Dan Hunter

Give us the lowdown on who you are and what brought you to call Bozeman your home. 

I grew up in the Lake District north of England and decided I needed to get away to the big city so, naturally, I moved to NYC where I quickly discovered I needed to move back to the mountains. So, like all east and west coasters, I moved to Bozeman. 

Forest Gump said it best: “I just like running.” Rumor has it, you do to. How’d you get into trail running? 

I played rugby growing up and was often forced to run insane events called fell running. This is pretty much just a fancy “English” term for trail running. So I figured “I’m too old to play rugby and getting fat so I’ll try this running thing again”, but this time I liked it. I started running longer and longer distances, some races, others just for fun. I heard of different runners and got sucked into a culture of alcoholic runners and I was home! 

Any big future races or projects on the horizon? 

Get enough points to enter UTMB’s CCC lottery for 2019 and fulfill my dream of drinking wine in the alps. 

How would you describe your experience at The Mountain Project and it’s impact on your training and daily life? 

The Mountain Project is lacking beer but does have an amazing culture and fun atmosphere with relaxed but intense, dedicated coaches to help you improve, reach goals and celebrate like a champion. It’s helped me grow as a runner and more importantly to me, it has recently help me recover from a knee injury quicker and stronger than I thought possible. 

You know all of the TMP coaches pretty well. Tell us, how would you describe them and the gym’s community? 

TMP has a great support atmosphere. You mention you’re doing 4 baldy laps at 2am and at least one of the trainers is there cheering you on with burritos. You mention you’re going to MAP brewing and they’re already there cheering you on. The only warning is beware of “hanger”. Yes, it’s a thing and believe me when I say it: bring wild crumb to a trainer who will remain anonymous...(Colleen). It’ll probably save your life! 

You’ve got the last word...anything else you’d like to add? 

You’ll be sore but you’ll make it.