“Running stopped being about proving myself and became about showing up fully for the experience”

Sydney reflects on her path into trail running, a breakout first pro season, and finding balance between ambition, community, and long-term sustainability.

Interviewed By Gracie Hinz

Gracie Hinz: To kick us off, the question I always start with is simple: who are you, and what do you spend your time doing?

Sydney Petersen: I’m Sydney Petersen. I’m a mountain girl, born and raised in Crested Butte, Colorado—which is honestly the best thing that’s ever happened to me. I always start there because it explains so much about who I am and how I spend my time.

I’m a professional trail runner for Brooks. I spend most of my days training and playing in the mountains, and the rest of my time with my people and my community. It’s a really good life.

Gracie Hinz: Did you grow up doing mountain sports, being raised in Crested Butte?

Sydney Petersen: Kind of, but not in the way you’d expect. My parents are big ski bums—that’s why they chose to raise a family there. My brothers are incredible skiers, and my twin brother even dabbled in professional skiing for a few years. Skiing was definitely our family thing.

But I actually played team sports growing up. Basketball, volleyball—pretty much everything except mountain sports. I think a lot of it was because my friends were doing it, and I loved the community aspect. I didn’t get into running until later in high school, when I found track and realized I had a natural ability for it.

Looking back, I think starting later really helped me. I attribute a lot of my success to not specializing early and having that team sport background. It helped me develop as a more well-rounded athlete.

Gracie Hinz: How do you think that team sport background helped you as a runner?

Sydney Petersen: Running is such a repetitive movement pattern—you’re doing the same thing over and over. That can be really hard on your body over time. Team sports are different. You’re moving laterally, changing direction, developing more complex motor skills.

Mentally, it helped too. When I found running, I was excited about it. I wasn’t burned out. I had also hit puberty and physically developed by then, so my body was actually ready to train hard when I started taking it seriously.

Gracie Hinz: When did running really become your thing—high school or college?

Sydney Petersen: I dabbled in track late in middle school, but I was a sprinter—200 meters, 4x200. No distance running at all. I really found it in high school and started taking it seriously my junior year.

Then I walked onto Colorado State’s cross country and track team, and that’s where I really fell in love with it. I always loved the mountains, though, and I would dip my feet into trail running during summers when I came home. I knew that after college, I’d want to explore trail running more.

Gracie Hinz: Did you ever feel like you chose team sports because your family was so deep in skiing—like wanting your own lane?

Sydney Petersen: Maybe a little, but it wasn’t the main reason. I had an aunt who was an incredible runner—she ran in North Carolina and was trail running before it was cool, winning races way back in the day. So I knew I had the genetics.

But sport has always been about community for me. My closest friends played basketball and volleyball, and that’s where I found my people. That mattered more than anything.

Gracie Hinz: As you moved through college, did professional running feel like a possibility?

Sydney Petersen: It’s hard to define success in Division I because everyone is so good. I was very middle-of-the-pack. I made conference teams and scored a point at conference once, and I was so proud of that—but I wasn’t in the same league as the women you see dominating Sub-Ultra now.

What mattered is that I got better every single year. I PR’d every year. I learned how to train sustainably, how to work hard without burning out.

When I graduated, professional running wasn’t on my radar at all. I got a full-time job and thought I wanted to become an orthopedic physician assistant. I worked as a medical assistant for a hand surgeon in Fort Collins.

Gracie Hinz: So what shifted things toward trail running?

Sydney Petersen: A huge moment was the Imogene Pass Run—from Ouray to Telluride. My mom and I had talked about doing it for years, and we finally did it together.

It went really well, but more than that, it was almost spiritual. I realized I was really good at trail running—but I also loved that it was in the mountains, that it could be a family thing, that I could stand on a start line with my mom. My boyfriend, Taylor Stack, was there too, and that made it even more special.

That experience made me realize I wanted to train to keep having moments like that with the people I love.

Gracie Hinz: You and Taylor showed up to Broken Arrow shortly after. What was that experience like?

Sydney Petersen: We’d done some local Colorado races—Imogene, Run Through Time in Salida—super mellow events where no professionals really show up.

We saw some hype around Broken Arrow and thought it would be fun to race fast people. We honestly didn’t realize how elite it was until after we raced. We went in pretty blind.

I don’t really check start lists. I just showed up happy-go-lucky, and mid-race I remember thinking, “This person is really fast—I probably shouldn’t be running with them, but here we are.” It ended up being a great day.

We drove from Fort Collins to Truckee in Taylor’s truck and camped out of the back. Taylor got fourth in the 23K, and people were like, “Who is this guy?” I finished sixth or seventh, and it was the same reaction—“Who are these people?”

That ended up being our big break, which is wild to think about now.

Gracie Hinz: How did Brooks come into the picture?

Sydney Petersen: It happened really naturally. Someone on the Brooks team introduced us, and it felt like a good fit right away.

Taylor and I were kind of navigating it together, which was funny—it felt like interviewing as a pair. But I’m so grateful we ended up with Brooks. The gear is great, but the people are what make it special.

Having a brand believe in you—especially when you’re not the obvious pick—and then backing that belief with real support changes everything. That support is a huge reason this year turned out the way it did.

Gracie Hinz: What was it like starting your first year with Brooks and looking at the season ahead?

Sydney Petersen: Our big goals were making the Worlds team and qualifying for the Golden Trail Final. We structured our whole season around that.

We started with Desert Rats as a rust-buster, then Sunapee Scramble as the Worlds qualifier. I raced Broken Arrow VK and 23K, and those races ended up qualifying me for the Golden Trail Final.

None of my results from the previous year would’ve suggested I’d have the season I did. It honestly felt like best-case scenario unfolding in real time.

Gracie Hinz: Worlds and Golden Trail back-to-back is huge. What was that experience like?

Sydney Petersen: Competing at a World Championship is every athlete’s dream, no matter the sport. To do it with all your people there, in such a beautiful place, was incredibly special.

Worlds felt powerful because of how international it was. There’s so much polarization in the world, and being in one place with athletes from so many countries, languages, and backgrounds—connected by a shared love of running—was really hopeful.

Golden Trail felt different. It’s smaller, more focused, very media-driven. They do an incredible job supporting athletes and telling stories, which is huge for newer athletes like Taylor and me.

Gracie Hinz: Did Golden Trail shift anything for you going forward?

Sydney Petersen: Definitely. Racing that technical terrain made it really clear where I need to improve—especially strength training and technical downhill running. It poked holes in my armor in a good way and gave me clear goals for next year.

Gracie Hinz: Outside of racing, were there moments this year that really stood out?

Sydney Petersen: One of my favorite days was a long run in Crested Butte with Courtney Coppinger. She texted me the night before saying she’d be in town, and we did this massive loop—up the Plunge, along a ridge, down into town, jumping in a lake along the way. It turned into a full adventure day.

Another highlight was an unofficial Team USA training camp in Buena Vista. We had people from so many different eras of my life—college friends, national team teammates—all starting a run together. That might’ve been my favorite moment of the whole summer.

Gracie Hinz: If you could give yourself advice from five years ago, what would it be?

Sydney Petersen: Don’t need things to be a certain way.

I put so much pressure on timelines and outcomes back then. If you told 20-year-old me—finishing 120th in a cross-country race—that I’d be doing this now, I wouldn’t have believed it.

Every step mattered, even the hard ones. Things might not turn out how you expect, but they can turn out better than you ever imagined.

Gracie Hinz: Final question—what’s something you’re completely psyched on right now?

Sydney Petersen: Knitting. Fully. I sound like an old lady, but I’m obsessed. It’s perfect recovery activity. I’m knitting sweaters, learning about yarns, and my entire Instagram feed is knitting influencers.

I’m also getting an espresso machine on Black Friday, and I’m genuinely excited to make lattes and knit sweaters all winter. That’s my dream.

Gracie Hinz: I love that. Anything you want to leave people with?

Sydney Petersen: Go have fun in the mountains with your people. And Gracie, what you’re building with Wander is really special—I can’t wait to see where it goes.