Fall 2012 - Balance Magazine
His passion for running has been fueled by his four-legged best friend. McMurtrey, an administrative supervisor for Washington State University’s writing program, has a high-energy dog named Sadie who never says no to hitting the trails. “I know that no matter how much I love to run, I’ll never be able to match the excitement she gets from running every single day. She can tell the difference between my work shoes and running shoes.”
“For me, running is my alone time and I cherish those moments,” he says. “It also allows me to drink more beer and eat more chocolate chip cookies.”
____________________________________
Jun 18, 2011 -
____________________________________
Mar 21, 2011 -
____________________________________
Mar 7, 2011 - Scott Takes on the Atacama Desert
theultralete.com
A short interview about my upcoming run across the Atacama Desert.
____________________________________
Jan 12, 2011 - Running Challenge Inspires Confidence
WSU Today - Pullman, WA
excerpt:
"Join the Army, see the world," says the longtime recruitment slogan. WSU's Scott McMurtrey did and, while he's no longer in the military, seeing the world - particularly while running - remains his passion.
"Join the Army, see the world," says the longtime recruitment slogan. WSU's Scott McMurtrey did and, while he's no longer in the military, seeing the world - particularly while running - remains his passion.
"People go on hikes in the mountains and it can take all day to hike 10 miles. But you can see much more if you're running," he said.
Seeing - and running - much more looms on McMurtrey's horizon. In March, he will travel to Chile's Atacama Desert to run a 150 mile (250 km) race. ...more
____________________________________
Dec 15, 2010 - A Run Across Idaho
Washington State Magazine - Pullman, WA
A cool interactive piece on my run across the state of Idaho in a single day.
____________________________________
Aug 28, 2010 - WSU alumnus runs ultra-marathons
The Daily Evergreen - Pullman, WA
excerpt:
Ultra-marathoner Scott McMurtrey, a WSU alumnus, began running three years ago and has not been able to stop. He ran 93 miles across the lower Idaho panhandle on Saturday in preparation for the Atacama Desert Crossing this March in Chile — a race that spans 250 kilometers across the driest desert in the world and is completed in six stages. McMurtrey decided to run across Idaho nearly a month ago after returning from a run through St. Joe National Forest. “I got back, and I was like 'I just went on this 25-mile-stretch across Idaho,’ and one of my friends just jokingly said, ‘Why don’t you try and run all the way across Idaho?’” McMurtrey said. “And I was like, 'Oh, that sounds like a good idea.'" ...more
____________________________________
May 28, 2010 - ORHS Grad Takes Aim at Atacama Desert Ultramarathon
The Villager - The Woodlands, TX
excerpt: 
From the lava flows and glaciers of Iceland to the Valley of a Thousand Hills in South Africa, Scott McMurtrey has run ultramarathons the world over.
His next big test will present a new challenge, though: 250 kilometers through Chile’s Atacama Desert, the world’s driest climate.
McMurtrey, a 1996 graduate of Oak Ridge High School who now lives in Washington state, recently began fundraising so he can enter the Atacama Crossing, a six-stage, seven-day race that’s one leg of the 4 Deserts endurance series, a quartet of 250-km — or 155.3-mile — ultramarathons in the driest, hottest (Sahara Race in Egypt), windiest (Gobi March in China) and coldest (The Last Desert in Antarctica) deserts on Earth.
“That’s my goal, to eventually do (all four),” McMurtrey, 32, said. “If I can do this first one, if I can raise some money, if I can get some support behind me to do that, then the goal would be to do the other three." ...more
____________________________________
May 11, 2010 - Ultramarathon Man: Running is Spiritual for Pullman's Scott McMurtrey
Moscow-Pullman Daily News - Moscow, ID
(front page image)
excerpt:
He and his border collie mix, Sadie, might get five or six miles in on a weekday after work.
They love to spend weekends running some of the 50 miles of trails on Moscow Mountain.
Once, they ran from Pullman to Troy - and back.
McMurtrey took a vacation to New Mexico recently just to run. He's run up mountains and across deserts and through chest-deep rivers.
He runs for miles and miles and miles.
Running is something spiritual for McMurtrey - even though that's an idea he used to laugh at. It's a way to be free and connect with his body.
"I don't run with an iPod," he said. "I like hearing my feet hit the ground and I like hearing my breathing and I like hearing things around me." ...more
____________________________________
