WHY I RUN

I run for many reasons. For reasons simple, evolving, and often hard to define. At the heart of the matter, it's simply who I am, or rather, who I have chosen to be. I have spent over two of my three decades running most days. Usually alone. Sometimes in stunningly beautiful natural landscapes (and these days I relish), but more often on quotidian routes so worn by my steps they are a seamless blur in my memory.

I run to socialize. To build community and to find my community. To find my limits. To compete—literally, to strive or seek together (in the original Latin). I run for joy, for escape, for meditation, to process grief. Through times good and bad. Through all times: I run.

BIO

Achievements

- Three-time member of Team USA for the 100km World Championships (2014, 2015, 2016)

- 2:21:20 marathon PB (Boston Marathon 2014)

- 50 Mile National Champion (2013)

- 10 ultramarathon wins including: American River 50M and Mountain Mist 50K

- Top 3 finishes at a number of top ultras, including:

JFK 50M, Ice Age 50M, Cayuga Trails 50M, and Chuckanut 50K

- 30+ ultramarathon finishes

2017 Schedule

Tarawera 102K (February 11)

Boston Marathon (April 17)

Ultra Trail Australia 100K (May 20)

Swiss Alpine Marathon 78K (July 29)

Birkie Half Marathon (US Trail Half Marathon Championships) (September 30)

Adventures

Mont Blanc Circumnavigation (hut-running trip, mid August)

Zion Traverse, FKT attempt (early October)

Smokies Challenge Adventure Run (SCAR), FKT attempt (late October)

Where I Live

Bloomington, Indiana

Home Trails

A 6-mile loop called Pate Hollow and the 48-mile Knobstone Trail. The former is my most frequently run trail, the perfect hilly training ground for adventures farther afield. The latter is the highlight of southern Indiana trails—beautiful singletrack winding up the forested spine of a geologic feature called the Knobstone Escarpment.