Ok, so the story goes, OG Yeti Trail runner, Jenn Smiley Coker, running-friend-adopted me shortly after I started running ultras. She taught me most of the things I know and showed me how it was done. She always spoke highly of the Yeti Trail Runners, and when she told me about a race with a unicorn and rainbow buckle, I knew I had to get that buckle. She helped me train for and paced me for the OG Yeti 100 in 2018. I hated her guts mid-race when she wouldn’t let me quit, but in the wee hours of the night, she drug me from Whitetop to Damascus. Love story short, I ended up finishing and immediately loved her again after for giving me the push I needed. The following year, we turned the tables, and she ran OG Yeti 100. I was assigned to be her pacer for the last 15 miles, and I was determined not to fuck it up. Well, I got some good sleep while she was out there grinding, but woke up early for my pacing duties and accidentally got way too jacked up on caffeine. The good news is, she loved the weird, hyper, highly caffeinated energy I brought those last 15 miles. To this day she says I’m still her favorite pacer ever. We decided to commemorate with matching tattoos. We’ve done many Yeti races and adventures together since. Thanks to my Yeti friend/mentor and to the entire community for giving feel supported, be ourselves, and be weird!
