10,000 Miles

Wakely Dam.. my first ultra

I started running in the fall of 2004 but never really started to record my miles until January of 2006. In the last 6 years of recorded running history, I’ve finally run my 10,000th mile. This number includes easy hikes in the mountains, backpacking trips, training runs, races.. any activity where my feet carried me from A to B has been recorded and last Friday, I finally ran mile 10,000. Mile 10,000 was run much like my first mile. I ran around my neighborhood on paved roads and sidewalks. Slowly letting the miles click by and just enjoying hearing myself breath and feeling myself sweat.

There’s much to look back on in 10,000 miles. Countless training runs. Fifteen One-Hundred Mile races of which names include Barkley, Western States, Leadville. Four finishes at the Vermont 100. Two runs across New Hampshire. Bagging of 72 peaks above 4,000′ in New Hampshire’s Mountains. My feet have travelled on land in over 15 of the United States (NH, ME, VT, MA, RI, NY, PA, OH, MD, VA, FL, IL, TN, WY, CO, UT, AZ, CA). I’ve been to mountain ranges like the Whites, Adirondaks, Grand Tetons, Sierras, Smokeys, Appalachians, Big Horns, Rockies and many more. Not to mention that they’ve also spanned the Grand Canyon and run through the painted lands of Moab. They’ve carried me 50 miles on snowshoes. They’ve wandered through rivers and streams.

In 10,000 miles I have yet to suffer the trauma of a major injury from running or hiking. No broken bones or joints. No dislocations. No torn ligaments. Just one twinged Hamstring from a day out running in the snow. They’ve only suffered the loss of 3 toe nails. Numbers like this would amaze any ultra-runner with the question.. “How on earth did you manage all of that?” Moderation my friends.. moderation.

And of course.. others will look at it and say that my legs have done much on very little training all of these years. You’d be right. And I consider myself lucky to have travelled so far and been so injury free all of this time. I look forward to traveling 10,000 more. Across new states, through new rivers and streams, deep canyons and high summits. I look to return to many of the places I’ve been. To either run some more or hike at a slower pace. For 10,000 more miles.

Ramble on
SJ