Thru-hiking is the ultimate backpacking adventure, taking athletes hundreds or thousands of miles. Popular thru-hikes like the Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail entice thousands of people to cross multiple states every year. With only backpacks and essentials, thru-hikers leave jobs and loved ones to walk through woods, over mountains and across deserts.聽

It鈥檚 not an easy undertaking, and many drop before completing the hike. The experience is unlike almost anything else, and the trek that allows people to live on a trail with others in the thru-hiking community creates a euphoria that is hard to replicate.

But not impossible.

Many thru-hikers are inspired by their long-distance pursuits to hang up their packs, throw on running shoes, and venture into the world of trail running. The community and approachability of trail running has attracted many accomplished thru-hikers and their deep knowledge of bipedal transportation.

The drive to knock out more miles has attracted hikers like Jeff Garmire. Appropriately nicknamed 鈥淟egend鈥� on trail, Garmire has a long list of hiking accomplishments, including challenges like the Triple Crown: knocking out the Pacific Crest Trail, Appalachian Trail, and Continental Divide Trail, all within a year. Combined, those trails total almost 8,000 miles and include treks from Southern California to Washington on the PCT, Georgia to Maine on the AT, and New Mexico to Montana on the CDT. Only a handful of people have ever completed the Triple Crown, let alone all three in a single year.

Garmire has lost count of the miles he鈥檚 backpacked, but he knows it鈥檚 more than 30,000. In recent years, however, he鈥檚 focused more on adding to his trail running r茅sum茅.

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鈥淚 think it鈥檚 kind of a simple thing. You don鈥檛 always have as much time as either backpacking or thru-hiking takes, and while it鈥檚 a totally different experience when you鈥檙e trail running, you鈥檙e still out on the same trails, and you can cover more miles faster and see more in a day than what usually takes a two- or three-day trip,鈥� Garmire says. 鈥淪o I think it just scratches the itch to get out into the same environment, just in a different way.鈥�

The jump to trail running, combined with his backpacking experience, has allowed Garmire to set multiple unsupported FKTs on routes like the nearly 500-mile Colorado Trail and Vermont鈥檚 Long Trail.

Hiking into Running

Garmire first set foot on the PCT in 2011 and says he found a lot of similarities to trail running. Slowly increasing his mileage day over day, feeling good about setting a new PR, and having a strong, supportive community are staples across both disciplines. He started his hike on the PCT with about ten miles a day, but soon he was topping 40, a progression that proved invaluable in his transition to trail racing. Once he knew Garmire could hike dozens of miles a day, the jump to running seemed logical. With an incomparable endurance base and a much lighter pack to carry, he had a positive and prepared mindset for events like Montana鈥檚 Rut Mountain Runs.

鈥淐limbing is really something that I do well, just because it鈥檚 pretty much the exact same thing as hiking,鈥� Garmire says. 鈥淢ost people are power hiking the ups, but you have a lighter pack, so it feels easier.鈥�

With that uphill advantage came some challenges, including a lack of familiarity with running hard downhill or on flat trails鈥攕ections most trail runners relish.

Stephanie Lorenz, another thru-hiker who has tackled the PCT and the Arizona Trail, says she also feels strongest while climbing.

鈥淲ith trail running specifically, you鈥檙e not running the whole time. It鈥檚 not realistic, especially if someone is new to the trails,鈥� Lorenz says. 鈥淪o being a hiker has really helped me just kind of set that ego aside of 鈥業 have to run up this hill?鈥� No, you can actually hike up this hill, and you鈥檙e a great hiker. So just get up the hill or the mountain and you鈥檙e good.鈥�

Before getting into backpacking, Lorenz started doing short trail runs while in recovery from struggles with alcohol. Time spent healing in the woods led to a thru-hike of the PCT in 2018, but running has called her back, and she鈥檚 currently training for her first ultra.

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鈥淲hen I was on the PCT, I could hear people talk about ultrarunning or just longer runs. And I was just very intrigued, because I knew what trail running was doing for me in a small capacity and seeing what thru-hiking was also doing for me,鈥� Lorenz says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 just so therapeutic for me and just felt so healing to be in my body. And so then I just had this dream, I think, just from picking people鈥檚 brains on the PCT. I just want to try to run long distances.鈥�

But There Are Differences

Lorenz is also facing some challenges in making the jump to running, especially when it comes to fueling.

鈥淭he nutrition aspect has been a little bit tricky. On trail, while backpacking, I never had a particular diet and just ate whatever whenever,鈥� Lorenz says. 鈥淏ut I have noticed with running, and specifically on my long runs, I can鈥檛 just put a bar in my body. Sometimes my body just doesn鈥檛 want to absorb it.鈥�

The obstacles that come with training for a trail race shouldn鈥檛 be taken lightly by anyone new to trail running. There are plenty of similarities between backpacking and running, but also enough to make it a brand new endeavor. But many thru-hikers find that trail running offers a new way to feed their passion for long days in the mountains without the need to spend months away from home. Being familiar with high mileage means one of the critical parts of ultra training鈥攂uilding a strong base and gradually introducing your body to big, long days鈥攃an feel more manageable.

Despite the challenges, both Lorenz and Garmire say trail running continues to be rewarding and recommend others give it a try.聽

鈥淎 huge way to get started into that whole realm is to find something local,鈥� Garmire says. 鈥淵ou just have to go out there and do it, and you know, there鈥檚 no pressure if you walk the whole thing.鈥�

鈥淚鈥檝e learned to give up comparing myself to either how I used to run or to other runners. That鈥檚 not fair, because the journey is now and it鈥檚 mine. So, it鈥檚 going to look different than somebody else鈥檚 journey, or it鈥檚 going to look different from my journey years ago,鈥� Lorenz says. 鈥淪o, just do it and trust the process.鈥�

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