Ultra marathoners are crazy, at least that's my stance. I've said it before. I'll say it again. I love them to death but they are fricking crazy!
And then there's Laura Parson.
While she is an ultra marathoner, and by definition crazy, she's also organizing and training for a cross country adventure this summer that I can't begin to even fathom. She will be setting out from San Francisco on June 1st, and averaging about 46 miles a day if all goes well, and ending up in New York City 67 days later.
Oh yeah. She's also a student and is working on her Ph.D.
So why would she do something equal parts awesome and insane? To raise awareness about sexual violence in this country, how common it is, and how little we as a society are willing to even talk about the issue.
It may not be a fun topic to discuss, but it came up during our run and we dove in. But sexual violence and her cross country trek weren't our only conversation topics of the day. Here are some of the other highlights during the run:
Her struggle pick which race distance she likes more, the marathon or the 50 miler.
Why she got into running ultra distance races in the first place.
How you can support her during her run this summer (and she needs more than just money).
The logistical demands of planning a 3,000 mile run.
Balancing the demands of her schooling with her training and her planning for the summer.
What exactly makes her a diet-agnostic.
Is her blog URL a contradiction of her diet-agnosticism?
I had a great time chatting with Laura today, and the time really flew by.
I'd definitely encourage you to check out her website (http://thegluttenfreetreadmill.com) to learn more about what she's doing and the organization she hopes to raise funds for.
Also on her site, you can volunteer to help her out along the way if you live on or near the route she is taking across the country (which can also be found on her site). She could use a bed to sleep on, a home cooked meal, a nice shower, and even just some friendly faces to share a few miles with on a daily basis. Check out her blog for all of the details and please contact her if you can be of any assistance.
And if you want to keep updated once she hits the road in June, the best thing you can do is like her FB page, and you can follow along as she runs.
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