Guidebook Author Craig Romano Raises $4200 for WTA

As 139 hikers head into the mountains for their final days of Hike-a-Thon 2011, WTA gives a big thanks to Craig Romano, who did his own "Hike-a-Thon" on July 30th.

You see, Craig turned 50 this year and wanted to do something big and challenging to celebrate the milestone. After spending a good portion of the last few years hiking miles and miles to research his guidebooks for Mountaineers Books, he decided to devote more attention to trail running in 2011. Craig set his sights on the White River 50 Mile Trail Run and decided that it would be a fundraiser for WTA. He called it his "50 for 50."

For months he trained and raised money - ultimately more than $4200. He was pleased that many great friends, relatives and members of the running community stepped forward without a nudging. But he also worked hard to reach that goal: 70 different people donated to the "50 for 50," and most donated less than $100.

So what did Craig learn during the course of training, fundraising and ultimately running the race? "It had been a long time since I challenged myself on such a level - the last time was about 20 years ago when I trained to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The hardest part was the commitment of training and focusing for seven months and not letting the setbacks along the way dampen my drive and determination. The amazing part of finishing is knowing that I am capable of completing 50 miles in a day, and I'm 50 years old. I could never have done this when I was 25!"

On that sunny Saturday, Craig came across the finish line in a time of 12 hours 58 minutes and 55 seconds. "Overjoyed" and "jubilant" are two words that Craig used to describe how he felt having run 50 miles of trails.

With an even longer trail run - the Cascade Crest 100 Mile Endurance Run - just completed this past weekend, I asked Craig Romano if that might be his next big challenge. "No way! I can't even imagine doubling the training that I put in for White River! I think from now on I may make all my age challenges metric - so 51 kilometers sounds good for next year!"