Ute Crossfit Sponsored Athletes
Matt Hart
Matt left a software career at Microsoft and 10 hour days at a desk to chase a dream in
2006. He has since become a staple in the ultrarunning world, and has won races at every
distance including this year’s Tahoe Rim Trail 100 Miler. A former adventure racer he also
has the 3rd fastest time running the 500 mile Colorado Trail — covering the distance from
Denver to Durango in 9 days, 7 hours. This past summer he became just the 5th person to
complete the venerable Nolan’s 14 route in the Sawatch Mountains of Colorado. The 106
mile route summits 14x fourteeners (peaks over 14,000ft in elevation), and took Matt and
partner Jared Campbell 58 hours, 58 minutes. Long, hard, mountain adventures are Matt’s
specialty.
Since 2005 Matt has also worked as an endurance coach, and has been helping hundreds of
athletes in a wide range of challenges from winning 100 mile races to losing 100 pounds.
He is also a columnist for both Trail Runner Magazine (Ask the Coach), and NWRunner
Magazine (on Nutrition).
Margaret Schlachter
Margaret Schlachter, one of the top women in the burgeoning sport of Obstacle
Course Racing finds her training home at Ute CrossFit. Margaret started in the world
of obstacle course racing in 2010. This two sport former collegiate athlete found
after years of coaching sports that Obstacle Course Racing was her niche. In the
2011 season she finished in the top 15 of all her races, and the 2012 season she
has had tremendous success adding eight podium finishes to her name this year in
both obstacle course racing and ultra trail running. She is currently one of the top
ranked women in the Spartan Race World Rankings and looks ahead to another big
season in 2013 which includes almost twenty obstacle course races, several ultra
marathons and a seven day 250km self supported stage race. She chronicles her
training, racing, and fitness tips on her award winning website Dirt in Your Skirt
(www.dirtinyourskirt.com) and is currently working on her first book.
Graham Watanabe
Graham Watanabe is a two-time Olympian and National Champion, and X-Games medalist in the sport of Snowboardcross. Making the U.S. national team in 2000, Graham focused on Alpine Snowboarding, but after two consecutive major injuries moonlighting in the Snowboardcross discipline, Graham made the career choice to study Snowboardcross, and dedicated himself to physical fitness. In a gravity-driven sport, size and strength matter. One of the smallest competitors on tour, Graham’s off-hill training became just as important as on-hill. Turns out, hard work does pay off! In 2004, Graham became the first American male to win a World Cup Snowboardcross event. Between 2004 and 2012, he was a member of several World Championship teams, the 2006 Torino Olympic team, 2008 X-Games Silver Medalist, 2010 Vancouver Olympic team, and earned several World Cup podiums.
