If you’re a runner in the Park City area, you’ve likely come across ultra-marathoner Ryan Montgomery. He often can be seen trail or road running around town, even cycling, skiing and more to supplement his training.

Montgomery trains six days a week and has been at it for four years now. He moved to Park City in 2021, where he takes advantage of the altitude-related benefits and cross-training possibilities. 

In addition to drawing from the area and its landscapes, Montgomery has gifted the area with Out Trails, a community/platform for LGBTQ+ and ally runners. He founded Out Trails in 2022, after an Instagram poll of his opened his eyes to the number of queer people in the running community. They host running retreats and group runs within the Salt Lake City and Seattle areas. 

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Montgomery spoke with The Park Record about his ultra running, Out Trails and more. As a recent top-10 finisher, he will be competing in the Western States 100 ultramarathon once again next summer, and he is looking to expand Out Trails to the Bay Area, East Coast and Colorado in the future.

How did you pick up the sport of running, more specifically ultra running, given you did not compete in it at the collegiate level at BYU?

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I have always been a runner, and I was pretty good … but I was never good enough to run D-1 … fast forward to college; I’m living in Provo and have access to trails, and I just started doing the sport and the rest is history … through trial and error, I’ve just kind of found my way into the sport and over time have just gotten faster and faster, and hired a coach, and here we are today.

What is it about trail running that piques your interest more than road running and the typical events that come with it, like marathons?

I identify as a queer person, and I think as a queer individual growing up I’ve always not felt the most included, or seen, and I think the more time I spend in the outdoors, the more I feel like the outdoors has given me the avenue to really express myself … flowers, for example; they’re both reproductively male and female; it’s just there’s so much queerness in the outdoors and so I feel this connection to nature … I can just have my mind wander and feel connected to my surroundings when I’m on a trail, versus a road and dodging cars.

How were you able to find the queer running community, and how do you all support each other?

(The) history of queer people has gravitated towards metropolitan areas for safety and numbers … but there’s a lot of queer people in rural, outdoor spaces, and so it’s hard to find them … there’s not often a mechanism, a community mechanism, that brings those people together, and so as I have grown in my sport in terms of visibility and in terms of competition, I think I’ve realized that I have an opportunity to bridge this community … So about a year ago I founded this organization called Out Trails, and we do group runs … it’s organically happening, and that’s the outcome I’ve wanted.

Do you ever feel pressure being an organizer within your community, or is it purely rewarding?

Sometimes I feel pressure because I think we’re at this interesting time in sport in society where, No. 1, there’s a lot of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that is, for fact, a huge thing … I feel pressure because I know I have the privilege to make an impact … so I do feel that pressure that, like, ‘Ryan, you have to play a role here,’ but at the same time I don’t have specific outcome goals for myself other than keep chipping at the rock.

In the Western States 100 ultramarathon recently, in which you finished in 7th in men’s, 1st in non-binary and 8th overall, how did it feel to have that non-binary category and representation?

I really came into this race with the feeling of power and support from my queer community … Obviously (I) would have love(d) to move up in more of a position in this race, but the whole day I just was visualizing me coming to that track with my community and that pride flag … We’re in this new space where non-binary athletes are as competitive as the binary field, and so it’s like, how do we make the sport inclusive? … I’m just excited for the conversation that will happen after this, in terms of inclusion.

What makes the Western States 100 race so challenging, yet so rewarding for you and others?

I would compare it to the Super Bowl of my sport in North America, and so just being able to run the race is a privilege … I’ve just been really excited to have this race on my resume of races I’ve completed, and it’s been a very long journey to complete it, too … I actually got into the race for the 2020 edition, but it got canceled due to COVID, the next year I pulled out before the race started due to injury and then, last year, the same thing happened … I had fun doing it, and doing it with my best friends was such a privilege.

What is one piece of advice you would give to amateur runners about the sport?

I also coach on the side, and I have a lot of athletes or people whom I’ve met where when they go on a run they feel like they have to run, and I just don’t think that’s true … I think it’s re-shifting your narrative of “What does running look like for me,” and how do I shift it from a workout to having fun and recreating.

Out Trails can be found on Instagram under the handle out_trails, where there are also links to group chats, a donation page and more.