Member Spotlight: John Young
John Young has been running with Trail Roots since late 2020 after searching for a chill group to run with. Originally from Michigan, John has been living in Austin for about three years and is a vehicle architecture engineer for Ford by day. He and his wife have a goal of running a half marathon in every state in the US (13 and counting!). John is quick to lend a hand to anyone in the group that needs a running partner or a pacer and is just back from pacing a former member in her first 100k. We wanted to ask John more about his journey with running and Trail Roots.
What inspired you to start running?
My freshman year of high school I joined the cross country team as a way to get in shape for basketball season. Loved it so much that I decided to drop basketball entirely (I wasn’t very good anyway!) and I’ve been running ever since.
Why did you join Trail Roots?
Honestly just to get out of my apartment! I had been working from home since moving to Austin, so even pre-covid I was feeling pretty cooped-up. By late 2020 I desperately needed some kind of human interaction not on a screen and running outside seemed the best/safest way to do it. The opportunity to spend more time on Austin’s awesome trails made Trail Roots an easy choice.
How has training with a group helped you? How did your running change after beginning to train with Trail Roots?
To put it simply, running with a group makes the regular training days fun. Before joining Trail Roots, I really lived for my long run each weekend and neglected weekday runs. That was of course a recipe for poor performance & injury. Now I look forward to the weekday workouts as a way to see friends and also get a run in.
What’s your favorite trail with Trail Roots?
Lost Creek for sure
You have a goal of running a half marathon in every state. What inspired you to do that?
Through undergrad Rachel & I did a half marathon in Traverse City, Michigan as our yearly trip/celebration of finishing each school year. After graduating we both moved around a bit (Rachel for grad school, me for work) so it became harder to do that same race. But we both missed running in new and interesting places, so once we were both settled in our careers, we decided we’d try to do it in every state!
How do you plan where you are going to race next?
Rachel has a massive google doc of cool races, sorted by state. When we have some free time between other trips we search for races around that time and pick one that looks fun. Occasionally we add a race to a trip we already had planned, like during our honeymoon in Hawaii.
What has been your favorite race or destination so far?
That’s a tough one… It's between Atlanta in 2020 where we also got to watch the Olympic marathon trials (a couple weeks pre-covid) and Little Rock, Arkansas which was surprisingly awesome for a road race. Honorable mention to Hawaii for an amazing destination, but the race itself was a little bland.
You did your first pacing gig at Black Canyon 100k recently, what was that like and what did you learn from it?
Pacing/crewing for Marian was an absolutely awesome and rewarding experience. As a crew there are so many logistics that you have to track and you have to be really dialed in to what your runner needs or might need for the full 15+ hours. You need to know their nutrition/hydration plan, the race rules and cut off times, how to work their gear, and how to recover if things start to go sideways. As a pacer you need to keep your runner moving when all they want to do is lay down, as well as track their nutrition plan for them when their brain probably isn’t working well anymore.
Honestly, it's a ton of work and so much more exhausting than I was expecting. But crossing the finish line with Marian, getting to share at least a little in such an incredible accomplishment, made it 100% worth it.
You’re also making your way towards your first 100k, what race are you going for and how are you training for it?
My goal race is Red Rock Canyon in November, just outside Las Vegas. I won’t create a detailed training plan for it until after my 50k next month, but I have a lot of ideas bouncing around my head. I recently read Jason Koop’s “Training Essentials for Ultrarunning” (which I think makes me a running nerd) and I’m interested in incorporating some of his methods as well as adding some swimming to manage injury risk.
“Grab a pair of trail shoes and jump in! Everything about running is better with friends and Austin has some amazing trails you might not find otherwise.”
What advice would you give someone who is interested in joining a group for trail running?
Grab a pair of trail shoes and jump in! Everything about running is better with friends and Austin has some amazing trails you might not find otherwise.