The 103rd Broadmoor Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is evidence that racing has no limits when it comes to age.

The competitors taking on the mountain this year include nine drivers between 62 and 77 years old. And while age brings its usual challenges, it has not been a limiting factor for several.

“The benefit of my age is I’m retired so I have plenty of time to do this nonsense,” Rick Lind, 64, said. “But on the other hand, I’m not as slim and trim as I was when I was 20, nor as flexible. Still, I plan on racing until I can’t.”

For several of these drivers, including Scott Crouch, 62, racing has kept them “young at heart.”

“I’m just grateful I was able to get into it,” Crouch said. “I did get into it late, but I love the community and people involved with the hill climb, and rally in general.”

Crouch is the owner of Flatirons Subaru in Boulder, a family business, and was first introduced to rally racing through a friend, Tanner Foust. After meeting in 1994, the two bought a Subaru WRX and after their first rally event, Crouch was hooked and the pair competed together for the next five years.

While he won the Rally Production GT race on Pikes Peak in 2005 as a co-driver with Foust, Crouch’s first time racing Pikes Peak as a driver was in 2012. This will be his 14th year on the mountain, this year in the Time Attack 1 division with a 2014 Subaru WRX.

“Every year is a negotiation again with my family,” Crouch said. “But they know how passionate I am about this race and are super-supportive. It’s such a unique event, an opportunity to compete around world-class drivers.”

To stay in shape for racing, Crouch exercises every day including skiing in the winter, and sees a trainer multiple times a week.

After 12 previous attempts, his best time and finish came last year, a fourth place finish in the Time Attack 1 division with a time of 10:46.133. Crouch’s goal every year is to make it to the top, but he likes his chances of a personal record this Sunday. For the first time, he will be taking oxygen, a common practice for drivers at the high elevation.

Lind, 64, has been racing since his early 20s and brings a mentality of “you only live once,” as he takes on the Hill Climb for the second year in the Pikes Peak Open division He’ll be driving a 1967 Chevrolet C-10 he calls “Tammy.”

“I don’t think about the age, only that we don’t live forever. Every day has to count,” Lind said.

Lind grew up in Arizona fixing cars with his family. He has early memories of cleaning parts with a coffee can of gasoline and a brush with his brother.

Lind started restoring cars in his 20s and was introduced to racing in his early 40s after being invited to set a land speed record with his 1968 Shelby GT 500. As a nuclear engineer, the physics and aerodynamics that go into a record attempt is what drew him to the opportunity.

“Racing had always been in the back of my mind,” Lind said. “My first time out I set a record in the class I was in. I was dumbfounded that I built something that would do that good.”

Twenty years later, Lind has made a name for himself with 13 records in multiple vehicles, with his fastest record being 236.5 mph in a 1969 Ford Talladega.

Growing up, Pikes Peak was a big deal in his household, making last year’s debut all the more special.

“It’s relatively accessible to the common people,” Lind said. “That’s a really cool element.”

Every day before he goes to bed he watches an in-car video of someone going up the mountain, and has worked hard to memorize the course. He’s checked the box of making it to the top, now he wants an even better time.

“I’m not smart enough to get scared,” Lind said with a laugh. “Once I let the clutch out on that race car it’s a job to do. All this prep work to achieve a goal and once I start rolling the fear factor does not enter, you have a run down of all these things you need to achieve. When you achieve those goals it’s beyond belief, it’s exhilarating.”

Perhaps one of the most well-known racers from the Colorado Springs area is Fred Veitch, 77. He is racing his eighth and final Hill Climb on Sunday, this year in the Exhibition division in a 1972 Porsche ST.

“While my family is very supportive, I’ve agreed this is my last time on the mountain,” Veitch said. “It takes a tremendous amount of time and dedication and effort to run successfully. And my family would prefer that I do other races less intense than Pikes Peak.”

Racing was always a hobby Veitch enjoyed since he started in his early 20s out of college, and has been racing most of his adult life.

He remembers watching the first race as a spectator while a student at the University of Denver, and has since been heavily involved with the race, including service as board chairman.

Veitch was first interested in racing after the course was paved in 2012, and with the support of Porsche, was able to do so in 2014 when he won the Time Attack 2 division in his rookie year.

“If I’ve got a competitive car, I like to think I’m still competitive,” Veitch said. “It’s a great course and a challenge to race.”

In fact, it’s everything else besides age that Veitch is concerned with when it comes to racing Pikes Peak.

“Everything has to work,” Veitch said. “You have to be physically able to do it, you have to be alert. You get one shot to do it the best you can.”

While Sunday will be his last time racing Pikes Peak, Veitch still has some more races on the calendar this year, and doesn’t plan on retiring quite yet. When asked what advice he would give to people wanting to get into racing later in life, his answer was simple.

“Follow your dreams,” Veitch said. “It’s much more fun to be in the field of battle than in the stands.”