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| My partner, Beat, and I at the start of the 2016 Iditarod Trail Invitational |
I launched this blog way back in 2005 after I moved to Homer, Alaska, to work for a community newspaper. Although the intent was to update friends and family on my new life in the frozen north, “Up in Alaska” soon became a training blog when I made a rash and then-uncharacteristic decision to sign up for a 100-mile snow bike race on the Iditarod Trail. The 2006 Susitna 100 was my first endurance race, and I have been hooked ever since.
Over the years, I’ve chronicled adventures around the world while living in Homer; Juneau, Alaska; Missoula, Montana; Los Altos, California; and now Boulder. With a passion for photography and narrative writing, the archives of this blog are now a sprawling vignette of my outdoor life. My favorite and most popular posts are listed on the “Best Of” page.
The pinnacle of my endurance racing career came in 2016, when I completed the 1,000-mile ride across Alaska and set a new women’s cycling record for the Iditarod Trail. It was an incredible experience that I documented in a memoir, "Into the North Wind: A Thousand-mile Bicycle Adventure Across Frozen Alaska
."I also held a previous women’s record for the Tour Divide, a 2,750-mile race along the spine of the Rocky Mountains from Canada to Mexico. I chronicled this race in my popular book, "Be Brave, Be Strong: A Journey Across the Great Divide
."I caught the ultrarunning bug in 2010 after moving to Montana, where I met an enthusiastic Swiss trail runner named Beat. We’ve been adventuring together ever since. His accomplishments are too numerous to list, but you can read about some of them on his now-neglected blog, beultra.com.
I’ve completed two 350-mile foot races on the Iditarod Trail, six 100-mile trail races, and more than 50 other ultramarathons of various distances.
In 2017 I was diagnosed with Graves Disease, an autoimmune condition that attacks the thyroid and releases toxic levels of hormone into the body. Living with this condition, as well as exercise-induced asthma, has become an unwanted but unavoidable part of this blog. Medication and minor lifestyle changes have helped restore my strength and vitality, but it has been and continues to be a long road.
If you have any questions, please e-mail me at jillhomer@gmail.com. Blogs are now just relics of the vibrant communities they sparked during their heyday, but I value the connections I've made here. Friends and family are the reason I started this blog, and they're the reason I continue to update it after all these years.
Thanks for reading!
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| Racing the Tour Divide through Montana in 2015 |
I'd like to love you Jill! You are so beautiful and smart woman! Love to follow you, love your way living and love the happiness on your nice face! Warm greetings from Italy! :))) <3
ReplyDeleteJill, hello I love your blog. Your race reports are so informative. I would like to pick your brain a bit about the Susitna 100. Would that be okay? I am mostly thinking about sled vs. pack. Have you had experience with long distance winter racing with a pack instead of a sled? Thanks. Emily
ReplyDeleteI loved your book "Be Brave, Be Strong" -- well written, personal and also a hell of a biking story! I grew up in AK, and have been to a lot of the state, including southeast AK, and I loved your description of Juneau area, and also the trail in Susitna country. As a young geologist I saw lots of country, but you biked a lot of it! As a somewhat older guy I must say you help to break female stereotypes. I think it's cool what you're doing...keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteI love the updated version! I have a small suggestion - along with your list of accomplishments, maybe provide a link to where we can re-read your stories from your greatest hits ;) They are definitely worth a revisit.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I found your blog in 2005 or 6 and followed it religiously for about 5 years. Then I had a kid, moved, moved again, finally divorced, and am making a comeback in my own outdoor life racing triathlons and hitting the mountains again. For some reason your blog came up in my brain just now and with 3 minutes of searching found it again! I enjoyed following your exploits in AK, then trips in the West and then your move to the west coast. So cool to read about what's been going on since I've been gone. So sorry to hear about your health issues. Be well and keep writing, I truly enjoy it!
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