Pam Smith is a 47 year old pathologist and mother of two teenagers who lives in Salem, OR. She also happens to be the new W45-49 American age group track record holder in the 50 mile, 100K, 12 hour and 100 mile distances. This amazing performance at Desert Solstice in December 2021 qualified her for the US National 100K team. She has been a steadfast presence on the running scene for two decades as she stretches the limits of her performance on the road, track, and trail in fixed distance and timed events. In fact, Pam is the perfect guest for our show because her versatility as a runner knows no bounds.
In addition to her track records, some of Pam’s most notable trail accomplishments include winning the Western States 100 in 2013, and placing second in Badwater 135 in 2018 (yes that was the hot year!). Pam will be returning to Badwater in July this year in her second attempt.
Since 2020 Pam has gone through the same pandemic struggles we all did, in addition to dealing with a running injury that literally stopped the show for several months. We spent quite a bit of time talking about her return from not running a step in early 2021 to breaking 4 age group records less than a year later, something we think is an even more notable accomplishment. Pam has gained a lot of wisdom over her years of running and ultrarunning, and we know every runner will gain something from listening to her today. If you need a flicker of hope that anything is possible, here it comes!
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