We recently spoke with Brooke Welton, a 20-year-old nursing student at the University of Utah, who just completed the Kodiak 100k under the tutelage of her mentor, Heather Jackson. Brooke discussed the importance of that mentorship and her experiences finding community in trail running.
How did you get into running and then make the jump into ultras?
I ran cross country and track in high school. My senior year, I was close with the incoming freshmen, and they were super-fast, and I had a mentor role which got me more into it. I moved to Salt Lake City for college at the University of Utah, and there’s a bunch of cool trails, which have been fun to explore. I eventually wanted to run an ultra, and the more I kept running, I figured I might as well sign up and see what happens.
What was your first ultra?
The first one was a 50k in January of my freshman year. I didn’t know what to expect and didn’t have any guidance — all I had for fueling was two waffles and a gummy thing, so I crashed, but I felt good, fitness-wise.
How did you progress up the distance ladder?
My next race was a local 50k in Park City. The uphills wrecked me, which motivated me to train more seriously. I saw some friends who did Speedgoat [50k], and so I hyper-fixated over that race. For Speedgoat, I won a scholarship through a local group, Women of the Wasatch, who also put me in touch with people at UTMB. They were running a project with Heather Jackson focusing on young women in trail running and invited me to sign up for another race. I picked the Kodiak 100k because it’s close to where I grew up, and I wanted my family to experience it.
What was your scholarship with the Women of the Wasatch like?
Four of the people from the group helped crew me at Speedgoat, and building my relationships with them has been cool. The ultra world is small, so you run into people. It’s been fun to build community with people who are older than me, and I have a lot to learn from them.
Talk about this project with UTMB. What did it entail?
I was selected after an interview with Heather and the UTMB organization. For Heather’s project, there will be four episodes: mine focuses on Kodiak. A film crew came out to Salt Lake City, and they were super awesome. Having Heather mentor me has been motivating and a bit surreal. I got into this sport by myself, and now I have all this extra support. Being able to ask her fueling questions and training questions was helpful, and she’s one of the nicest people ever. Having her there during race day helped as well, because I had some issues with my hamstring that I was freaking out about.
How was your race at the Kodiak 100k?
The race has the biggest climb at the beginning. I took the climb too hard, and then I sprinted down the whole descent because I was having such a good time. When I got to the bottom, I found out Heather — who was also running — was dropping out. She ran with me from that aid station to the next one and talked me through my hamstring, which was becoming a problem. I saw my crew again at mile 36, and I was off into the abyss by myself for the next 20 miles. The last 15 miles were pretty much a limp, which was frustrating because I had trained really hard.
Do you see your relationship with Heather continuing into the future?
Definitely. I might go out to Bend — where she’s from — next summer, and she offered to be there if I ever need a pacer, which would be so awesome.
Aside from the opportunity you had with Heather, how have your experiences in the sport been as a young ultrarunner?
It’s all about community for me, and so it was hard my freshman year of college when I didn’t have that core group of girls I was used to, but I’ve met some really cool girls along the way. I actually ran Speedgoat with two of my running friends. We all trained together and had these super long days on the weekends, but it was unique because we’re also all students.
You’re studying nursing right now and work in a hospital. How do your studies and work interact with your love of the outdoors?
While in nursing school, I’ve worked as a Certified Nursing Assistant at the University of Utah hospital. I work on an orthopedic trauma floor, and a lot of the accidents we get there are ski accidents or rock climbing, which is really interesting. A lot of my co-workers are also big runners, and so it’s cool having that community. Being a nurse, you only have to work three 12-hour shifts a week. If you stack all your shifts, you can have five days off, which sets me up to have more time to explore.
Do you want to stay in orthopedic medicine?
I’m thinking I’ll start there; I enjoy working with orthopedic patients because they’re really motivated. Initially, I think I want to switch to either emergency medicine or the ICU. Eventually, I feel like being a flight nurse or working out one of the ski clinics would be super cool.
A couple rapid-fire questions to close:
Favorite race you’ve done? Speedgoat 50k
Favorite pre-race meal? My mom’s homemade pesto pasta with chicken
Favorite in-race fuel. Strawberry Clif Bloks
Favorite thing to listen to when you run? Cage the Elephant
Finally, favorite weather to run in? This is a hot take, but definitely warmer to the point where you’re sweating a lot and feeling a little gross and exhausted!