Michelino Sunseri climbed past boulders on his way to a record-breaking feat: The extreme runner reached the summit of Grand Teton, one of the highest mountains in the US West, and then rushed back down, all in less than three hours.
However, the US National Park Service did not celebrate. Instead, it charged him with a crime.
Sunseri was found guilty of a misdemeanor for spending just two minutes during the run on a prohibited trail in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming.
Photo: Michelino Sunseri via AP
The remarkable solo triumph last year has been overshadowed by his legal saga. “Free Michelino” stickers are on posts and benches in Jackson, Wyoming. Sunseri’s supporters, including members of the US Congress, are appalled by what they consider to be a glaring example of excessive enforcement by the government.
However, Sunseri, 33, might be getting a break.
His lawyer, Alex Rienzie, said prosecutors have agreed to seek a dismissal if the runner completes 60 hours of community service and a course on wilderness stewardship.
Photo: AP
A judge on Tuesday expressed concern about the shift and still would need to sign off. Another hearing was set for Nov. 18.
“It is an evolution of what is right and was made to preserve prosecutive and judicial resources, while upholding the best interests of the public and the justice system,” the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming said.
Sunseri said he is hopeful for a “rational and reasonable agreement” that puts the matter behind him.
Prosecutors in May insisted on pressing ahead with a two-day trial, despite a lack of support from officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration.
Joey Wilson of Salt Lake City, an ultramarathoner who designs training programs for athletes, said the significance of Sunseri’s achievement sometimes gets lost.
“It’s an unbelievable thing that he accomplished — world class,” Wilson said.
Sunseri defended himself by saying he took the same route as many previous record holders on Grand Teton, including Kilian Jornet, one of the world’s greatest mountain athletes, in 2012, without any blowback from the Park Service.
He set out on Sept. 2 last year, sharing the mountain with Labor Day holiday hikers. The path starts flat and wide before becoming extremely rocky on the way up.
“There are boulders the size of small houses,” said Wilson, whose father was a park ranger. “You’ve got to use your hands. If your hands were to pop off in a couple of places, you’re going to fall a long way down.”
On his way down, shirtless and wearing a hat backwards, he made a split-second decision that would later land him in court: He left a switchback to avoid casual hikers and possible injury, taking a path known as the Old Climber’s Trail for two minutes.
“I was ahead of pace,” said Sunseri, who had trained by running the mountain more than 40 times. “I knew I was going to get the record regardless of which trail I took. I didn’t want to be yelling at people to get out of my way.”
Later, Sunseri dropped to his knees in exhaustion at the base of the mountain. He had set a new fastest-known time on Grand Teton of 2 hours, 50 minutes, 50 seconds.
He had run 21.4km, while gaining an elevation of 2,133m on his way up the mountain. The summit rests at 4,198m.
“I was stoked,” he said. “It’s one of those things where every single thing has to go right — and everything did go right.”
Sunseri wrote about his epic run on social media. Those words doomed him. Federal investigators used search warrants to get access to the posts, which led to a misdemeanor charge of shortcutting a designated trail in the national park.
Because of the court case, Sunseri’s performance on Grand Teton is not being recognized by fastestknowntime.com, a Web site for the best times on routes considered to have remarkable scenery or historical and cultural value around the world.
US Representative Andy Biggs is sponsoring a bill that would make willful intent a requirement for prosecuting certain crimes such as Sunseri’s trail-cutting misdemeanor.
He called the case a “prime example of the problem of overcriminalization.”
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