For much of the world, the concept of an ulta-marathon is completely alien. The term has broad implications: it refers to any race longer than a marathon. The sport has been slowly growing in recognition and popularity over the past several decades, especially after the 2009 publication of Born to Run.  That same year, when the ultra-marathon spiked in popularity, Ali ran his first ultra. His race of choice was Ashland’s 50 km (31 mile) Siskiyou Outback Ultra-Marathon Trail Run. “It was hard. Really hard.” Ali reflects on the experience. No matter how tough the race was, somehow Ali was hooked. However, the passion really began one year earlier, with a comparatively short 6-mile race.

On July 3, 2008, Ali decided to run his first race ever. Although the AHS graduate had played football as a high-schooler, he didn’t have much experience running. Nevertheless, he decided to go for it and signed up for Ashland’s fouth of July race, which took place the next day.

“I didn’t want to get beat by my boss,” Ali laughs, when asked if he had any goals while running his first race. The coordinator of Ali’s tech department at AHS, Steve Mitzel, was also running in the fourth of July race and had helped convince Ali to give running a try. Ali was successful in achieving his goal, and less than a month later he was running his second race, the notoriously steep and difficult Mount Ashland Hill Climb. Ali was quickly moving onto bigger and better races. November of that same year, Ali ran the Lithia Loop Trail Marathon.

Today, Ali is on a trajectory of steady improvement. The majority of Ali’s races are far longer than his first racing endeavors. His most recent feat was his conquest of the Pine-to-Palm 100-mile race. Stretching over the Siskiyou mountains from Williams, OR to Lithia Park, the race involves 20,000 feet of elevation gain and loss. Despite the difficulty of the course, Ali managed to break 24-hours and run the second fastest split for the final nine miles. (An average of 7:46/mile)