I was lucky enough to run into Tony Krupicka at the Ultimate Direction booth during the Outdoor Recreation Show in Salt Lake City last week and he graciously agreed for us to meet up the next day or an interview.
I was looking forward to following up from Jerry’s Article from a while back. Tony does a great job of covering his running on his site so I worked on some other aspects of his life. Tony arrived shortly after me and he arranged a couple of folding chairs and we got started.
Mark: So, are you still hanging out in the Roost? (Tony’s truck he uses to travel in and live from)?
Tony: Yeah, been in it since April 1st.
Mark: So is it still Roost 1.0 or have you upgraded?
Tony: It’s still the same since 2008. It’s great, I’ve got a lofted bed that hinges and allows me to access all my stuff underneath.
Mark: You’ve had a travel partner lately… how’s the roost for two?
Tony: Tight (laughs) Close Quarters. But, we both travel light so it works well.
Mark: Did you finish up with your degree in Boulder?
Tony: Yeah, I finish my masters in Geology last December.
Mark: It seems you do a lot of peak bagging. Is that something you enjoy?
Tony: Really, it’s more of my love of running in the mountains and summits are way more motivation than running around town.
Mark: Do you still climb?
Tony: I’m not a great climber but I still do it… not with ropes. I’ll go to 5.6 or 5.7 (referring to the level of difficulty).
Mark: Have you had any epiphanies over the last 18 months related to taking care of yourself or running?
Tony: Yeah! But not so much of taking care of myself but my epiphany is related to hiking. I was a little more snobby and grinchy about it before and then I came to see it as a valid way of moving in the mountains. It gives me more of an opportunity for an aesthetic line up the mountain.
Mark: So do you have a favorite book or latest read?
Tony: Absolutely. David Foster Wallace and The Pale King. (I look at him with a big question mark) It’s about working within the IRS. I really like his writing.
Mark: So finally, has your diet changed?
Tony: (laughts) It’s probably gotten shittier. I need to do better. I eat way too much sugar.
Mark: And what’s you favorite sugar.
Tony: Nutella. I’ve gotta stop.
I thanked tony for his time and later that day got a chance to watch him compete against Luke Nelson in the vertical treadmill challenge. Only then did I notice how cut up his legs were. Later I learned of the little adventure he’d had up on Mt. Olypmus the night before. Sounds like it was quiet the time. He has a nice little write up about it.
Nice interview. Nice to hear about some of the other stuff going on in Anton’s life.
http://runrunnerrun.blogspot.com/
Thanks Runner. Figured might be easier on him and more fun for us to read.