Madeleine Coles

Staff Writer

Cody Lind loves the mountains. Growing up in Challis, Idaho, running, hiking and exploring the mountains defined his childhood.

Just two weeks ago, Lind took second place in the Moab Red Hot 55K, a grueling ultrarace through the mountains. 

Ultrarunning means running incredibly long distances. If it is anything less than a marathon, it is not ultrarunning. Races are usually anywhere from 31-100 miles.

“There’s a lot of climbing,” Lind said. “Some races some days are getting up to 200 miles.”

After graduating high school, Lind said he wanted something different.

“I kind of got away from it for a year. I thought I’d try something different.”

However, Lind’s hiatus from the sport didn’t last long. He was back doing what he loves, this time as an ISU student.

“You don’t realize how much you miss it, so I decided to come back, closer to home. I picked ISU because I saw the mountains and I figured this would be a good fit.”

Lind, now a junior at ISU, is studying geology, but his real passion is running.

“I started running when I was about seven-years-old,” Lind said. “And a lot of it was in the mountains at that time.”

According to Lind, it runs in the family.

“I have a really big family history. My dad is a big runner, and he’s a coach for track and field,” Lind said, adding that his father and grandfather both helped with the beginning of the ultrarunning scene.

While there are races on flat roads, Lind competes in mountain races.

Lind’s success has landed him a sponsorship with Scott Running this past year.

“That helps out with travel and expenses,” Lind said. “And it’s pretty awesome. It’s a lot of fun.”

Since coming to ISU, Lind has also involved himself with the Pocatello Running Company, which has led him to become a prominent figure in the Pocatello running community.

“I really love immersing myself with the local running community,” Lind said. “I love getting out on different group runs and helping out at lots of local events.”

Lind and the Pocatello Running Company are putting on a “Couch to Fun Run” training session.

“It’s a big fun run series the city puts on that goes throughout the whole summer,” Lind said. “And our goal is just to encourage people to come out. It’s a whole group effort.”

One of the greatest rewards for Lind is seeing people grow in their own running.

“Seeing someone start in the beginning just walking two to three miles, and by September this past year I had someone running up to 10 miles,” Lind said. “It’s a fun process to see.”

Lind added that he also hopes to help people enjoy running.

“You’ve got to have fun doing it. That’s our number one goal I would say, is to get people out there and having fun,” Lind said.

Aside from his community involvement, Lind has also been furthering his own running career. This past year he participated in the U.S. Skyrunner Series, where he traveled across the U.S., running different races in North Carolina, Colorado and Arizona.

Lind took second place in the series, which he says is the biggest accomplishment from the past year in his running career.

One of the greatest benefits that Lind said he receives from running is the travel opportunities.

“The reason I love it is because I get to travel and explore new areas and come back and tell people about them,” Lind said. “I really like that aspect.”