Though she’s left an impressive mark on Alaska’s running community — setting course records in the Resurrection Pass 100-miler, the White Mountains 100, and more — Meg Inokuma isn’t focused on competition or speed. An unassuming mountain runner with an impressive amount of endurance, Inokuma doesn’t wear a running watch or track her splits. Instead, she is motivated by exploration, movement, and enjoying the view.
Originally from Japan, Inokuma first visited Alaska at age seven. She quickly fell in love with its vast landscapes and mountains and developed a lifelong dream to move to the state. Though she initially hoped to become a mountaineering ranger, it was fieldwork with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service that brought her to Kodiak in 2008 after earning her Master’s of Forestry. After a stint of seasonal work and earning a second master’s degree at UAF, she moved to the Matanuska Valley, where she grew interested in peak bagging. Now a full-time Palmer resident, Inokuma balances her career as a biology statistician with a passion for the nearby mountains.
Inokuma says she has liked running for “as long as she can remember”. She competed on the track team in middle school and a bike racing team in undergraduate school in Japan. But at various points in her life, the demands of academics and holding multiple low-wage jobs pushed exercise to the sidelines. Shortly after moving to Palmer, she encountered a new challenge: her physical wellness was not keeping up with her mental desire to be in the mountains.
“I noticed that my body was not right,” she says. “I assumed that because I was in school and studying 20 hours a day, I was out of shape.” But she soon learned that she was severely anemic, with a hemoglobin level below the critical level. At some points, she was barely able to walk across the room. It took significant time and effort to recover. “My blood level was slowly getting back to normal, and that’s when I started racing,” she says. “I don’t take my good health for granted. So when I do race, I want to give it 100%.”
Around 2020, Inokuma started racing seriously. She quickly fell in love with the running community, developing friendships and relationships with experienced racers who stepped into mentorship roles. During the 2021 Equinox Marathon in Fairbanks, Inokuma considered dropping out of the race due to a knee injury, but decided to push through. Just when she felt like giving up, Susanna Rivard passed her on the course. “She could tell that I was struggling. She cheered me on, and that was so touching,” Inokuma recalls. “She was like, ‘Come on girl, we’ll break a record!’” The two went on to place third and fourth, breaking the previous course record alongside Anna Dalton and Megan Younger.
Inokuma says the winter running community is perhaps even more close-knit. Her first ultramarathon was the Susitna 100, a winter wilderness race that traverses frozen rivers, swamps, and trails. “Anybody who finishes a 100-miler is amazing, no matter how long it takes,” she says. “It’s just encouraging, and everybody helps everybody.” Now with years of racing behind her, Inokuma shares her knowledge with newer runners, especially about winter racing. Through her work with the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group, she’s also helped bridge the mountain rescue and running communities. Previously focused mainly on climbing and mountaineering, AMRG now supports safety at races like Crazy Lazy and Bird Ridge.
Despite her impressive record, Inokuma doesn’t train obsessively. She still works full time as a statistician and takes her daily lunch break to hike Lazy Mountain. That balance, and her humility, seem to be part of her success. She holds the fastest women’s times for the Front Range Linkup, the White Mountain 100, the Resurrection Pass 50-miler and 100-miler, the Tanana River 50, and the Indian Creek 50 in Colorado.
Looking ahead, her goals revolve around expanding her mountain experience and exploring new places. She has climbed 99 of the peaks on the “Chugach 120” list, though she doesn’t see finishing it as a rigid target. “Its easier to come up with an idea of where to go,” she says with a laugh. “But if the weather is better in Kenai or Talkeetna, I go there. I just want to see new peaks and new views.”
Emily Sullivan is a photographer and writer focused on outdoor recreation, environmental wellness, and community empowerment. She is based on Dena’ina lands, where she can usually be found skiing, packrafting, or berry picking.
