Zach Friedley

Hi, I’m Zach, also known as "Trail Blader.”

I was born to teenage parents in Kansas City, Missouri, missing both my right leg above the knee and several fingers on my right hand.

As a child, I was always drawn to athletics. With the support of the Shriners Children's Hospital, which provided me with prosthetics until I was 18 years old, and my parents, I found my niche as a wrestler throughout my elementary and high school years. As a young adult many years later, I received my first running blade and my attention turned to Paralympic running. Throughout the late 2000s, I spent several years training and trying to qualify for a place on the U.S. Paralympic Track and Field team.

But something never quite clicked and by 2013, I had all but set aside my running aspirations. Two years later, I relocated to Northern California to work in Humboldt County, and later Mendocino. I was broke, uninsured, and by the time I landed in Mendocino, had broken all of my walking legs…except the running blade I had retired so many years before. Around this time, I also met a somatic shaman who I began to work with to heal myself from the inside out. It was a transformational experience, and I realized that my connection to movement and my ability to physically move through the world was key to not just my own happiness, but my life’s work. I began running wherever and whenever I could. In 2019, having never run more than 3 miles at one time, I attended the Born to Run festival in Los Olivos, CA and ran my first 10-mile trail race. It was here that Zach Friedley, the Trail Blader, was born.

I am now a professional trail runner whose life mission is to ensure that I and other disabled athletes like me have equitable access and opportunities in the trail running world. This includes advocating for more representation of disabled athletes incorporating engagement and advertising, as well as supporting the creation of adaptive athlete divisions and podium opportunities for adaptive trail runners in both U.S. and international premier trail races.

I run anywhere between 20-50 miles a week. I do several different Strength and Mobility workouts throughout the week as well. I really like to focus on my recovery just as much as my training. I believe having a dialed-in recovery program will help maximize your ability to train hard. My training and recovery are regulated by my coach, Chris Palmquist, Chris is a USA Paratriathlon National Team coach.

Another big aspect of my training is meditation. I spent time in India with Mahatma Faqiranand Ji. My time with him was a very pivotal experience that helps me navigate through all of the adventures in life.

I also further my diversity, equity, and inclusion work through my nonprofit, Mendocino Movement, which is dedicated to creating more opportunities for disabled people to experience new forms of movement such as trail running. In April, Mendocino Movement hosted the first-ever Born to Adapt event as part of the 2022 Born to Run festival in Los Olivos, CA. Born to Adapt is a 5k trail challenge open to anyone with limb difference or other disabilities - the goal is to create a welcoming, entry-level experience for anyone who has ever dreamed of being out on the trails but has never had the opportunity to try an outdoor trail run.