u/trailthrasher

I just finished running the Standhope 100.

It took me 37 hours, 50 minutes, and 52 seconds to cover 100 miles through the Pioneer Mountains.

The views were incredible. The mountains were steep. Really steep. There were sections where it felt like I was climbing straight into the sky, and other sections where I was simply trying to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I ran all night.

I took more than 200,000 steps.

My feet were blistered and swollen from being wet for so long. By the end, I was so sleep-deprived that the rivers and creeks running alongside the course started sounding like classic rock blasting from somebody's stereo. I had laid down twice during the entire race, and both times I closed my eyes for maybe 30 seconds.

At some point, you stop thinking about whether you can finish.

You just keep moving.

And that experience made me think about something else I've spent a tremendous amount of my life building: band programs.

From 2013 through 2025, I was the organizer of the Standhope Ultra Challenge. When we started in 2013, it was one race with 46 runners.

By the time I stepped away, it had become three hundred runners, three races, six different start times, three different starting lines, two different finish lines, and 12 aid stations.

It took an enormous amount of work to get there.

There were years when I wasn't sure whether a decision I was making was the right one. There were logistical nightmares. There were things that went wrong. There were things that I thought would work that didn't. There were moments when I wondered why I was putting myself through it.

But we kept moving.

One year became another.

One small improvement became another.

One volunteer became another.

One runner became another.

Eventually, I could look back and realize that something that started with 46 people had become something much bigger than I ever imagined.

It remains one of the proudest accomplishments of my life.

And I think that's because building something worthwhile is rarely about one big moment.

It's about thousands of little moments.

That's exactly what building a quality band program is.

You don't start with a great band.

You start with a kid who can't quite make a sound.

Then you teach them how to breathe to a beat.

You teach them how to hold the instrument.

You teach them how to count.

You listen to squeaks and missed notes and wrong rhythms.

You celebrate the first good note.

Then the first good measure.

Then the first good song.

And eventually, if you keep doing the work, you have students who can play things you never thought they would be able to play.

But it takes years.

It takes stress.

It takes perseverance.

It takes making decisions when you aren't completely sure they're the right decisions.

It takes vision.

It takes experience.

It takes the willingness to look at something that isn't working and say, "Okay. What can I change?"

And sometimes, just like in a 100-mile race, you have to accept that you're going to have some really bad miles.

There will be setbacks.

There will be students who quit.

There will be parents who don't understand.

There will be administrators who make decisions you disagree with.

There will be years when the numbers aren't what you hoped they would be.

There will be concerts that don't go the way you wanted.

There will be rehearsals where you wonder if any of this is actually working.

But that doesn't mean you stop.

You keep moving.

Because eventually, you look back and realize that the little things mattered.

That sixth grader who almost quit but didn't.

That student who finally figured out how to play above the staff.

That kid who discovered that they were actually good at something.

That student who found a group of friends in band.

That young musician who came back years later and told you that band changed their life.

Those are the miles.

And those miles add up.

I think that's one of the reasons I love both endurance running and music education. Neither one gives you much instant gratification.

You have to believe in something you can't see yet.

You have to keep working when the finish line is nowhere in sight.

You have to trust that the steps you're taking today are building toward something that will eventually become meaningful.

And sometimes you're going to be tired.

Sometimes you're going to hurt.

Sometimes you're going to wonder if you're completely crazy for continuing.

But you keep going.

Because music education matters.

Maybe now more than ever.

We live in a time when it is incredibly easy to focus on everything that divides us. Politics. Religion. Social media. Arguments. Ideologies. Differences.

But put 50 kids in a band room.

Give them instruments.

Give them music.

Give them a common goal.

Suddenly, they're not Republicans or Democrats. They're not rich or poor. They're not athletes or academics or whatever other labels we put on people.

They're musicians.

They're listening to each other.

They're breathing together.

They're counting together.

They're making something together that none of them could make alone.

And maybe that's one of the most important things we can give young people.

A reminder that there is more that unites us than divides us.

The Standhope 100 took me 37 hours, 50 minutes, and 52 seconds.

Building things that matter takes even longer.

Sometimes it takes years.

Sometimes it takes decades.

But the lesson is the same.

Keep moving.

Keep believing.

Keep improving.

Keep putting one foot in front of the other.

Because someday, you'll look back at the trail you've traveled and realize just how far you've come.

This is a new work I wrote for euphonium and piano. Are the chord progressions too strange, or do they work?

Score video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p0tWeLoMjZfxpU_Rtu_trDYPe2rGUQFo/view?usp=share_link

This is a new euphonium solo I wrote this morning. What grade level would you give it? How is the quality of the music. Is it too weird, or is it just different enough to catch your ear in a good way?

I have some modal mixture in this new work I wrote this morning. Would you respell the accidentals in it or leave it as it is? m. 41 and beyond. Does this piece flow well and keep your attention?

Audio Score: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1l2IGY2UB0uEmB_5r4mRXGaLjXxBJxj-d/view?usp=share_link

Hi there! I wrote this solo for French horn this week. What grade level would you assign it? Is this good quality, or does it need some rewriting? score video

I wrote this tonight. What do you think of it? How did I do?

This is a work I wrote about two years ago. What do you think of it?

This is a new work I wrote for a friend of mine. How do you fee about it: form, melodic material, motivic development, range, and ease of playing?

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1orwe8C8lWSukDhnmbvmotyH7SQsyyavj/view?usp=share_link

I am writing this for a graduating percussionist. Any advice on how to score it better? I'm a trombonist.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IDfvssU9dHkEIik5fAFKbi-OzFXFAo0k/view?usp=share_link