Mission attempt by Laura Hardin
"I'm running Wildwood end-to-end as a love letter to Forest Park and a thank you to Forest Park Conservancy. Every dollar raised goes directly to supporting the trails."
47 Donors and Counting
Funding Milestones
I'm running Wildwood end-to-end, all 30 winding miles of it, and it feels less like a race and more like a love letter.
Forest Park hasn't just been a backdrop to my nearly 20 years in Portland. It's been a character. I learned this city on these trails. I've trained for countless races here. I healed (and hurt) my postpartum body, introducing baby Cleo and Tully to the wonders of naturebathing. I've celebrated birthdays and birth announcements, grieved losses, tested big goals, and been humbled by my own body — all out on these trails.
This place has seen me strong and not strong. It's held all of it.
I love city life, the lattes, the music, the density, but I don't think Portland would be home without this. More than 5,000 acres of ferns, moss, deep shadows, owls, coyotes, banana slugs. A wild preserve ten minutes from my door. I don't want rural. I don't want cement. I want both. Forest Park makes that possible.
And we don't have it by accident.
The Forest Park Conservancy stewards these trails, restores habitat, and protects the thing that quietly makes this city livable. So I'm running Wildwood end to end as a small thank you for all the incredible work FPC does. If this park has ever held you too — on a hike, a run, a hard day or a good day — and you'd like to join me in supporting it, I'd be grateful.