Bike, Run, Ski, Snowshoe, and Repeat

The 25th Annual Mount Taylor Quadrathlon begins Saturday morning at 9:00 in Grants, New Mexico, and less than four hours later the winner will have cycled, ran, cross-country skied, and snowshoed as high as 11,301 feet in elevation. The four sport race draws between 400 to 600 competitors annually to a 45-mile-long course that begins with a 13-mile road race from the streets of Grants up 1,800 feet approaching the mountain. Then comes a five-mile run over gravel roads rising 1,200 feet, before the athletes strap on cross-country skis for another 1,200-foot climb that's spread across three miles and ends with a steep rise known as Heart Break Hill. To summit, competitors then trade skis for snowshoes and traverse 600 feet up in the final mile to the top. From there, the views can stretch for more than one hundred miles. But don't expect too many quad athletes to bring their cameras, once they reach the summit they're only half way done with the race. Think it sounds like a good time? Before showing up ready to race in the morning, check out Outside's Lab Rat Nick Heil's report on what he went through in preparation for an unfortunately deterred 2007 quad attempt first (The Payoff, June 2007). Then make your plans for 2009.
--Jason Kerkmans