Fred Zalokar, marathoner who took on mountains, is located useless in Yosemite

Through Neil Vigdor

An achieved staying power athlete who competed in ultramarathons and indexed summiting a number of of the sector’s tallest mountains amongst his feats was once discovered useless this week in Yosemite Nationwide Park in California, the Nationwide Park Carrier stated.

The hiker, Fred Zalokar, were lacking since Saturday, in keeping with park officers, who stated his frame was once recovered by way of park rangers Tuesday close to the summit of Mount Clark, a granite height that rises greater than 11,500 toes.

The Park Carrier didn’t right away say how Zalokar, 61, had died, however an established good friend, Sean Crom, stated in an interview Thursday that Zalokar had fallen. An post-mortem isn’t scheduled till subsequent week, in keeping with a consultant for the Mariposa County sheriff and coroner.

Zalokar, who was once from Reno, Nevada, went on an afternoon hike Saturday the usage of an off-trail direction and didn’t go back, park officers stated. He was once reported lacking Sunday.

Crom, who first met Zalokar about 35 years in the past whilst coaching for a 100-mile ultramarathon, stated that that they had climbed mountains in combination in all places the sector and that his good friend was once fearless.

“Fred will be the one to climb up at the technical section and throw a rope all the way down to the remainder of us,” stated Crom, who climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the easiest level within the Americas, with Zalokar, and Mont Blanc at the border of France and Italy.

The circle of relatives of Zalokar, who was once a husband and father, stated Thursday that it was once no longer ready to remark.

His loss of life activate an outpouring of tributes to Zalokar, who was once widely recognized within the spheres of aggressive operating and mountain mountaineering.

At age 55, Zalokar ran the New York Town Marathon in 2 hours, 43 mins, 10 seconds in 2015, completing first in his age crew, in keeping with authentic information. In 2011, he completed the Boston Marathon in 2:34:52, the quickest time within the 50-54 age bracket.

Consistent with his site, he was once the primary runner to win his age crew in all six Abbott Global Marathon Majors, that are in New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. He had additionally competed in marathons on each and every continent, together with Antarctica, the place, his site stated, he completed first in February 1999 in simply over 3:45.

“Once I heard concerning the Antarctica Marathon in 1998, I assumed, ‘Howdy, I may just do this!’” Zalokar stated on his site.

He stated that the marathon was once simpler and price lower than looking to climb the Vinson Massif, the easiest height in Antarctica and one of the vital Seven Summits, the nickname for the tallest mountains on each and every continent.

Consistent with his site, he had summited no less than 4 of them — Aconcagua (South The us), Denali (North The us), Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Elbrus (Europe). A 5th, Kosciusko, is thought of as by way of some because the tallest mountain in Australia.

“He didn’t make it up Mount Everest, however he attempted it,” Crom stated.

Zalokar’s site is a go between a scrapbook and a catalog of his feats. On one web page is an inventory of the international locations that he stated he had visited, 137 in all, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe. There are footage of him rappelling down a granite mountain face, status with fingers raised on a sand dune in Namibia and, after all, operating.

“He was once very adventurous,” Crom stated. “He’d more or less select a purpose and cross after it arduous.”

From ascending each and every mountain over 14,000 toes in California to exploring the tallest volcanoes in Mexico, Zalokar would take a look at off the peaks that he had summited on his site. It’s referred to as “height bagging,” stated Crom, who defined that it was once no longer atypical for Zalokar to hike on a mountain by way of himself.

“We don’t know but if he made it to the highest of the mountain,” he stated of Mount Clark, noting that park rangers would in all probability take a look at a log e-book on the summit. “Fred at all times indicators into the log e-book.”