For most people, running 100 miles is anything but natural. However, Cole Crosby describes his journey to becoming an ultra-marathoner as a “logical, natural progression.” After running cross country and track throughout his school years — including as a walk-on at the University of Oklahoma — Cole decided to train for the Oklahoma City Marathon shortly after graduating. As part of his training, he ended up running the White Rock 50k in Arkansas, where he still currently holds the course record. From there, his love of trail running was solidified.
“I felt like I really had a knack for those longer distances,” he says. “The challenges of the terrain, the distance, the hydration, the fueling, the equipment — I decided to take the leap and haven’t looked back since.”
Now, Cole trains between 10 to 15 hours and consistently runs around 70 to 100 miles each week. “I look at it as almost a part-time job in terms of time commitment,” he says. To achieve this rigorous training schedule, he typically runs in both the morning and evenings — a routine he’s kept up for nearly seven years.
And just as his school days on the cross country team naturally progressed into ultra-marathoning, the same can be said for his life as a snowshoe runner. “I wanted to still go out on the trails when we got tons of snow, and we have a local ski resort in the area,” Cole says. Just like that, another passion was born — and his hard work was rewarded this year with a spot on the National Snowshoe Running team. He’ll compete in the World Championships in February, with hopes to see snowshoe running become an official Olympic sport in the near future.
“Making the national team on the cusp of it becoming an Olympic sport is one of my proudest accomplishments,” he says.
Cole will also represent the United States at the World Trail Championships next summer — and he’ll be wearing FITS socks the whole time.
“I’ve been wearing FITS since 2014,” he says. “They’ve propelled me to all of my accomplishments in training and racing the last six to seven years.”
Noting the extreme mental challenge ultra-marathoning requires, Cole says he’s especially grateful that wearing FITS allows him to stay fully in the zone. “When I’m in the zone, I’m in a place where I know I’m running a good pace, so things are going according to plan,” he says. “The amount of blisters I’ve never seen because of wearing a FITS sock is absolutely incredible.”
Above all though, Cole appreciates FITS for allowing him to continue doing what he loves most: exploring the world on foot. “It’s not only about having the most reliable, best fitting sock out there — it’s about having a tool for exploration,” he says. “That’s something that I think the product and the company has really allowed me to achieve and that’s the core root of why I love to run. It’s about connecting with the natural world.”
Good luck in your upcoming races, Cole! We hope to see you compete on the Olympic stage soon.
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