2001 Accident – Kevin Gillotti Multi-Sport Racer Endurance Athlete

Kevin Gillotti Multi-Sport Racer Endurance Athlete

Home
Galleries
Athlete Card
Super⑧Slingshot
Media Coverage
Spartan Up Podcast
About KG
- Mental Practice
Contact
Search for:

2001 Accident

@ kevingillotti

Official photos from the @spartanswitzerland 🇨🇭 Ve

Official photos from the @spartanswitzerland 🇨🇭 Verbier day 2 Super distance race. I felt a bit snappier on Sunday (maybe because it was far less vertical gain & distance than the day before 😎) as I had an extra gear. Unfortunately, I still missed the podium by 1 spot. Nice job @antopagx for a new obstacle combo we've never had before: bucket → spear → bucket → rope climb → bucket. That's a tough combo. Especially at the end of the race when you can start to feel the finish line as you're back down in town. I've said publicly for years there's not enough obstacle combos in our sport & it's an absolute 'duh' no-brainer. He & I talked at length about it a couple of days before. But I had no idea that was coming.

GTTM: A variation of a weekly workout where I'm ju

GTTM: A variation of a weekly workout where I'm just "going through the motions", but not adhering to any of the key protocols or goals. Keeping up the consistency isn't negotiable. Levels of output? That's different. And why do GTTM workouts exist? Coming off a hard training block, hard recent races, accumulated fatigue, post international travel, I want an easy week before a new training block, no days off for months, etc. All of these are why this was a GTTM workout. Following weeks of significant physical ramping up & execution, I can simply need a decompression. It's nothing I worry about. In 7-10 days it's over & I'm moving on. But it'll happen a few times a year after a big output. And everything about my recent Switzerland 🇨🇭 trip, was a big output.

Official photos from the @spartanswitzerland Verbi

Official photos from the @spartanswitzerland Verbier national series race. This was my 5th national series race in my 3rd country in '26 (🇫🇷🇮🇹🇨🇭). And I hit the main goal I wanted which was - like in Morzine 🇫🇷 & Belluno 🇮🇹 - being American 🇺🇸 & standing on the podium in a EU series race & in my preferred distance. I've hit the podium in every single day 1 beast distance race this year: 5 of 5. And, the 1st photo in this carousel says it all.

This was a tough one; ±15.5 miles of tough. 4h 9m

This was a tough one; ±15.5 miles of tough. 4h 9m of tough. ±4900ft of tough vert. So a 3rd place podium came as a bit of a surprise. Why? I simply didn't feel like I'd earned it with my performance. I've been on fire this year. But today, I felt like I couldn't get out of 2nd gear. From the very start to the top was 8.5mi & 2h 33m of essentially all climbing. Little to no actual tangibly runnable terrain. Pieces here & there, but no extended tracks. And I found I just didn't have the top end gear I needed to climb like I have been all season. Good, not bad, but not great. And I feel like a podium needs "great". I raced my ass off & never let up. But I didn't expect this result based on my in race "feeling". Don't get me wrong, I'm obviously happy to be there. Especially in a Swiss 🇨🇭 National Championship Series event as an American 🇺🇸. My 3rd country series podium 🇮🇹🇫🇷🇨🇭 & my 5th podium of 5 Beast races so far in 2026.

And before you call out the fact I did 15,000ft of vertical gain, 10hrs & 75mi on the MTB Wed & Thur so of course I'm loosing something race day... I know. I come here to do precisely that & precisely this. This isn't my first rodeo. All of my decisions have risks & rewards. But the ROI on MTB + racing knowing the racing may suffer a bit, I understand 100% what I'm doing & what it could mean come race day. I accept the trade off 😎

I've run this mountain. I've ridden this mountain.

I've run this mountain. I've ridden this mountain. I've raced on this mountain. I've skied this mountain.

... 7,359ft of vertical gain 👊
... 4h 38m
... 40 miles
... 7,890ft max

"HUGE day" ... 7,200 feet of vertical gain 😮 ...

"HUGE day"

... 7,200 feet of vertical gain 😮
... 5h 42m
... 35 miles
... 9,775 ft max (Les Ruinettes - La Chaux)

"Just like I said it would be"

On the way to @spartanswitzerland Verbier 🇨🇭 for 2

On the way to @spartanswitzerland Verbier 🇨🇭 for 2 mountain races (+2 days MTB) & my 5th trip to the EU this year + my 3rd time back to this big mountain race. And I'm feeling super duper fit, healthy & ready to race. I approach each race with the same 3 base goals:

1) start & finish
2) have a clean race
3) earn a podium
4) TBD - race specific
5) TBD - race specific

This weekend also has a Swiss AG National Championships series race. Assuming completion, it'll be my 5th series race in 3 countries this year 🇫🇷🇮🇹🇨🇭 & in my preferred beast distance.

Last year I started this routine where the weekend

Last year I started this routine where the weekend before I travel to an international race, 24-48hrs before getting on the plane, I do this long & taxing mountain road run up to (& above) the Alpine Visitors center to the Alpine Ridge Trail Summit at 12,005ft in @rockynps. It's a tough & taxing 18mi run day with 4k of vert. It zaps me. Fall River Road is all climbing or descending. There's no in between on this road; 9mi up, 9mi down. This run is all fitness, zero skill.

And today, less than 48hrs before heading to 🇨🇭 to 2x race, I set a down run time PB by a HUGE HUGE margin. And that wasn't even the plan. It wasn't even the goal. It just happened. But as soon as I started running downhill, I felt it so I leaned into it. This demonstrates that I'm race ready & I'm pretty darn fit right now because even after that long single speed 2h 44m run up, I had enough in the tank to race pace hammer down in just 1h 15m!

Luck is for suckers. The race prep you see in this

Luck is for suckers. The race prep you see in this video is me making the active choice to train to push the outcome of my races in my favor & take luck off the table.

If you're counting on luck to pull you thru, you're setting yourself up for abject failure. Luck only exists in passive scenarios that you don't have control over. Eg, the store has 1 shirt left you like & it happens to be your size. You could say that's luck. You have no control over the stock. But all of the important life elements, those in my control, don't happen due to luck IMO. The things that matter happen because I make them happen or actively participate in them happening; I'm not traveling to Europe next week to race for the 5th time in '26 because I'm lucky. I'm not fit & capable of beating guys 1/2 my age because I'm lucky. I'm not earning 100% obstacle completion in races because I'm lucky. I don't live where I live & how I live because I'm lucky. If I get on a podium next weekend @spartanswitzerland 🇨🇭 it won't be because of luck. It'll be because I earned it & made it happen. And if I don't get on a podium it's not because I'm unlucky. It's because someone was faster & beat me. This is why you never see me write or say, "I got lucky" or "I'm unlucky." It's a suckers concept that takes your responsibility out of the equation. But I value responsibility.

Climbing the final short <but steep> hill to longs

Climbing the final short <but steep> hill to longs peak TH. Despite the days big numbers (5260ft of vert, 3h 58m, 43mi, 530 max watts, 48.5 max mph) but low max height (9419ft) I'm stoked to be able to consider this a "typical" day behind bars on my Cervelo S⁵. And how about that motivating #tourdefrance style mountain finish + spectator pump that inspired ±75 extra watts in the final 50m👏

And to the guy that attacked me on the climb coming out of Lilly Lake who ultimately throttled me after multiple attacks, responses, reattacks, reresponses... nicely done 👏 it's a good reminder that there's always someone out there that can kick your ass. No matter how fit or experienced you are. But I'll always accept the challenge.

© 1970-2025 Kevin Gillotti. SCHEMA Built. Be #activeasfuck!