In The Race Business, Utah Leads The Pack: How Utah's community approach to a one-person sport gave rise to a growing local industry.

• Author: Penrod, Emma

When Doug Padilla started running in junior high, he didn't seem destined for a career in athletics. He mostly ran for the fun of it-he had friends on the team, and his coach encouraged him to participate, if only to compete against himself. But when he moved to Utah to attend BYU, he wasn't fast enough to make the cross country team.

He kept training anyway, and two years later, he finally made the roster. He continued whittling away at his race times, eventually going pro He made the US National Team in 1984, and again in 1988. He raced on every continent except Antarctica and Australia.

In June of 1996, he was out on a training run when he was hit by a car.

Padilla sustained severe injuries, and it was clear, he says, that his running career was over. But while he was still recovering, one of his former teammates from BYU, a computer programmer. got talking with him about an idea they'd once had during a race. "When you finished the race, you would sit around and wait for someone to figure out the results, and it took a long time," Padilla says. "We were having conversations--the way technology is today, we ought to be able to collect someone's time, and by the time they get to the finish line we should be able to hand them a card with their results on it."

You may not have heard Padilla's name, but odds are that if you've run a race in Utah, you've been timed by the company he founded in 1997, Runner Card. Padilla was among the first in a wave of Utahns who turned their passion for one of the state's most well-known obsessions--running--into some of the sport's fastest-growing brands. Event-based race companies like Revel and Ragnar? Founded in Utah. Altra's revolutionary zero-drop running shoes? Invented at Runner's Corner in Orem. Top-of-the-line NordicTrack treadmills and ellipticals? Headquartered in Logan, Utah.

The founders of these companies say it's no coincidence that so many of the industry's up-and-coming brands call Utah home. While Utah isn't the most competitive state for running, a tight-knit community of professional and recreational athletes, combined with the state's entrepreneurial inclinations, has fostered the growth of dozens of unique companies.

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