PHIL GERMAKIAN

Phil - I have been running my entire life, but I never considered myself a runner until I developed a passion for it when I began trail-running in 2008.

I grew up in Northern New Jersey, and always enjoyed sports and spending time in nature. Looking back, it makes sense that I would enjoy trail-running, which allows me to combine those two interests. At the age of 5, I became a wrestler. My father, older brother, and friends were wrestlers, so it was not surprising that I became one too. I ended up wrestling for 14 years through my sophomore year of college. Wrestling helped me develop dedication and mental toughness, among other skills. Those qualities would prove to be invaluable later on in my life as I developed into an endurance athlete.

After wrestling was over, I continued to exercise regularly, but that did not satisfy me for very long. Something was missing. In 2007, I ran my first 5K road race, and it filled the void. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed competing. From then on, I was hooked. I started signing up for a road race or triathlon every other weekend. Then in 2008, I ran the North Face Endurance Challenge 10K at Bear Mountain. When I crossed the finish line I wanted more. Six months later I found myself on the starting line of the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile in San Francisco. I had no idea what I was doing. I had never even run a marathon before, but I loved every painful moment of that race. Pushing my body and mind to its limits in a landscape that was foreign to me, made me feel more alive than ever before. After crossing that finish line, I knew there was no turning back.

Over the last five years, I have competed in a variety of races, ranging from 1 to 100 miles. More importantly, I have made many new friendships, traveled to many wild places, and gotten involved with my local running community as much as possible. Trail-running has become such an important part of my life, that I decided to move to the trail-running town of Boulder, Colorado this summer. Adjusting to my new life here has been exciting as I look forward to each new adventure the next day brings.

A short video from our run in the Indian Peaks Wilderness of Colorado climbing Pawnee Peak. Phil also talks a little about his up coming mountain running camps...