Skilled endurance athlete, race director, environmental advocate, and healthcare practitioner Luke Nelson doesn’t take a day without work.
Along with his distant ridgeline missions, quickest identified occasions (FKTs), and ultrarunning podiums, Nelson is a father of two, doctor assistant (PA) for an area orthopedics observe that he cofounded, volunteer ski patroller and teacher, and most lately the founding father of a wilderness drugs enterprise. He’s additionally a mountain bike coach for his youngsters’ faculty staff. Nelson can be one of the vital optimistic folks you may meet, by no means complaining a wink and staying optimistic even within the face of obstacles.
Luke Nelson. All photographs courtesy of Luke Nelson.
Nelson, 43, has lived in Pocatello, Idaho, for 20 years, close to the place he grew up in Blackfoot. An alternate sports activities fanatic, Nelson grew up skateboarding, snowboarding, mountaineering, and kayaking.
He first dabbled in path operating in his mid-twenties, because of a wager. Whereas working a shift at a ski and bike store, a pal stated Nelson wouldn’t have the ability to run an off-the-couch marathon. It was August, and the temperatures have been sweltering. Nelson registered for the race, which occurred every week later. He received third place in his age group.
Afterward, a number of rock-climbing companions seen he’d achieved nicely on the race and invited him to go path operating. Nelson hopped into a brief path operating race a number of weeks after that marathon. The next spring, he ran his first extremely, the Pocatello 50 Mile, in 2008. Subsequent, he ran the Bear 100 Mile, in 2009, and by no means seemed again.
Nelson accomplished his undergraduate diploma in outside schooling and Spanish from Idaho State College in Pocatello, Idaho. Proper when he began faculty, he met his now spouse, Tanae, by means of a mutual pal. “She was roommates with certainly one of my greatest buddies’ little sisters, and the remaining is historical past. We began relationship immediately, dated a yr, after which received married,” he shared.
After graduating, he spent a summer time working as a river information, which he’d dreamed of as his profession path. Nevertheless, after one season, he and Tanae determined the space aside wouldn’t be essentially the most sustainable path for his or her relationship and beginning a household.
“I beloved the wilderness-medicine side of river guiding, and that led to the trail of my profession in drugs that additionally allowed the pliability for all times. Being a PA turned out to be the fitting path,” stated Nelson. As a associate in an orthopedics observe that he co-founded, Idaho Sports activities and Backbone, Nelson is within the working room for 12 hours, one or two days per week, beginning at 6:30 a.m. Every Tuesday and Thursday, he’s in clinic, and most Fridays, he doesn’t work. The remainder of his schedule is devoted to household time and being an expert runner.
Luke Nelson (left) volunteering on the 2022 The Rut.
The draw to the medical area is, “a double-edged sword. What attracted me initially was the power to affect folks’s lives in a optimistic approach and to assist folks. An increasing number of, conventional drugs has turn out to be much less thrilling to me. Wilderness drugs has stayed on the core of what I do, and I lately began a enterprise instructing wildness drugs and consulting in hopes of turning that into full-time work,” stated Nelson.
In 2021, Nelson launched Alpine Endurance Drugs, which presents programs on wilderness drugs alongside providers as a medical advisor for outside companies. In a singular method, the wilderness first support programs that Nelson designed are sport-specific and tailor-made to communities.
As an example, mountain bike groups and coaches can join a wilderness first support course for mountain biking, the place they research the web content material after which meet for fieldwork whereas pedaling mountain bikes. On an extended journey, the scholars can observe situations which can be extra reasonable given their tools, location, and the provides they will carry.
There’s a wilderness first support course tailor-made to path operating, too. “We will observe situations within the settings the place we observe our craft,” stated Nelson.
Luke Nelson instructing wilderness drugs for path runners along with his new enterprise, Alpine Endurance Drugs.
He added, “Not lots of people in these areas have first-aid coaching. My hope is to make use of sport as a method to encourage folks to take the programs. For highschool mountain bikers, coaches have to have wilderness first support coaching. You’ll get the baseline skillset as with every wilderness first support class, however throughout the sport. And for somebody who wouldn’t hand over time from their treasured coaching day, they will nonetheless go mountain biking and study this cool factor.”
Nelson additionally presents consultations and works as a medical advisor for outside firms — together with outfitters and guides, race administrators, and folks with companies exterior.
“I assist bridge the hole of what they’d have to maintain their shoppers and selves secure concerning easy methods to observe drugs. An enormous half is recruiting medical professionals to assist help occasions, establishing protocols and risk-management plans for a corporation, refining protocols, and advising them on visitor well being. We focus on situations equivalent to if friends have sure well being circumstances — ought to they be with the group, and what precautions ought to employees concentrate on, and what ought to they do if one thing occurs, equivalent to, easy methods to ship satellite tv for pc messages, for instance,” stated Nelson.
Nelson’s inaugural extremely race, the Pocatello 50 Mile, continued to be a motif yr after yr in his operating observe. By 2012, he and Tanae adopted the race. The title of the occasion grew to become Scout Mountain Ultras, and the 2 now co-race direct a 100 miler alongside the standard 50 miler, plus 50-kilometer and 21-mile races.
In March 2023, the couple introduced they have been committing to at the least 50% of the sphere within the races being girls, femme, or non-binary athletes. They shared in an announcement, “Because it stands, on the time of this [announcement], the general share of girls within the race is 42%. Per distance, the fields are 38% within the 100 mile, 25% within the 50 mile, 43% within the 50k, and 55% within the 21 mile.”
The entire Nelson household on the Nelson 2022 Scout Mountain Ultras (l-to-r): Brynlee, Luke, Chloe, Tanae, and Anders.
To help the inclusion, Nelson defined the array of methods they’ve applied. “We each felt actually strongly that ultrarunning wants higher illustration and the one approach to try this is to scale back as many limitations as doable. We requested the mountain group what’s making it difficult. Our group concerned in Scout Mountain stated that the number-one barrier is price, so we applied a scholarship program, the place we took entry charges from the 100 miler and minimize the entry charge in half. Runners that had already entered, we gave them the choice to place that towards scholarships for different runners [rather than receiving a partial refund], which all of them opted to do,” stated Nelson.
The entry-fee help created a major increase to participation within the 100-mile distance.
“An extra barrier we heard was group help. Numerous girls didn’t really feel that they had a group of girls to reply questions and assist with coaching and crewing,” stated Nelson.
They arrange a gaggle on the Discord platform known as “Girls of Scout” to attach and discover one another on-line. Additionally they made certain they met all of the Path Sisters necessities: equal illustration and equal prize cash, menstruation merchandise in any respect support stations and in porta potties, and female attire. They organized for lactation stations and a nursing employees, though no feminine athletes wanted the service within the first yr of its implementation. They organized a few night seminars led by feminine visitor audio system speaking about diet, evening operating, crewing, and pacing — tailor-made to girls.
The ultimate assists they plan to supply are: “providing childcare at races and a scholarship for ladies runners who want monetary assist for childcare for coaching and we’re engaged on implementing that for subsequent yr,” stated Nelson.
5 years in the past, Nelson’s oldest daughter, Brynlee, who’s now 16 years previous, received concerned with the native mountain bike staff — the Pocatello Pioneers — when she entered seventh grade. Nelson has been alongside for the journey ever since as a coach. His youngest daughter, Chloe, is 13 years previous and now additionally mountain bike races. His son, nine-year-old Anders, may be a part of the staff in center faculty, too.
Anders Nelson within the 2022 The Rut Runts Run.
“It’s our group’s mountain bike staff for 3 excessive colleges and likewise three center colleges within the space, with 100 youngsters on the staff. It’s so enjoyable. I feel there are 40 coaches that rotate by means of,” stated Nelson.
To get mileage in for coaching, he both runs or rides his bike to work, which is eight miles every approach, year-round.
“In my thoughts, bike commuting provides me extra quantity the place I don’t have time or the bodily functionality to do extra operating quantity. I’ve to get to work, it doesn’t take me that for much longer to journey my bike than drive, so I can slip in additional quantity and it’s actually complementary,” stated Nelson, who switches up the bike he makes use of relying on the day’s wants. He typically pedals an e-bike and different occasions a gravel bike. On teaching days, he’ll journey his mountain bike. “It’s all about slipping in no matter further I can within the margins.” stated Nelson.
The entire household is concerned with operating, too. “Tanae has run a pair 100 milers, Brynlee and Chloe did The Rut 11k collectively final yr. And Anders is a runner, too, and positively enjoys mountain biking,” says Nelson.
Brynlee (left) and Chloe (proper) Nelson on the 2022 The Rut 11k.
Nelson even determined to dabble in a mountain bike race in 2023. He signed up for the El Doce 12 Hour. He had solely raced one different cross nation mountain bike race beforehand — the Pocatello Pedal Fest, in 2022. He took second place in El Doce.
“I had all types of fascinating issues happen — I’ve by no means spent that lengthy on a motorcycle earlier than. Your expectation could be that your butt would harm, which I didn’t have bother with. I had vital cramping that began seven hours in. My proper foot received sore the place my pedal is. Whereas downhilling, my triceps gave out, and I had bother hitting my face on the handlebars. It’s as a result of I run an excessive amount of and have little triceps — Tyrannosaurus arms,” stated Nelson.
Luke Nelson (proper) on the 2023 El Doce 12 Hour males’s podium.
Additionally, comparatively close to his house is the Pebble Creek Ski Space, the place he volunteers as ski patrol doing avalanche mitigation and instructing avalanche courses, in addition to Outside Emergency Care — which is a ski patroller’s Emergency Medical Technician class. He first received concerned in 2008, as a resume increase for PA faculty, however saved the service work going and loves it. He does 13 days of volunteer patrol every season, along with 4 a.m. avalanche management routes, together with bombing and ski cuts, which racked up 25 days final season. The clinic days at work don’t begin till 9 a.m., so he can squeeze within the ski space hours.
Luke Nelson working Pebble Creek Ski Space, Idaho, ski patrol.
Past teaching and dealing on the ski space, Nelson can be concerned with Defend Our Winters, as a founding member of the path operating portion of the Athlete Alliance, which launched in 2018. He’s traveled to Washington D.C. to assist foyer for local weather change-based legal guidelines, and achieved talking occasions at group runs and retailers in regards to the local weather change impacts he’s seen in path operating and options for a way the group may also help.
Whereas Nelson has stood on many podiums, received many races, and set adventurous FKTs all through his profession as an athlete — a number of days shine in reminiscence.
“Probably the most memorable endurance efforts I’ve had, and one of many poorest understood routes by the group at massive, is the Teton Middle Punch Traverse. It’s a creation of Kelly Halpin, who is a superb ultrarunner and mountain badass. The route follows a hydrological divide (the place the water goes to both aspect of the ridge) and is a sustained ridgeline that creates the spine of the vary. It covers the very best factors of the Tetons from north to south, and it’s depraved onerous. I did that in 2021 with Jared Campbell. He’s been my journey associate for a very long time now. For all of it, he’s been one of many go-to journey companions,” shared Nelson.
“It was fairly spectacular. It’s an insane and exquisite line. The combos of skillsets you might want to have is wild,” elaborates Nelson. “There may be off-trail motion, vital sections of technical scrambling, and it’s actually lengthy. We have been on the market for 36 hours in a single push. Kelly and Fred Most have achieved it twice. It’s so burly and particular due to that.”
Luke Nelson on the Teton Middle Punch Traverse route.
On the opposite finish of the spectrum, certainly one of his favourite adventures in 2023 was climbing Mount Borah, the very best level in Idaho, along with his daughter Brynlee.
“The hike is round eight miles roundtrip with 5,000 ft of climbing and is tremendous steep. It takes most individuals a full, 10-hour day, and we did it in just a little over six hours. It was tremendous enjoyable to go quick on. My daughter is a path runner and he or she’d describe herself as a mountain biker,” says Nelson.
Whereas the marathon distance didn’t stick as a favourite, he determined to go for his second ever marathon within the 2023 summer time. He skilled and hit a private document within the Eugene Marathon, ending in 2:38:50, getting a second place within the masters division, and qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which he’ll run in 2024.
“I took it fairly critically. I feel it helped my base for ultrarunning. I’ve been path operating for a very long time and it’s onerous to see huge features or massive modifications, however doing a completely totally different coaching cycle, I noticed modifications that have been wonderful. Once I first began with the coaching, I may barely run a mile in 6 minutes and 15 seconds. Once I completed, I ran 6:05 minute/mile tempo for the entire marathon. I skilled for 12 weeks,” he stated.
Lately, in September 2023, Nelson skilled his second-ever DNF (Did Not End) on the Bear 100 Mile. He began having ache at mile 25, which was very early in a race for him, and pulled out at 61 miles. “I had unhealthy muscle breakdown, known as rhabdomyolysis, and I don’t know why but. I felt extra sore than even after operating a 200-mile race. One thing was mistaken. I nonetheless wanted to face within the working room for 12 hours at work the week after, and I used to be in tough form,” he stated.
Tanae Nelson (left) and Mindy Campbell (proper) on the 2022 The Rut 50k.
How does he match all of it in? Nelson defined, “My schedule is a transferring goal and wishes quite a lot of flexibility across the seasons for certain. I do quite a lot of coaching at midnight, within the early morning, or late at evening. I attempt to construction my schedule in order that I’ve Sunday devoted as solely a household day with no coaching. Saturday is difficult to steadiness when the women are doing their lengthy coaching rides and that’s once I’m making an attempt to do lengthy coaching runs, which implies I would do a three- or four-hour run at 4 a.m, meet them at observe, and do one other three hours on the bike after.”
Whereas Nelson matches in all kinds of athletic, skilled, and philanthropic objectives, he’s a household man at coronary heart, and stated, “I’ve to be artistic to get what I want across the time that they want from me.”
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Luke and Brynlee Nelson on the summit of Mount Borah, Idaho’s excessive level.
