Tara Carter

I started running at age 30, in an attempt to cross the road marathon off of my bucket list.

At first it was hard and honestly I figured I would be a one done, in terms of racing. However, I found I liked it and had a knack for it and by the time I was 32 I had a sub-3 (2:57) marathon under my belt, at CIM 2009. I figured with that kind of improvement in just a few short years, I could hit some pretty respectable times by the time I was in my mid 30s, however, my body had other plans. I ended up getting hit with a few autoimmune conditions that put me out of running for a while. As I worked to learn how to manage my health conditions, I also made career changes and life got in the way of real training. I still ran for fitness, but only jumped in races occasionally without much mileage or any real training. I turned to trails, as I often felt unwell, yet the beautiful scenery made up for my physical struggles. In 2019, I had my health conditions well-controlled and decided it was time to give real training a try again. I signed up for the Gnar Slam (Quad Rock 50, NS100k, Black Squirrel Trail Half and Blue Sky Trail Marathon) and won the slam, setting Master's course records in Quad Rock and Never Summer, along the way. I ran my first 100 miler at the Bear last year and hope to continue to manage my health well enough to keep running ultras well into my golden years!

Hometown: Portland, OR; current: Fort Collins, CO

Real Job: RN, with a background in critical care and emergency; currently a DNP family nurse practitioner student at CU.

Social Media:

Favorite Beer or Wine: Odell's Mountain Standard IPA

Guilty Pleasure: Mary's Mountain Cookies

Other Hobbies: Hiking, camping, paddleboarding, traveling and hanging out with the kids, dogs and husband

Pets: 2 rescue dogs, one who spends many miles running with me and one who we rescued as a senior, Lani and Maui

Best thing about VFuel: Hiking, camping, paddleboarding, traveling and hanging out with the kids, dogs and husband

Best recovery meal: Whatever I am craving at the time! I figure my body is telling me what I need through my cravings, which sometimes is a salad loaded with veggies and tofu and sometimes a Mary's Mountain Cookie and IPA

Favorite trail running memory: Running from Bear Lake in RMNP, up over flattop mountain to Grand Lake, having lunch in Grand Lake and then running back, for a total of 36 glorious miles! Coolest run ever!

Schedule: Quad Rock 50, North Fork 50k, Never Summer 100k, Bear 100

Any advice you want to share with a new athlete?: Fuel and recovery often get ignored, yet are the key to gaining benefit from the hard work you put in! And enjoy the journey!