Ann Trason is a female ultra marathon runner from the United States of America. She was born on August 30th, 1960, and her career is absolutely outstanding, showcasing over two world records under her name through the span of a career full of highlights and amazing achievements.
This remarkable athlete is considered a true long distance running pioneer, having been passionate about this discipline all of her life. Ever since she was a child, her dad took her to a track practice, as a way to find an outlet for the little girl’s energy and charisma. As there were not a lot of sports suitable or accessible to girls back then, running was a really great alternative and they even managed to get an all-girls running program, which went on to seriously affect the course of Ann’s life.
Ann has been interested in the world of athletic running ever since her days in high school. She managed to distinguish herself for her superior running skills and excellent physical endurance, but unfortunately she had to stop running seriously at school due to a knee injury, which ket her from competing throughout college. Her career, however, was far from over because of the injury. Ann managed to truly get it going in 1985, when she eventually competed within the American River 50 miler at the age of 24. She did not simply win that race, but also set an unprecedented course record. 8 years later, she revisited this race and manage to establish another record, which is still undisputed. In spite of the success and the excellent performances, Ann was still being affected by her knee injury. Due to this issue, she had to drop from the Western States 100 the first two times she attempted to complete the race, both in the year 1987 and in 1988. when she was so dehydrated that she actually needed to stop not too far from the finish line. However, persistence definitely rewarded her, because the following year, in 1989, she set out to take the Western States 100 challenge yet again, this time not only completing the race, but winning. This will mark a long streak of victory within the Western States: she won over 14 times and held the women’s division course record for a mind-boggling 18 years, consecutively.
As a celebrated runner, Ann has appeared in various media related to this sport: she was featured within Christopher McDougall’s succesful Leadville Trail 100, as well as in his later best selling book, Born To Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, among many others.
Later, she became the co-director for the Dick Collins Firetrails 50, a position she held for a decade, from 2000 to 2010. She also set the female course record on the Firetrails 50, after her single run in 1987.
Currently, Ann is busy working as a running coach, working with students online and using the latest advances in technology in order to not only help her students with insights and with her massive experience, but also to help them access resources, know how and other amazing bits of information that are often under-explored in common programs, including the importance of nutrition and hydration for a runner, particularly on the long distance platform.
Ann also coaches middle school kids, and loves to inspire them the same way she was inspired growing up.
MOTIVATION
HEALTHY RUNNING
IMPROVE & ACHIEVE