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From a young age, Mike has always run. Beginning with a $1 bet in the sixth grade that he could not run a mile and throughout high school during his formative years of cross country and track, he constantly had one foot in front of the other.
Upon graduation from high school, Mike would enter the military and won a European cross country championship while serving in the Army. His legs have carried him to personal bests in the 5k of 15:45, 10K 33:45, Marathon 2:52, 50 miles 7:24 and 100 miles in 19:02
Discovering cycling in his 20s, he competed on the road for 12 years as a Category 2 cyclist in Florida and Illinois, qualifying for the National Time Trial Championships twice. In 1996 he rode 474 miles in 24 hours raising over $12,000 for muscular dystrophy. This in turn led him to a mountain biking stint and he would twice win the Illinois Championships for Veterans.
The desire to further expand his skills took him to adventure racing where he would compete in two Eco Challenges (Borneo and Fiji), finish New Zealand’s famed Southern Traverse and in 2004 finish Primal Quest in California.
"Age is only a number and so is the distance..."
Mike became a race director in the Midwest for 5 years, conducting the Great Mississippi River Adventure Series in Northern Illinois and sharing his knowledge with new racers through numerous one-day clinics and races from 2000-2005.
He currently directs the Dig Your Grave Trail race in Hope, Idaho and co-directs Race the Wolf in Sandpoint, Idaho.
Mike is currently an Athlete Ambassador and Running Coach for Hyland's Homeopathic. For the past 7 years, Mike has coached over 100 athletes for Hyland's marathon team. Qualifying many of them for the Boston, New York and Chicago Marathons.
With over 16 years of coaching experience, he is continually educating himself on the latest science based findings pertaining to running. "Learn or get left behind". Mike aspires to help others find their true potential through functional, realistic training methods and setting goals with truly achievable results by doing so he inspires others to dream bigger than they ever imagined.
Completes first Ultra in 1998 (Ice Age Trail 50 miler)
In 2006 he completed a 250 mile Trans-Himalayan run in Nepal.
Twice he has finished in the top 150 at the Marathon des Sables - a Six Day, 170 mile race across the Sahara Desert (2005,2008).
In 2008 he became one of only 34 people to ever finish the Rocky Mountain Slam which consists of four 100 mile races, Bighorn, Hardrock, Wasatch and the Bear in the span of 4 months finishing 2nd overall.
In 2010 he would finish his first Trans-Continental Run across America.(www.projectamericarun.com) running solo from Oregon to Maine covering 4424 miles in 154 days for deceased service members of the Iraq War.
In 2011 Mike ran solo, 500 miles across Spain in 16 days on the Camino de Santiago.
In 2012 he would complete his second Project America Run 2, this time from Canada to Galveston, TX. He completed 81 marathons in 81 days, unassisted and solo covering 2146 miles for deceased service members of the Afghanistan War.
In 2013 he became the ninth person to circumnavigate Mt. Kilimanjaro on foot, a distance of 180 miles on trail over 6 days.
In 2015 Mike completed his third Hardrock Hundred in Silverton, CO considered the toughest 100 mile trail race in North America.
In 2016 he finished his third Project America Run covering 300 miles in 5 days in Sandpoint, ID.
In 2017 Mike completed his fifth Boston Marathon finish in a row and his fourth Hardrock 100 finish.
Featured in the documentary: "The Human Race" available on Amazon Prime.
In 2019 Mike completed his seventh Boston Marathon.
In May 2019, Mike completed the "Dragonsback" in Wales, the hardest mountain multi day stage race in the world. Covering 200 miles in 5 days and climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest twice.
In August 2019, Mike completed the six-day Trans Rockies event in Colorado, finishing 5th in his age group.
2021: Completed his fifth Hardrock 100.
2022: Finishes tenth Boston Marathon. Wins Age Group at the Azores Ultra Blue Island 40 miler. Finishes revised course at the DragonsBack Race in Wales (200 miles)
2023: Finishes 1st in AG at Way to Cool 50k
