Get to Know: Mike Coutu

Name: Mike Coutu
DBR Ambassador: Lipan, Texas
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1. Favorite Trail: Spicewood Springs/Spicewood Canyon Trail, Colorado Bend State Park, TX
2. Favorite Race: Jemez Mountain Trail Runs. I’ve ran the 15 mile and 50k. Both were excellent races. The people that host this race and the small town of Los Alamos, NM are amazing. I want to go back every year.
3. Favorite Running Fuel: Honey Stinger Chews, Fig Newtons, Larabars, bananas, oranges, kettle chips
4. Favorite Beer: Dogfish Head Indian Brown Ale, Martin House Brewing Company Acheron
5. Favorite Post-run/race Food: Black bean burger, fries, dark chocolate chipotle almonds
6. Favorite Shoes: Brooks Caldera
7. Bucket List Race: Squamish 50/50, Trans-Pecos Ultra, Western States 100
8. Fastest Beer Mile Time: I have not tried the beer mile yet. I have however ran 2 miles for time after drinking 3 beers and ran a 13:14. That was after a long day working a 900+ person tour at the brewery…where I also had 2 beers, so 5 beers.
9. How many miles per week do you run: I don’t focus too much on my mileage. Besides getting my long run and hill training in each week I really just listen to what my body is telling me. I typically run 4-5 days per week as well as incorporating days for yoga and strength training.
10. Trail Music: Music is everything. I mostly listen to music when I have to run on the roads. The Hunts, Pearl Jam, Trevor Hall, Motorhead, Queens of the Stone Age, and Waylon Jennings are my last played on Spotify.
11. You know you’re a Dirtbag when: You rip open a bag of chews and they fall in the dirt but the 5 second rule saves them and you eat them anyway because you can’t live without your trail candy or you decide to run Spicewood Canyon Trail with your friends at 2am after a few beers. (We all bit it at least twice)
12. Favorite type of Dirtbag home: My wife and I lived/car-camped out of her Nissan Cube for 28 days during our road trip in 2015. That was pretty epic. Believe it or not that little toaster made it up to a hidden campground in a thunderstorm in the La Sal Mountains, Utah. She was driving and I thought I was going to die all the way up the mountain. We couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us it was raining so hard. I currently reside in a 700 square foot cabin with my wife and 3 dogs on our ranch. It’s the mansion of tiny houses, so it’s kinda Dirtbag.
13. Famous runner crush: Jenn Shelton, she drinks beer and has a wild attitude towards life.
14. Famous runner you’d want to run with: Zach Miller, he’s got a lot of heart. You can’t train that.
15. When was your last shower: 2 days ago, it will happen more often when the Texas heat arrives this summer.
16. What is your crosstraining activity of choice: Yoga, circuit training, kayaking, keg lifting, ranch work.
17. I felt most like a badass runner when: I finished the 2016 Jemez Mountain 50k. It was the toughest race I’ve completed yet. Blowing up at mile 20 didn’t help make things any easier but made the finish that much better.
18. Piece of gear you can’t live without: Hat. I could be naked and barefoot, but I gotta keep the sun out of my eyes and hair out of my face.
19. What is a quirky habit you have while running: Yelling “X-Games” when jumping off or over things.
20. Three words that describe your running: Fun, Free, Passionate.
21. Your go-to running outfit is: Brooks shorts, brewery t-shirt, DBR hat or Buff.
22. What do you want to be when you grown up: Well, I work at a brewery. So that’s pretty rad. I’d like to eventually combine my two passions of running and beer.

Anything else you’d like the DBR community to know about you: It’s an honor to represent a company that values life, adventure, and freedom. Run often, spend time in the mountains, and do epic shit.