Alex Nelson: Bookstore Owner by Day and Ultrarunner by Night

Edgewater Books partner and ultrarunner Alex Nelson along the Heart of the South ultra-race route.

Launching a new business takes endurance and one of Edgewater’s small business owners understands this on multiple levels. Alex Nelson, one of the business partners that launched Edgewater Books inside the Edgewater Public Market, has learned endurance through launching a business and through his experiences as an ultrarunner. Alex just completed the 347 mile Heart of the South (HOTS) road run.

Here’s our conversation with Alex Nelson, bookstore owner and ultrarunner:

What is the Heart of the South (HOTS) road run and what makes it unique?
HOTS is a 300- to 350-mile foot race across multiple southern states, ending at “The Rock,” on Sand Mountain, Georgia. Runners have 10 days to reach the finish, carrying everything they need or acquiring it on the way. The starting point and the route changes every year, and is kept secret from everyone until the night before the race start. This year, we began in Fig, North Carolina, and ran and hiked 347 miles along state highways, county roads, and small town main streets across eastern Tennessee, ultimately passing through five states (three mentioned plus Virginia and Alabama) before reaching the finish line. It is fairly unique in the format (route unknown ahead of time) and the distance, and in that it takes runners through many small towns past historic civic buildings and down old main streets across the South.

What drew you to run the race?
I have finished a couple of 100-mile races, and paced a friend for 167 miles of a 240-mile race, but I had never done anything this long before, and I wanted to see if I could finish it, and to a lesser degree how fast I could do it. A friend of mine also signed up, and we ran together for three of the seven days and ended up finishing together. I came in 17th out of 82 starters, finishing in 7 days, 10 hours, 41 minutes, and 20 seconds, averaging 47 miles every 24 hours. My friend finished seconds after me.

Any unique experiences or people you interacted with during the race?
I got to visit briefly at the end with Lazarus Lake, the ultrarunning community legend who created the Barkley Marathons, which were featured in a documentary in 2014. Laz is a character and super down-to-earth. I made friends on the way with runners from Alabama and Minnesota, was supported by a lot of Tennesseans who turned out to offer water, drinks, and food to the runners when they realized a unannounced ultramarathon was passing through their town. I ran and hiked through the night until the following evening twice, taking short naps on benches, sidewalks, and a church pavilion, and other nights I slept a few hours at a time in motel rooms. On the fourth day I ran through a driving rainstorm for 20 miles and was soaked to the bone along with everything in my pack by the time I reached the next motel. From that day on it was wet and humid, and keeping our feet dry was the biggest challenge. Thankfully I learned that zinc oxide smeared on feet prevents blisters by drying the skin and acting as a skin lubricant to prevent rubbing against socks and shoes, even when your socks and shoes are soaking wet. Also, we crossed the mighty Tennessee River several times, and that was pretty spectacular.

What motivates you to keep going during ultra running races?
I find a simple, pure joy in movement, walking or running from one place to another, with much of the noise of daily life reduced to background. I focus on my feet, breath, stomach, whatever I need to do to take one more step down the path immediately ahead of me. I try to remember to be grateful that I am alive and have a body and mind with which I am able to interact with this amazing world. Not everyone has the good fortune to have healthy food and water and time and space to train and explore the world outside, or role models to show them that they can do these things. I do not ever want to take these things for granted. Running and hiking are a celebration of life.

Any running books you would recommend for those wanting to get into running or for those that are veteran runners?
Many people know of it now, but I read Born to Run, by Chris McDougall, about 10 years ago, and that reignited my interest in “serious” running which I hadn’t done much of since my late teens. Kelly Starrett’s Ready to Run is a great resource on biomechanics and fundamentals of running. Several years ago I also read Hal Koerner’s Field Guide to Ultrarunning, which answers a lot of good basic questions about the sport. More recently, I read Fixing Your Feet, by John Vonhof, which is an indispensable resource on foot-care for endurance athletes. In my want-to-read pile are Kilian Jornet’s Training for the Uphill Athlete and Kelly Starrett’s Becoming a Supple Leopard.

Alex Nelson on the top of “The Rock,” on Sand Mountain, Georgia at the end of the 347 mile run.

Joel Newton

Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.