We interviewed Bart Yasso during the 2010 Pikes Peak Ascent and Marathon weekend. He has great things to say about our running community and our famous races.

You've said that the Garden of the Gods 10 Mile Run is your favorite race, that's a big statement.
Yep, I said that. It's in my book ("My Life on the Run"). But I do say now that Comrades Marathon in South Africa is my favorite all time race because I finally got to do it. But prior to that, or domestically in the U.S., for me there is something magical about the Garden of the Gods.
It's a tough course with the elevation and just the natural beauty; there is something about that race. For me, I'm a natural beauty guy, so I love that. Some people like to run in the city, some like more natural beauty, I just love to see that red rock setting and Kissing Camels, I just fall in love with that race.
And you call Pikes Peak the greatest challenge?
It's the ultimate challenge like the race calls it. When you do this thing, for the average person who just comes in to Colorado Springs from no elevation, like where
I'm from in Pennsylvania, with no hills that go up to 14,000 feet, it is the ultimate challenge.
Doing the Saturday race, the Ascent, it's like doing a marathon. Most people's times are equal to a marathon. Sunday's race, the Marathon is like an ultra, it's such a challenge.
And then you have all the elements that come into play. A lot of times it can be warm down at the start and cold and windy at the top. You go through all these different elements.

What I remember most was getting down to the finish and saying 'this is the ultimate challenge.' I was dehydrated, dog-tired, bleeding and worn out. But if somebody said to me, 'go do it again,' I would have tried to do it again. I had that much adrenaline going. I was so happy, I would have turned around and done it again. Thankfully nobody said that to me because I wouldn't have made it that far but I would have absolutely turned around and started it again.

We know you have to be a little bit of a diplomat, but are you being pulled to the trails more these days?
Well, I've run on the trails since the mid 1970s. We didn't call it trail running then, we just called it running. But I've always gravitated to the trails.
I didn't do a whole lot of trail racing until the early 90s and I love trail racing. I've always loved training on the trails. I think it's a must. I really think that people should do 30 percent of your mileage, if you're a road runner, on a soft surface or some kind of trail surface.

It seems like running in the U.S. has grabbed another gear. It has really taken off. What do you think?
Yeah, grabbed another gear. I call it the wave. And the wave hasn't even begun to crest.
A lot of it is driven by women. There are women coming into our sport by the droves. And women have been a blessing for our sport because not only do they love it, but they preach it, more than guys do.

Guys tend to run with a couple of other guys and then they go and out and drink beer and talk about beer and football. Women go running then they go to Starbucks and they talk about running. And they want to get all their friends into it because it's a social thing to do. They just keep bringing more and more women in. The women in our sport have changed everything. And to me it's all for the better.
I look at right now and I think it's the greatest time to be in the sport. There are so many sports and businesses that are on the downside of the economy and running is not one of them. Running stores, running businesses, Runner's World Magazine, every one of them is doing very well. Races are selling out at record pace. The big marathons are all selling out. It's an incredible sport. It has something to do with the power of the sport.
If somebody asked me to describe running in one word, the word would be inclusion. We include everyone. All you have to say is, 'I want to do it. I want to put on the running shoes. I want to put on the running garb' and we'll accept you, runners of all  abilities. All we ask is that you train, show up for the race and give it your best. Not a lot of sports are that inclusive. To me, that's what has kept me in the sport.

Are people becoming more health conscious?
We still have a problem of obesity, mainly in the younger demographics. But a lot of running's success comes from people who get into their 20s, women graduate from college, they have their first job and they look for the next challenge. They want to look good. Running has become fashionable with new styles, so it's attractive to them.
Guys tend to gravitate to it later on, maybe in their mid 30s. They may be getting a little beer belly. Their wife is giving them a little heat about putting on weight. They realize, 'wow, I gotta do something.'
Running is so simplistic in many ways, just get some running shoes and you can head out the door. You don't have to drive to a golf course or find a tennis court. With running, man, you just get out there. If you have 45 minutes or an hour, you're going to get a great workout. And it burns calories. It does everything we want and you get pretty darned fit.

And your title at Runner's World is "Chief Running Officer"?
Absolutely the coolest title in all of business, certainly in all of publishing. When I was inducted into the Running USA Hall of Champions, when I got back to Runner's World headquarters they wanted to give me a new title. And they thought if they gave me a title that was so vague that nobody knew what it meant, that would be kind of cool. But it allows me to work with the edit team, the ad team and the marketing team. So, Chief Running Officer, if it has anything to do with running, I can be involved.
I say I have the coolest title, but I also have the coolest job. They give me a pretty long leash. I come up with these stupid ideas, and they say 'that sounds pretty cool." So far, I haven't done anything that would cause them to put the leash around me.

I get to meet people every weekend in the running community. There are people who have overcome so many obstacles to be a runner and then they set these insane goals of doing marathons, doing Pikes Peak. And so many of these people have been close to death or are enduring other hardships, and they say, I want to run the Pikes Peak Marathon. The doctors tell them they're dying of cancer, and then they actually do it, they run a marathon. Those are the stories I love. And I get to meet these people every weekend. You meet people like that, I just get blown away.