Mark Garrigan ran his first ultramarathon in 2012 and that race planted a seed to pursue a dream to build a trail running community in his home state

Mark’s big goal is to bring people together to run on trails. That message is all over the nurun co. website, which he designed, and it really drives every decision he makes. Mark enjoys introducing people to trail and ultra running and he is always very excited to welcome new trail runners to his races. He puts on training runs leading up to this events and is always there to answer any questions or help runners with their concerns.  As a race director, Mark’s appreciation for everyone who runs his races starts with a hand written thank you note sent to them after they register.  Besides planning and directing races and other trail events, Mark also designs all the logos and graphics for T-shirts, medals, signs, and the website. To say he puts his heart and soul into this would be an understatement. “I got into trail and ultra running because of… a girl,” said Garrigan. “I met her at my former place of employment and it just so happened she was on a relay team for a 50 miler. Since the team was full, I thought it would be a good idea to tell her I was running the solo event. Little did I know, I would not only fall in love with and marry that girl, I would also fall in love with a sport I didn’t even know existed.” Since his passion was ignited for trail running, he has completed a variety of races from marathon distance to 100 miles. What he found in the sport was an endless supply of inspiration, encouragement, and optimism. “It’s amazingly obvious how awesome the people in the trail and ultra community are,” said Garrigan.  

posted Saturday July 14th