Trailside (minus the trail) Chat with Best-Selling Author and Runner Emily Halnon

Emily Halnon (she/her) is a writer, trail runner, and mountain athlete out of Eugene, Oregon. Some of her most notable runs include setting the FKT on the 460-mile Oregon PCT, placing in the top 10 at the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run, and finishing 100 milers across the Cascades, Siskiyous, and San Juans.

Emily grew up in Lincoln, Vermont and lived in Vermont for 25 years. She's a Middlebury College alum ('06.5) and most of her family still lives in Vermont. Her mother, Andrea Halnon, was a lifelong Vermonter, who taught elementary school in Addison County for 42 years. The Vermont City Marathon is at the heart of Emily's running journey. After watching her mom finish her first marathon at VCM at the age of 50, she felt wildly inspired to try the distance herself. Emily and Andrea later ran the Vermont City Marathon together. Both women also completed numerous athletic events around Vermont, often together. And much of Emily's best-selling memoir, To the Gorge, takes place in Vermont.

Emily’s writing, which often explores the intersection of running and the human experience, has been published in outlets including the Washington Post, the Guardian, Salon, CNN, Runner’s World, Trail Runner Magazine, and Adventure Journal.

A riveting narrative of love and loss, grief, and joy, as one woman embarks on a quest for a record on the Pacific Crest Trail.

When Emily Halnon lost her beloved mother to a rare uterine cancer at just sixty-six years old, she wanted to do something monumental to honor the person her mother had been: adventurous, courageous, inspiring. It wasgoing to take something special to pay tribute to such a remarkable, life-loving spirit. Emily, already an accomplished ultrarunner (inspired to initially start running by her mother), decided to try to break the record for the Fastest Known Time by a woman on the Pacific Crest Trail’s 460 miles across Oregon. As she laid out plans for her run, she began to wonder: Could she also break the men’s record?

Interwoven with Halnon’s eight-day effort are her remembrances from her mother’s life and death, exploring the complicated experience of grief—and what shines through it.

Aliza Lapierre (she/her) is an ultra-runner from Vermont, who finds peace and a sense of belonging while running in mountains. Aliza's passion began by exploring her home state on her own two feet fueled by maple syrup, curiosity and the beauty of nature. Over the years Aliza has continually strived to redefine what she is capable of while trying to inspire others to go beyond their perceived limits.