“Who goes on Aspire trips?”
It’s a question we hear often. The truth is, the runners who show up for our trips come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of running and mountain experience with them to the trails.
We all relate to mountain spaces in unique and personal ways. We are excited to add some depth to our response to the “Who?” question with a series of Aspire trail runner profiles. We enjoyed hitting the dirt and building friendships with these runners on our trips, and we think you’ll enjoy hearing their stories!
Name: Aaron Davis Age: 45 Hometown: Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
What is your occupation?
Heavy Equipment Sales – Latin America & The Caribbean
I also served in the Idaho Army National Guard from 2002 until 2010 as an artillery officer, ending my service at the rank of Captain, and after serving in Iraq in 2005 during Operation Iraqi Freedom.
What Aspire Trip have you participated in?
Wonderland (Longmire to Mowich Segment 2015)
What is your favorite trail snack?
Chipotle peanuts, bacon, oatmeal creme pies
Describe your experience, background, and enthusiasm for running and/or wilderness and backcountry experiences?
I always tell my wife that my dream “job” would be to just clear and build trail all day and run! I wasn’t much of a runner growing up in Boise, Idaho; however, I did do a lot of backpacking, hiking, and camping as a Boy Scout which I loved. In fact, my Eagle Scout “project” was organizing trail work and camp site restoration and clean up on the trail from Chinook Campground into Loon Lake in central Idaho (which for any ultrarunners out there who have run the IMTUF 100-Mile, you ran as part of the race course, albeit many years after I was swinging a Pulaski there with my fellow Scouts…). From my teen years until derailed by a hand injury in my mid-20s, my passion was rock climbing. When injury forced me to explore other activities, I made a goal to run a marathon.
Long story short, I got hooked on running (and marathons in particular), and even did a stint on the All-Guard Marathon Team while in the Army National Guard—my one and only experience at being somewhat of a “pro” and actually getting paid to run – “thank you” to you all tax payers out there 😊.
In 2015, when I was going to turn 40, I set an outlandish goal to break all my PRs in all the more established distances between the 400m and the 100-mile. There were many I’d never really run before, so several were basically “if I finish–I PR!” And though I had dipped my toes into the trail and the ultra world on occasion previously, my only ultra finish before this year was the 2013 Trail Rail Run 50-mile near the Idaho/Montana border. There were a few races I didn’t get to run that PR year, and a few more that I ran but failed to beat the PRs I’d set in my 20s; but it was an awesome year and was also when I really became a born-again trail/ultra runner.
That year, which also included my epic Wonderland trip with Aspire, I ticked off the longest runs of my life, including a sub-30-hour 100-mile finish at IMTUF, which I’ve since gone back to do twice more since.
This crazy COVID year of 2020, I branched out even further and got into fast packing. I spent hours in my wife’s kitchen scale weighing gear and trimming 1/8s of ounces here and half ounces there as I poured over my packing list. This culminated with a 100-mile, 4-day/3-night fastpack trip with a 23.5 pound pack in the Sawtooth’s of Central Idaho with a running buddy of mine.
I also spent much of 2020 with my trusty Rogue Hoe 70HR54 cutting and benching in my own trail system on the wooded hillside behind my house—I’m up to 4-miles with 1,000ft. of vert if you run all 10 x concentric loops. 😊
What questions, concerns, or unknowns did you have going into your trip?
I had a few questions about logistics, format, etc.–I think it was Aspire’s first year (2015), and I was relatively new to big days in the backcountry on this type of running trip. BUT, all those concerns were easily resolved with a couple e-mails and it was an AWESOME experience (and the food was SOOOOO GOOD!!!)
How did you prepare for your trip? Given your experience would you prepare differently, if so how?
I was actually training a lot before the trip, and spent a fair bit of time in the backcountry hiking and backpacking as a kid, so I was fairly prepared and in pretty good shape when I showed up to run with the group. The Wonderland is a pretty tough trail, so it’s definitely going to enhance the experience if you are prepared to enjoy it (and not slog through and suffer too much…)
What story or description would you give to represent the group dynamic on your trip?
I honestly kind of liked that it was a “solo while part of a group” type experience. I was out there for stretches on my own, which totally suits me. But, there were also stretches were I was with one or two others, which was also nice, as we could each take pictures for each other and experience an epic place with others who share a similar passion for the outdoors.
What was a difficult moment or a surprising episode from your trip?
I can say without a doubt it was coming around a corner and bombing down toward a meadow about half way through the run and looking left to see a good sized black bear about 200 feet away bolting out of the meadow as fast as he could. Needless to say, I was glad he didn’t stick around to wait for me!
What advice or thoughts would you offer to someone considering signing up for an Aspire trip?
DO IT!!!! I suppose like a race, it is a significant amount of money to put down to spend a day or more in the mountains; BUT, an Aspire trip is so much more! It’s different than races or other trail running experiences you’ve likely done, and is so worth it.
And the food – man, my wife thought it was worth it just for the culinary experience. I’m not kidding! It’ll leave you wondering how on earth it could be possible to have such amazing food in the outdoors without a full kitchen. Unreal!
Not to mention, there just aren’t races that can take you to some of the places that Aspire can. It really is an amazing experience start to finish, and I can’t say enough good things about it (especially the Wonderland!!!)
It was just a great overall experience, with a good group of people – participants and Aspire staff alike. A great time and a great memory (that I need to repeat in the near future!)