Jared Scott’s life has shifted from competitive distance running, to the equally long and endurance-driven occupation of fruit fermentation. Scott has not followed traditional paths upon retiring from professional running, such as chasing master’s records, coaching athletes, or hosting a podcast—he (and his wife Elizabeth Philbrick) started EsoTerra Ciderworks, one of the country’s highest cidery and wineries located in Durango, Colorado (elevation 6,500 feet). Since founding this artisanal, international award-winning regenerative agricultural business in 2019, Scott has discovered himself in ways he never had as a runner.
Although making cider and running do not seem to share similarities at the outset, Scott has found many connections between these two passions, “I see many similarities with fermenting and competitive running. Collecting fruit is a similar meditative, outdoor activity, and the whole fermentation process is like training for a key race far in the future because the process takes so long. There’s key stages during the fermentation process too, similar to key workouts and tune-up races. Then when you finally have a finished product, it’s the same feeling that you’ve really accomplished something and achieved your goal, just like in racing.”
Family of fasties
Scott grew up in a family of successful runners, and followed in their footsteps. His mother, as well as several of his uncles, ran in college at Colorado State University, Pueblo. Scott became a successful high school runner and joined one of the top collegiate distance running programs in the country at University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder) in 2000. While he competed in more traditional cross country and track events throughout his youth, he gravitated towards running on trails from a young age, “There was so much good access to trails where I grew up and went to college. I’d often go to the tops of mountains or just run on singletrack. I’ve always been into trail running.”
His passion for trails expanded even more after graduation. Post college, Scott moved to Flagstaff, AZ, where he joined a blossoming trail running community. Scott describes his shift from more traditional running styles to trail running, “After college, I tried to compete in the road racing scene, but realized that it just wasn’t my thing. There was a great community for trail running in Flagstaff so I started signing up for local trail races and had a really good time with it. It was a great community of friends, we challenged each other and had fun too.”
Championship bound
Scott quickly excelled in the local short distance trail running scene in Flagstaff. He won races including the Gaspin in the Aspen 15K, and began seeking out tougher competition. Scott competed in the 2008 USA Trail Championships in Steamboat Springs, CO, where he placed fifth, as well as the 2011 US Mountain Running National Championships in North Conway, New Hampshire, facing several of the top athletes in the country including Rickey Gates, Max King, and Joseph Gray.
Scott’s results at the 2011 US Mountain Running National Championship qualified him to represent Team USA at the World Mountain Running Championships in Albania. But an unfortunate food poisoning incident the night before the race kept Scott from performing at his best . He describes his experience during this race, “I woke up at four in the morning, sick as could be. I spent six hours then before the race with the sickness getting worse. I showed up to the race throwing up but I knew I was in good shape so I went for it anyway. I thought I might get lucky, so I went out hard with the front pack and then I felt just so bad…I’ve never dropped out of a race in my entire life, and I wasn’t going to then. I was so far behind that I remember being behind a truck of people who were picking up the course markings. But even with as bad as I felt, I finished.”
While Scott’s World Championship experience did not go as planned, he did have many stellar results throughout his career, including a championship title at the 2011 La Sportiva Mountain Cup. This competitive racing series consisted of ten races from the late winter to summer, where runners must have run at least five races in the series to be eligible to compete in the final championship. By winning the series, Scott established himself as one of the country’s top sub-ultra distance trail runners. He reflects on this achievement, “Winning the series was incredibly meaningful because I showed myself that I wasn’t just a ‘fluke.’ I stayed consistent across the season, I was durable as an athlete, and persistently competitive throughout not just one race but the whole cup. It was great competition, and I really felt a strong love for the sport during this whole time.”
Cross-over athlete
While Scott is certainly a competitive trail runner, his relationship with competition was completely different from when he competed as a collegiate track and cross country athlete. He describes his attitudes towards training and competition while living in Boulder in college, “When I left Boulder in 2005 our cross-country program was the top program in the country. We had just won nationals and my teammates and I were extremely serious about running. We lived like monks and we never went out and partied like other college students.”
But after moving to Flagstaff in 2006, his attitudes shifted. He became more community oriented and trail running introduced new ways for him to experience sport and competition, “When I first started trail running, what I really liked was that it wasn’t as serious. I joined the sport when other college athletes were crossing over into trail running, and most of us were enjoying the low-key nature of the sport—drinking beers to rehydrate after races and celebrating with friends. We could contact race directors for places to stay because we couldn’t afford hotels, and we’d be given a home stay and a nice meal made by their family. It was a beautiful time in the sport when people were making connections with complete strangers.”
Throughout his trail running career, however, Scott noticed changes in the laid-back nature of the sport, “I imagine a pendulum that swings back and forth, which started taking trail running from a less-serious to more serious activity. When I first started, fast runners might be lucky to earn a pair of shoes from sponsors—now there’s much bigger athlete contracts, social media posting requirements and so much more professionalization. While overall the trail running community is awesome, I was certainly noticing this direction to a more serious sport in the middle to end of my career.”
Grand gains
In the mid 2010s, Scott became a trail running legend of the Grand Canyon National Park. After accepting a job in the Kaibab National Forest, he lived for several years in the canyon, training in its endless trails, “I was in the best shape of my life. It’s the most perfect place in the world to train when you’re a mountain runner or trail runner.”
Scott was known by the local park rangers for his long runs. The rangers would warn all park visitors about the extreme dangers of heat, dehydration and remoteness in the canyon, but not Jarred. “Oh, don’t worry about him,” Scott recalls their comments, “He knows what he’s doing and does this all the time.”
One of Scott’s most memorable achievements during his several years living in the Grand Canyon was his Rim to Rim record. In 2011, Scott posted a time of 3:06:10, breaking Allyn Cureton’s thirty-year standing fastest known time (FKT) on the route by just over thirty seconds. Not only was this record memorable for its historical significance on one of the most iconic trails in the entire National Park’s system, it was also the respectful way in which Scott approached the record that made it so special.
Prior to breaking the record, Scott tracked down former record holder Cureton and invited him to the end of the route, informing him of his desire to break his record. Scott describes this experience, “I had invited him, and told him I’d love if he could be there—if I break the record or not. But I hadn’t heard back if he was going to be there when I started. Then I remember finishing the route, just barely breaking the record, and the first people I see are Allyn and his brother. I was so appreciative that he showed up.”
Physiological breakdowns
Unfortunately for Scott, injuries plagued his running career throughout his early thirties. He decided it was time to hang up his career in competitive running and make a major life-shift, “My body was falling apart. I wasn’t having fun, I was hurting and I knew I needed a change.”
As a Colorado mountain enthusiast from his college days, Scott decided he wanted to return to this state. He left the Grand Canyon and found a job with the Bureau of Land Management in the small –less than 1,000 population – town of Dolores, CO.
But more than his daytime job, his experiences in the farm-driven culture of Dolores would introduce him to his next great passion in life—cider making. He describes his work learning from local cider makers in the region and how this activity filled his life in ways running never had, “I really enjoyed fermenting. I realized that it was actually the first thing in my adult life that I became truly passionate about. Running was my childhood dream, something that carried over from my youth, but fermenting became my adult dream.”
He’s also discovered that his running background allowed him to be a strong farmer, a necessary part of the cider making process, “Farming is about grinding it out day in and day out, all day long, and having endurance to do that consistently. I don’t care if it’s windy or raining, I got to get the work done, so I’ll go out there and do it. It’s all about being on your feet, lifting heavy things and overall being very physically active. My background in running definitely prepared me for all these things and I feel satisfied by farming now in the same way as how running kept me feeling physically healthy and strong.”
EsoTerra evolution
Scott’s cider making passion soon became his full-time career. With the mission to revive a historic and once flourishing orchard region in their home of Durango, CO, Scott and his wife founded EsoTerra Ciderworks in 2019. With over five-hundred unique apple varieties in the area, the pair focused on bringing back heritage varieties and committing to regenerative, sustainable, small-scale agriculture.
The cidery has since become a winery, and also hosts educational workshops and community events. Scott speaks on the reward of building a business around his passion and providing a service to the community, “I really like how cooperative and community-oriented we’ve become. There’s so much joy one can get being involved with other people. My wife and I always say we’re in the business of making people happy. It’s a place where people can convene and make friends.”
Learn more about EsoTerra’s offerings and upcoming events on their social media here.
Curious to read stories of more food artisan runners.Check out Gonzo Jimenez and Justin Charboneau a.k.a SugarTats!
