Sharing Miles with Ann Trason

"In the summer of 2001, when my family and I relocated from Phoenix, Arizona, to Oakland, California, I had no idea that over the following quarter century, I'd become friends with 14-time Western States 100 winner and former course record holder, Ann Trason, or that both of our journeys would bring us back to Phoenix for the 2025 Across the Years. Watching Ann, who is currently battling rheumatoid arthritis, take her walker 112.8 miles over the course of the six-day event last week showed that while a lot can change over 25 years, some things very much stay the same."

"In 2001, I had moved to Oakland to begin the first administrative job of my career in education, and was early in my ultrarunning journey. I was eager to embrace the local San Francisco Bay Area trail running scene, and luckily for me, the community was one of the most welcoming I had ever met. There was a large Tuesday-night group trail run organized by veteran ultrarunner John Medinger, which met at the Woodminster trailhead in the Oakland Hills. The runs were of all different paces, and the group was as eclectic as you would expect in a diverse place like the Bay Area. More often than not, there were more than a few ultrarunning luminaries who would show up for these group runs, Ann being one of the most notable."

"I remember the first time I met Ann on one of these runs. A small group of us was cruising along one of the ridgelines, and she casually asked who I was and what I was training for. I was admittedly a bit star-struck in the moment, but we chatted for a bit, and from that day forward, we ran together from time to time and saw each other at races - including the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Mile, which Ann directed - and also at Medinger's annual "101st Mile Party" each October."

In 2001, the narrator relocated from Phoenix to Oakland and entered the Bay Area ultrarunning community. The narrator encountered Ann Trason on group trail runs and later ran and raced with her, including attending the Dick Collins Firetrails 50 Mile and Medinger's annual "101st Mile Party." The narrator became increasingly involved with the Western States 100 community and maintained a continued relationship with Ann. In 2025 in Phoenix, Ann, who is battling rheumatoid arthritis, completed 112.8 miles using a walker over the six-day Across the Years event, illustrating resilience and lasting community ties.

Read at iRunFar