YiOu Wang

About

YiOu Wang is a Chinese-American ultrarunner who grew up between Shanghai, China and Frederick, Maryland, arrived at MIT to study chemistry, and left a decade later as a national trail champion with an Olympic Trials marathon qualification behind her. She watched the Boston Marathon during her freshman year, ran a half-marathon shortly after, and by 2005 was qualifying for Boston at her first full marathon on Cape Cod. She ran a personal best of 2:38 to qualify for the 2012 US Olympic Trials Marathon, then transitioned to trail and ultra running, winning the Lake Sonoma 50 Mile in 2016 and the The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile at Marin Headlands in 2019, and becoming a US 50K national trail champion. She set an FKT on the Rae Lakes Loop — the 40-mile Sierra Nevada circuit through Kings Canyon National Park and one of California's most iconic alpine routes. In 2016 a student's parent offered to pay her salary to accompany their family as a private teacher on a year-long global adventure; Wang accepted and spent a year running across dozens of countries, an experience she has described as profoundly shaping her relationship with running and with the world. A high school science and math teacher and ambassador for Trail Sisters and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, she brings a globally-informed, intellectually curious voice to the trail running community.

Notable Wins

• — Lake Sonoma 50 Mile 2016
• — The North Face Endurance Challenge 50 Mile Marin Headlands 2019
• — US 50K National Trail Champion
• — Rae Lakes Loop FKT (Sierra Nevada
• — 40 miles)

Race History