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Take Time To
EXPERIENCE . . .
Watch Paul's Trek Now!
The Montana Route
P.A.C.E. Trek News
Take Time To LEARN . . .
About Paul Staso
About The Stroller
About Fitness
About Montana
About Team Guidelines
About One of the Teams
What Mrs. Staso Thinks
Take Time To
THINK . . .
About Goal Setting
About What's Possible
About Fitness Statistics
About The P.A.C.E. Purpose
Take Time To
GET INVOLVED . . .
Support P.A.C.E. Trek
P.A.C.E. Trek Sponsors
Contact Paul Staso
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P.A.C.E. Trek 2009
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Take Time To
LAUGH
. . .
Funny Montana Observations
Below is a July 2006 news report from Paul's hometown of
Missoula, Montana during his run across America. Click on
the play button to activate the video.
Be patient a few seconds while it
loads!
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  Getting
To Know
Ultra-Endurance Runner
Paul Staso . . .
From the
time he was 10 years old – running past moose, deer and
other wildlife along trails near his childhood home in
Alaska – to his successful solo coast-to-coast run across
the United States at age 41, Paul Staso has been on the
run... literally. He began running competitively at a young
age and competed in cross country and track & field
throughout his teen years. While attending the University of
Montana in the mid-1980s he began to explore his endurance
limits... and never looked back.
 In years gone by Paul has run to promote
various charitable organizations, including: the American
Cancer Society; World Vision International; and, the
National Marrow Donor Program – with which he is a member.
Since 1983 Paul has called Montana his home, where he lives
with his wife, Vicki, and their four children.
He has been a 5th grade teacher, coached high school track and field champions, and was selected as a Torchbearer for the 2002 Olympic
Torch Relay. Paul prefers not to race the 26.2-mile marathon
distance, but enjoys running farther – testing his own
personal limits with challenging solo endurance treks.
 He
aims to inspire and educate children toward greater health
and fitness through his running endeavors and considers his
2006 run across America as his most special and meaningful
running achievement... mainly because with each step he kept
a promise to 96 children.
“My coast-to-coast run across 15 states was to keep a
promise to 4th and 5th grade students at Russell Elementary
School in Missoula, Montana,” Paul says. “My wife is
the P.E. teacher there and in June 2005 my then 11-year-old
daughter, Ashlin, and I had a bedtime discussion about the
fitness level of today’s kids. She wanted to do something to
help get the children in her class more active and fit, so
we created a virtual run/walk across America curriculum –
from the Oregon coast to the Delaware coast.”
Paul developed an extensive web site for the kids’ year-long undertaking, which
remains online at
seeusrun.com,
and many schools across the nation adopted the curriculum.
The project that Paul and his daughter brainstormed
eventually drew the attention of governors and senators, who
wrote letters of compliment and encouragement, and local
media sources followed the kids’ progress during the
2005-2006 school year. He’s quick to note, however, that the
curriculum would not have been introduced at Russell
Elementary School had it not been for the supportive efforts
of his wife who implemented the project.
 In an effort to motivate the two “teams” participating in
the daunting 9-month trek (which were the 4th grade and 5th
grade students at Russell Elementary in Missoula, Montana),
Paul made a very unique promise to them. If either class
could accomplish the journey before the end of the school
year, he would run their route for real… solo. It was a
promise that Paul was willing to work hard to keep should
the kids be successful. So, as the kids ran and walked
throughout the year, Paul prepared for the possibility of a
solo U.S. crossing.
 Both classes
proved to be very determined and each completed the virtual
U.S.A. trek in the spring of 2006
─
a few weeks before summer vacation, the students acquiring an
average of 3 marathon distances per child (78 miles) during
the school year. As a result, Paul ran all alone from Oregon
to Delaware, a total of 3,260 miles in 108 running days
(averaging 30 miles per day).
His grueling
coast-to-coast trek took him over the Northern Rocky
Mountains, traversing barren plains, into numerous towns and
cities, across the steep Appalachian Mountain Range, and
through the second hottest summer ever recorded in the
U.S.A. – all while pushing “Bob”, his sole companion (which
was a jogging stroller containing his gear, food and water).
“Bob” is an acronym for Beast Of Burden and the
stroller weighed a total of 65 pounds when it was fully stocked.
It truly lived up to its name!
 Paul became the 6th person in history to run solo from the
Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean across the United
States, completing his journey on October 20, 2006 after
conquering the most northerly route ever attempted. His trek
was termed P.A.C.E. Run 2006 (Promoting Active
Children Everywhere) and was watched by people
of all ages at the web site
pacerun.com,
which remains online as a record of the run.
 Paul
continues to promote youth fitness through an array of
activities. He frequently gives presentations to
motivate others toward greater health, fitness and the
pursuit of their dreams, and he commits time to developing
new fitness curriculum challenges. His latest curriculum is
a virtual run/walk for elementary kids along the
2,278-mile course of historic Route 66 (kids66.com).
The idea behind each virtual trek is for students to run and
walk toward greater fitness while learning about the
locations that they virtually travel through. Paul believes
that through this combination of fitness and learning
students experience places beyond their school boundaries in a
unique and challenging way.
In addition to his many activities, Paul is currently
forming the P.A.C.E. Fitness Foundation, which will focus on
developing virtual trek learning/ fitness curriculums for
schools and promoting youth fitness via P.A.C.E. endurance
challenges.
Paul’s next endurance challenge will be P.A.C.E. Trek 2008,
a solo 620-mile run across Montana in May 2008. He will
average 34 miles per day for 18 consecutive days… while
pushing a jogging stroller of gear every step of the way. During the trek he’ll
be virtually racing teams of young people who are
located in rural communities and cities worldwide. He will
provide children with daily
educational updates via this web site – including
 journal
entries, pictures and videos. Through each endurance trek he undertakes, Paul aims to teach children a simple idea: If
you take care of your body it can take you on some wonderful
adventures. When not running along the edge of
America's roadways, Paul owns
and operates OnTrack Designs, which specializes in web site design
and Internet marketing
(ontrackdesigns.com).
Full Name: Paul James Staso
(pronounced 'stay-so')
.
Born:
April 4, 1965 in Syracuse, NY.
.
Age
During P.A.C.E. Trek 2008:
43
.
Height:
5' 10"
.
Weight: 150
.
Blood Pressure:
114/74
.
Waist: 31"
.
Calves: 14˝"
.
Quadriceps: 20˝"
.
Chest:
39˝"
.
Biceps: 12˝"
.
Neck:
15"
.
Shoe Size: 10
.
Resting Heart Rate: 50 bpm
.
Began Running:
Age 11 (5th Grade)
.
Grew Up In:
Primarily
Anchorage and Juneau, Alaska.
.
Current Residence:
Missoula, Montana - since
1984.
.
Siblings:
2
Brothers, 4 Sisters (Paul's the youngest)
.
High School:
Graduated
Juneau-Douglas High School, AK
(1983)
.
College:
Two B.A. Degrees From The University of Montana.
.
Current Occupation:
Web Developer & Internet Marketing Specialist
.
Previous Occupations:
5th Grade Teacher; Paralegal.
.
Marital Status:
Married to
Vicki since August 1, 1987.
.
Children: Jenna
(14); Ashlin (13); Kyler (9); and, Brian (8).
.
Faith:
Christian.
.
Favorite Running Shoe: Asics GT-2100
.
Past Sponsorships: Timex; Gatorade;
New Balance; Duracell; Oakley; Spenco; Bob Trailers; Spirit Wireless.
.
Favorite Non-Competitive Running Experience:
Being a Torchbearer
for the 2002 Olympic Torch Relay.
.
Favorite Road Race Experience:
Bloomsday
Race 1991 in Spokane, WA with high school athletes I coached, and 60,000 entrants!
.
Favorite 1-mile Fun Run:
2006 Riverbank Run
in Missoula, Montana with two sons Kyler and Brian.
.
Favorite Track Experience:
Winning the 1983 Alaska Region
5 Finals of the 110M High Hurdles in record time.
.
Favorite Road Relay Experience:
Ski-to-Sea Relay
(Juneau, AK).
.
Most Difficult Mountain Relay: Hatcher
Pass Relay, Alaska.
.
Most Fun Team Relay:
Relay For Life
1996, Missoula, Montana.
.
Most Memorable Junior High Race:
220
Yard Dash at the 1979 ARCO/Jesse Owens Games in Anchorage, Alaska. Jesse
Owens watched from the sidelines. Sadly, he passed away one year
later.
.
Greatest Running Achievement:
3,260-Mile Solo Run Across America (June 23 - October 20, 2006).
.
Best Coaching Experience:
Coaching
long-distance runners at a private high school in
Montana (1988-1992).
.
Favorite Meal:
Lasagna
and French Bread.
.
Favorite Junk Food:
M&Ms (both
regular and peanut!)
.
Preferred Vitamin Supplement:
UltraPaks
(Road Runner Sports).
.
Preferred Sports Drink:
Gatorade.
.
Favorite Running Movies:
The Terry
Fox Story; The Jesse Owens Story; Without Limits; A Shining Season; Running Brave; Chariots of Fire;
and, Finish Line.
.
Most Inspirational Runners:
Eric Liddell;
Terry Fox; Andy Payne; Jesse Owens; Billy Mills; Bill Rodgers;
Joan Benoit Samuelson; Steve Prefontaine; Roger Bannister; and Paul Reese.
.
Most Drastic Weather Change: 22 mile
training run that began with sunny skies (43 degrees) and ended in a blizzard
(25 degrees).
.
Coldest Temperature Run In:
25 below zero in Montana (without wind chill) and 40 below with wind.
.
Hottest Temperature Run In: 112 degrees in Arizona.
.
Lifelong Running Goal:
Enjoy it...
Improve it... Share it... Balance it... Remember it.
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