Bill Sycalik, avid trail runner and founder of the National Parks Marathon Project, is pictured here along the South Rim in Big Bend National Park in late February. Sycalik ran a 27.43-mile loop in the Chisos Mountains in under eight hours (by which we mean 7 hours, 42 minutes and 33.3 seconds, to be exact)/Big Bend Gazette

Editor's note: The following article by John Waters originally appeared in The Big Bend Gazette and is used here with permission.

Bill Sycalik is a man with a mission: Firstly, to run a 26.2-mile marathon in all 59 of the national parks in the U.S., and also to encourage as many people as he can to enjoy the outdoors and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Park Service.

After taking a ten-day meditation retreat at the end of 2015, the 45-year-old management consultant decided to ditch his life in New York City (replete with an apartment that afforded views of the Manhattan skyline) and to hit the road last spring.

Corporate America just wasn’t doing it anymore for the Delaware native, who wanted to “take a break and do something to get me outdoors and see some of the most amazing places in the United States — and, indeed, the world.”

The now-“recovering” management consultant founded the National Parks Marathon Project and has been trail-running parks since the spring of 2016.

Late last month, Sycalik took to the trails in Big Bend National Park. Although the park has many miles of relatively flat trails, the avid trail runner decided on those in the Chisos Mountains.

Starting in the Chisos Basin, Sycalik ran up the Pinnacles Trail to Boot Spring. “Ran up the Pinnacles Trail” is not a typo. Those of you who have hiked the trail know what an amazing feat this is. Sycalik then ran down the Juniper Canyon trail, back up to the Southwest Rim, and returned to the Basin via the Laguna Meadows Trail.

Averaging 3.54 miles per hour, Sycalik ran the 27.43-mile loop in seven hours and 42 minutes, with an elevation gain/loss of 6,300 feet.

Big Bend National Park surprised Sycalik, who said it was “more mountainous than expected.” He was also pleased that, as he gained elevation from the desert floor up into the mountains, “it gets a lot greener.” Running in the mountains also afforded the experienced trail-runner appealingly cooler temperatures as he ran during the heat of the day.

And although the park has healthy black bear and mountain lion populations, Sycalik did not encounter any of either of these park denizens. In Badlands National Park in South Dakota, Sycalik encountered a bighorn sheep herd, and at Wind Cave National Park (also in South Dakota), a herd of pronghorn.

After trail-running Big Bend, Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is next on Sycalik’s agenda. This spring, national parks in Florida are on tap, then more parks in Colorado and California.

Ready to run part or all of a marathon in a national park? Sycalik will run with you or meet you in a national park just to experience it with you and share your company. (Indeed, Sycalik invited this reporter to join him in Alaska later this year, an exciting prospect as I sit at a keyboard.)

“I want to inspire people to get out of their cars and see our national parks on the ground. Even if they don’t run, I hope people will at least do a long hike,” Sycalik said. “I want people to feel the healing and rejuvenating power found in our nation’s unspoiled wild spaces. By getting closer to nature, people will recognize why these places need to be protected.”

Seattle-area trailrunner Dana Notman was planning on running the 93-mile Wonderland Trail at Mount Rainier National Park with several friends last fall and met Sycalik through a local trail running store. She decided to run a marathon-length portion of the trail with him and was thrilled with the experience. Notman and friends hope to continue their run of the Wonderland Trail this summer.

Of running the portion of the trail from White River Campground to Cougar Rock Campground, Notman said, “We had a really good day. We got up high, climbed on some glaciers. Bill is doing a really cool thing and he’s a great guy. He loves running with people and wants to know everything about them. He’s very chatty.”

Notman said the two have become friends. “It’s very cool to spend time with Bill.”

When Sycalik is finished with his National Park Marathon Project, he may pursue work in project development for trail running gear companies, or seek to work as an inspirational public speaker, striving to motivate people towards the endless possibilities in life.

For more on how Bill Sycalik is making his adventurous dream a reality, check out his website: www.runningtheparks.com, which includes his whole schedule. To contact him directly, call 571-216-6147. You can also follow him on Instagram (@runningtheparks), Facebook (facebook.com/runningtheparks) and Twitter (@runtheparks). Engage using the hashtag #runningtheparks.