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Jenn Shelton
The fearless young ultrarunner whose road trip with Billy Barnett is one of the book’s great threads.
Ultrarunner · coach
In the book
Shelton was part of the 2006 group that went to the Copper Canyons with McDougall and Scott Jurek for Micah True’s race.1
On the reunion podcast, McDougall said he first interviewed her for a Runner’s World article about women in ultramarathons, after seeing a race photo of her smiling. He then told her about the Copper Canyon race.2
Since 2009
- ProfileHer site describes her as an Olympic Trials qualifier, a former world-record holder for 100 miles, and the founder of the Mom’s Track Club.3
- 2024A Patagonia trail running ambassador. She was featured in Patagonia’s “The Stories We Wear” in August 2024.4
- April 2026Joined the reunion call. She said she now lives in Ashland, Oregon, with her five-year-old son, coaches a track team, and is going back to school.2
At the 20-year reunion
“… meeting Barefoot Ted on that trip was the thing that affected my life the most. I was like, this man knows how to travel.”
Jenn Shelton ·
“It sounds like this race in the Copper Canyon might be right up your alley.”
Christopher McDougall · · recalling what he told Jenn Shelton
Verbatim from the Road Dog Podcast reunion episode (Apr 6, 2026), with the episode timestamp. See how the quotes were transcribed.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Scott Jurek — en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Jurek
- Road Dog Podcast, ep. 396 “Born to Run 20 Year Reunion,” Apr 6, 2026 (official episode page) — roaddog.libsyn.com/396-born-to-run-20-year-reunion
- jennshelton.com — official site — jennshelton.com/
- Patagonia Stories, “The Stories We Wear” (Aug 2024), featuring trail running ambassador Jenn Shelton — www.patagonia.com/stories/culture/worn-wear/the-stories-we-wear/story-153936.html
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