to be personal. In acknowledging this contradiction, I will explain the ink forever im- ... While this may seem a bit cl
BENEATH THE SURFACE
If you’re reading this you know we’re always putting up pictures on social media and trying to share our journey. Thanks for following along by the way! But have you ever noticed our tattoos? Runners, for whatever reason, seem to like getting tattoos and we’re no exception. And like most, each of our tattoos come with a story. So we thought it’d be cool to show you guys those tattoos, and tell you those stories, and maybe you’ll get to know a few things about us you didn’t know before. Enjoy!
SCOTT SMITH Despite tattoos being an obvious outward expression I have generally considered them to be personal. In acknowledging this contradiction, I will explain the ink forever imbedded in the skin of my left shoulder. When I left Flagstaff back in 2013 I wasn’t sure if I would ever return as a resident or professional runner. I wanted to commemorate this incredible place and how fortunate I was (and still am) to lead the life I did (and still do). Despite toying with the idea of having the cooks at Diablo Burger sear the letters “db” into me with the bun branding iron, I settled on a tattoo and left it up to the artist, who came up with some mountain peaks surrounded by aspen leaves. I am now fortunate enough to call Flagstaff home again for half of the year and I am still just as happy and proud to be a part of this community. And if I ever forget that or there comes a day where I am no longer calling Flagstaff at least partially home I have a constant reminder (until I retire and get so out of shape I never take my shirt off) of my time spent here.
GRAYSON MURPHY
Starting in the summer of 2014, and then the next two consecutive summers following that, a bit of my wild side was shown. Born out of that period of my life came all three of my tattoos. My first tattoo, which can barely even be considered a tattoo, is a tiny heart on my finger. While this may seem a bit cliché this tattoo holds a lot of meaning to me. My best friend from high school gave me this tattoo, stick and poke style (this hurt, A LOT). The very next day I left to begin my adventure at Santa Clara University, the school I was transferring to. This was the beginning of a huge shift in my life’s purpose but I didn’t know it yet, so it is in retrospect that this tattoo holds the most meaning. My second tattoo was born out of a love for Utah and all that I had there. Growing up in Salt Lake I had huge looming mountains in my backyard, and while they may be huge and magnificent they made me feel safe. Every time I flew home, the first thing I saw was mountains. It meant that I was home. So I decided to get them tattooed on me so I would always have a piece of home with me. To make this tattoo even sweeter my twin sister got a similar tattoo (essentially the same as mine just slightly different, just like us) and together we added the constellation Gemini. The Gemini constellation for twins added to the meaning of the mountains; now I will always have a connection to my best friend with me, no matter where I am in the world.
My third tattoo has a similar meaning as the second. I got this tattoo with my twin sister as well—when we were in California moving me out of my apartment to come back to Utah. I was transferring again. While I absolutely loved Santa Clara, and my time there, my goals in life had drastically changed. As hard as it was to leave behind a place and friends that I loved I knew I had to do it. So, I got a tattoo of a wave on my wrist as a reminder of the ocean and California and the good times that I had there.
SCOTT FAUBLE
I have 3 tattoos. I got the first one kind of on a whim. It's a quote from a book called All The Pretty Horses that goes, "Scared money can't win, and a worried man can't love." I had liked that quote and thought about it ever since I read All The Pretty Horses a few years before. I had been thinking about getting it tattooed onto my body but didn't have a body part picked out, or a font, or an artist, which are all kind of important things to consider when getting a tattoo. It was the week after my college team had just gotten 3rd at NCAAs, which was a big deal because our program had never been on the podium before. In the race, with about 2k to go, I remember thinking very distinctly, "scared money can't win" and charging after a group of people who had just accelerated away from me. When I got back to Portland, I just decided to go get that quote permanently adhered onto my left shoulder blade. I didn't consult anyone, or go with anyone, or make an appointment. I just kind of went in and did it. My second tattoo is an anchor on my foot. I got it right before I was going to leave Portland, so it was kind of an homage to the University of Portland, whose mascot is a tug boat pilot, and also kind of a reference to Portland as a city which does a lot of shipping along the Willamette and Columbia Rivers. I kind of got this one on a whim as well. My girlfriend and I were hanging out and decided that it would be fun to get tattoos together. Not matching ones, mind you, but we didn't have anything planned and it seemed like a fine way to spend a day.
We drove around Portland until we found a place that did walk-ins. I just showed the artist a picture of the logo for Anchor Steam beer, which isn't my favorite beer, but does have my favorite bottle and beer logo. I was pretty worried about the pain associated with getting a tattoo on my foot because, if you aren't familiar with how tattooing works, it's basically a needle attached to a motor that turns at an astonishing rate and injects ink into your skin. I've heard it described as feeling like a bee sting, which is not my experience. My feeling is that it felt like a motorized needle hitting your body very rapidly. So, anyways, I guessed that a foot, where the bones are so close to the skin would not be that great of a place to get a tattoo. Turns out, wasn't so bad. My third tattoo, has almost no significance other than the fact that I think wolves are very cool, because they are, and I think the Tetons are very pretty. So, I got a tattoo of a wolf running in front of the Tetons. It's on the inside of my left arm. This is the only tattoo that I got where I found an artist and made an appointment and put down a deposit and waited a while to get, which is pretty ironic because it's the least meaningful one to me.
STEPHANIE BRUCE
Eighteen-year-olds usually do a lot of things they regret later in life. I did one thing I won't regret. My father, James Rothstein, passed away during my senior year of high school in 2002. He had been diagnosed with prostate cancer 8 years earlier, and battled if for most of those years. After he passed away I was at an age where I was discovering who I was, who I am, and who I would grow to be. I felt I grew up faster than normal because of the things my family experienced. The thought of a tattoo never entered my mind until that summer after my dad passed. I wanted a tangible memory of him. I wanted him to stay with me always. I didn't know how that was possible. My best friends and I drove to Mission Beach, California for the summer and I walked into a tattoo parlor with the image of a blue Prostate Cancer ribbon, inked in my mind. I was petrified. I don't get tattoos. But for some reason, I felt this small permanent symbol on my body would keep his memory alive. I chose my spine because I googled that it was one of the more painful spots and I thought it should hurt because he suffered so much during his battle with cancer. I'm an idiot. The tattoo artist barely got the ink symbol on me, and I passed out. I woke and asked, "is it done?" He said, "I just used a pen, haven't even started with the needle." So that's my story. Just below my hip line on my spine, lies a blue cancer ribbon that is symbolic for Prostate cancer and for my father James. I forget that many people don't know I have one, because it is often hidden under my running shorts and clothes. I don't know if I'll ever get another tattoo, but this one holds great meaning for me. Lorem ipsum
AARON BRAUN I only have one tattoo as of now (Annika and I have talked about getting our wedding date tattooed on our ring finger, but have yet to pull the trigger on that.) The one I do have is a small cross and flame on my torso. It’s the symbol of the United Methodist Church, which is the church I grew up going to with my family. I got the tattoo midway through college, a time when I was rarely going to church anymore (mostly due to Sunday long runs.) I got it to remember the things I grew up learning in the Church, motivation to be a good Christian man, and to eventually go back to church on a more consistent basis. When Annika and I found out we were pregnant with Makenzie, we viewed it as an incredible gift from God and began going to church more consistently as we started our family (and I started having some long runs on Saturday!)
CRAIG LUTZ I have two tattoos on my body and they both hold an immense amount of value to who I am and the past that I have had. My first one, the Longhorn on my right thigh, came in the spring of 2012 during my freshman year. I had accomplished becoming an All-American during my first cross country season at the University of Texas and a group of my teammates took me to a parlor near campus to celebrate the feat. The tattoo symbolizes that success but also is a constant reminder of my time at UT, the grind I put in during my training there and all of the great teammates I had while living in Austin.
My second tattoo is a bear with a forest on its back located on my left arm. This one means a lot to me because a personal friend of mine, Sarah Cotton, created this tattoo by hand with the stick and poke method. This celebration of her artistic ability and the image itself is my tip of the hat to Flagstaff and my professional running career that has taken place there. This town has shown me a life that I had only dreamed of achieving and a whole group of close friends that bring so many gifts to the table.
JEN ROSARIO I’m a person who likes to have a plan...for everything (just ask my husband and daughter). If I could make color-coded itineraries all day and have a crystal ball to tell me the future (so I could plan for it, obviously), I would be a happy camper. This personality trait helps me immensely with my organizational skills, but can become a burden when it comes to living life. As I’ve gotten older I’ve become (slightly) better about at least recognizing this, but I admit it is often challenging to be more present in the moment and worry less about the eventual outcome. Okay, back to the topic at hand, my tattoo. I had wanted one for a long time, but deciding what I really wanted took a while. Will I still love it when I’m old? Where should I put it? How will it look? Does it have a special meaning to me? I NEED A PLAN! (See paragraph above.) Then one day my younger sister sent me a bracelet with a simple phrase; enjoy the journey. When I read those three words I just knew that was it. What better daily reminder to myself to stop worrying about the stupid plan and enjoy each day for what it is. So at the (wise? youthful?) age of 36 I finally got my first tattoo. Now it’s time to start planning for the next one...
COACH BEN ROSARIO I have three tattoos. One I am not going to show you or talk about. I was 18 when I got it. Enough said. But the other two are pretty cool...or at least I think so. The first one I’ll share is the secondary logo from Big River Running Company, the specialty running store I owned back in my hometown--Saint Louis, Missouri--from 2006 through 2012. My business partner and I were 26 years old when we opened the doors with little to no business experience between us. We taught ourselves how to navigate the industry on the fly. We worked our asses off and we succeeded. As hard as I work today, and as passionate I am about HOKA NAZ Elite, I can say with confidence that I’ll never put as much time and energy into anything than I did over that six-year period. I wouldn’t physically be able to. We created something truly special and we did it in our hometown. The Big River community was a real thing. Thousands of people bought shoes at our stores, came to our community speedwork sessions, ran our races and became a part of our lives. Runners that would have never otherwise met became lifelong friends. More than a couple marriages can even be traced to the store...my own included! So was I going to permanently pay homage to that time of my life in the form of a tattoo? You bet I was. And when I look at the tattoo it really does remind me that I can accomplish anything I set my mind to.
Tattoo number two is a little less deep but meaningful nonetheless. It’s Pacman! I got it sort of on a whim with a buddy of mine who had also been wanting to get “tatted up.” I believe it was Kentucky Derby day so I would guess we had had a couple of adult beverages beforehand. But I swear I had been planning on getting this one anyway. It was right in the middle of my time at Big River and my life was just an absolute whirlwind. I saw Pacman as a metaphor for that life; go, go, go, go, go. And not just that but I also liked that Pacman could make a mistake and get another chance. But too many mistakes and it would all be over. So there it is. And I still like to live like that--constantly going, constantly turning and trying new routes, conquering a challenge and moving on to the next one. Just going.
