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Get To Know 43-Year-Old Endurance Athlete Paul Staso
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From the
time he was 10 years old – running past moose
deer and
other wildlife along trails near his childhood
home in
Alaska – Paul Staso has been on the run.
Paul's
footprints have included everything from road
races with
thousands of participants to solo runs
involving
thousands of miles. In 2006 he ran solo
coast-to-coast across the
United States, and in
2008 he ran solo across the
state of Montana. Why
does he do it? For both the
personal adventure and
the opportunity to encourage
kids toward greater
health and fitness. He began running
competitively
at a young age and participated in
cross
country and
track & field in 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 - Jenna, Ashlin, Kyler and Brian. 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 - which he admits he's not fast
at, but enjoys running farther...
testing his personal limits with challenging solo
endurance treks.
 He aims to inspire and educate children to be more active 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 back home.
“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 10-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" stands 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 his web site.
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. For
the 2007-2008 school year he developed a virtual
run/walk trek curriculum 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.
 Continuing on his course of promoting youth fitness,
Paul completed a 620-mile solo run across Montana during
the spring of 2008. He virtually raced over 8,000
children who were in teams around the globe, sharing the
adventure through a site (pacetrek.com/montana).
It was the inaugural "P.A.C.E. Trek" and set the stage
for Paul's current project slated for spring 2009 - a 500 mile
trek through the challenging terrain of the largest U.S.
state - Alaska.
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). |
