Hi! My name is Cyndi!  I’ve been trail running in LOWAs for 10+ years now, well before they made official trail running shoes.  The trekkers were fantastic trail runners, but they managed to make the new All Terrain Running shoes even better.  The best trail running shoes I’ve ever worn.   My top outdoor activities are mountain running, peak bagging and backpacking. 

After exploring many of the mountains, deserts and peaks on the West Coast, I was craving a new terrain of tall green canopy trees, rushing rivers and the technical trails of the East Coast.  I found my community in North Carolina.  As you would expect, trail runners across the country are family, no matter what state you are from.  

I love technical, high altitude trails, and thrive when I’m uncomfortable in the outdoors.  The East Coast is testing me with so much diverse weather!  Expect rain, hail, humid heat, and freezing temps in one day.  

What fulfills me? It fills my soul to introduce new outdoor enthusiasts to distances, summits and experiences they never thought they could accomplish and I am grateful they want to do it with me.

Highlights:

• Backpacking the John Muir trail in 14 days, 222 miles.
• Trekking hut to hut Mont Blanc to the Matterhorn in 2023, via the Walkers' Hut Route. 
• Trekked Mt Rainier with REI CEO Jerry Stritzke
• Completed 52+ Ultra Marathon distance races. Including (7) 100-mile mountain race finishes, top 10 women in five of the 100s. 
• 8000 Meter Challenge  (Summiting three 10k foot peaks in 20 hrs)- 1st place for six years in a row, and being the first woman to be awarded the Mark Fulton Award. 
• Created REI Run Club and running programs for REI and Outessa.

What’s next?
Experience every technical trail race in this region with as much elevation gain as I can find and push myself to new heights.  I’m enjoying taking on a larger role with LOWA ATR experiences. We are sponsoring trail races, providing demo day activations at run clubs and broadening brand awareness.I am also excited to help the TUFF run club in Raleigh grow their experience and participants.

My favorite LOWAs:
My favorite trail running shoe is the Fortux. It is durable against jagged rocks, gives stability, provides a sole that sticks on technical slippery terrain and is comfortable for long ultras.

My favorite fire road trail shoe is the FUSION LO - flat dirt and gravel roads don’t need deep lugs, so these are perfect.  I love the stretch around the ankle preventing any unwanted pebbles from entering. 

My favorite Mid LOWA is the Innox Pro Mid GTX - Hiking, fast packing, peak bagging and yes, I’ve run mountain races in these. They are pliable enough to push off for speed and the extra protection around the ankle on technical trails is heavenly.

Thank you LOWA!