Evan Larson is an Alameda runner who ran his first-ever trail race at Inside Trail’s Chabot/Redtail Ridge Trail Run. At the time of the interview, he was running together with his fiancée Alex to their favorite café to get mochi muffins; a morning run that has become their ritual.
To Become a Trail Runner
Evan didn’t always run. Before Alex and his buddy got him into running in 2021, he was more of a weight-lifter. However, once he started to join other runners for Friday morning runs in the Reinhardt Redwood Regional Park in Oakland, he found that he enjoyed exercising outdoors. (His love for the outdoors became apparent when, in the middle of his interview, Evan happily announced, “Oh my god, I’m seeing wild turkeys right now!”) Trail running started to grow on him.
“I like trails and being in nature,” he said. “It’s a little harder than hikes, but you can see a lot.”
Evan especially enjoys running with other people. As he said, it’s a great opportunity to chat and connect.
“You get a chance to talk while still being active,” he said. He especially enjoys running with Alex on the Bay Area’s gorgeous trails during the weekends.
Trail Racing, Training, and iTR
Evan’s first-ever trail race at the Chabot/Redtail Ridge Trail Run was a success. He ran it together with Alex, and it was a great introduction to what he could expect from racing on trails instead of tarmac.
“It was hard,” he said. “We loved it.”
This year, back in Chabot, Evan tackled his first 50K, while Alex PR’d on her 30K at the same event. Chabot 50K has become Evan’s favorite race.
“Coming back, doing it for the second time, going a longer distance, and running it basically in our backyard was great,” he said.
Evan keeps coming back because he gets to meet “nice, good people” during the events. He likes that the races are “a little smaller, which is great.” His next big target is the Broken Arrow Skyrace 23K in June, while he’s patiently training and looking toward eventually running his dream race, the Marin Ultra Challenge.
When Evan first started running in 2021, he ran about 5-10 miles per week.
“At the beginning, five miles was a pretty long run,” he said. Nowadays, as he trains for bigger adventures, he runs 30+ miles per week.
So far, Evan enjoys running races. Eventually, he might think about volunteering at one of the events, but for now, he wants to enjoy the trails with his feet on the ground and wind in his hair.
To the New Runner:
Evan Larson had a single piece of advice for anyone thinking about getting into running: “Give it a try!”
“It was never something I was into. I didn’t grow up enjoying it. And now I love it!”
