Adventures with SJJ customers: Professional runner, Coree Woltering

Coree Woltering is a serious professional runner. However, to those who know him, this statement may sound a bit melodramatic. He runs for a handful of outdoor adventure brands, including Merrell, Smartwool, and Kodiak Cakes. He excels at multi-day/week efforts on dirt, but also races road marathons, and ultra marathons of varying distances. In 2016, he put up one of the fastest 50 mile times ever run at the Tunnel Hill 50 in 5:30. (Yes, that’s five hours, and thirty minutes!) He also has FKTs (fastest known times) on the Ice Age and Pinhoti trails --1147, and 349 miles, respectively. Coree has a reputation for being the life of the party. He is, in fact, a bit shy. He’s quiet, but also very funny. As opposed to being loud, or extroverted, Coree connects quickly with others on a more personal level. He is engaging, and helps those around him feel valued. Coree has recently been on a journey of refinement. 
Coree is extremely well traveled. He’s raced in Japan, the UK, and all over the US, in addition to time spent in Chile and Peru, and also filming adventure shows in Fiji, and New Zealand. Each place is unique. However, they share a common thread: they’re all spaces in nature --of dramatic, refined beauty.  Coree loves his jewelry from Scott James, because of the way that it helps him feel connected to the beautiful places he’s been all over the globe. These items are identically refined, and beautiful.

I have multiple pieces from Scott James and love them all. Look good, feel good, run good --accessories are another great way to show off your personality in the wild. I wear my Oval Sunray Ring daily, so it has been all over Turkey, Mongolia, and Iceland with me so far, and I saw some incredible sunrises in those places. Whenever I see the ring, or feel it in my hand, I’m brought back to what I experienced in those wild spaces.

One place has had a bigger impact upon Coree than any other: Pinhoti. He owns the FKT on this 349 mile stretch. “The trail passes through northern Georgia. I like that the mountains are big without being at altitude. I spent two years there --a lot of life happened in that time. I played a lot while life was happening! The year I did Pinhoti is the year I got sober. I moved down there so I could be out year round.” Coree’s sobriety journey began November 1, 2021. His openness about this journey is admirable. This is something he carries with him, and it is tied to Pinhoti. The mountains provide healing and refinement. Coree’s journey since 2021 has taken him all over the world. Critically, it has brought him to wondrous places in nature. This journey is reminiscent of the process of metalwork, and jewelry making. Like these beautiful objects, humans are often first broken down, and then reshaped, repurposed into something more beautiful than before. The end result is ornamental, gorgeous, and stronger than ever.
Coree is still tied to the eastern United States. A goal he has for the future is to claim the AT FKT. The Appalachian Trail. He’s had the FKT on his mind since before life took him to this section of the country. The trail’s vastness is difficult to fathom. It runs from northern Georgia to central Maine. It’s 2,200 miles long, and features a meager 465,000 feet of vertical gain and loss! For Coree, the proverbial bookends of this humongous trail are special. These extremities touch his past in the south, and his present (and future) in the northeast. 
How can one even train for such a project? “I’ll prepare by doing fastpack/hike training. My body will adjust fast. I’ll train with a full pack and get used to hauling a lot of gear. It’s all about being self-sufficient. The AT is unique because I’ll have to do up to 50 kilometers solo at times. I’ll have to filter water, and be careful with not pushing uphills too hard. It’s all about less stress on the body so you can stretch out the effort. I’m going to do 50 miles p/day for seven-ish weeks. It’s wild.” It is wild.

His confidence about training his body may leave one wondering about another difficult aspect: the emotional preparation. “You have to take the emotional side out. You just have to have your ‘why’ to keep you rolling. It’s like this is your job, you have to do it. Of course it’s hard when it’s hard. You need solid reasons. It’ll be around 45 days. How many 45 day increments have I lived in my life?”

What is Coree’s why?

“Not sure. Sobriety. Diversifying the outdoors. 

“I’ve always been driven by the curiosity of the unknown. Can I do the whole Appalachian trail? Absolutely. Can I get the record? Not sure. So many things will go wrong. I’m just stoked about the regimented nature of it. It’s a left-foot, right-foot kind of thing. I’m stoked to see what I can do.” This all sounds neat and tidy. But how will the body hold up at a grueling middle point? “It’s never the worst thing I’ve been through. And even if it is, that moment will pass, and then I’ll know that I can dig deeper. Plus I’ve never found an absolute limit, because I’m still alive. I like myself. I like adventure. It will be fun to see what I can do.” This is, again, reminiscent of metalworking. If a material sits at its natural temperature, it will never realize its potential. However, through intense heat, the metal can be shaped, woven, or reformed. Only after this process has begun can the material be made into something beautiful, like jewelry. People are similar. Modern life is insulating. It can leave one complacent, all too comfortable with sitting at a natural temperature. Pushing oneself in the mountains provides an intense heat that allows the person to be shaped, woven, or reformed. This largely stems from pushing limits, and, at times, being outside of a comfort zone. Coree pushes himself hard, racing constantly, and always seeking the next adventure. His recent past is illuminated by the ways in which he’s been reshaped by the wonder of nature. In the end, he couldn’t let it all be dramatic. Coree noted that, in addition to that mountain time, people should “live life. Enjoy coffee, brush your teeth, chill. Eat ice cream. It’s all gonna be okay.”  Coree smiled as he said this.
You can keep up with Coree Woltering and his journey through the mountains on his Instagram @coreewoltering, or on his Strava profile under the same name. 

Written by Tyler Marshall