#Western states endurance run full

Photo: adidas TERREX and What are the trails like in Zimbabwe? The running community in general is a close community, too, and it’s been great to see family and friends find joy on the trails.Įmily Hawgood. I am running the Skyrun in Zimbabwe, which I am excited for. I only discovered the trails when I graduated from college in the US so I haven’t been too connected with the trail running community back home until recently. Trail running is just starting to take off in Zimbabwe. What is the trail running community there like? I have never met a trail runner from Zimbabwe. It was quite the adventure and one that made me who I am today, no doubt! Then, I ended up running out over a pass with the intention to tag another Idaho 12er but thunderstorms rolled in so I had to drop a few thousand feet and run low miles back to the truck. Then, I bailed off into forested drainage to get some actual running miles in, which included a lot of bushwhacking but also the incredible discovery of a couple ice cold blue mountain lakes that I swam in. I climbed down something I didn’t have the confidence to climb back up but got stuck and had to cry my way through each scary hand placement and footstep to get back to safety. It was 18 hours long where I climbed up Mount Idaho and then ended up missing a shoot to get further along the range. My craziest one would have to be a solo adventure I had in the Lost River Range in Idaho in 2020.

Great question! I’ve had some wild ones, for sure. What have been some of your favorite (or craziest!) adventures off-the-beaten path? You are the type of trail runner who enjoys the technical/off-trail adventure. It is fun to get to a start line and know I have what it takes to compete with the best even as I continue to grow and learn. It was an amazing year in terms of understanding myself, working closely with my coaches to understand exactly what my personalized training needs to look like, giving me the confidence to never give up on a goal and so much more. I see it as part of the journey for sure. Photo: adidas TERREX and Reflecting on 2021, do you see this as a turning point in your career? It’s been pretty special to have what I love doing become my work, my way to adventure, travel the world, and another means of meeting incredible people.Įmily Hawgood. The opportunities that have arisen from finding success have been incredible with becoming a part of the adidas TERREX team being the biggest one. What was it like transitioning from being a relatively unknown talented athlete from a small farm in Zimbabwe to an elite trail runner finding success on the biggest stages in our sport? You had an incredible year in 2021, with top ten performances at both UTMB and the Western States 100.

So playing team sports and seeing how even though trail running is done individually, the strength of having a team beside you is incredible! Do you see any crossover from these sports into trail running? Growing up, you enjoyed playing a variety of sports including field hockey, tennis, swimming, track and cross country, netball, triathlons, basketball, and volleyball.

#Western states endurance run full

I had just completed my second full Ironman Triathlon and wasn’t enjoying the time on the bike, especially competing with cars and trucks on the roads so when he said the mountains my heart leaped and I asked Paul “Can I do that?” He took a huge chance on me-I fell in love with them and the rest is history. My college coach Pat McCurry introduced me to my current coach Paul Lind, and he said he ran in the mountains, his son ran in them and he had some other athletes that he trained to run in the mountains too.

Photo: adidas TERREX and POLLMANN] How did you discover trail running?