I’ve been running off and on since high school but until 2011 it was always street running.   In the mid-90’s I got way into distance running and began doing longer runs and several half marathons.   In 2009 I decided to finally go for a marathon and stress fractured my foot on my last long run a few weeks prior to the event.  That had me out for almost 6 months.   After that I was still plagued with foot, hip and back issues as my milage crept above the half marathon mark.

Then in mid 2010 I read “Born to Run” by Christopher McDougall and decided to try switching to a ‘barefoot’ running style.   Within 6 months I threw away all my running shoes in favor of minimalist shoes like the Merrell Trail Glove, Inov-8 BareGrip & F-Lite series and Luna Sandals.  I got off the pavement and started running trails.  From my first rainy and mud covered 10-mile run I was hooked.  By mid-2011 I had completed three 10-mile trail runs,  two trail half marathons, one trail marathon and was working on my first 50k ultra which I completed in October.