Run Steve Run!
09/08/2023 07:00AM ● By Casey Hopkins
(Photo: Steve at his first 100-mile race of 2023, the Mesquite Flat Top Mesa Run. Taken from Mesquite Flat Top Mesa Endurance Run Facebook Page)
Steamboat Springs, CO - Most people spend decades working their way up from the classic neighborhood 5k to a half-marathon to finally a full-marathon, but in the case of 72-year-old Steve Rossi, he went from zero to 100 (literally) in just two years. Now he plans to tackle his third ultramarathon of 2023: the annual 100-mile Run Rabbit Run race which takes place in Routt County next weekend.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” Steve says. “It’s always been on my bucket list, and I never did think I could until I ran a 50-miler, and it was pretty easy. By then I was 70, so I figured I better get [a 100-miler] done.”
Run Rabbit Run caps their number of athletes for the 100-mile distance at 350 participants, so it tends to fill up fast. Steve signed up for the waitlist and at the end of July, was pleasantly surprised to hear that he had been picked to fill the spot of a runner who dropped out. “I had already signed up for a 50-mile race down in Grand Junction on Grand Mesa and that turned out to be a good training run, but it was tough,” Steve says, “At the end of that 50, I couldn’t imagine having to do another 50 on top of it. Every race is that way. You go until the end and then you can’t go anymore – it’s a mindset.”
Steve ran back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and while he’s remained active since then, running fell by the wayside. Now that he’s back to pounding pavement, he runs an average of 80 to 100 miles a week, consuming around 10,000 calories a day. “Sometimes you’re blessed with a high metabolism,” Steve says.
Steve is running in the ‘Tortoises’ group, which starts at 8 a.m. on Sept. 16 at the base of the ski area, where the runners head up Mount Werner to Fish Creek Falls, then up Buffalo Pass and back downtown. From there, they then ascend Emerald Mountain and hit the 50-mile mark and head back the way they came. The total elevation gain is approximately 22,000 feet.
Steve is the first and only runner ever to be sponsored by Ski Town Media, Inc. To track Steve’s progress on race day(s), head to the Run Rabbit Run page on www.ultrasignup.com and find Steve’s bib number (#651). You can also watch a live stream of the event by heading to https://www.facebook.com/RunRabbitRun50100.
Steamboat Springs, CO - Most people spend decades working their way up from the classic neighborhood 5k to a half-marathon to finally a full-marathon, but in the case of 72-year-old Steve Rossi, he went from zero to 100 (literally) in just two years. Now he plans to tackle his third ultramarathon of 2023: the annual 100-mile Run Rabbit Run race which takes place in Routt County next weekend.
“It was something I always wanted to do,” Steve says. “It’s always been on my bucket list, and I never did think I could until I ran a 50-miler, and it was pretty easy. By then I was 70, so I figured I better get [a 100-miler] done.”
Run Rabbit Run caps their number of athletes for the 100-mile distance at 350 participants, so it tends to fill up fast. Steve signed up for the waitlist and at the end of July, was pleasantly surprised to hear that he had been picked to fill the spot of a runner who dropped out. “I had already signed up for a 50-mile race down in Grand Junction on Grand Mesa and that turned out to be a good training run, but it was tough,” Steve says, “At the end of that 50, I couldn’t imagine having to do another 50 on top of it. Every race is that way. You go until the end and then you can’t go anymore – it’s a mindset.”
Steve ran back in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, and while he’s remained active since then, running fell by the wayside. Now that he’s back to pounding pavement, he runs an average of 80 to 100 miles a week, consuming around 10,000 calories a day. “Sometimes you’re blessed with a high metabolism,” Steve says.
Steve is running in the ‘Tortoises’ group, which starts at 8 a.m. on Sept. 16 at the base of the ski area, where the runners head up Mount Werner to Fish Creek Falls, then up Buffalo Pass and back downtown. From there, they then ascend Emerald Mountain and hit the 50-mile mark and head back the way they came. The total elevation gain is approximately 22,000 feet.
Steve is the first and only runner ever to be sponsored by Ski Town Media, Inc. To track Steve’s progress on race day(s), head to the Run Rabbit Run page on www.ultrasignup.com and find Steve’s bib number (#651). You can also watch a live stream of the event by heading to https://www.facebook.com/RunRabbitRun50100.