An ultrarunner and botanist from Hawaii, Nadia “Nate” Stanis, plans to run the entire 2,180-mile Appalachian Trail in 55 days, starting on Tuesday at the trail’s northern end in Maine.
“We’ve run into a few snags and are doing some last minute adjustments, but I’m hoping to start the trail early tomorrow morning in Baxter (State Park),” Stanis said Monday afternoon.
Stanis arrived in Bangor on Sunday evening, and on Monday, she and her team spent time gathering last-minute supplies in Bangor. They also decided to rent a vehicle suitable for the rough roads they’ve been told they’ll encounter in Maine. In Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness, a remote section of the trail between Baxter State Park and Monson, the Appalachian Trail is only accessible via woods roads.
The 33-year-old runner plans to run an average of 39 miles per day, scrambling up and down mountains on the narrow and rugged footpath that stretches from Maine to Georgia. She’ll start by climbing Katahdin, Maine’s tallest mountain and the northern end of the Appalachian Trail, then head south.
She’s attempting the feat to raise money for The Nature Conservancy’s Leaders in Environmental Action for the Future (LEAF) program, which provides paid summer internships for high school students and helps educators from environmental high schools share best practices and scientific resources.
“Nature is my refuge. I’m a nature nut,” Stanis said. “I think that I’ve always learned the most and been the most myself when I’m out in nature, and I know how much it impacts people’s lives. I used to be a naturalist and take youth out in nature, and I’ve worked with youth out in the field as a botanist. I’ve seen the transformative power of being outside.”
Stanis was a hiker before she was a runner, she said. She has backpacked 1,500 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail, 200 miles of the Superior Hiking Trail in Minnesota, 50 miles of the Lycian Way Trail in Turkey and 120 miles of the GR 10 footpath in France
She discovered long-distance running in 2007, and since then, she has completed eight marathons and several ultramarathons, including runs of 50 and 100 miles. In October 2012, she completed a charity run of 244 miles in 12 days by circumnavigating the Big Island of Hawaii.
“The feeling you get in your body when you’re really in flow and running — I think it’s different from hiking,” Stanis said. “Feeling that and combining it with a trail, it’s just a magical mixture for me.
“It’s something I’ve discovered my body can do, and do well,” she said. “So I want to give that gift back to the world in whatever way I can — through giving back to The Nature Conservancy.”
Stanis said she also hopes her run will inspire people to try trail running or simply get outdoors and get exercise in nature.
Along the way, Stanis also plans to collect plant specimens for university and museum collections, including collections at the Appalachian State University and the University of Hawaii at Manoa, where she recently completed her master’s in botany.
Originally from Berkeley, Calif., Stanis has lived in Hawaii for the past three years.
“I’ve been training in the mountains of Hawaii, which are notorious for extreme glades, really steep elevation, a lot of mud and a lot of roots — so you’re always having to watch your feet,” Stanis said. “I’ve been doing 40-mile days there.”
Her two-person support crew, Edwin Bond and Crystal Clawson, are both from Hawaii. She plans to meet up with them each night on the trail to camp. As a vegan, she plans to manage her nutrition on the trail by eating energy-rich trail mixes during the day and hearty warm meals in the evenings. In addition, she’ll be using organic herbal supplements.
“I have with me an acupuncturist who specializes in herbal medicine,” Stanis said. “She’s had me boost up my immunity the last several months, and she’ll be giving me herbal treatments and natural remedies along the way.”
While running during the day, Stanis will be traveling light. Her backpack will contain water, a lightweight water filter, snacks, herbal supplements and a SPOT Personal Tracker, a satellite GPS messenger that will help her team keep track of her.
“There’s a lot of elevation gain,” she said. “I think that’s going to be the biggest challenge, simply the toll on me physically and having the emotional grit to not quit and not say, ‘Oh, I’ll just make up miles later’ — to power through those days when I’m sore and tired and I’ve gone up and down and up and down and up and down.”
Stanis isn’t the only athlete attempting to run the Appalachian Trail this summer. Ultrarunner Scott Jurek, 41, of Colorado is attempting to break the speed record for the Appalachian Trail. The record is held by Jennifer Pharr Davis, who hiked the trail in 46 days, 11 hours and 20 minutes in the summer of 2011.
“He’s a complete hero of mine,” said Stanis of Jurek, who started on May 27 at the trail’s southern end at Springer Mountain in Georgia and had traveled 905 miles by June 15 and was in Shenandoah National Park, according to the runner’s official Facebook page.
“I’m not going for a record,” said Stanis. “It would be amazing to set a record, but I’m dedicated to fundraising and building a community along the way and helping support The Nature Conservancy.”
Now in its 20th year, The Nature Conservancy’s LEAF program has a mission “to engage urban youth in conservation activities now so that they will become stewards for our planet tomorrow.” Since 1995, LEAF has expanded from one to 27 participating states, supporting more than 700 interns.
This summer, three crews of three interns each will help The Nature Conservancy in Maine by improving trails and preserves, recording data on road-stream crossings and other projects throughout the state for six weeks.
To donate to The Nature Conservancy’s LEAF program and support Stanis’ run of the Appalachian Trail, visit Stanis’ Crowdrise page. Follow her run at her blog, which she’ll update regularly with status reports and photos.
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