Prep cross country star uses holiday break to travel from Death Valley to highest point in U.S. in 48 hours

No matter what you did over the holiday break, there is almost no chance that your accomplishments can compete with what a young cross country runner from Missoula, Montana did. In the span of 48 hours, he went from the lowest point in the U.S. to the top of the highest peak in the contiguous lower 48 states.

As featured in USA Today, which has published blog excerpts from his journey, Missoula (Mont.) Hellgate High senior Adam Peterman and his coach, Mike Foote, hiked and biked the entire stretch from Death Valley, Calif. to the top of Mt. Whitney, a mountain in California's Sierra Nevada range. More impressively, they accomplished that feat in the span of just 48 hours.

The trek traversed 155 miles in total, with 135 coming on a bike from Death Valley to the bottom of Mt. Whitney and 20 more coming en route from the bottom to the top of the mountain. Besides proving that he could accomplish the feat, Peterman decided to complete the trek to raise money for Outdoor Nation, a not-for-profit that "helps develop young outdoor leaders."

It goes without saying that Peterman should be considered one of those young outdoor leaders.

"I’m raising $5,000 for Outdoor Nation, a nonprofit that aims to take underprivileged kids outside," Peterman wrote in a diary entry. "I think it’s super cool, especially coming from Montana where a trail system is always less than 10 minutes away.

"It’s cool that people are showing so much interest. The reward of this work means that the fundraiser will spread to more people, which equals greater awareness and brings us closer to our $5,000 goal for Outdoor Nation."

Given what he accomplished, Peterman should have little trouble hitting that $5,000 pledge. And given what he fought his way through on willpower and endurance, he should have little trouble fitting in on the decorated cross country team at the University of Colorado, where he plans to run in fall 2013.

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