During the past year, ordinary Utahns did extraordinary things in various sports. I had the pleasure to get to know five of them. Each is inspiring in his or her own way. They epitomize determination and perseverance. They set goals and accomplished them step by step and stroke by stroke. Quit is not in their vocabulary.
There is a skier, a runner, a cyclist, a hiker and a swimmer. They range in age from 15 to 71. Four are amateurs. One is a professional. But she spent the past year working without pay for a chance to someday compete on the biggest stage in one of the world’s most grueling sports.
Their feats are remarkable and represent what any of us could do if we truly set our minds to it. And they are not only fine athletes but fine people.
Here are the first few paragraphs from each of the original articles that were published in the Deseret News in 2025 with a link to the complete story:
Ground control to Racer Tom
Thomas Hart, his two friends and I are riding the Needles Gondola at the base of Snowbasin Resort on a bluebird day in northern Utah. We chat during the 12-minute ride to the top. When Hart tells me his nickname is “Racer Tom,” the David Bowie song “Space Oddity” immediately pops into my head. We laugh as I mention it to the trio.
Ground Control to Major Tom, Ground Control to Major Tom. Take your protein pills and put your helmet on. Ground Control to Major Tom (ten, nine, eight, seven, six). Commencing countdown, engines on (five, four, three, two). Check ignition and may God’s love be with you (one, lift off).
We exit the car — I want to call it a capsule now — to a layer of freshly groomed snow just below craggy Needles and Demoisy Peak, both exceeding 9,000 feet elevation. They kick their boots into the bindings on their skis, while I strap into my snowboard. I feel like I’m holding them up.
Racer Tom is on a mission.
Read the rest of the story here: Ground control to ‘Racer Tom’: Utah skier pushes the limits of endurance
The legend of Davy Crockett
I’m going to meet Davy Crockett — that’s his real name — on a trail at the north end of Utah Lake. It’s not the wild frontier, but he is the king in these parts. He’s the ultrarunning man. He has run 109 100-mile races. He is the 15th person in the world to finish 100 races at that distance. He is the foremost historian of his sport in the U.S. How he has time to pause for an interview is beyond me. I throw my running shoes in the car.
Turns out Crockett isn’t Forrest Gump crisscrossing the country nonstop, though he does have a (virtual) following.
So what exactly is an ultramarathon? It’s a footrace that’s longer than a traditional 26.2-mile marathon. Typical distances include 50K (31 miles), 100K (62 miles), 50 miles and 100 miles. And there are also some insanely longer endurance races like the Moab 250 and the Cocodona 250. Races usually take place on unpaved trails and roads and go up and down mountains.
Read the rest of the story here:The legend of Davy Crockett: Utah’s ultrarunning man
Grit on wheels
Utah native Natalie Quinn is grinding her way to the top of one of the most demanding sports in the world.
Professional road cycling requires years of dedication, training and perseverance to become an elite rider competing at the highest level of the sport. Think Tour de France. Think Olympics. Quinn has her wheels turning toward both.
Since graduating from Weber High School in Pleasant View, the 23-year-old Quinn has dedicated her life to becoming the best bike rider she can be. That means eat, drink and sleep cycling, typically thousands of miles from home. Her coaches have described her as gutsy and relentless on the road, traits that will also serve her well off the bike as she navigates the twisty route to the top.
Read the rest of the story here: A Utah woman’s ascent in the world of pro cycling
Give it a WURL
Last year, 15-year-old Jesse Zurinskas and his dad, Chad, started what’s commonly known in the hiking and mountaineering communities as “bagging” peaks.
Mount Olympus, a quad-wrenching climb that gains 4,800 feet in elevation over 3.3 miles on the east side of the Salt Lake Valley, came first. A number of other hikes followed, including Mount Timpanogos, Mount Nebo, Lone Peak and King’s Peak, Utah’s highest at 13,527 feet.
They also tackled some more technical hikes like Geurt’s Ridge and Mount Superior that required scrambling over craggy rocks and knife edges. Scrambling is a technique using both hands and feet to scale steep, rocky terrain.
“He seemed to gravitate towards that,” Chad Zurinskas said of his son.
It was a sign of bigger things to come.
Read the rest of the story here: Teenage hiker reaches new heights on what might be Utah’s toughest route
Lifetime achievement
A swimming pool, or any body of water for that matter, might as well be Walden Pond to Joe Horton.
Henry David Thoreau ranks as one of his favorite authors, “Walden” one of his favorite books. Thoreau spent two years living a simple life. He studied ants. He swam in the pond. Horton’s connection to the 19th century essayist and naturalist started in high school in California at a time when he felt embarrassed about being different because he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away,” Thoreau wrote.
Horton loves that quote. It’s on display in his home.
“What I got from Thoreau was permission to be different,” he said.
Read the rest of the story here: This Utah man swam 10,000 miles and counting