BILL DITTMAN

Melia Coury: I’m Melia Coury herewith Aravaipa Running and Bill Dittman who just placed second at out 2016 Mogollon Monster. Congratulations.

Bill Dittman: Thank you.

Melia: So tell me a little about your journey throughout the day. There was a little point where you got lost and then rallied at the end.

Bill: Yeah, I got lost about miles 20 thorugh 40 I was hitting a little bit of a slow patch. It was hot out so I kind of wanted to keep it low and slow . And once the night came and it got a little cooler I was able to turn it on and use the parts above the rim to really open it up and run

M: Did you have any specific goals in mind going into this run?

B: I mean not really. For me that really kind of gets in the way of me enjoying the race. I didn’t really know what the competition looked like or what time goal so I just wanted to go out give it my best and see what happened.

M: What was your training like leading up to it?

B: I train a lot in the McDowell Mountains. So a lot of training on East End, Tom’s Thumb and Bell Pass. Just trying to get a lot of technical trail just trying to get my feet and legs ready for what this race presents which is the technical footing.

M: Were there any parts of the course that really jumped out at you as parts that you loved?

B: Yeah I was telling them, some of my friends, that Myrtle trail was a really, really cool ascent. We hit it right at sunset. It was beautiful and they had some music playing when you got to the top. Which was kind of a fun treat once you finally got your way up there.

M: Yeah, the classic Stairway to Heaven.

B: Yeah, exactly.

M: Did you have any specific reasons why you chose to do this race?

B: Yeah, so I do a lot of camping up on the rim. I had heard of the race before and just thought it was crazy to hold a really long trail race up on these trails. I’d experienced some of them and thought I would give it my best shot. I was really bummed out when I heard the race was not going to be run this year. And then really relieved when I found out Aravaipa was picking it up and excited that I could move forward with my plan to knock it out this year.

M: So do you have any plans of what’s next?

B: No, I don’t have any other races on the docket right now. Next year I will for sure get into a few but right now I don’t have anything on the docket.