Gordy Ainsleigh: Ultra Pioneer

Every participant in the Western States Endurance run owes something to Gordy Ainsleigh, who pioneered the race in 1974. Ainsleigh had always been the reluctant adventurer, the indecisive mountain man, the timid athlete--all that. Until Aug. 4, 1974. One day changed everything. The day he became the first person to run the Western States trail.

That he would set out, alone, to run a 100-mile trail--a horse trail--was somewhat of a personal upset, an abrupt change in character.

That he would actually finish, in slightly less than 24 hours, was unheard of in running circles, an improbable event that brought Ainsleigh sudden publicity.

"I beat all the competition," joked Ainsleigh, a bearded 47-year-old with thick forearms and a vise-like grip.

Using the race as a catalyst, he also confronted his fear of failure--or whatever it was keeping him from his goals.

"It was a real turning point in my life," said Ainsleigh, who up until then had chopped wood for a living. "It occurred to me that maybe there were a whole bunch of other things . . . I thought I couldn't do."

With a clear vision and a new ambition, he became, among other things, a chiropractor, a second-degree black belt in karate and an elite-level rock climber.

"I've done all these things that, in my youth, I thought, 'That's what these other kinds of people did,' " Ainsleigh said, a day before completing his ninth Western States race in 29 hours 34 seconds. "It was really a breakthrough."