Summer Break? Not For Aaron Pike, The Two-Sport Star Chasing A Seventh Paralympics

Aaron Pike can’t believe it’s already August and the summer is almost over.

After wrapping up this past Para Nordic skiing season in March, Pike thought he’d get to enjoy some down time and maybe visit his family in Minnesota and Alaska. That hasn’t been the case, though.

The last few months have been a blur for the seven-time Paralympian who competes in Nordic skiing in the winter and track and field in the summer. He has constantly been on the move while juggling his racing schedule for track and his offseason training for cross-country skiing and biathlon.

“July was just like I went to bed and woke up, and it was August. I don’t know where that month went,” said Pike, who celebrated his 39th birthday on May 4. “So I think with all the things going on, it’s just kind of like time is flying by.”

After joining his U.S. Nordic teammates for a training camp in May in Bend, Oregon, Pike spent the Fourth of July competing in the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta. He then flew to Sweden a few weeks later to get some much-needed time on snow as he continues to train for the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Almost immediately after coming home, he raced at the track and field national championships in Oregon.

“I haven’t taken any week off or two-week periods off since I came back from the winter, but I’m just monitoring my body,” Pike said. “I’m able to at this point kind of know if I’m in a good place or not for training. But no, long story short, I haven’t taken any extended breaks (this offseason).”

Things aren’t likely to slow down anytime soon for Pike. The next year should be a memorable one for him as he looks to compete in Italy at his eighth consecutive Paralympics while planning with 19-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters for their upcoming wedding.

Pike laughed when asked if he and Masters, who’s his teammate on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing national team, have set a wedding date. He said so much has been going on lately that they haven’t picked a date yet.

Coming off a memorable Nordic season, during which he won his second individual world title, Pike made some tweaks to his usual spring and summer schedule.

To make things easier on himself during the spring, Pike decided not to compete in the Boston and London marathons as he typically does every April. He instead got to spend some time at home in Champaign, Illinois, where he was able to adjust to being in his racing chair again after finishing the Nordic skiing season only a few weeks earlier.

Over the past few years, Pike has been too busy during the track season to take part in the training camp that U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing hosts every May in Bend. But he made it a point to attend this year as he works toward hopefully earning a medal at the Milano Cortina Winter Paralympics.

“With the focus being more (on) Nordic with the Games coming up this next winter, I decided I’m going to put those things first this summer season,” Pike said. “I usually won’t go to that Bend camp. It’s been a while since I’ve been there, so I went to that and then went back to being in the racing chair.”

After winning his division in the Peachtree Road Race in early July, Pike was part of a select group of top American Para Nordic skiers who participated in a weeklong training camp inside a ski tunnel in Torsby, Sweden. There was always snow on the ground inside the ski tunnel, and it gave him a chance to test some changes that were made to his sit ski.

He hopes those slight adjustments will improve his times next season.

Pike, however, didn’t get much of an opportunity to relax after returning from Sweden. He was home for two days before he needed to leave again — this time to head to Eugene, Oregon, to compete in the first-ever combined USATF Outdoor & Para National Championships.

Despite getting little rest, Pike was back on the track at Hayward Field for the opening day of the event on July 31. He finished third in the men’s 5,000-meter T54 race after crossing the finish line in 11 minutes, 4.98 seconds.

Pike’s time was only two seconds behind defending Paralympic champion Daniel Romanchuk, who won the 5,000 meters at 11:02.92. It was one of the closest races of the day, as Miguel Jimenez-Vergara narrowly edged out Pike for second place with a time of 11:03.04.

“If this was last year, I wouldn’t have went to Sweden, either. But with it being again a Games year, I went,” Pike said. “It was not great timing. So I went to Sweden and then I came back, and I had like two days and I was leaving to Eugene, Oregon, to the U.S. nationals for the first big, combined nationals with the able-bodied nationals. So in reality, that probably wasn’t the best lead up (to nationals), but with the Winter Games, it’s kind of the balance you have to take.”

Pike isn’t done traveling just yet. He’ll fly later this month to Australia, to compete in the Sydney Marathon on Aug. 31. Before then, though, he’ll get to be home and spend time with Masters, whom he hasn’t been able to see much lately because of their hectic schedules.

“When they asked if I wanted to go to (the Sydney Marathon), it sounded like a good idea. Right now, I’m almost wishing I didn’t have that on the radar but just for more time at home (instead),” Pike said. “But I’m actually just going to take these two weeks when I’m actually at home and try to try to be home and spend some time with Oksana and then see where the summer goes.

“There’s a lot going on with the Winter Games coming up, so I feel like the parts I’m looking forward to the most of summer are the times I’m just in one place for a little bit.”

Alex Abrams has written about Olympic and Paralympic sports for more than 15 years, including as a reporter for major newspapers in Florida, Arkansas and Oklahoma. He is a freelance contributor to USParaNordic.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc