Fred Zalokar, marathoner who took on mountains, is discovered lifeless in Yosemite

By Neil Vigdor
An completed endurance athlete who competed in ultramarathons and listed summiting a number of of the world’s tallest mountains amongst his feats was discovered lifeless this week in Yosemite National Park in California, the National Park Service mentioned.
The hiker, Fred Zalokar, had been lacking since Saturday, in keeping with park officers, who mentioned his physique was recovered by park rangers Tuesday close to the summit of Mount Clark, a granite peak that rises greater than 11,500 toes.
The Park Service didn’t instantly say how Zalokar, 61, had died, however a longtime buddy, Sean Crom, mentioned in an interview Thursday that Zalokar had fallen. An post-mortem will not be scheduled till subsequent week, in keeping with a consultant for the Mariposa County sheriff and coroner.
Zalokar, who was from Reno, Nevada, went on a day hike Saturday utilizing an off-trail route and didn’t return, park officers mentioned. He was reported lacking Sunday.
Crom, who first met Zalokar about 35 years in the past whereas coaching for a 100-mile ultramarathon, mentioned that that they had climbed mountains collectively all around the world and that his buddy was fearless.
“Fred would be the one to climb up on the technical part and throw a rope down to the rest of us,” mentioned Crom, who climbed Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, the very best level within the Americas, with Zalokar, and Mont Blanc on the border of France and Italy.

The household of Zalokar, who was a husband and father, mentioned Thursday that it was not ready to remark.
His demise set off an outpouring of tributes to Zalokar, who was well-known within the spheres of aggressive working and mountaineering.
At age 55, Zalokar ran the New York City Marathon in 2 hours, 43 minutes, 10 seconds in 2015, ending first in his age group, in keeping with official information. In 2011, he completed the Boston Marathon in 2:34:52, the quickest time within the 50-54 age bracket.
According to his web site, he was the primary runner to win his age group in all six Abbott World Marathon Majors, that are in New York, Boston, Chicago, London, Berlin and Tokyo. He had additionally competed in marathons on each continent, together with Antarctica, the place, his web site mentioned, he completed first in February 1999 in simply over 3:45.
“When I heard about the Antarctica Marathon in 1998, I thought, ‘Hey, I could do that!’” Zalokar mentioned on his web site.
He mentioned that the marathon was extra sensible and value lower than attempting to climb the Vinson Massif, the very best peak in Antarctica and one of many Seven Summits, the nickname for the tallest mountains on every continent.
According to his web site, he had summited no less than 4 of them — Aconcagua (South America), Denali (North America), Kilimanjaro (Africa) and Elbrus (Europe). A fifth, Kosciusko, is taken into account by some because the tallest mountain in Australia.
“He didn’t make it up Mount Everest, but he tried it,” Crom mentioned.
Zalokar’s web site is a cross between a scrapbook and a catalog of his feats. On one web page is an inventory of the nations that he mentioned he had visited, 137 in all, from Azerbaijan to Zimbabwe. There are images of him rappelling down a granite mountain face, standing with arms raised on a sand dune in Namibia and, in fact, working.
“He was very adventurous,” Crom mentioned. “He’d kind of pick a goal and go after it hard.”
From ascending each mountain over 14,000 toes in California to exploring the tallest volcanoes in Mexico, Zalokar would examine off the peaks that he had summited on his web site. It’s often known as “peak bagging,” mentioned Crom, who defined that it was common for Zalokar to hike on a mountain by himself.
“We don’t know yet if he made it to the top of the mountain,” he mentioned of Mount Clark, noting that park rangers would most definitely examine a log e book on the summit. “Fred always signs into the log book.”