Erica Larson Baron (born August 11, 1971) is a

chemist A chemist (from Greek ''chēm(ía)'' alchemy; replacing ''chymist'' from Medieval Latin ''alchemist'') is a graduated scientist trained in the study of chemistry, or an officially enrolled student in the field. Chemists study the composition of ...

at the

Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...

and a champion

mountain runner Mountain running is a sports discipline which takes place mainly off-road in mountainous terrain, but if there is significant elevation gain on the route, surfaced roads may be used. In this it differs from fell running; its courses are more cl ...

. She has won the

Pikes Peak Pikes Peak is the List of mountain ranges of Colorado#Mountain ranges, highest summit of the southern Front Range of the Rocky Mountains in North America. The Ultra-prominent peak, ultra-prominent fourteener is located in Pike National Forest, ...

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There ...

on five occasions, more than any other woman since the event's inception in 1959."Out of nowhere: Marathon’s winningest woman is an unlikely hill climber"
Meri-Jo Borzilleri, '' The Gazette'', August 14, 2005Erica Larson biography
USATF website
, Matt Carpenter, Skyrunner.com She was raised in

Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the southern end of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 44,678 at the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Fond du Lac met ...

, the daughter of two

music teacher Music education is a field of practice in which educators are trained for careers as elementary or secondary music teachers, school or music conservatory ensemble directors. Music education is also a research area in which scholars do origina ...

s, before enrolling at

Marquette University Marquette University () is a Private university, private Jesuit research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It was established as Marquette College on August 28, 1881, by John Henni, the first Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Ar ...

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

. After graduating with a

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

chemistry Chemistry is the scientific study of the properties and behavior of matter. It is a physical science within the natural sciences that studies the chemical elements that make up matter and chemical compound, compounds made of atoms, molecules a ...

, she earned her

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''doctor'', meaning "teacher") or doctoral degree is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism '' licentia docendi'' ("licence to teach ...

at the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

aged 27, before moving to

Los Alamos, New Mexico Los Alamos (, meaning ''The Poplars'') is a census-designated place in Los Alamos County, New Mexico, United States, that is recognized as one of the development and creation places of the Nuclear weapon, atomic bomb—the primary objective of ...

. The city, at over 7,000 ft above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

, offers an extensive network of nearby trails which Larson frequents while training. On August 28, 2005, she married fellow scientist and runner Miles Baron, who won the Bandelier marathon in

New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...

for three straight years until the race was cancelled in 2005. After participating in the Pikes Peak ascent in 1994 and 1998, Larson won the "up and down" marathon at her first attempt in 1999, and repeated this result in each of the following three years. She was runner-up to

Angela Mudge Angela Mudge (born 8 July 1970) is a Scottish champion hill runner and skyrunner. Despite being born with birth defects in both legs, and finding track athletics not to her liking, she discovered her sport while a postgraduate student in Sco ...

in 2003, but regained the top step on the podium with her fifth win overall in 2004, when the

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

runner did not return to defend her title. Her preparations for the 50th-anniversary marathon in 2005 were curtailed by a

calf muscle The triceps surae consists of two muscles located at the calf – the two-headed gastrocnemius and the soleus. These muscles both insert into the calcaneus, the bone of the heel of the human foot, and form the major part of the muscle of the po ...

injury and

strep throat Streptococcal pharyngitis, also known as streptococcal sore throat (strep throat), is pharyngitis (an infection of the pharynx, the back of the throat) caused by ''Streptococcus pyogenes'', a Gram-positive bacteria, gram-positive, group A str ...

, but she reversed her earlier decision to withdraw, saying "I'd be really bummed out if I didn't run it this year". Despite her health issues she still managed to finish third.Pikes Peak race results for Erica Larson
Skyrunner.com"Larson changes her mind, decides to race after all"
Meri-Jo Borzilleri, '' The Gazette'', August 14, 2005 She is also a two-time winner of the

Leadville Leadville ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Statutory city, statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only List of municipalities in Colorado, incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, Lak ...

Marathon, and finished 34th at the U.S. Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in 2004, which she describes as her proudest achievement.

References

External links

*
"The Pros Exposed"
Scott Drum, ''Trailrunner'', November 2005
Pikes Peak marathon
official site {{DEFAULTSORT:Larson, Erica 1971 births Living people American female long-distance runners University of Kansas alumni Marquette University alumni American female mountain runners Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel 21st-century American women Sportspeople from Fond du Lac, Wisconsin Scientists from Wisconsin