Getting to Know Curtis Claar

Bachelors of Arts in Communication (Advertising) degree from University of Wyoming.

Grew up in Casper, Wyoming. After moving with my family to Gillette, Wyoming, I then went to Laramie, Wyoming, and back to Casper. Then to Laramie again to graduate from college. After college, I moved to Rawlins, Wyoming, to work for the Daily Times. I chased my dreams and finally left Wyoming after over 25 years in Wyoming and landed in Denver, Colorado. My wife and I then spent 10 years in the Black Hills area of South Dakota before landing in the crazy running community of Colorado Springs.

None. Unless you count college bowling class and college golf class. Oh, and I once scrimmaged with the UW Varsity Football players.

Well, I did my first tri as a part of the State Games of America 2009. So what compelled me to register for it? One day I ran an early morning 5K, then did a 5K American Heart Association Walk and then at midnight I rode my bike 14 miles. I guess you could say that was my first triathlon, but I decided after that to do a real one.

At the 2009 EP5K in Houston, the Half Marathon finishers were supposed to finish in the right lane and the 5K finishers were to finish in the left lanes. As I was nearing the end, I kicked into my reserve energy and started passing everyone and went to the right lanes. Just as I realized I was about to cross the wrong finish line, I instantly over-corrected and about biffed it on the dew on the finish line and almost took two other racers with me. The best part was the finish-line video: a race official raised his arm to get my attention at the same time I overcorrected and it looked like I had been clotheslined!

Not sure if this really counts since nobody else knew, but here goes. On my first race after getting my Garmin GPS watch, I couldn't quite get the thing working. So I ran 5K with a real nice looking watch and heart rate monitor that didn't work. That was a real bummer.

Although my finish at the 2010 EP5K was my personal best finish, it's not the race time that made this finish spectacular. The race started in downtown Houston on a Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m. and I caught a 9:27 a.m. plane at George Bush International. Hey, at least I was impressed.

It's always fun to remember that, in addition to the health benefits and friendships of running, some races have some pretty cool raffles. The best I've seen (but not won) so far is a 1-week stay in a 3-bedroom condo worth $2300. This seems to be a regular at the Veterans Home Run in Colorado Springs.

I ran the Bolder Boulder expecting to be wowed by a different band every mile. I must have been running during all the breaks because I missed all but about 2 of the bands. But the food was interesting. And I'm not talking about the food at the end of the race (which was ample), but I'm talking about the food during the race: marshmellows being tossed at runners, several families were frying up bacon for the runners, "the last Dorito stand before the finish line", Jello shots, and my all-time favorite donuts and beer (from the same guy). I'm sure I missed some. I'll pay better attention next time.

The 25K Cheyenne Mountain Trail Run ended with a full catered meal from Carrabba's featuring Chicken Marsala. With apologies to Red Robin: "Yummm". The chicken breast was grilled while I was out on the trail and it really hit the spot.

While on a trip through Texas to visit family in Oklahoma, I found myself in Amarillo in the middle of the night needing to run 3 miles to keep on track in my half-marathon training program. Not knowing exactly where to go that would be safe, I chose the Walmart parking lot. Lots of people, lights, etc. The best part was my brief touch with fame on my victory lap right behind the pace car with the flashing lights. Oh, what a feeling! Wait, that was just the security truck that was also making loops around the parking lot in the middle of the night. Oh well, it still felt great.