MEET OUR TEAM

Kelsey Banaszynski - Operations Director & Co-Owner

Kelsey started running ultras in 2016 and has multiple finishes from 50k to 100k’s. She’s an avid outdoors woman and loves any activity that gets her outside…from backpacking and fly fishing to gardening and dog walking. Hailing from Wisconsin (YOU RAH RAH), she combines her experience as a technical project manager and food scientist to make our aid stations amazing (and SAFE). With a laugh that’s contagious, she can put a smile on any grumpy runner’s face.

She has been with the High Lonesome team since 2016 and took over the aid stations in 2017. Kelsey’s role is the second busiest job of the race, spending hundreds of hours each year planning, preparing, and executing the complicated logistics of over a dozen backcountry aid stations. You’ll probably see her quite a bit during race weekend as she travels around visiting each aid station to make sure everyone - from runners to volunteers - are well taken care of. She’s also the Race Director of the West Line Winder.

Kelsey and Caleb got married in 2019 and split ownership of the race in 2020. It’s the best two decisions Caleb has ever made.

Kylie Collins - Co-Course Director

Kylie caught the trail running bug in 2012, and quickly got into the ultra scene a few years later. After a bunch of shorter ultra’s, she earned her first buckle at Run Rabbit in 2016. After returning - and finishing - RRR100 twice more, Kylie signed up for the High Lonesome 100 in 2019. She finished in style (6th female) in just over 30 hours! Kylie and her husband live in Almont, and she teaches in Crested Butte. Since Almont is on the western slope of the Sawatch, Kylie has spent a lot of time on the High Lonesome course.

Kylie has been around the High Lonesome since 2018, when she volunteered at Blanks Cabin aid station. After finishing in 2019, she co-captained Hancock aid station in 2021 with Nick Leuck. After hearing about Jon Clinthorne’s (2017-2021 Course Director) retirement, she decided it was time to take on even more responsibility!

If you ask Kylie, the only way to race is with her hair in two braids and by wearing her lucky pair of purple shorts.

David Fox - Volunteer Director

David started running ultras back in 2016 and has worked his way steadily from his first trail marathon to numerous 100 milers…including a 2021 High Lonesome finish! He is a deep believer in building community and is the tireless organizer of his local trail running group, the Golden Mountain Runners. A Colorado native, David loves running, skiing, dogs, music, and being outside with friends. He also loves organizing and coordinating all 150+ volunteers that come help out at the race.

He joined our team in 2016 when he volunteered to manage the volunteers (ah the irony), and we don’t know where we’d be without him. Luckily he has a talent for jigsaws and email management, and he makes sure every role is filled and each aid station staffed. He’s also run the Monarch Pass aid station in 2017 and organizes the runner check-ins in the build up to the race.

After crossing the finish line at 2021, he managed to reduce Caleb - and the rest of the team - to blubbering tears.

Whitney Barrett - Medical Director

Whitney is a multi-sport wizard, and she splits her time between Xterra’s, trail running, skiing, and mountain biking. She’s won many races despite working as the Medical Director for the Denver Paramedics - the busiest EMS service in Colorado. In 2021, Whitney moved to Albuquerque with her husband Kevin and two pups to take over the Medical Director role for the university hospital.

Whitney joined the High Lonesome team two months before the 2017 High Lonesome, and she quite literally saved the race. Without her oversight, the race would have been denied a permit, but Whit joined up and dove straight in. Since then she’s overseen the entire medical component of the race, and she does an amazing job. Her diligence and thoroughness helps us take care of our runners at the highest level of care possible when you’re in the middle of nowhere without cell service and electricity.

In 2018, Whitney recruited Janetta (our Co-Medical Director). Rumor has it she told Janetta it was an office job. In 2021, Whitney took second place at the West Line Winder (a Freestone Endurance event) and likely would have had first if she hadn’t gotten distracted by a wild growth of hatch green chilis.

Jon Eisen - Communications Director

A 2018 High Lonesome finisher, Jon caught the ultrarunning bug in 2017 and hasn’t stopped since. Jon lives in Boulder, CO where he works as a programmer when he’s not plotting his Barkley’s attempt (hopefully 2023). It’s a good thing that Jon is a lover of suffering and computers, as they come hand in hand with being Communications Director. As Comms Director, Jon manages a dedicated team of volunteers who track runners throughout the race and make sure our teams can all communicate while deep in the mountains. On top of that, he trains the comms volunteers, builds out the hardware requirements for each aid station, and works tirelessly through the entire race to make sure we know where every single runner is.

According to unsubstantiated rumors, Jon sleeps with thorns in his bed so his dreams about rat jaw feel more realistic.

Zach King - Assistant Director of Anything

Zach started running ultras in 2012 and hasn’t looked back since. With five 100 milers under his belt, including a 3rd place finish at the 2019 High Lonesome, Zach is no slouch in the outdoors. He loves running, biking, skiing, doing tons of repairs on his house, and his wife Kate and dog Toby. Zach was the very first team member of the race, and has played a clutch jack-of-all-trades roll over the years. Whether it’s helping course mark, running aid stations, or being an ever-available sounding board, we wouldn’t be the race we are without Zach.

Zach is going for his second finish in 2022, which he believes will propel him into tiktok fame as a fitness instructor. His theme is body-pump for ultrarunners. Jane Fonda is rumored to be a heavy investor…

Kevin Smith - Assistant Communications Director