Most people who take on the Pacific Crest Trail are either racing a stopwatch or trying to escape their inbox. One ultrarunner is doing neither. At 52, Wardian set out on the PCT in early July with a goal that flips the usual thru-hiking script on its head. He calls it a “Funnest Known Time,” and he’s answering work emails the whole way.
- Wardian is hiking the full 2,650-mile PCT while running his food-aid shipping business remotely.
- His trip doubles as a fundraiser for Protect Our Winters, with a $100,000 goal.
- He’s aiming to finish in about 60 days, prioritizing fun and connection over any speed record.
A Different Kind of Record
The phrase “fastest known time” gets thrown around a lot in the long-trail world. Runners and hikers chart routes, count hours, and grind toward numbers that live in spreadsheets. Wardian has done plenty of that. This time, he wanted something else. Time barely factors into his plan at all.
His idea started to take shape after he tackled the Appalachian Trail in 2024, his first big project as a Teva athlete. He covered all 2,200 miles in 60 days, which is a serious effort by any measure. He fell short of the record, though, because he had to step off the trail for work. That stung a little. But it also planted a seed. He couldn’t stop thinking about the PCT, and he started asking whether he could hike it his own way without pretending his job didn’t exist.
The answer became this experiment. Put in big days, sure. But leave room to explore towns, swap stories with strangers, and actually soak up the West Coast instead of blowing past it.
Working From the Trail
This is the part that raises eyebrows. Wardian owns and operates Potomac Maritime LLC, a company that handles shipments of agricultural goods like cornmeal, rice, vegetable oil, and sorghum from American farmers to people in developing nations. It’s meaningful work, and it doesn’t pause for a two-month hike. So he’s staying plugged in through Starlink and a T-Mobile satellite messenger, catching up on business each night from an RV his friend Kyle drives ahead to set up camp.
That RV, complete with a real bed and an internet connection, means this trip won’t be a suffer-fest in the dirt. Wardian is the first to admit it. He’s not exactly roughing it. For him, that comfort is a feature, not a compromise. It’s what lets him keep both parts of his life running at once.
There’s an obvious tension in all this. Working and fun don’t usually go hand in hand. Answering emails after 30 miles on your feet sounds more like a chore than a celebration. Wardian’s answer is simple. He genuinely loves what he does. His company once moved cargo on the very ship made famous by the 2013 Tom Hanks film Captain Phillips, and he speaks about that history with real pride. Balancing the athlete and the business owner is part of the appeal, not a burden he’s grudgingly carrying.
Hiking South With a Purpose
Wardian started at Hart’s Pass near the Canadian border and pointed himself south, taking on the trail without record pressure for the first time in his life. The current PCT speed mark belongs to Karel Sabbe, who ran the whole thing in 46 days, 12 hours, and 50 minutes back in 2023. Wardian isn’t chasing that. His 60-day target leaves plenty of daylight for side quests, trail angels, and new friends.
The fundraising piece matters to him too. His goal is to pull in $100,000 for Protect Our Winters, the nonprofit that rallies the outdoor community around climate action. As of his departure the total sat at just $158, so there’s a long climb ahead there, same as on the trail itself.
What His Approach Teaches the Rest of Us
Wardian’s bigger point is worth sitting with. A lot of people believe they have to drop out of their lives entirely to chase a giant adventure. Quit the job, sell the stuff, disappear for months. For some, that clean break is exactly what they crave. But Wardian is proving it isn’t the only path. If your work can travel with you, a long trail doesn’t have to mean choosing between the wilderness and your career. You might just get to have both, and enjoy the whole thing more because of it. The way he tells it, he’s trying to squeeze every last drop out of life and pass that good feeling along as he goes.
For specifications and updates from the source, visit the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Crest Trail overview.
For a related perspective, read our tips for a safe and fun trail outing with your dog.