Join me in congratulating Steve “Gorilla Hawk” Crutchfield who outran me in July. Steve is the most joyful runner you will ever encounter on the trails. At the beginning of the year, Steve predicted July would be a perfect building month for his Hawk Hundred Redemption run. In 2018, he ran 95 miles before a Tibial Fracture forced him to an unexpected early finish. If you look at his UltraSignup results, you will see that out of his 35 races listed, the 2018 Hawk is his only DNF. This was the year he planned to make it all the way.
2019 was a strong year for Steve as he earned his Golden Hawk status by completing 125 miles across the seven Trail Hawk races. In 2020, as Covid spread and race cancelations piled up, the Hawk Hundred was canceled as well. Steve adapted and took July to reconnect with the true joy of running. He discounted his Garmin and left it at home for two weeks and simply ran by feel. I don’t believe the rumors that this was the likely cause for the Garmin sync outage.
That’s Steve’s story, and I believe it, but I also suspect another factor was he didn’t want to “Crutch” me too badly during the outrun challenge. See Steve is not only a joyful runner, he’s also one of the kindest, warmest and most caring runners on the trail. I’ve seen he slow down during a race to help a fellow runner who could use a few laughs to make the painful miles go by faster.
Steve is the fifth runner to outrun me in the challenge, and he did it with the narrowest margin so far. Thanks Steve for helping me recover by reminding me of the core spirit of running. And thanks for role modeling to me, how to be a better person. Final score, Steve 42 miles, Todd 0.
STEVE’S HIGHLIGHTS:
- 42 miles tracked while running
- 125 miles tracked while biking
- Completed the Trek Century Challenge
- Slowed down and put people first
- Play hours of cards with his girls
- Renewed his love of running again
