CU's Winter Combines Athletics, Academics To Forge Career

Saturday, the Buffs cross country and track standout (two-time first team All-American, a Pac-12 individual champion and member of two national championship teams) will graduate with his degree in mechanical engineering. Along the way, he's put in countless miles of training and countless hours of studying, a combination he admits has had him burning the candle at both ends on perhaps too many occasions. (He also still has the outdoor track season to complete, and he currently has one of the top 10 times in the nation in the steeplechase).

It's been a grueling five years for the Arapahoe High School product, but a challenge he has embraced nearly every step of the way.

“There were years when I hated it and I could hardly run and school was killing me,” said Winter, who also found time to work at a local running store during his stay at CU.  “But it really taught me time management, how to persevere and prioritize what was important and how to be successful at multiple, different things.”

It also set the stage for his next career — entrepreneur. Winter has used his training as an elite athlete, his academic background and his industry experience to craft a wearable device for runners that will help reduce injury and improve performance, and a patent for the device is already pending.  Winter has formed his own company and is ready to launch the business as soon as the details are worked out.

Winter's idea for his business — the proverbial light bulb — came about in an entrepreneurial business planning class, which came on the heels of some measurements classes. In those classes, he studied the makeup of running shoes.

“(The business class) is where I really put all the skills and ideas together,” Winter said. “The professor helped me out quite bit with saying, 'Think about something you are passionate about.' I'm very passionate about running. It's always been a big part of my life. What's the next step? Think about a problem that exists in something you are passionate about.”

Winter then identified the problem and a solution.

“There's no accurate way of knowing when your shoes are worn out,” Winter said. “Most people know it's there and accept it and accept the consequences of sometimes getting injured and sometimes having issues with their shoes and not knowing it. I said there has to be a better way.

“So combining the two different knowledge bases of sensors and wearables, and doing the running and working at running stores and knowing what customers like, I was able to really combine everything and have a great product that provides a good service that solves a really big issue within running.”

The project-turned-business also solved an issue that had been floating around in the back of his mind for the last couple of years — what to do upon graduation.

“Do I want to get a regular engineering job or do I want to go out and do something I'm passionate about?” Winter asked himself. “ Maybe it won't be that much money, but I'm going to be happy with it. I'm going to love it and I'm going to wake up everyday thinking about it and just make sure that it's solving a huge issue and I'm helping people.

“That's really what makes me excited. I've got the skills and I've got the passion, and combining those two together and the perseverance and the time management skills that I've learned doing both, I can utilize that. I can't wait to see how it works out.”

Along with a stellar academic career, Winter's perseverance has also produced an outstanding athletic career for Mark Wetmore's cross country and track squads. A member of the 2013 and 2014 CU national champion cross country teams, as well as last season's national runner-up squad, he's earned first-team All-American honors twice in cross country and has a Pac-12 steeplechase title on his resume. He also earned second-team All-American honors in the recently completed indoor track season, and has a solid chance to add to those honors in June at the NCAA outdoor championships.

Now, he's translating the skills and work ethic he developed as an elite college runner and student to the business world.

“You have to sit down and say what's the problem, or what is my goal, what am I trying to solve?” Winter said. “Is it to make it to the NCAA or be an All-American, or is it to bring a product to market or solve an issue? You have to say that's what I want, but that's a long, long ways away. Let's try to make a path and make a goal and set yourself up for success, whether it's a business plan that outlines everything or whether it's a training plan that has a coach and mentors along the way.

“And when you get there, you never took the route you thought you were going to. You take lots of detours and you learn from everybody along the way.”

Winter freely admits there's a fear factor with starting his own business, one that wouldn't be an issue if he took a “normal” engineering job. But again, he equates that process and challenge with those he's faced as an athlete.

“We were talking with coach (Wetmore) and he was giving us a speech about how there's always that fear of failure,” Winter said. “That fear of failure is what drives you to be successful. In every race, you can be at a lap to go and it's either going to be there or it's not. You have that fear of 'Am I going to blow up or am I going to have an amazing race and break through to that next level?'

“It's the same thing with business. Am I going to get to a certain point where there's a big decision to make and if I make the wrong one, it's failure, and if I make the right one, it's boom — it explodes, it does the right thing? There's a very distinct parallel between business and running. It's training between both of them. You learn take lessons from each one and apply it to the other side.”

One thing Winter learned in his time at CU was to take advantage of every resource possible. That meant using advisers in both the College of Engineering as well as in the CU Athletic Department, along with professors, grad assistants, coaches — anyone who could offer a word of advice or encouragement.

“Corey Edwards (CU Athletics academic coordinator)helped me find the technology, arts and media certificate that helped me do my graphic design for the app and helped me design the website,” Winter said. “Skills that I never thought I would have had on the creative side. Engineering management is what the school counselors recommended because it gives you some management skills. I never would have taken the business planning class. Each one has added something to the foundation and I wouldn't have been able to do it without them.”

But perhaps most importantly, Winter has learned balance — how to balance his academic life with his athletic pursuits with his personal life.

“If you can't balance life or family or friends or school or work, you're not going to be happy,” Winter said. “You have to love lots of different things that you go to and get worn out, and then say it's time to change it up a little bit and try something new. It's hard, but it's worth it.

Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu