Upcoming runs
Contact Triple Dare Running Company by calling 435-668-1869 or visiting tripledareruns.com or the office at 35 E. Horizon Ridge Parkway, Suites 110-134.
• March 4: Trail Trashed
• Where: Sloan Canyon
• 1-mile ($25)
• 5K ($35)
• 10K ($40)
• Half-marathon ($55)
• Marathon ($85)
• 50-mile ($100)
• 100-mile ($150)
• April 22: Triple Dare Kids’ Race + Triple Dog Dare Run
• Where: Heritage Park Henderson
• 1-mile ($25)
• 5K ($35)
• Triple Dog Dare Race ($35)
• May 6: Flight of Fire
• Where: Red Rock Canyon
• 5K ($35)
• 10K ($60)
• Half-marathon ($80)
• July 7: Three Degrees of Hell
• Where: Bitter Springs, Rainbow Gardens, Whitney Mesa (do one or all)
• 7K ($35)
• 7-mile ($40)
It’s 3 a.m., and Ryan Cooper is running up a mountain.
The 36-year-old Las Vegas native dodges boulders, branches and loose gravel as he winds up the incline in the dead of night. He’s exhausted and covered in sweat, despite the temperatures dipping near freezing, because he’s been running since 7 a.m. the day before — and still has another five hours ahead of him.
This ultramarathon, hosted by the Triple Dare Running Company, is a 100-mile race up and down desert trails that tests runners’ minds as much as their bodies. For finishing the grueling trek, they’re awarded aching hamstrings, quads and calves, blistered feet and an engraved belt buckle. But for Cooper, the race is about far more than the hardware.
“To me, running is a sense of freedom and a chance for me to explore and just live,” Cooper said. “I struggled with addiction in the past and I’ve been through some tough, trying times in my life. ... I actually got to a point where I was homeless and my family wouldn’t talk to me, and I basically had nothing left.”
After completing a yearlong, faith-based anti-addiction program, Cooper decided to run a 5K, and he has never looked back.
“That race gave me a feeling of excitement, of purpose, and it felt like it had been waiting for me my whole life,” Cooper said. “I found a home in running.”
He progressed from 5K to 10K, then to marathons, Ironman races and the ultramarathon.
Cooper believes his personal struggles primed him for the mental aspect of the race, which takes longer than 24 hours to run.
“Your mind is going to be telling you to quit a lot of times throughout the race, and if you listen to that voice, you’ll never make it to the finish line. You have to really be anchored to why you are running this distance,” Cooper said. “When things get tough, I know I’ve been through tougher stuff and this isn’t going to kill me, and I just don’t quit.”
•••
Heidi Dove founded the Triple Dare Running Company two years ago, and she has seen people from all walks of life use the races for catharsis.
“We get a lot of competitors who have fought cancer, and people who have gone through tough times,” Dove said. “Trail running is pretty intense compared to road running. You get a lot of people who like a big challenge and like to do things that are very difficult.”
Because not everyone is up for a 100-mile jog, the company offers different distances.
“There’s everything out here. Races for everyone from the kids in the family to the hardcore athletes,” Cooper said. “I want people who live here who might not even know that these trails exist to get out here and explore and know that these kinds of races are in town.”
The next event is March 4 and will feature runs of seven distances. The 100-miler begins at Hidden Falls Park, near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Horizon Drive, following a trail out to Amargosa Trailhead near the 215 Beltway and U.S. 95. Runners will follow the route multiple times to reach the 100-mile mark, running through the night and into the morning. Cooper plans to add it to his long list of accomplishments in the four years since he’s been sober. He said he ran his last ultra in 25 hours.
“It’s mentally taxing. ... You have to deal with fueling and hydrating while you’re running. You have to deal with the heat and the cold,” said Cooper, who eats everything from pizza to glycogen-filled gel capsules during races. Aid stations along the way offer food, water and medical attention, but the head game is up to each runner.
“You’re out there on your own,” said Cooper, who now works as a personal trainer. “It’s great being able to escape from the city for a little while and get connected with nature.”
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