long story short, it wasn't hard to figure out who he was after looking at the results and finding the only 30-something year old in the top-10, and it was even easier find basic info on who this guy was when i searched his name online. The guy was Zach Gingerich, and all i could really tell about him was that he was an ultra runner, but that was plenty to get me excited. I sent a letter to the address i found for him as fast as i could.
A few weeks later, Coach Wilson (my head track coach) told me that he had been contacted by Zach about coaching us, but that he couldn't make it to East until 4:30 because of his job... There goes another season without a real coach...
The more i searched, the more i found about Zach: this guy wasn't just running further than anyone I'd ever met -he was winning! i couldn't believe that someone like this had just dropped into my lap! -this was someone who was doing what i wanted to do! And felt i needed his advice if i wanted get where he was...
thankfully, i got a letter back from Zach a few weeks later letting me know that he wasn't gona be able to coach me officially, but that any questions i had, he would help me with(I'm not sure if he really thought that I'd take him up on that offer). After 6 months or so, i had graduated high school and was in the process of getting certified at NPTI(National Personal Training Institute) Lisle, and training for a marathon. With four runs of 20 miles or more coming up, i asked Zach if he be down to run one of them with me, and he was. Then, a few days before my 21 miler with him, i was running with another local running figure, Andy Remley(a coach at Benedictine University), when Andy told me that Zach had won Badwater. Suddenly 21 miles didn't seem like enough time to get all my questions answered!
The details of the run, along with any exact quote from Zach, cant be put online, but in summary: i learned more about real running that day than i had in the rest of my life up to that point. I had never met anyone like him. He is so nice and down to earth, and he was incredibly patient as i bombarded him with questions. I had expected him to be a student of the sport like i was, but he wasn't the slightest bit interested in the studies that i pour over day after day. i couldn't accept that someone who spent so much time running wouldn't be interested in whats going on in their body while they do it.
either way, my mind was blown.
Less than 3 months after that, Zach emailed me a list of upcoming ultras that would be worth thinking about and one of them seemed perfect. So on December 18th, 2010, i ran my first ultra: the Huff 50k (which was actually 33 miles, but still a short ultra). But using the word "ran" to describe what i did that day is almost completely a lie. The race was on trail and in 3-6 inches of snow. miles one through 11 were easy enough, but i ran every hill and didn't eat or drink anything. so by the middle 11 i had started walking all the steep hills, and by the start of the last third i was having trouble just leaving the comfort of aid stations and running seemed like a hopeless fantasy...
After getting my ass kicked and feeling hopeless for another 3 hours or so, i crossed the finish line in 6:15 -and i had already decided to do another ultra as soon as my body would let me. i had "caught the bug." -I've raced beyond marathon distance 3 times since then and recently even done a training day at 31 miles.
As i learned more about ultra running and met more people who did it, i quickly realized that Illinois wasn't the greatest place to be if i wanted to get serious about it (not like that was surprising). If i wanted a good shot at becoming the best, statistically, i should move to Colorado.
So in July, i packed my life into my Chevy Blazer and started driving west.
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