could get to the starting line on time. I remember not being tired at all, owing to the butterflies in my stomach. When my grandpa came to run with us, we hopped into our car and headed down to the start line. We got our race numbers and headed over to the start. I remember feeling nervous, but ready to run. Then the gun was fired to set us off.


And so it began. We ran up to the top of the mountain in 2 hours or so with little incident. We decided we were making pretty good time, and set off on the long 7 mile dirt road to the finish line. As soon as we started the downhill portion of the race, I discovered my feet were hurting. I felt like stopping, but my dad reminded me that we needed to keep going if we wanted to finish the race. With my grandpa and my dad holding my hands on both sides to keep me going, we ran towards the finish line. When the end was in view, I got so exited and ran faster on the final sprint. That year the had a huge timekeeper scoreboard at the finish line, telling us how much time it took us to run the race. We finished in a little under 4 hours.

After running we got a sweet t-shirt and a slice of watermelon. I even got a gift certificate to a running store for being the youngest runner in the race. When my mom came to pick us up, we ate subway for a celebratory treat.

Now I have ran  the Bair Gutsman 4 times. In fact, now most of my family has run it too. And every time I finish, I get a great feeling of accomplishment that can't be beat. I will forever be grateful to my dad for running with me, and will always appreciate how lucky I am to live close to the mountains.