Paths Are Made By Running

with Abby Brown in Los Padres National Forest.

Perhaps the most important incentive that drives Abby to suffer through trail ultras such as Nine Trails and Born to Run is the fact that she’s built the paths in which she runs. If I spent countless hours and gallons of sweat cutting trail, I’d wanna enjoy them too. I accompanied Abby and the trail crew in which she is employed by (Los Padres Forest Association) into a deep corner of National Forest behind Santa Barbara to take back an overgrown trail so it can be hiked, packed and ran once again. After a long day’s work, Abby would drag me along on for a run and we’d explore rarely seen zones of the wilderness— the spring in Abby’s stride showing no evidence of a manual labor filled day. No wonder ultra’s come naturally to her.