Cheri Pompeo

Cheri Pompeo was born and raised in Washington State and has been an avid trail runner since 1996. She has run in more than 550 marathons and ultramarathons, including at least one in each U.S. state and on every continent. Her longest distance to date is 102 miles. Cheri has a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and a Master of Science in computer science from the University of Washington. She regularly writes for running publications, such as Northwest Runner and Ultrarunning magazine. Her guidebook, 50 Trail Runs in Washington State was published by Mountaineers Books in 2002. She has also published short stories and essays and various literary journals and newspapers. Cheri started running to get in shape, but quickly fell in love with the sport and kept adding miles. There didn't seem to be a limit in the distance I could run. In 2005, she climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro two days after winning the veteran women's division at the Kilimanjaro marathon. In addition to running, Cheri enjoys open water swimming Cheri Pompeo and scuba diving. She has had the good fortune to dive in such places as the Great Barrier Reef, the Galapagos Islands (all of them), the inside passage to Alaska, Fiji, and Puerto Rico. At 70 years of age she still runs the marathon distance or longer, 2-3 times per month. She says she'll put off thinking if she's getting too old until she's 80 and then may defer for another 10 years.