Thru-hiker Jesse Cody is going the distance for mental health
Jesse Cody has spent much of the past few years hiking alone in some of the most beautiful places in the country, yet every once in a while, the Cambridge native is reminded that he’s not alone.
The former track star at Cambridge Rindge and Latin has embraced long-distance hiking as a way to raise funds for mental health awareness and to combat his own struggle with depression.
On Dec. 2, five months after he started, Cody completed the 3,100mile Continental Divide Trail from Glacier National Park in Canada to the mountains of New Mexico.
Along the way, in Montana, he ran into a long-distance bikepacker in the small town of Lima, and the man — a veteran with PTSD who was biking from Alaska to Mexico City — immediately recognized Cody, approached him, and thanked him for the work he’s been doing through his nonprofit, Hike the Good Hike.
“When something like that happens it’s hard to not feel like you’re doing what you’re meant to do,” said Cody. “I’m taking on these long hikes to inspire others, and it’s hard to think of a bigger highlight on that trip. The sunsets and sunrises are great, but it’s the community on these trails that gets me feeling inspired, and gives me the fuel to keep moving forward.”
In 2015, Cody was battling severe depression and suicidal inclinations when he decided to hike the Appalachian Trail. The experience was formative, and led him to hike the Pacific Crest Trail in two segments in 2017 (when he was forced off the trail due to wildfires) and 2021.
Cody, 49, began last year by hiking the 1,500-mile Florida Trail in January and February, then ran the Boston Marathon in April before heading out on the Continental Divide Trail and beginning his 151-day trek on July 4.
By finishing the Continental Divide Trail, he completed the “Triple Crown” of American long-distance hiking (the Appalachian and Pacific Crest trails are the others). That wasn’t his only major achievement: He also raised more than $75,000 last year for Hike the Good Hike, which supports programs that use wilderness therapy to assist those struggling with depression and other mental health issues.
“For a lot of people struggling with mental health, we tend not to leave our surroundings,” said Cody, a former seven-time Globe All-Scholastic as a track and cross country runner.
“Nature, for me, was a way of taking me out of my own mental chaos, and the surroundings that fed into that. But I always tell people it doesn’t have to be hiking. It can be any activity, or just a place in nature that’s quiet. A place to confront your demons or your darkness and a way to take steps towards growth.”
With 5,000 miles of hiking under his belt in 2023, he hopes to backpack in Croatia and Greece and climb Mount Olympus this year.
Now a resident of Santa Fe, Cody leads short hikes and sponsors guest talks to help those struggling with mental health issues.
Last April, he came home when his brother, Scott, offered him a bib number to run the Boston Marathon. Cody raised more than $5,000 at an event at Portico Brewing in Somerville, then ran a 4:07 marathon despite suffering a small tear in his foot at mile 11.
Scott Cody, a 27-year track coach at Cambridge Rindge and Latin, had access to a bib from his coaching role with the Boston Athletic Association. “Jesse tried a lot of different things and got to the point where he seemed lost,” Scott said about his brother’s depression. “I didn’t know the depths at that point [in 2015]. He never really let on about it.
“But since then we’ve seen a complete transformation. The impact he’s had on others is what’s really changed him. It’s one thing to hike those trails and accomplish all that, but finding ways to have an impact with mental health, or reach whatever person he can inspire, including me, is fantastic.”
Reminiscing about Cody’s high school career, his former coach,
Frank McCarthy, said he always had a nose for the finish line. At Cambridge, Cody won nine state titles over 12 seasons and set a nationwide high school record for the indoor mile in 1992.
“[Cody] always did well being comfortable while uncomfortable,” said McCarthy, who retired in 1995. “His hiking mirrors his running career at Cambridge, because of his grit and his determination. He’s got a great work ethic and was a role model to other kids. And I think it took a tremendous amount of courage to exhibit his mental health issues.”
‘I’m taking on these long hikes to inspire others . . . . For a lot of people struggling with mental health, we tend not to leave our surroundings.’ JESSE CODY