After moving to Sun Valley in 2015 to take over the resort’s on-mountain photography business, he was introduced to the Baldy Hill Climb. It seemed to him like a near-insurmountable event. Until he did it. And that served as a catalyst that launched him into trail and ultrarunning. On top of TDS at UTMB, he’s tallied many of the classic mountainous races of the West: Speedgoat 50K, IMTUF 100, The Bear 100, and Wasatch Front 100, with the Leadville Trail 100 next on August 22. Other parts of his story covered here touch on race directing, resilience, kombucha, and a 30-year gap in his running history.

He waives the “Thomas,” going simply by “Smiley” – which certainly feels apt. We spoke on a Monday evening at the Hailey Public Library under a large black and white photo of Old Hailey taken from the top of Carbonate Mountain – a proving ground for many local runners.

--Hank Dart

FULL AUDIO

New to this episode, full audio of the interview, with a little bonus content. It wasn’t officially recorded as a podcast, so please excuse any oddities. If nothing else, hear Smiley in his own voice, and laugh at me for taking three times to understand the name of a shoe we were talking about halfway through the interview.

Welcome to Runners of Run Club. It’s great to get to learn more about you and your running. What’s one of your first running memories?

So, when I was in New Zealand, I won the cross country aged ten, and I think that’s the only race I’ve ever won. And, after that I didn’t run again for a good thirty years. So yeah, that was my earliest memory of running.

Was that regional? City wide? National?

It was just my school in New Zealand. Everybody has to do track and field. Everyone has to swim. It’s how they get the talent pool. I mean, everyone has to try out [for sport]. That’s how New Zealand does so well, you know, because it’s such a small country.

Yeah. A lot of high-powered athletes for the population, coming out of New Zealand. When did your love for trail running take off? I think I saw an Instagram Story recently that you had that might have touched on this. I’d love to hear it.

Yeah. Yeah. Well, I moved to Sun Valley [Idaho] in 2015, and I heard about this race called the Baldy Hill Climb. It’s 1.8 miles up 3,000 foot vertical. And I just thought that was crazy. I was like: “That is just insane; who is doing that?” And, a couple years later, I got talked into doing it. So, I went and got some shoes from the Gold Mine [thrift store] - some secondhand shoes because, you know, I didn’t know if I’d like running. So, I just thought, well: “Give it a go.” And I did it, and then I just carried on with it. From there, it would become Covid. I needed something to do. So, I just kind of went up the mountain and then on to the next one. And then, you know, you’re so far away you’ve got a lot of miles to get back home. So, yeah, it was during Covid that I really started putting in the miles.

Then you started doing ultras. When did that start?

Just after - I think it was 2022 was my first ultra. I just wanted to just give it a go and see how far I could go.

And was that IMTUF 100 or was that a different one?

There was the Sun Valley 50K. That was my first. Have you heard of that?

Yes. That was a pretty small, short-lived event?

Yeah. Just one year. I saw that on a notice board, and I was: “Oh, I’ll just give it a go.” And, my wife was, well: “Maybe you should just do the half marathon because you could probably do that.” And I was: “No, I’ll just see how far I can go.”

So, we touched on this. You’re from New Zealand. Where did you grow up there and how do you think that shaped you as a person and as an athlete?

I’m from the North Island of New Zealand, and I grew up hearing about legends like Peter Snell, Murray Halberg, John Walker. They’re all gold medalists at the Olympics. It just kind of inspired a generation in New Zealand. Everyone rallies behind a gold medalist, and it just kind of got me going. So, that influenced me. New Zealand’s really strong in outdoor education. So, everybody goes outside, and it’s all pretty much a part of the culture. So that kind of got me out there.

And you have a history of rowing. Is that correct?

Yeah, yeah.

Talk a little bit about that.

Well, I rowed crew in high school, and we won the nationals. For the eight, the four - and silver in the quad. And then I got Crohn’s disease, and I couldn’t race anymore. So that was a big pivot - big turning point for me. And I really just struggled to keep up with life, you know, as it was before. So, yeah, I kind of shelved everything for so long. And, then I realized when I moved here - I was: “Well, I could actually do this again.”

So, Crohn’s is a chronic disease. And it can really impact people’s lives.

Yeah. A lot. It’s an autoimmune disease. So, the body attacks itself. The inflammation you get in the small and large intestines is severe. And it’s really hard to deal with for most people - and for me.

How do you manage it with your running and your activity? Do you have to take special steps? I assume you do.

I manage it through my diet.

Your regular daily diet or during runs or both?

I have a high fiber diet. I’ve had the surgery – right hemicolectomy. I don’t know if you want to go into all that, but I’ve had part of my stomach removed. So now I manage it with diet. And not drinking alcohol. I realized it wasn’t helping – just getting hammered. So, I realized I had to make some changes. So, I can control it that way.

And so I think partly out of that is where Sun Valley Kombucha came in. It was sort of – probiotics and prebiotics and an alternative to alcohol. Can you talk a little bit about your interest in it, and what Sun Valley Kombucha is?

So, it’s a substitute for me. I needed to have something in my hand that I was drinking. And kombucha is really good for you, for your stomach - all the good bacteria, probiotics you get. It just gave me a lot of energy. And I just made the switch. So, I started making it – with like huckleberries and the fermentation – it turned out really good. Um, the first couple batches didn’t. But it’s something that I enjoy now.

And is it available for retail or do you just do it for your friends and family? I do sell the odd keg, but I haven’t gone big with it. So. Yeah. If anyone’s listening, maybe after this.

So, it seems that you like to go longer rather than shorter. Do you have a favorite distance or type of race?

Yeah, the 100-mile race has been really good because I’ve never been a fast runner. But I realized I just don’t stop. I just keep going. And so that’s kind of my strength. On the long run, you know, you get to take it all in and meet lots of people and take some photos. So, I enjoy the 100 mile. The longest run I did was the TDS in Chamonix [during the UTMB Finals week]. That was 42 hours that took me. That was a loooong day - a long day, long night.

And made even longer by a hiccup that you had in the middle. You want to talk a little bit about that?

Well, just about every ultra has its challenges. And I realized it’s just problem solving. So, on that particular one, my backup headlight fell out of my bag. So, I had a headlight that went flat, and then my spare headlight was lost. So, I just went through the night with no headlight. I just kind of made friends fast and tried to hang on to the back of the torchlight parade and - just made my way through the mountains. So that was a long night. That was a real test. I really thought of chucking it in, but then – you know – when you’ve gone that far: You didn’t go that far just to go that far. You want to finish it. So, I just carried on to the end.

Well, that’s really impressive.

Yeah. Thanks.

Do you have a favorite piece of equipment? It doesn’t even need to be equipment per se, but something that you really like to have with you.

I actually love my shoes. My Lululemon Blissfeel trail shoes. Because I’ve had other ones, and I had a pair of shoes – I lost every single toenail. And so now I have some that I didn’t get any blisters or anything. It’s just a perfect fit for me. So, I would definitely – I rate my shoes and, yeah, that would be the one thing I couldn’t do without.

You’ve run a lot. Are there any moments that you’ve had in your running or racing that just come back to you? A good sensation or a good memory or a picture or a sound that just keeps coming back to you over and over?

Yeah, you always remember the recent races, but the one that I would come back to is the TDS at UTMB. Just because my family was there; there was a really good vibe through the mountains. And, you know, 30,000-foot elevation gain. That was just so hard – that when something’s so hard –and you do it, then you just get such a reward from it. So, that race, yeah. And with the community behind it, it was just really good, like a good vibe. Everyone cheering you on. And, yeah, so I would do that again.

And Chamonix. It’s a special place during UTMB week. When I was out there in 2023, I went out for the Golden Hour of TDS. It was late and there were a lot of people. It was pretty neat to get to see them [the final finishers] come in.

I hope you get back out there.

Yeah. Let’s hope, let’s hope. Fingers crossed. So, you’re the race director for the Legends Never Die races. It’s one of the few races that we still have here in the Valley. Can you talk about your motivation for starting that, as well as some of the history of the race, which I think goes back to your grandfather?

It really started during Covid. I just was really into running and, and I just felt like I needed to share it. And I was: “Well, who wants to come with me?” So, I put the race out there, and we had forty people that showed up the first year, and each year it’s kind of grown. We reach a capacity of around two hundred now. So, it’s been well supported, and I’m really grateful for that. The community has gotten behind it. It is inspired by legends of the past. Everyone knows a legend. And the legend in my case is Captain Tom Smiley who was attacked during World War 2, and a silver cigarette case in his breast pocket saved his life [from a bullet]. So, I feel like what he did – and survived – was pretty legendary. So, I think that story needs to be told – and anything like that that keeps the memory of someone alive. Like someone doesn’t really die unless their story is not told. So that’s the background behind it. I wanted to just tell the story, and I wanted other people to come out and give it a go. So, we started the half marathon and ultra marathon, and it’s now in its sixth year.

It’s a great race and it’s been great to watch it become an established event in the Valley.

It’s great to see you out there running it.

What about the race director experience. Is there anything that stands out for you from that?

You know, I love it when someone’s running their first half marathon, or their first ultra. For me, I can see the parallel. I wouldn’t have gotten into it if the Baldy Hill Climb hadn’t been there or the Sun Valley 50K. And, so, having something there, on the calendar, people go and try. So, I get a lot from people, that do it and enjoy it – and go on with it. I’ve learnt a lot through the process. So, it’s been a good experience.

I did the marathon, and then last year I was able to do the new ultra distance, and it’s certainly in line with what you like to run. It is not an easy outing.

Yeah, yeah. I do get complaints about coming out of Curleys: “Who puts a course straight up a mountain?” That’s a throwback to the Baldy Hill Climb.

It’s fantastic.

Thanks.

You are Smiley of Smiley’s Mountain Photography. That is your main winter gig, right?

Yeah, yeah. I’ve always loved photography – and that’s part of telling the story: “Hey, look at this,” “I did this,” or “So-and-so’s done this.” And, so, the photography is part of the storytelling aspect. That’s why I moved to Sun Valley – to do the photography at the top of the mountain. And we bought the business. So, we just focus on that now through the winter, and in the summer there’s photography when I’m not running. But yeah, it’s a good balance.

Anything else come to mind that we haven’t touched on? Because I know we chat during run club, but I don’t know everything that’s going on.

I think that you can run further than you think you can. That’s something I’ve learned over the years. You’ve just got to shut your brain off - and just go. Go with the flow. That’s the one thing that you learn and experience: That you’re really much more capable than you think – you think you are.

One last question. You go to both Hailey Run Club and Ketchum Run Club, right? When did you…

[Laughing] Which one’s better?

[Laughing] No, No.

When did you first hear about Hailey Run club?

Jakub [Galczynski] and Delilah [Carden] told me [in spring 2023]. (Read Delilah’s 2026 interview here). I run by myself 90% of the time. Myself and my dog. So, it’s really good just to connect with other people in the community and go for a run. It’s one of the few times that I go together with someone, and meet other people like you. That’s how I met you.

That’s great. It’s been awesome getting to know you. And thanks for doing this. Really appreciate it.

Absolutely.

Cheers.

In this wide-ranging conversation, Edmunds talks about the beauty of transcendent moments and what that means for future expectations. She shares insight on the racing mindset unexpectedly gleaned from a teenage runner on a foggy fairground one January morning in Emmett, Idaho. And she concludes with a key existential question for any runner – and any person, really: “Are you having fun out there?”

We spoke at a table just outside the doors of the Fit Works gym at the Community Campus in Hailey, Idaho, fitting in questions and answers as parents came and went, picking up their kids from the summer day camp that was just across the hall.

Hank Dart

Thanks for doing this. I’m excited to get to know a little bit more about you and you’re running. What’s one of your first running memories?

So, I was a fairly sedentary preteen, teen. I didn’t start running until, I think, my sophomore year of college, and my first run was one of those where it was kind of for mental health and kind of for getting in shape. We lived in Meridian [Idaho] on Overland Road, and it was much more rural then. It’s not like it is now. Overland was a two-lane road, and I could get to the canal and ditch bank, and you could go for a couple miles and be off road. And, so, I would do that a couple times a week – go out in the evening in the summer and fall. I just remember the first time that I completed probably two full miles; that was probably where I was hooked. I was like: “Oh, okay. I can do this. It’s fun. It’s a stress reliever.”

Where were you in college?

Boise State.

And you grew up in Meridian?

I was born in northern Utah. My family lived in Roy, Utah, until I was almost 11, and then we moved to Meridian.

We’ll come back to that. So, you hit two miles, and that was a real landmark. When did your love for running take off?

It was probably a year or so later, and it was where I would run a couple times a week, and then maybe if I was on campus, I would go for a run. But Dave [her now husband] and I signed up for the YMCA Christmas Fun Run, and I think we only did the short course that first year, which is only around 2.5 miles through the North End. And I remember just thinking, like a lot of runners do: “I’m going to be dead last, and it’s going to be so embarrassing.” Dave said: “You’re going to be fine.” And just being part of that community and that energy was really great. Then, after we were married, we lived right by Camel’s Back Park, and we could run to the park and hit all of the foothills trails back there. And that’s when my love for running really, I think, stuck.

You were an early booster for the Hailey Run Club, and you consistently come to the Thursday runs. What is it that draws you to the Club?

I made a comment to Betsie [Hailey Run Club co-founder] that first year. She’s so extroverted and outgoing, and she had seen us in the neighborhood multiple times, and had stopped [and said]: “You gotta come to run club!” And I think you had talked to Dave about it. So, I made a joke to her that first year that I’m super introverted, and need the extroverts to come and adopt me, and, say: “Come on, let’s do this!” I think that definitely was the catalyst. And I do enjoy just interacting with other runners and having that sense of a group purpose. We had done a run club with Idaho Running Company when we were in Boise, and then we did – was it Wednesday or Thursday? – our old track workouts [around 2010 in Hailey].

With Brad Mitchell?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, it was a nice way to kind of get back to that, I think.

Coming back to some of your early days and how that impacted who you are today. Where would you say you grew up? Meridian or Northern Utah?

I would say a mix. I think my most formative time was in Utah. So, nobody in my family was ever an athlete in the, like, group sports kind of way. But both my parents were pretty outdoorsy, and especially my dad. So, there was a lot of just being outside in nature. It was super, super rural when I grew up. We had horses. We did trail rides and rodeo events – all that stuff. He did a lot of hunting and fishing, and he would take me – little blonde girl tagging along. So, I think that part of just being outside in nature has definitely stuck with me. And it’s interesting to think about, just the socioeconomic aspects of how people recreate, right? When we moved to Meridian, there just wasn’t the infrastructure at all. So, I think, for all of us in my family, we kind of fell out of just being active in general. And so, running was a way for me to get back into that, you know?

I guess the Wood River Valley – Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley – where we live now, that’s kind of a return to that immediate access that you had in your younger childhood.

Yeah, it’s definitely much easier. And when the city and the BLM [Bureau of Land Management], started putting in the trails in Hailey - even just Toe of the Hill – it was such an upgrade for us. It’s nice to just be able to go out your door and go for however far you want.

Do you have a favorite distance? And if you do, is it road or trail?

I don’t think I really have a favorite distance. Earlier on, there was a time when I felt it wasn’t even worth it to race a 5K, because you have to get your gear on and drive to the race, and you’re done in 25 minutes or whatever. As I’ve gotten a little bit older, I do think it’s a challenge in its own way, right? So, each distance brings its own challenge and benefit. I would say, I enjoy probably up to half marathon. 30Ks have been okay. Marathons are kind of iffy. The longer distance, I think, is harder for me. And I’m probably unusual in the Hailey Run Club group that I actually prefer road racing. I like training on trails and just getting out. But, I don’t know, there’s something about being able to be more consistent in pacing that I like in road racing.

What’s a favorite piece of equipment? Anything that you hate to leave the door without when you go training or racing.

I’d probably say my smartwatch, right? I always have it on. That said, I’ve tried to be a little bit better about not being so tied into hitting specific numbers. I guess it comes with pros and cons.

When you come back from your run, are there a couple metrics you really like to look at?

I would say, I just look at overall numbers, like distance and pace for a time. I don’t know if I have a leg length discrepancy or what, but I did have an old injury. I was off balance. I spent more time on the right leg, and so I had one of the running dynamics foot pods from Garmin. So, I used to check that a lot, and through some rehab exercises, I was able to get that balanced out pretty well. So that was helpful for a period of time.

Do you have a running-related moment that will pop up to you regularly? Something that is just on a loop sometimes that you think back on, whether it’s a memory from running or feeling from running, a sensation that comes back. I don’t know if everyone has this, but I thought I would ask.

There’s one race – the Payette Lakes Run in McCall [Idaho]. The 30K. We’ve done it a couple times. It’s Labor Day weekend, and for whatever reason, every time I’ve done it, it’s just been transcendent. And I don’t know why, and I’m actually afraid to sign up again, because I’m afraid it will ruin it, right? How often do you have a race that everything just feels like it’s clicking the entire time? So, I do think of that sensation a lot. Yeah. And, you know, you can catch that every now and then. You can catch segments of it on a training run or another race, but probably not. It hasn’t been predictable for me, really.

So, I don’t think I’m misremembering. There was a year when you and your husband, Dave, did at least one race every month.

Yes. Yeah, yeah.

Can you say a little bit about what the impetus was for that, and if you have any highlights, or lowlights, which may be even more interesting?

I don’t recall why we decided to do it. I may have read something in Runner’s World. But, I think for us, the fun part was it literally didn’t matter the distance. So, I think we did a couple half marathons that year, and then everything else, we just kind of filled in 5Ks and 10Ks where we could. I’m trying to think when that even was. I think it was pre-2010. At that time, there weren’t a ton of races in Idaho. So, that was part of the challenge, and the fun of it was figuring out where you’re going to go every month. And so sometimes you’re ending up in these dinky, dinky little towns, but you got to be a tourist in your own state, and sign up and do that.

One of the things that sticks with me, was actually the very first one that we did in January. We did the Freezeout Challenge in Emmett, where you go up the old Freezeout Hill. As you drive into Emmett, you come down a pretty big hill, and they’ve updated the highway, I don’t know, within the last 20 years. But, they still have the old grade, and so you’re running up the old road to the summit and then turn around and run back to the fairgrounds. It was end of January, so it was kind of like freezing fog, kind of rainy, drizzly, and we’re standing there in the fairground building, waiting for the start. And it’s cold, and there are these two, like, preteen, early teenage boys standing next to us. And this one kid – he’s so worried – he says something like: “Oh, my God, what are we gonna do? Look, it’s raining out that way!” He’s looking out to the west. He’s like: “What are we going to do if it rains?” Oh, my God, he’s freaking out. And his friend just looks at him, and it’s just in the most laconic voice, is kind of like: “If it rains, it rains. It’s not our fault.” And Dave and I just kind of lost it. But what a great philosophy for racing and life, right? I’ve prepared as much as I can. And it’s not my fault if it rains. I love it.

That should be the Run Club motto.

I know. Dave and I still sometimes say that to each other.

Anything else that comes to mind that we haven’t covered? About running and life…or it raining or not?

I mean, I think the one thing that I try to keep in mind, and I’ve heard it from multiple people, but it came up in the running camp that we did with the Roches [Coaches Megan and David Roche of Some Work, All Play]: It just doesn’t matter. People take it so seriously, right? So, whatever your internal motivation is, is great. But in the grand scheme of things, it does not matter. If you miss a training run, or where you finish a race, or whatever. It’s: “Are you having a good time out there?”

Well, Gadrie, thank you very much. This was awesome.

Yeah, happy to do it. Thank you. Thanks for your time.

Most impressive of all is the way she leads by example – harnessing her wide-ranging life experience, including time as a Marine, to develop her passions, show resilience in adversity, and share how fulfilling it can be to put energy into those things we love to do.

We met to talk at the Starbucks in Ketchum, Idaho on an unexpectedly quiet evening during the summer high season.

—Hank Dart

What’s one of your first running memories?

It’s funny, because I don’t have very many memories from when I was young, but when I was in middle school, I wanted to start running. I lived in Baytown, Texas, which is a suburb of Houston. So, there’s nothing. No parks or national forests or anything like that. So, I would just go one block from where I lived to this elementary school, and I used to run laps around it. I was, I think, in middle school. It’s not a great memory, but it’s my first one of running.

Do you know why you did that?

Yeah. From a very young age, I knew I always wanted to be in good shape for my entire life. I don’t know why I was, like: “running must be the way to do it.” Maybe it was from seeing a lot of people out of shape, living in southern Texas. So that just was planted in my mind.

When did your love for trail running take off?

So, my first trail run was actually a hike with friends, when I lived just outside the East Gate of Yellowstone in Cody, Wyoming. This was after I got out of the military. We were hiking to this waterfall that was, maybe, four miles away or something. And it was taking forever - and I was just so impatient. So, I was like: “Ugh, guys, I’m going to run.” And there was one other person that said: ”I’ll run with you.” And I’m in my hiking clothes, hiking shoes, and we just both start running.

But it really grew when I met Jakub [her now husband]. I moved to Jackson Hole, and our first date was actually a trail run. We ran to Bear Lake. After that, I was hooked. That was over 10 years ago. We were babies.

If you don’t mind my asking, what branch of the military were you?

I was in the Marine Corps. You know, I did run, obviously. I was forced to run. Half the time, we’re in full military outfit, and in our boots, running, which was not fun. But right before I got out of the Marine Corps, I did run my first marathon. Just for fun. And so that was cool. I lived in California at the time [in 29 Palms]. And so, we’re running, and huge dust storms would come through; sand is just slapping me in the face. You can hardly see in front of you because all the sand is just whipping around. One of my friends in the Marine Corps, she convinced me to do it, and I was like, “Yeah.” I think she got first place, and I got second place.

You started the Facebook group, Wood River Trail Runners, which Hailey Run Club came out of. Do you want to say a little bit about that?

We moved here from Bozeman in 2020, and we had a really awesome running community there. I mean, I’m still friends with all of those runners. We’d meet up at trails and go running. And I was thinking: “I want that again, here.” But we didn’t know anyone in Ketchum when we moved here. And we spoke to Gus Gibbs, and he’d mentioned that there used to be a run club. So, I was, like: “Well, I’m just going start one, and that’s how I’m going to make friends.” Because I obviously want to make running friends. I didn’t know anything about the trails. I just knew that there were tons of them. The issue was that everyone that joined Wood River Trail Runners lived in Haley, and I lived in Ketchum. So that’s what always made it so hard. I wanted to include the greater Wood River Valley. I wanted to include everyone. So, I try to make it to Hailey Run Club when I can.

You grew up in Baytown, Texas. How do you think that shaped who you are today?

Yeah. I saw everything that I didn’t want to do with my life. And decided I was going to do the opposite of what I see. So, the minute I turned 16 is when I was, like: “Mom and Dad, I need you to sign these papers so I can join the military when I turn 18.” That was devastating to them, but I already knew I can’t live here. Joining the military is not easy, but it was the quickest way out. Everyone in my hometown stayed; they stayed put. And I never wanted to do that. I did four years active, four years in active reserve. So, a total eight years was my contract.

Do you have a favorite distance or type of race?

I used to love between 50 and 100 miles, but I don’t know if I’m going to be able to get back up to 100 miles, which is a bummer. But to be honest, when I was thinking about my favorite races: It’s between 50K and 100K. Those have been my favorite races, but that also could be where they were.

What comes to mind when you say that?

The Matterhorn Ultra 50K. It changed my brain chemistry being out there. The vibe, the setting. I mean, those mountains completely blew my mind. Getting to run in those Swiss Alps - I had never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life. And I’m running this race with all these people who don’t speak English, and everyone’s looking at me, like: “What is this short little Hispanic girl doing out here in Switzerland?” And they have charcuterie out at the aid station, because it’s Switzerland, so it’s, like, cheese and meat, right? And the cows. There are cows everywhere with their little bells ringing. I mean, that and CCC [the UTMB Finals 100k in Courmayeur/Chamonix] are the two most beautiful races I’ve ever run.

Do you have any favorite equipment – something you love having with you out on the trail or when you’re racing?

[Holds up small case]. My headphones. That’s what I Iove. Obsessed - because I listen to house music when I run. It keeps me going. It helps me turn my brain off and not focus on how hard the run is, because it’s like a party in my ears. Yeah. I have to have them when I run. My playlist is probably 27-hours long.

What’s a favorite house track?

Break It by HILLS X JUNTARO.

Do you have a visceral memory or a special moment from running that you come back to again and again?

It’s not from a race, but it’s a run that Jakub and I did in Switzerland. We started from one town and ended in Brienz. It’s a huge ridge run, and there’s a giant lake on one side that’s glacial, crystal blue. And that was the most special run, I think I’ve ever done. It was just us two. I will watch my GoPro videos of us running that over and over and over again. I think it’s also because I was in my peak fitness that year. That was the year that I got second place at The Bear 100. It was an epic year. My goal is to go back and run that trail again. You know? I’ve already done it, but I want to do it again, especially after my injury.

Do you want to talk a little bit about your injury? We don’t have to.

Sure. Sure. I tore my ACL at mile four of the Chiang Mai 100K [in Thailand, fall of 2024]. I didn’t know I’d torn it. Because it didn’t hurt. I knew there was a popping sound, and I fell into some bushes as I was running down this steep hill, and that’s when it happened. But it didn’t hurt, so I kept running. And then I got to a few aid stations, and I tried to tell them: “There’s something wrong.” They understood something was wrong, but no one spoke English because we were in the middle of the jungle. They would wrap my leg and spray it with some Icy Hot-type stuff and then tell me I had to keep going. I didn’t have an option to get out until mile 27. By then, it was so bad. I not only had shredded my ACL, I shredded my meniscus.

So, it’s been a long road back after you had surgery, right?

I had major surgery, yeah. And it’s been a long time. And two months after the surgery, it got infected, and he had to go back in. So, that was horrible. Yeah.

You’re doing better?

I can run, and my surgeon said eventually it will stop hurting. First, he said “a year”, and then he said “eventually.”

Your first race back was a road marathon in May, and you got third. How did that make you feel?

I mean, it was great. I trained a lot for it. I didn’t think I was running that fast. I definitely trained slower than I ran the race. So, like they always say: you train slow, you run fast at the race. It felt amazing. I didn’t know I’d placed when I left. It was in Boise, so there were thousands of people there. It was a 5K, 10K, half marathon, and marathon, and we all finished around the same time. My friend messaged me in all caps: “DELILAH, YOU GOT THIRD PLACE.” And he sent me a screenshot of the results. I was getting a smoothie with Jakub, and I started to immediately tear up – because I just couldn’t believe it – after everything. I’m tearing up now. It was a lot of hard work. Especially after every milestone, I’d be like: “Oh, it’s been a year since I could start walking again.” Because I couldn’t walk without crutches for three months. No weight bearing. Yeah. It was so hard.

It’s clear how much running means to you. So, it’s been great to see you come back to it.

It’s so crazy how much I love to run. It’s so crazy. It doesn’t make sense, but it is my favorite thing in the world.

Anything else to add? Anything sparked by this discussion?

I’m just really grateful we live here [in the Wood River Valley]. We lived in Jackson Hole. We ran every trail there before we left. We lived in Bozeman. The trails in Bozeman were amazing. But it was a lot of driving to try to get to the mountains, because they aren’t as accessible as here. I mean, I can run to Baldy [Sun Valley Resort’s main mountain]. It’s so nice.

The run up and down Baldy is a touchstone for you, right? I forget how you’ve described it – something like, “your trail?”

My mountain.

That’s right. When did Baldy became so embedded for you?

That started after I did the Everest challenge, as part of Rebecca Rusch’s Giddy Up Challenge during COVID. I ran up and down the mountain nine and a half times in 22 hours [over 29,000 feet of vert]. It was really hard. It was really hard. I had two different people run one lap with me, but for the rest of it, it was just me. Just me, running up and down. It was me; me and the mountain. Yeah. So that’s when.

I think that perfectly describes it, and that’s a great place to end. Thank you.