moma nottingham ankle boots itemThis Man Is Running a Marathon in All 59 U.S. National Parks—And He Wants You to Join Him
Here are 18 things you need to know about Bill Sycalik.
Bill Sycalik, a 45-year-old former New York City-based management consultant, quit his job last year in pursuit of a new challenge: running a marathon in all 59 U.S. National Parks, a journey spanning 1,546.9 miles across 29 states.
“Two things can happen in New York—you can either be fed by the energy or it can feed on you.” Sycalik told Runner’s World. “I was not in a good space. I was not happy with my job, and I had unnecessary stress and limited access to the outdoors.”
He tried various methods to cure his growing malaise—a sabbatical, a 10-day meditation retreat—to no avail. “After that, I just decided that it [the stress] wasn’t worth it and life was too short,” Sycalik says. So upon reading about the 100th anniversary of the National Parks Service, Sycalik came up with the idea to bid adieu to the Big Apple for good and combine his love of long distance trail running with his desire to explore our nation’s natural protected lands. Thus, the adidas originals ozweego light green marathon running shoessneakers was born.
He took action in May 2016, resigning from his job, moving out of his Long Island City, Queens, apartment and tackling his first National Parks marathon in Maine’s Acadia National Park the next month. Fast forward 13 months, and Sycalik has completed 48 marathons in 48 National Parks. He’s been logging his runs on Strava and his website, and invites anyone—and everyone—to join him on all or part of each marathon by simply messaging him on Twitter.
With just 11 National Parks to go, Sycalik reflects on his relationship with running and what he’s learned from this expedition—and also shares memorable anecdotes from the road.
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George Rehmet (pictured on the left), Western Regional Director for the Road Runners Club of America, caught wind of Sycalik’s project and joined him for the marathon in Pinnacles National Park. A mountainous expanse in Central California, Pinnacles is the youngest of the parks (it was founded in 2013), and houses some of the most physically challenging trails. The duo’s 26.2-mile trek took more than seven hours—a grueling feat that Sycalik says was made easier by the company of a stranger-turned-friend.
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Among the varying terrain: Lassen Volcanic National Park in California, where Sycalik ran on top of a volcano; North Cascades National Park in Washington, with “angry, pointed” mountains and glaciers; the swamp-infested Congaree National Park in South Carolina; and the Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado, where he stopped often to empty sand from his shoes.
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Jenny is a Boulder, Colorado-based health and fitness journalist. She’s been freelancing for Runner’s World since 2015 and especially loves to write human interest profiles, in-depth service pieces and stories that explore the intersection of exercise and mental health. Her work has also been published by SELF, Men’s Journal, and product eng 32863 Clarks Originals Wallabee 26155519 Shoes, among other outlets. When she’s not running or writing, Jenny enjoys coaching youth swimming, rereading Harry Potter, sneakers vans sk8 hi reissue vn0a4bv8xkr1 otw rally chlipepr trwht.
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