An interview with Nat Ross: Going the distance

As a six-year professional mountain biker who's competed in twenty-eight solo 24-hour races, you'd think that ultra-endurance racing has consumed every waking hour of 35 year-old Nat Ross' adult life. But as Steve Medcroft discovers, the lean, long-haired and laid-back Coloradoan has a more complete resume than even the most upwardly-mobile corporate go-getter.

For starters, Ross holds a biochemistry degree from Western State College in Gunnison, Colo. After college, he pulled a five-year stint as high school teacher and coach. He also built Tough Guy Productions, the company that puts on the Arapahoe Basin based Telemark Freeskiing Championships and has produced five editions of the Total Telemark extreme ski movies. In 2005, he even took a swing at mountain-bike race promotion; designing the course for Sleepless in the Saddle.

The most impressive thing about this list of accomplishments is that he's built it at the same time as he's developed a world-class endurance resume that includes one solo national championship, a number of key individual wins, and top placements in races like Montezuma's Revenge and the 24 Hours of Moab.

Click here for the full interview.