In 1996, Lars graduated from Wood River High School in Hailey, Idaho and moved to Marquette, Michigan to train under Sten Fjeldheim at the United States Olympic Education Center. In Marquette, Sten introduced Lars to the highly demanding daily training regimen of an Olympic Athlete. Within the next two years, Lars grew tremendously in fitness and continued to be one of the top up and coming racers in the US.

In his spare time, Lars continues work toward an Environmental Science degree at the Alaska Pacific University in Anchorage and works at Home Depot in the Olympic Job Opportunity Program.