When I first ran the Leadville Trail 100 in the early 90s, and for many years afterward, there had never been a finisher younger than 23 years old. A few had unsuccessfully tried, but it was considered too much of an endeavor for a younger person to do the necessary training for an ultramarathon. But then along came Clare Gallagher and Annie Hughes, major race winners and record-setters in their early 20s. In 2019, I ran the start-to-May Queen stretch of the LT100 alongside college senior Harrison Hornung, actually named after the main drag in Leadville, who was attempting to complete Leadman, which he did. There’s no doubt the demographics in ultramarathons have trended younger, yet I was pretty surprised when I was up at the LT100 this year and saw that there were 4 or 5 runners in the 18-19 year old division. Alden Iselin of Newton MA just graduated from high school and impressively finished in 29:11:33. I was curious what made this young man tick, and what I discovered is an energetic 18-year old who is eager to explore new places and challenges, and who wants to help others seek similar goals. He is relatively new to the ultrarunning world, too, having only run his first 50-miler in NH in October. In February, he completed the rugged Orcas Island 100-miler, which was complicated by bad weather, precipitating a 12-hour start time delay. His time there was more than 32 hours. I greatly enjoyed hearing about what sparked his interest in ultrarunning, his training, the challenges he has faced in his nascent ultrarunning career, what he learned in these first experiences, and about his extraordinary focus for an 18-year old. Alden might be a future star, and you heard him first on the WASP!
Alden Iselin
Instagram and Strava @aldeniselin
Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram @stahlor and @coachstahl
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