Megan Kimmel continued to roll with her win at The Rut 28k this weekend. In the following interview, Meghan talks about how she stays motivated to race, how her Skyrunner World Series is shaping up this year, and where else she’s planning to race this year.
For more on how the race went down, check out our results article for The Rut 28k.
[Click here if you can’t see the video above.]
Megan Kimmel, 2016 The Rut 28k Champion, Interview Transcript
iRunFar: Bryon Powell of iRunFar here with Megan Kimmel after her win at The Rut 28k. It’s becoming a habit, isn’t it?
Megan Kimmel: I’m on a two-win streak so far.
iRunFar: Well, with The Rut and everything else… you’re having a good season.
Kimmel: Yeah, true. Yeah, I’m having a pretty good season.
iRunFar: How do you stay motivated to keep racing? A lot of races you’ve done before and you do race a lot every year. How do you…?
Kimmel: I think my motivation changes all of the time really. You know, it’s kind of a complicated question. Ultimately running-wise, staying in shape has really just continued to let me take advantage of opportunities and to be able to adventure more. Race-wise, I guess it’s something I’ve liked to do. I’ve been doing it for long enough now, maybe motivation isn’t a big enough factor for me because it’s kind of ingrained.
iRunFar: It’s what you do.
Kimmel: It’s what I do.
iRunFar: You get it done. You led from the gun.
Kimmel: Yeah, this one I did. It was pretty unexpected, but I went with it for sure.
iRunFar: Did you know at any point you were building a pretty comfortable lead? It’s a 28k, so at some point you can actually feel like you’re secure.
Kimmel: Yeah, this year in particular compared to last years, I felt a lot more comfortable by the last five miles that my lead was probably pretty secure. I’m not really sure when I felt that, but I guess by the top of Lone Peak I felt that if there was going to be someone behind me, they probably would be there by now.
iRunFar: With the big schedule throughout the year, when you have a position like that, do you—not jog it in—but do you take the edge off and just work hard but not 100%?
Kimmel: Yes, I did today for sure especially because the descents here are kind of gnarly here in places. I felt like I had a bit of a cushion to take it a little easier on the descent than maybe if I had somebody right there visually behind me, and as goes for the last part of the race.
iRunFar: Which could have been wise because Dakota Jones had a pretty nice lead on the men’s side and he was coming down the hill and hurt his ankle again.
Kimmel: Yeah, that was unfortunate and sad to hear because he was doing well.
iRunFar: He was crushing it. What else do you have on your agenda this year?
Kimmel: I’m heading out to the Jungfrau Marathon which is next weekend. It’s not exactly my style, but for some reason I like it. I’m headed back there…
iRunFar: Back over to Europe?
Kimmel: Back over to Europe for a quick one, and then I’m actually off for about a month to prepare for Limone, the last of the Sky Series.
iRunFar: Do you have an insurmountable lead yet?
Kimmel: No, with the last race being worth 20% or 20 points more, whichever one, it makes that race kind of crucial to do well in. I’m not sure what the point margin is. Last year I went in with three wins out of four scoring and I ended up having a horrible race and I ended up losing the series because of that. I still finished second.
iRunFar: You still have a big goal there.
Kimmel: Yeah, yeah, I learned a lot from last year racing a lot which I didn’t exactly choose. I kind of fell into it. This year, having a really bad race there, I took that into consideration when…
iRunFar: With that race having extra points and all that, will you actually train specifically for that race?
Kimmel: Yeah. Last year I don’t even remember training for that race. This year for sure I’ll train more specifically for lots of ups and downs.
iRunFar: You’re also the defending champ at The North Face 50. Is there a chance you’ll be back there this year?
Kimmel: Yeah, I definitely have it in my mind to go back there this year. That’s still a few months off, so there’s no telling, but I have it in my plans to start prepping for that after Limone.
iRunFar: You’ve just moved from Silverton[,Colorado] which is super high to Ridgeway which is not quite as high. Does that give you more training time in the winter and late autumn?
Kimmel: It makes me a little closer to the desert where you live so less driving time if nothing else year round, and that’s one motivation for me to have moved down there.
iRunFar: So if it’s getting snowy in October in the San Juans, you can just bolt over and get some training in on the Colorado Plateau.
Kimmel: Yeah, exactly. Everything is closer, and Ridgeway stays dry a little bit longer.
iRunFar: That raises the question, between Limone and The North Face 50, you tend to run one of the Moab trail races every year.
Kimmel: Yeah, I love that one. It’s such a good time of year and just so fun to be out in the desert especially on the singletrack that’s on that course. I’m certainly signed up for that one.
iRunFar: Congratulations for your run here and see you around.
Kimmel: Thanks, as always, Bryon.
iRunFar: Thank you.
