Runner

Dylan Bowman

Aspen, Colorado

Why did Dylan Bowman decide to run the Leadville 100 as his first major 100-mile marathon in 2010? The Leadville 100 captured his imagination and ignited a curiosity about its competitors his own capability. With one marathon and one 50-miler under his belt and no background in ultra-running, Bowman shocked everyone, including himself, with a third-place finish. He quickly became a top competitor on the North American racing circuit, uniquely transitioning between both 50-mile and 100-mile distances, and earning many wins and podium finishes at races like the Western States 100, The North Face 50, the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc, and the Tarawera Ultramarathon, a 100-mile race in New Zealand that Dylan won in 2015 and 2018.

The 32-year-old played competitive lacrosse in high school and college, before entering that first marathon that altered his life course. Dylan finds that distance running demands a higher level of thinking, and he revels in the therapeutic, meditative effects that he says are hard to simulate outside of extreme exercise. He’s honed his ability to control pain, physical or psychological. And while Dylan is a self-proclaimed social person, he also appreciates his solo time, of which he gets encounters for 20 hours at a time during race season.

As a late bloomer to the sport who never burnt out in his 20’s, Dylan still looks at running with a fresh perspective. He’s up for “fun” challenges, like the Red Bull 400 (a 400-meter sprint up an Olympic ski jump in Park City, Utah) and setting an FKT record on California’s Lost Coast Trail, a remote 57-mile stretch of rugged shoreline. Dylan runs between 80 and 120 miles per week and incorporates cycling and ski touring into his training program. The former Marin County, California resident recently found his way back to his home state of Colorado—he lives just outside of Aspen with his wife, Harmony, and their two pups. He has a knack for design and development and has helped The North Face with several products like the Flight Trail Vest, the Ultra Endurus Trail Shoe and the Flight Seamless Long Sleeve.