I’ve never been a runner. I was always interested in the arts instead of sports, and my childhood was chaotic, so sports didn’t come first. I didn’t get the opportunity to discover which sports I was interested in due to money or situational barriers, and I was quite shy as well. I did do track and field for a few weeks in middle school, but I wasn’t fast, so I gave that up quickly.
Fast forward to the summer of 2023, when I first met my partner, Logan. We were both into climbing, and we bonded over the outdoors and doing cool, difficult stuff that challenged us physically and mentally. One day, Logan told me about Courtney Dauwalter, and told me to watch the YouTube videos about her. I disregarded the suggestion, until one day I watched a video about her setting the crazy 10-hour record on the Moab 240, beating everyone, including the men.
I couldn’t believe that people ran for several days and nights without stopping or sleeping very much, and 240 miles didn’t seem fathomable. So, naturally, I was immediately in love with the sport. I did hours of research, fell into the rabbit hole of Barkley Marathons documentaries, and instantly found myself signing up for races that I wasn’t nearly trained enough for.
I did my first trail race at the Brighton Cirque Series with Logan, and it was the most exhilarating, fun, and motivating activity I had ever done. I continued signing up for races, even though I was back of the pack each time, and I did my first marathon at Arches Marathon and Half by Madmoose Events. That one was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I took seven hours to complete it, as I had no idea what I had signed up for, and it was a particularly hot day in Moab. Even still, I was hooked.
My first official ultramarathon was Moab’s Red Hot 55k in February 2025. I was having the best day of my life out on that course, and was extremely emotional the entire time, but specifcally towards the finish line. The fact that I’d never thought myself to be athletic, but I was about to finish something that most people will never do in their lifetime, felt pretty insane.