![]() ![]() No more drinking, powered by a vegan diet, he built up to putting in 60-80 mile weeks. He ended the 2016 season with a thru-hike of the 800 mile Arizona Trail starting just two weeks after finishing the Run Rabbit Run 50 miler.įollowing the 2016 season, Zac unexpectedly found himself living in Los Angeles, guiding hikes at a wellness retreat, and dreaming of more time on trail alone. In 2016, Zac made a firm commitment to ultra running. Always an athlete, he took the challenge of running a hundred miles as a time to sharpen his athleticism. His ski bum days had been filled with buddies and beer. After completion, he found that he wanted to do more. The challenges, the solitude, the surprises across scorching deserts and snowy mountain peaks. This would blossom in 2015 into an opportunity to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, sponsored by Vasque footwear. He had begun to camp and hike more, keeping an Instagram about his adventures. It would be years until Zac became an ultrarunner, but the fire got its spark then and there. He began talking to some of the competitors pre-race, and ended up talking to Timothy Olson, an accomplished ultrarunner. Ultrarunning was far from his radar until he saw a race beginning at the base of the resort. Zac made his way to Steamboat Springs to work for Timbers Resorts. After graduation, he knew he wanted more. He chafed at the regimented life of a student athlete. Skateboarding around campus, running miles after practice, and more. He showed glimpses of the independence that would later come in ultrarunning. When the time came to choose a sport, he focused on football, and followed in his brother’s footsteps by playing wide receiver and special teams for the Georgetown Hoyas (his brother played defensive back). ![]() These qualities follow him around, left over in abundance from playing on teams until he was 23. He is uplifting and personable, while maintaining thoughtful eloquence. The natural charm of a “big man on campus” follows him, tempered by a natural curiosity and endearing earnestness. A naturally gifted, focused athlete, he couldn’t resist playing team sports like baseball, basketball, and football. He enjoyed playing in the woods near his home and observing the wildlife alone. Zac has been both of these competitors.īorn in a small town in Western Massachusetts, he embodies a direct challenge to the duality of introvert/extrovert. The other is about how many 1-10 second encounters you can win, on a field of 22 people, in well kempt stadiums for 4 hours on the outside. One is about racing, alone, against 100s of other people, in the woods, for a long time. Ultrarunners and college football players don’t have much in common. No matter what he’s thinking about, he’ll be running for longer than it takes to read this. Or he’s thinking about planes, writing, ski mountaineering, or the meaning of athletics and life itself. He might be alone, he might be in the woods, and he might be thinking about everything in this article. Zac Barbiasz is probably running right now. South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands (USD $). ![]()
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