2014 Old Town Guerrilla Run

When the fall colors began to change in Park City, it was a sign the Old Town Guerrilla Run was just around the corner. With some established times to beat in the books from last year’s inaugural race, the trash talk started before the snow began to melt and helped solidify the event for a second year running. Last year saw a crazy tie finish along with a couple of disappointing DNFs and a few lackadaisy contestants. Kris Gray and Dustin Schaad shared the win while, Eric Porter stopped mid run to gram a double rainbow and podium contender KC Gaudet flatted not far out of the gate. With some new names and some new features on course, this year's race shaped up to be another bro-drama-filled good time.

Early morning mechanical was stressin' Gray. Held up the practice shuttle for a good hour before they ditched him.

Everyone was looking for shade while getting TK'd by Gray


Meg Palmer was the only female to show up to race. Sun's out, guns out!

There were a lot of names floating around during contention talk. Glen Lehigh always looks good on trail but the gentle giant might’ve been too kind when he started guiding people through some of the new 20-foot doubles in Black Forest. He might’ve regretted disclosing the speed to the 10 guys that beat him, but Big Daddy will never display any remorse when bikes and bros are involved. And, if timing hadn’t been questionable, Glen probably would’ve seen himself scratched in a bit higher in the final standings.

Big Daddy taggin' his plate with that OTG gold. #robbed2014


Kelly McGarry and Greg Minnaar were in town, but neither showed to race. They were probably scared of Nick Van Dine, who was called out as the man to beat in Park City. Definitely a mentionable name in the lead-up, but written off to show until he was spotted on a solo practice run the morning of. Pretty sure Kris Gray’s heart sank a little when he heard Van Dine got a warm-up lap. Gray drove all the way from California to defend his title, and even though at the end of the day he improved on his previous best, he still came up short of the coveted crown.

Awards got upgraded this year. Barrett Cox's laser engraved medal was maybe a little too fancy for this kind of affair. Thanks Barrett!

Not everyone was gunning for the crown though. Jess Pedersen was all smiles, all afternoon when he dropped off his 12-pack entry fee at registration. Stoked just to be a part of the party, he managed to find himself on the podium just 5 seconds off Van Dine. Straight up fast.

Back to defend his co-title, Gray was the first out of the gate and put down a solid time to beat.



Jamin had a chain issue entering Black Forest and stopped to adjust. The heckling was relentless as he got passed by two riders. "You don't need a chain! It's all f*cking downhill bro!"

Big Daddy crushing the 4-pack in Black Forest.

Jess Pedersen might've been slow to the start gate, but he was fast to the finish.

No double rainbow grams today as Porter came out to race. There was a lot of competition sitting just outside the podium. Porter was only 4 seconds off TK's 5th place time.

He thought about racing on his clunker but decided coaster brakes weren't the best option for Evil Empire. Maybe next year NVD will race a hard tail just to give everyone else a fighting chance.


John-Paul Gendron rode his bike to the peak, then managed to put down a decent time. If this was an enduro, he probably would've been on top of the podium. Prepared with the backpack though! #enduroasf*ck

All the racers safely descended the 2200 vertical feet, and there was enough beer at the finish line to make any whining about performance or timing complaints a hazy afterthought. A few things to maybe improve on for next year, but after seeing all the 12-packs that were put down, it could definitely be claimed a success. As Chris Mertens likes to remind us, we’re here for the beer!

Merts on sweeper duty. Comin' in hot for a cold one.


Timers working out some hard math... lots of questionable scribbling.

1st Loser, Jess Pedersen. 2nd Loser, Kris Gray. And the 2014 OTG Run winner, Nick Van Dine!


I don't think this was NVD's first podium champagne blast

Thanks to everyone who came out to put back some beers. And, thanks to everyone who had a hand in the success – Barret Cox for laser engraving a sick medal, Merts for running the start gate and sweeper duties, and MTN Ranks for capturing the riding. Another year in the books with some better times to beat. Can’t wait for next year.



Congrats Nick!