Squamish endurance athlete Jason Loutitt is back in town and looking forward to a busy spring and summer season on the trails.
After winning the Calgary Marathon last May, he placed second at the World Ultra Trail Running Championships in Ireland last July and most recently won the HURT 100 Mile Endurance Race in Hawaii. He's now gearing up for a 2012 that will see him travel to the Grand Canyon, California and Europe to take on some of the world's best.
"I'm really excited and focused for 2012," he said. "I'm running over 140 miles a week now and looking forward to all the races coming up."
The Grand Canyon experience is not a typical race but more of a challenge. Runners at the Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim, which takes place in April, will run down and through the canyon twice.
"All of the races I do have a spiritual and meaningful connection to me but there's something really special about this one," he said, adding that timing is done on an honour system because timed racing isn't allowed on site.
Loutitt will follow that with a return to Europe when he participates in the 100 km World Championships in Italy on April 22. The next weekend he will race in a 50-miler in California but he admitted all the racing is in preparation for the Ultra Trail Mont-Blanc (UTMB) at the end of August.
"It's the unofficial world championships for 100 milers," he said. "I've never done it before but everything I'm doing right now is geared towards that race."
To that end, Loutitt told The Chief that he's focusing on running and training. For a number of years he ran the Service Canada office in Squamish, then he moved on to working on aboriginal programs in Vancouver before coming back here. He has quit his job to focus on his running.
"My latest decision was to go for it," he said. "I want to live the dream, pursue running and try to get by on my speaking engagements and coaching. It's a big risk, especially for a sport where a lot of times the biggest prize you win is a belt buckle. But the training is going amazingly."
Loutitt said he runs the STORMY 50-mile course several times a week, as well as running up and down the Stawamus Chief multiple times a day. He said training in Squamish has invigorated him.
"People talk about us being the mountain bike capital of Canada but in terms of trails and trail running, we're the best in Canada," he said.
He added that he hopes to set up motivational talks or training camps in town to help fund his trips.
"If there's enough interest I'd like to host a motivational speech or two at some local schools," he said, noting that he spoke for many years throughout Western Canada with the Clean Air Champions group. "I'm also looking to start some local endurance running camps."
Loutitt wanted to thank his sponsors, including Garibaldi Wellness Centre, Cortex Hypnosis and Bikram Yoga Sea to Sky for their support.
"In ultra running there's no real prize money so to get that type of support from the local community means a lot to me," he said.
For more information on Loutitt, visit www.runningthroughmountains.com.
