What’s up!! My name is Cody Poskin. Who am I you ask? Well let me tell ya…
At my core I am a lover of life. I roll the windows down and crank the radio loud. I dance (poorly but unapologetically) in public spaces. I ride shopping carts like a skateboard in parking lots. I smile, I laugh, and I genuinely love life.
Born and raised just outside of Saint Louis Missouri, I have always had a love of the outdoors. With no access to mountains or ocean, outdoor recreation looks a little different in the Midwest. Growing up, I spent weekends roaming the woods with my brother and friends building forts and climbing trees. I would ride ATVs on dirt trails and savor the smell of bonfire smoke at state park campgrounds. Summers were spent floating the river and boating on the lake. I have deep love for my hometown and the family and friends who formed the mold for who I would become. This chapter of life holds a special place in my heart and always will.
My running journey began in the 5th grade when my dad signed me up for a 5k without my consent. I ran 21 minutes. For the next 3 years I would run a 5K almost every weekend because I enjoyed them. My parents would go and cheer me on, and I would pound a post race banana or donut afterwards. It was great.
Throughout middle school I ran in the running club, as Missouri did not have organized middle school sports at the time. I was decently competitive but never anything special. I continued to run mostly for the sake of running, but I was also realizing the ability I had. My competitive sprit started to brew as I entered high school.
My highschool was large, but fairly rural. Our running talent was not great so I walked on as our #2 runner my freshman year running 17:30 for the 5K. I battled injury off and on but ended my high school career with a 16:09 5K, 10:05 3200, and 4:30 mile. I finished 106th at my state XC meet and was stoked to do so. I loved my high school running experience. My coaches were great, my teammates were great, and my love of the sport truly exploded.
My senior year of high school was 2020, and since everyone freaked out about some little virus, my running/life trajectory took an interesting path. I decided to attend the University of Mississippi hoping to walk onto their team. I wasn’t good enough to be a scoring member of the team, but I looked up the roster and was better than about 5 guys on the team…. but apparently that didn’t matter. The coach ignored every email and phone call and refused to see me when I went to the athletic office. He eventually responded to an Instagram DM saying that I “would never contribute to their team” and to “stop calling him.” I was pissed. Not because I was rejected but because I was never given an opportunity to even try. I ran mad at the world – mad at that coach – for several months, determined to prove him wrong. But slowly over that first month as I attended my online COVID classes and trained my ass off, things started to change. My desire to run diminished. I battled more frequent injuries. My love for the sport was dying.
So, I took a month off, pondered life, and decided that I wanted to keep running but for me, not for anyone else. I signed up for a random marathon in Arkansas because I’d always wanted to run the Boston Marathon and needed a BQ time. My roommate and I drove 5 hours to the race, slept in my ford focus, and got up and crushed the race. I won, and just like that I was hooked on the distance. In the next 18 months I ran the Nashville marathon, the Boston Marathon, and the Berlin Marathon. I loved the distance, the crowds, the atmosphere, and the energy. It was so unlike high school races. It was more “party” and less “pressure.” My final year of college, I was ultra curious and drove to Kentucky (again sleeping in my ford focus) to run my first 50K. This was my first trail race and I loved it. It was more than just a race, it was an experience, a journey. I ended up winning that race at the expense of my quads which were not a fan of 3,500ft of vert in one go.
Since then my ultra / adventure mindset has grown exponentially. I backpacked the Colorado Trail where my love of the backcountry took root. I rode my Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle to California stopping to explore our national parks along the way. I ran R2R2R in the grand canyon on a whim. I competed in three 100M races on both roads and trail. I kayaked 340 miles on the Missouri River, staying awake for 48 consecutive hours. I hiked Mt Kilimanjaro in 5 days, almost dying from severe altitude sickness.
I have seen and accomplished much in my 23 years on this earth, but I am stuck in a constant state of restlessness, always plotting my next adventure. I struggle constantly trying to find a sense of “purpose.” I am watching my friends get married and settle into careers. Part of me yearns for that. A sense of contentment and “normalcy.” But that is not me. I have no idea what my life will look like 10 years, 5 years, or even 1 year from now, but I do know I will never stop exploring. I’m obsessed with where the edge is and how close that I can get, and until I find it, I’ll be here eating pop tarts and pooping in the woods happy as a clam.
The Cody Chronicles 