Originally from Washington state, Trailblazer Carlie Graham is now in Southern California where she lives and attends college. When COVID hit, Carlie jumped into backpacking, climbing and mountaineering and hasn’t looked back since. Currently, she runs the climbing team at UC Irvine and is always looking for more ways to get involved in climate advocacy and increasing accessibility to outdoor recreation. Carlie will be the running the Oregon Cascade 100 – so more girls can chase big dreams.
Connect with Carlie on instagram at @_carlie_g
Donate to her campaign here: Carlie’s fundraiser
I love talking with audacious people. Those who set big goals, try scary things, fail often, and trailblaze opportunities. I first learned to be audacious while in the outdoors. Particularly as a woman, audacity has helped me speak up for myself, build confidence and believe that I can take on scary things – like running 100 miles.
Audacity: Why we Need to Share our Stories
Audacity is the willingness to take bold risks
For me, right now, audacity looks like fundraising even though I am nervous to ask for donations. It looks like making all of my goals and dreams for this race extremely public and even posting my tracking link. It means running 100 miles even though I can hardly comprehend that as a possibility.
Running 100 miles is audacious. So is running your first 5k, coming back from an injury, or chasing records. All of these things are deeply inspiring but they need to be talked about in order for it to materialize as inspiring.
So, let’s talk about it. Here are three reasons we should be more vocal about our dreams, goals, and what we’re doing to get there
1. Audacious honesty makes the outdoors more accessible
I recently had a very hard run – it wasn’t that the run was hard, I was just tired, slow, hot and didn’t feel like running. Instead of titling this run “zone 2 super easy” and turning my heart rate data off to please the Strava bros, I left it as is and even mentioned it to my friend that evening. As I complained, she seemed to be shocked that I struggled so hard.
She thought that because I’ve been running for a bit I don’t struggle anymore. She had no idea that even the professionals (not me) have runs that make them regret putting on their shoes that morning. By sharing both our lows and highs, we normalized the fact that everyone experiences this roller coaster and that ultimately makes the sport feel more approachable and accessible to anyone who wants to try.
2. Audacious vulnerability teaches us to accept and appreciate failure
I grew up uncomfortable with the idea of failing or, even worse, letting others know that I had failed. If I had a goal I wasn’t 100% confident in, I would keep it to myself and, then, if I didn’t succeed, no one would know.
For my first fundraiser down to Pico de Orizaba last year, I was chasing the biggest athletic goal of my career and pushing my dreams toward the biggest stage I could. This was absolutely terrifying and I had never felt so many eyes on me before. Well… I failed, technically.
I had announced to the world that we could complete this route. I put in exorbitant time, money, and effort, and ultimately it kind of looked like we never stood a chance.
So, what happened?
I received continued support, had a successful fundraiser, and the process of planning and going for this dream of mine positively and permanently changed my life. Now in my day to day, failure scares me less; I route a lot of this back to the audacity that I’ve built chasing uncertain dreams and TELLING people about them!
3. Audacious failures inspire others
I want to be able to put myself completely out there and fail. I want to put my rawest self on full display and fall flat on my face. Why? Because watching others give their passion their all is what inspired me to even try running in the first place. I’ve watched people I look up to fall flat on their face, brush it off, and tell me it’s alright. This person that inspires can be all of us.
Create Community through Audacity
Personally, I have found incredible value through chasing objectives slightly out of reach. Being open about my objectives and sharing them with others has taught me new levels of vulnerability and deepened my ties to my community.
So if you want to be a little more audacious, start small (or don’t). Audacity doesn’t have to mean running 100 miles or chasing a world record. Be intentional about sharing your goals, dreams, hopes and failures with your loved ones.
Talk through your losses and come back swinging!
Celebrate your wins and TELL others about them!
Find people that inspire you and remember that you are someone else’s inspiration. Whatever it looks like for you—share it.
If this resonates with you and you are able, donate to Carlie’s campaign here: Carlie’s fundraiser.
Carlie Graham
Originally from Washington state, Carlie is pursuing a career in finance while staying deeply connected to the outdoors. She got into backpacking, climbing, and mountaineering during the early days of COVID and hasn’t looked back since. Carlie previously led the climbing team at UCI and remains passionate about making outdoor recreation more financially and socially accessible through community-based groups.