ciao!

I am a runner with a propensity for most things endurance. Originally from Teton Village, Wyoming — on the edge of Grand Teton National Park — I had the fortune of growing up with outdoor sports and big mountains at my doorstep. It’s no wonder that for nearly ten years of my childhood, I was determined to become a professional ski racer. I couldn’t see yet that I was clearly more aerobically gifted than I was strong, fearless, or anything else. Although I laugh now at the thought of racing around gates in a skintight speedsuit, I do give kudos to my younger self for thinking that doing a sport as a profession sounded like a pretty rad way to spend life.

Fast-forward from my ski racing days to the end of a very fun and lightly-decorated collegiate career at the University of Washington. I anchored my Distance Medley Relay team to an NCAA record and ran some solidly fast times in the 1500m and mile, but somehow I had not managed to qualify for a single NCAA final, nor did I earn any first-team All-America honors. I had, in the summer months, surprised myself and others with a few notable performances at trail races. After a 4th place finish at my first Mountain Running World Cup in France and wins in both the VK and the 11k at The Rut in Montana, I started to think that competing internationally in trail running might be a pretty fun experience.

As I added “UW Track Alum” and “Master of Jurisprudence in Environmental Law” to my resume in the spring of 2023, I tried to figure out what on earth I should do with my life. Unfinished track business and exciting trail opportunity were a dangerous combination for my brain. Each wrestled for my attention as avenues to go all-in on one or the other, but not both, arose. I remember thinking, I would rather do neither than choose one. Track and trail had always been one and the same for me — they were just running. And I wanted to continue to pursue every other active thing I loved too — biking, skiing, yoga. But could you even be a professional all-types-of-running-plus-some-other-sports runner?

Enter Brooks. The brand that has since afforded me a more fitting version of my childhood dream, getting to do the things I love the absolute most as my full-time job. The brand that has not once failed to align with my vision for a career that doesn’t confine me to one surface or space. The brand that helped me answer my post-grad, systems-defying, existential question with a resounding YES! You can be an all-types-of-running-plus-some-other-sports runner!

Just because others aren’t doing it doesn’t mean that you can’t. Maybe it really means that you should?

xoxo,

anna gibson

(“on-uh”, like “I’m on-a run!”)