Runner chasing Ice Age Trail mark
Woltering slightly off pace after 700-plus miles
At the beginning of May, Coree Woltering of Ottawa, Illinois, posted on social media that he was going to attempt to break the fastest known time record for the Ice Age Trail.
On June 1, the professional ultrarunner set out from the trail's western terminus in St. Croix Falls with the goal of doing that while raising money for Feeding America and the Ice Age Trail Alliance. It was a goal that would require him to run nearly 1,200 miles in less than 21 days, 18 hours and 7 minutes — the current record that was set by Milwaukee ultrarunner Annie Weiss in 2018.
On June 16, the 30-year-old Woltering started the day north of Cross Plains, more than 700 miles of the trail behind him but about 24 miles behind where Weiss was on the same day during her run.
But he was still in good spirits as he crossed through Cross Plains, saying over the phone that he would need to make up an extra five miles every day over the next five to beat the record.
“With five days to go, it's getting to be crunch time,” he said, noting that his
days were starting earlier and ending later — he didn't stop running until around 11:15 the night before.
“It's OK, because I can sleep for a week after this,” he said.
He said his body was feeling “pretty good,” despite a rolled ankle that had bothered him and slowed his pace since Day 6.
“I don't really know how I'm supposed to feel on Day 16,” he said. “It feels as good as it could for Day 16.”
Woltering, who is a sponsored North Face athlete, had watched Weiss' attempts to break the FKT record in 2017 and 2018 and “thought it was pretty cool.” He said he regularly trains on the Ice Age Trail in the southern Kettle Moraine State Forest and had always wanted to see more of it.
At the beginning of the year, he was training for a “golden ticket” ultramarathon, which would earn him a spot in the 100-mile Western States Endurance Run that was scheduled for June 27-28 in California.
Then the coronavirus led to that race — and almost every other one in the near future — being canceled.
“With all of the races canceled for the rest of this year, it became the perfect opportunity to get out and do something crazy,” he said.
“This kind of became the logical choice — which is horrible logic and reasoning,” he said, laughing.
Beating the.Ice Age Trail record requires running (or walking) more than 50 miles a day for three weeks straight, sometimes on rough or flooded terrain — which can take its toll even on the most fit athletes.
Because Woltering had less than a month to plan his attempt, he didn't change his training regime from what he had been doing to train for his 100-mile races.
He did go to northern Wisconsin to scout the trail and began assembling the crew that would help him with logistics, including food and lodging — an added challenge with coronavirus having shut down campgrounds and other facilities. Woltering's husband, Tom Aussem, heads the support crew that also includes a photographer and another runner he coaches in Ottawa.
But not even the most extensive planning can prevent injuries, which struck Woltering on day six when he rolled an ankle. The injury slowed his pace as he “made the turn” on the trail near Antigo — where the Ice Age Trail bends from its east-heading trajectory and begins to head south toward central Wisconsin.
Most hikers consider the turn as a literal turning point, where the trail leaves the wild, sometimes overgrown Northwoods and begins following unofficial connecting routes (usually county roads) and then more developed trail in central and southern Wisconsin. The southern and eastern half of the trail is generally considered easier — good news for Woltering, who would need to put in long days to beat the record.
The people of northern Wisconsin helped pushed him forward, he said, providing food, places to stay and cheering him on.
“Northern Wisconsin has been amazing,” he said, noting that everybody he's encountered has been “extremely friendly.”
“In Wisconsin, I swear to God, everybody waves,” he said over the phone. Less than five minutes before, a woman could be heard in the background honking and shouting, “Hey! Way to go!”
Woltering, who is Black, said he's felt “super comfortable taking on this project” the whole time, while protests erupted across the country following the death of another Black runner, Ahmaud Arbery, on Feb. 23, and the death of George Floyd on May 25.
While Woltering participated in #IRunWithMaud on May 8 — when people across the country documented their 2.23-mile runs on social media on Arbery's birthday in his honor — he said he didn't have much time to think about what happened with Floyd since he was getting ready for this trip.
“By the time I really had time to really think of it, all of this is going on and I'm getting ready to start this big outdoor adventure. … That made things a little difficult,” he said, noting that he plans to post something on social media about it when he's finished with the attempt.
His other plans for when he's done? A glass of red wine.
More information: Woltering finished his 16th day close to 1 a.m. (on Day 17) northeast of Belleville in Dane County. Find a link to his live tracker and updates of his journey on his website, coreewoltering.com, and professional
Facebook page, facebook.com/RunCoree. Find a link to donate to Feeding America on his fundraising Facebook page, facebook.com/bigrunfor.
For more on the Ice Age Trail, see iceagetrail.org.
Contact Chelsey Lewis at clewis@journalsentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter at @chelseylew and @TravelMJS and Facebook at Journal Sentinel Travel.