Like many Americans, Pete started running to lose weight. During college, he tipped the scale at 200 lbs and set a goal to complete a marathon, something he thought he would never do - the Marine Corp Marathon while he was interning in Washington, DC.

Shortly thereafter back at college in Ames, Iowa, Pete met his future wife who inspired him to start running again (after she beat him on their first run together), and to qualify for the Boston Marathon, which he did in 2009 and ran in 2010. After getting burnt out on road marathons, Pete was still thirsty for more.

He ran his first "ultra" in 2011, and met Marshall Ulrich at the Pikes Peak Marathon that year after also running Rim 2 Rim 2 Rim. Pete was hooked, and after reading his book about running across America several times, he couldn't look back.