INTRODUCTION
Greetings and Greetings! My name is Marc DeSantis, also known as «Hulk» on the road. I have decided to take on the Continental Divide Trail this year. My goal is April 27th after CDT Trail Days or May 3rd as the start date. I haven’t figured out the logistics yet, but I’m very close to booking my flight to New Mexico and will be walking through NOBO (heading north). The date of 3/5 is nostalgic as it was when I started the Pacific Crest Trail. Anyway, my goal is to arrive in Canada at the end of September, that is, approximately five months on the road.
FIRST ULTRA 50K RACE COMPLETED
I recently completed my first ultra race, the Siuslaw Dunes 50K (31 miles) on March 7th. I finished in exactly last place with a time of 8:54, just shy of the nine-hour limit. It sounds better to say 72nd place and an abandoned rider, so I wasn’t last and passed that rider on the sand dune section of the course. I also took 3rd place in the ages 51-60 division. That’s a bronze medal! I’m not a runner, I basically did power walks and sometimes shuffle jogged. I have named myself SKT, which stands for slowest known tiger. I hug the tiger, with my fashion. I used a custom tiger running vest made by Jonathan Thomas “Janis Joplin” @Exoticpackco and Grant Leonardi “Gusha” @Nashvillepack.co is making me a custom tiger backpack. It’s important to look good on the trail and you might as well adopt an animal spirit.
WHAT IS MY WHY?
BECAUSE
The big question we hikers ask ourselves when we undertake a long hike is what is my WHY? I have a couple of them. Firstly, my long term goal is to complete the triple crown and the CDT gets me 2/3 of the way there. I hiked the Colorado Trail and fell in love with Colorado. I’ve never been to New Mexico, Wyoming or Montana and I hear amazing things about those sections of the trail. I’m least interested in the AT and the CDT seems to be so epic. It is the least traveled each year and probably the most difficult. I need to eliminate it while I’m still a young 56 year old. The other WHY is my health situation. I had blood clots in each lung and a large one in my right leg in the fall of 2024. It was a scary time being in the hospital for a couple of days taking IV blood thinners. Three months later I was able to stop those drugs and my health is now good. My cardiologist thinks it’s not a good idea to be on a remote trail if another health problem occurs, but he also says to weigh the pros and cons of such an adventure. I will listen to my body during the walk and let it go if things don’t seem right. But I think it’s a calculated risk that I’m willing to take. Test yourself. Make an effort. Do difficult things. LIVE! As Wooderson said in Dazed and Confused: «You just gotta keep living, man. LIVI N.
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