She chose one of Oregon’s most grueling challenges.
In the early morning darkness of Aug. 1, the 35-year-old Eugene resident laced up her shoes at the Oregon-California border and stepped onto the Pacific Crest Trail.
Then she started running.
Over the next week, Halnon ran up mountains and down river valleys, through a frigid thunderstorm and boiling temperatures, felt her shins ache and feet swell up on 17-hour days in remote wilderness.
When she reached the Washington border on Aug. 9, Halnon had set a new speed record for the Oregon section of the PCT: 455 miles in 7 days, 19 hours and 23 minutes.