With 24 Hours of Utah steadily approaching, Gemini Events sat down with Eagle Mountain Runner, Megan Morrissey for a recap on her experience as a 5-time 24 UT team racer. Here’s what Megan had to say about training, racing, and the Eagle Mountain Runners,

1.) What do you like about this race?
We all love running so being able to get away and spend the day and night together is something we all look forward to every year. Being a loop course is great. We can have our little camp area to hang out and have our only worry be when we run next. We buy every gossip magazine and just relax and have fun. We take nothing serious for those 2 days. It is a great break from real life.

2.) How many years have you been running as a team?
Eagle has had a running group for over 10 years. At one point we would have 18 people on a run. We run consistently at 5:15 am 3 to 4 days a week and long weekend runs. We don’t really know what happened but over the years it ended up just being the 5 of us. So we signed up for 24 Hours of Utah back in 2007.

3.) How many years have you competed in 24 Hours of Utah?
We have done it every year except one (2010) where a few of us had something come up with family. We have had to sub people a few times when one of the core 5 was injured. This is the first year we have run without Katie, she is injured. Anita and I are going to double up on laps every other time we go out. That will be a new challenge.

4.) Who has been consistent in keeping the team together – who’s the captain, the wrangler, the heart?
That would be me. We have a funny dynamic in our group. I am really not a leader but for some reason take that role on with the group. But we all love it and I never have to talk anyone into it. It is more like “Did you register us for Moab yet?”

5.) How has the team changed? (Either athletically, physically, mentally, etc.)
Knowing each other for so long we have seen a lot of change. When you get up at 4:45 to run with people you get to have great long talks about everything from jobs, marriage, kids to dealing with dang running injuries. A few of us started running ultras with the others supporting us as pacers and crew. A couple of us have been out for months with injuries. But through it all we are still very close.

6.) How do you train as a team? As individuals?
We will always try to run together if scheduling works. We txt out a run and if you make it great. If not you may get a bit of a ribbing but all in good fun. We also all go out alone when no one else can go. We all need to run.

7.) Any heat training? Is there snow on the trails in Eagle?
We have had a long cold winter. Unfortunately we lose most of our trails to an open space closure from Dec -May. We have 2 open trails we snowshoe run and katoola run. So no heat training except for Anita who spent a week running in Hawaii! We are so ready for heat and dirt.

8.) How do you go from mountain training to desert training?
Honestly we are so ready for dirt and heat it isn’t a problem. The hard part is going back to snow.

9.) Any little rituals you do in Utah that you and your team would like to share?
We have a fire pit and keep the fire burning no matter what. And Blue Moon’s after the last lap!

10.) Please tell us something fun about the event!
The first year was probably the funniest. It was in May that year so it was superhot. We would come back from our lap and put our feet in a bucket of ice water and just be out of it. On our late night/early morning laps we saw spiders with glowing eyes and mice running over our feet. On one of my laps I screamed by head off when I saw a snake, okay it was a ribbon tied to a bush as trail marking. But being tired and worn out from the heat I think we all lost it a bit out there.