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Guest Q&A: Wesley Maxwell Read Time: 3 mins  Wesley Maxwell has been a very dear and long time friend of HPM and can typically be seen behind the lens capturing photos of all you beautiful humans at our events, Stoke Squad Meet ups, and more, but don't let the "behind the scenes" action fool you ... Wesley is a seasoned paddler and pedaler and as of the other weekend ... a runner? See how Wesley was "enabled" to register for his first running event in 10 years and how he destroyed his goal time at the Meck Mile!  Wesley and his well dressed wife Elizabeth Question: Give us the deets: Who you are, where your from, work, family, etc. Answer: My name is Wes Maxwell from a small town outside of Charlotte (Dallas, NC) and spent 39 years of my life there, until meeting the love of my life and getting married in April of 2024. I work at my alma-mater, UNC Charlotte, in the College of Engineering teaching and managing research and academic labs. I've spent over 10 years traveling around the country in my free time spending a lot of that time in Montana and Wyoming experiencing and photographing the world around me!  Packrafting and shooting along the Kobuk River (Northwestern Alaska) Question: How did you first connect with Human Powered Movement and what's your favorite part of the community? Answer: I got involved with HPM back in 2022, I had known Adam (Head Enabler) for a while and he reached out to see if I would shoot one of his very first events, the "Rocky River Shiver Mtn Bike Event". This was a no brainer as I love capturing moments of people doing what they love and pushing themselves beyond their limits! My favorite part of the community is connecting with new people that are stoked on life and this active outdoor lifestyle!  Deep turns at Whitefish Mountain Resort (Whitefish, MT) Question: What is your favorite human powered activity? Answer: Over the years I've enjoyed anything from downhill mtn biking, big mountain skiing, anything in whitewater! As of late, my favorite is being on the water! Question: What is your least favorite human powered activity? Answer: My least favorite is definitely running! Even as someone that played 6 years of soccer, running has never really agreed with me.  Portaging to the put-in (Scottish Highlands) Question: How did the Meck Mile come up in the first place and when did you last participate in a running event? Answer: When you invite the Head Enabler anywhere and there’s time for conversations, shenanigans and "encouragement" always come up. Sitting around a campfire on my 40th birthday, I never thought a running race, especially in the context of me running it, would come up. But when challenged to do something out of my comfort zone, I gotta give it a go! The last and only other race I did was a 5k way back in 2015.  Max Effort At the Meck Mile (Charlotte, NC) Question: How was your first training run in 10 years and what you felt like afterwards? Answer: Honestly, I only did 1 training run a few weeks before the Meck Mile. My wife and I walk several times a week but never running. I went on a run/walk just to see how I would feel, man it was painful! But it gave me a baseline, I was just under 15 mins so that was my goal for the race. I immediately texted Adam something along the lines of "Dang, this running thing is HARD!!" Question: What was your goal heading into Meck Mile and how did you do? Answer: First goal…keep moving, don’t die (or get hurt). Realistically based on the training (or lack thereof), I simply wanted to finish under 15 mins. With Adam running with me and obviously keeping the stoke sky high with some other friends on the route, I finished in 10:50!
Question: Did you get bitten by the running bug or happy to check the box and move on? Answer: I checked that box…time to get back on the water! Question: Any other human powered adventures on the horizon? Answer: I hear there might be another 7-11 slurpee ride being cooked up…
Question: What HPM event can the HPM community expect to see you next? Answer: I’ll be out at Psychoactive for sure!  The Man, The Myth, The (Wesley) Maxwell!  Journal - Max Effort at The Meck MileComments are closed.
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