Andrew's Bio

In the late 1980’s, I joined the cross-country running team at James Storer Junior High School in Muncie, Indiana and dropped out after the 2nd practice. I liked the green hoodies they gave us to warm-up, but I hated all that running.

I didn’t run again until January of 2001 when I started running a 3-mile loop around my home every day. That March I signed-up for the Marine Corps Marathon and ran it in October. I was hooked.

When the 2003 Washington, DC Marathon was cancelled 4 days before the race, I had to channel my training to the next local race, which happened to be an ultra-marathon (any race longer than a marathon of 26.2 miles) in Lynchburg, VA. The 2003 Promiseland 50K was my baptism into the world of running insanity that consumed me for the following 2 years that included four 50-mile races, eleven 50-K races, one marathon, four stitches in a split knee and about a hundred thousand calories burned.

Around the time I dove off the running deep-end, I became increasingly unsatisfied with the direction of my professional life. Within a year I quit my job and ran away to work at a wilderness survival school based in the Pine Barrens of south Jersey.

During my sequestration in the woods I decided that when I rejoined society I would be wasting my time unless I took a job where I would protect the earth’s natural places and educate people to care for and value the beauty of the natural world. After a protracted quest I had the good fortune of landing softly at the ideal organization, the National Wildlife Federation.

Now as for this race, running and fighting global warming at the same time? Only Craig and Dave are unhinged enough to come up with something that crazy, but I am honored to join them in this fund and awareness-raising effort. Looks like I’m the one who will have to try keeping what little sanity we still have left.

- Andrew Pinger