Jeremy Kunz saw life as the ultimate team sport.

Whether it was scaling King's Peak, navigating a lonely stretch of trail, or backpacking across the Wind River Mountains, Kunz saw every challenge as an opportunity to bond with someone he loved.

"Jer loved life," said his father, Bart Kunz. "He loved doing things in the outdoors, but it always had to be with somebody. He never went anywhere by himself."

Jer had already booked a trip to the Rim of the Grand Canyon for next year with his parents. Just a few days before his death last weekend, he took his two oldest children — Brinci, 7, and Tobias, 5 — on a backpacking trip. For Toby, it was his first adventure with his father in an environment that some see as a place to find solitude.

Jer, however, found joy in sharing those outdoor experiences with the ones he valued most.

That's why he and his family came to love the Ragnar Relay races so much. The long-distance relays began in Utah seven years ago and have become hugely popular around the country. Jer and his dad formed a team, the Wannabes, after seeing the runners make their way to Park City while they made their way to a wedding during Ragnar's Wasatch Back in 2007. Jer knew about the race because it passed through Kamas, where he and Melinda were raising their three children.

In 2008, each of the 12 runners who made up the Wannabes chose something different to put on their matching shirts. Some said "Wannabe younger;" Others said "Wannabe faster." And then there was "Wannabe at the finish line."

When they ran again in the 2009 race, they all decided to wear the same WISH, "Wannabes are Wasatch Back."

When Jer's mother, Denice Kunz, decided she'd like to join the Wannabes, she was told she'd have to form another team. She recruited even more family members, and Jer and his wife, Melinda, affectionately known as Min, volunteered to run with her squad in the inaugural Las Vegas race last weekend.

They all wore the same saying, "Wannabes are burning up the Valley of Fire."

"He texted me after his first leg," Bart said. "He said, 'Dad, this is so fun.' He'd run a seven-minute-mile pace. He was very committed to doing a good job."

And Jer was committed to being a good teammate.

That's why he was standing on the side of a road in Nevada at 4:35 a.m. Oct. 10. He and Brendan Perry were waiting for their teammate to pass them in the dark. Waiting to give him water, to give him encouragement and to give him the kind of support that transforms those impossible moments into life-altering victories.