From 4LPH41337.com

	Photo by Andrew Kornylak	Photo by Mike Bitton	Photo by Mike Bitton

Timeline

• 3 time 5A Cross Country/Track state champion HS
• 1 Xterra triathlon
• Unsuccessful collegiate cross country/track (won 1 race) runner for 2 years.
• Back to running for enjoyment on/off for 4 years.
• Decided to lose weight and use Blue Ridge training as a platform to do it. Lost 18/25 desired pounds in 4 months and continued training for other races until 25/25 gone, at which point who knows.
• Joined Trailblazers adventure racing club.
• Fell in love with adventure racing. Committed another year to the team.

Bio

FAMILY: I'm the youngest from a family of six. Married with 2 boys and a girl on the way.

OCCUPATION: IT Architect (nerdius maximus)

HOMETOWN: Cumming, GA

NUMBER OF YEARS RACING: 2 years, with 8 years of competitive endurance sports prior

AVG. HRS SPENT TRAINING PER WEEK: 6-8 hrs. It's hard to get training time, when balancing with family, so we do 1-2 night training days per week after everyone is asleep.

GOALS FOR 2008: Team Goals. I'm constantly working on sponsorship and recruitment as well.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:

• 1999 LHSAA 5A T&F 3200m state champion
• 2000 LHSAA 5A Cross Country state champion
• PRing in the 1600 against Thomario Thomas.
• Qualifying for Regionals in the 3200 while debilitated.
• 2000 LHSAA 5A T&F 1600m state champion
• Finishing the 2007 Gold Nugget AR while debilitated.
• Captaining 4LPH4 1337 to 32nd place in the 2007 USARA standings out of 330 ranked teams in our rookie year.
• Captaining 4LPH4 1337 to 14th place in the 2008 USARA standings out of 381 ranked teams in our rookie year.
• Co-producing the 2009 Atomic Adventure Race with Jack.

FAVORITE INDULGENCE: cookie cake, more of a euphoric curse than an indulgence.

NON-ADVENTURE RACING ACTIVITIES: I love spending time with my family. I also volunteer on a team at Browns Bridge Community Church keeping 20 or so three-and-a-half year-olds.

FAVORITE QUOTE: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein

Thoughts

---

I have seen a lot of interviews of world class adventure racers who describe a race as taking a year's worth of life's highs and lows and compressing them into a few days. While I don't disagree with them, I have a different take on it. I would describe it not as a compression of life, but how life was before modern day comforts and conveniences--a purer version of life, where one depends on a fellowship rather than the ego to overcome challenges.

Independence is an idea that we see everywhere in society: we are constantly fed the goal of financial independence, it is in vogue to live socially and morally free--to be independent in character without concern for others' opinions or feelings, and it is intellectually fashionable to argue for spiritual independence and living under one's own power apart from God. There are plenty of other undercurrents of the independence-obsession that stem from modern society to which one may or may not subscribe, and it is hard to argue against the fact that our country was built on a foundation of independence and, after time, the mentality of independence that joined the country has migrated to that which has divided it. It is a natural progression that occurs when one's circumstances turn for the better that the person begins to distance himself or herself from others, enabling him or her to shine as the sole reason for their success. A few manage to avoid it, but many more can cite examples in their lives when they began to beat their own chests rather than thanking friends and family or praising God for the triumphs which were, in the end, shared victories.

In adventure racing, there is no victory for one--the finish line can only be a triumph of many. The strongest members of the team can at times become the weakest, and it is not uncommon for the weakest to comfort the strong in their times of suffering and self-doubt. The team becomes interdependent upon one another, not just for the sake of the journey, but for the sake of survival. They must become companions in the oftentimes-perilous courses that race directors manage to throw at competitors, lest they risk life and limb. This environment is no place for ego, and the distancing of oneself from teammates can only result in failure. These hard-learned lessons, which are discovered in the wilderness of the race course, are hidden in modern day society; they are invisible in a place where reliance upon our inventions constantly enable us to become egoist-hermits focusing primarily on harmonious, self-reliant living, and devoiding ourselves of one of the greatest traits of Man--fellowship.

So when I take my respite from society, it is not to "fight the man", "buck tradition", or to "become a non-conformist"--those ideas are all twisted continuations of the independence-obsessed community in which we live. Rather, I embrace the fellowship of others and immerse myself in the wild, unspoilt by the plague of ego. It is here that I retreat to a different life--here that I find a true adventure.

Equipment

• 2006 Fuji Outland RC w/ custom map carrier and custom tow system .
• GoLite VO24
• Montrail Hardrock
• Helmet Camera System

Past Races/Performances

• 2007
  • Blue Ridge (Josh, Jordan, Laura): coed, 24th (technically 41st but there was a dispute that was never received) out of 102
  • Impossible Panther (Josh, Jordan, Holly): coed 8-hour race, 2nd overall out of 16
  • Siege on Fort Yargo (Josh, Jordan, Jack): all-male 2nd out of 42, 4th overall out of 112
  • SOAR Highlands (Josh, Caleb): all-male 2nd out of 16, 3rd overall out of 27
  • YMCA Challenge Four (Josh, Jordan, Laura): 3-person coed 5th out of 21, 6th overall out of 75
  • Overmountain Extreme (Josh, Holly, Jordan): 3-person coed 5th out of 11, 8th overall out of 27
  • Gold Nugget (Josh, Joanna): coed 12-hour race, 4th out of 7, 10th overall out of 20
  • Howl At the Moon (Josh, Jack, Holly, Joanna): 4-person coed 4th out of 9, 11th overall out of 41
• 2008
  • Checkpoint Zero (Josh, Joanna, Eric): 3-person coed 14th out of 37, 24th overall out of 75
  • Blue Ridge (Josh, Joanna, Phillip): 3-person coed 12th out of 69, 13th overall out of 87
  • Western Carolina (Josh, Jordan, Enid): 3-person coed 3rd out of 10, 5th overall out of 33
  • Siege on Fort Yargo (Beer Run: Tom, Josh, Danny): 3-person male 5th out of 45, 16th overall out of 104
  • Odyssey One Day (Josh, Joanna, Phillip): 4-person coed 6th out of 8, 19th overall out of 40
  • Midnight Rush (Jordan, Enid, Josh): 3-person coed 3rd out of 15, 3rd overall out of 31
  • USARA National Championships (Josh, Joanna, Jordan): elite 29th out of 70, 35th overall out of 81
• 2009
  • Atlantic Coast Conquest (Josh, Jordan, Joanna, Jack): 3- and 4- person coed 8th out of 9, 10th overall out of 16
  • Odyssey Wild, Wonderful 24 (Josh, Jack, Michael, Laura): 4-person coed 8th out of 11, 24th overall out of 39
  • Bushwhack Adventures' Impossible Panther (Josh, Joanna, Ben): coed elite 2nd out of 9, 2nd overall out of 16
  • Trailblazers' Siege on Fort Yargo (Josh, Michael, Justin): all-male 1st out of 51, 4th overall out of 104
  • Odyssey One Day (Josh, Joanna, Laura, Stefanie): 4-person coed 3rd out of 8, 4th overall out of 52
  • Lionheart 24 (Josh, Jack, Stefanie): 3-person coed 11th out of 14, 22nd overall out of 30