Who Knew There Were So Many Great Trails to Run in Utah County?

Having lived in Utah all but two years of my life, and after having coached cross country in Utah County for seven years, I thought I knew most of the great running trails in this area.  It wasn't until a couple of years after I had left my coaching career and took a job at Brigham Young University that I realized I had only scratched the very surface.

Ironically, my increased exposure to some great running trails came about through a finance professor who had moved to Utah and was interested in exploring the area.  Brian Boyer was a converted trail runner, and was just getting into his running career when he approached me and asked if I would show him some trails.  I was thrilled at the opportunity to have a running partner and to get to run some of the trails I missed after being away from coaching.  Little did I know, this relationship would lead us to finding and exploring many new trails together.

One of the challenges Brian and I faced was time.  We both had full time jobs and young families.  We determined to pick one day each week to get up early and meet at a trailhead.  Most of our runs began well before sunrise, so headlamps were essential.  We timed it so that we could usually run to the top of a mountain, see the sun rise, and get back to work in time to spend a good eight or nine hours in the office before returning home to our families.

After a couple of years, we had discovered some incredibly beautiful country right in our own back yard. It was an amazing and very memorable experience.  Then Brian moved his family to California for a year and the trail running and early morning exploration ceased.  A year later Brian returned, but our busy lives got in the way and we failed to get back into a weekly routine.

Fifteen pounds later, and feeling like I needed to find better balance in my life, I decided to reconnect with Brian.  He was thrilled to hit the trails again.

These early morning runs, and the views from across the Wasatch Front are too good not to share.  So here is a blog to show that Utah County is home to some pretty amazing trails.  Enjoy the pics.  And if you are in the area and can pull yourself out of bed early enough, we'd love to have you join us one morning for a run before dawn.

 West side of Timp, behind G Mountain
 Squaw Peak
 Timpooneke Trail
 This mountain goat turned and posed for me on top of Mt. Timpanogos
 Cascade Mountain
 Squaw Peak
 Top of the Y (with Matt Field and Brian Boyer)
Blue Bells on Spanish Fork Peak
Timp Saddle
Location: Utah County, UT, USA

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