Compiled by Todd McMahon. List may not be 100% accurate. I may have missed someone that has more than one completion, etc. People on the list are people that I have hiked with, or people fairly well known in the hiking community. Some of them may be people that just post often on the Thousand Miler Wannabes Facebook page, etc.
This page should help you figure out what number you are if you have hiked the IAT. It should be noted that numbers can change, especially at the bottom of the list. This is caused by people who are slow turning in their paperwork.
The full list of Thousand Milers is located on the Ice Age Trail website here: list of 1000 milers
1. Jim Staudacher (First Completion)
First person to hike the Ice Age Trail after reading about it in a magazine. Hiked
the trail during the summer when he was attending Marquette University. He delivered the
keynote address at the Ice Age Trail Conference within the last few years. An article about
him appears here: Jim Staudacher Looks Back: 40 Years After the First Thru-hike Never met.
2. Harry Gensler SJ
Jesuit Priest who likes hiking. Has since been located in the Southwestern Part of the
United States and has been hiking extensively down there. Has a website with tons of photos
located here: www.harryhiker.com Never met.
3. Sally Waraczynski (First Female Completion, First Section Hiker, tied)
4. Ken Waraczynski (First Section Hiker, tie)
A couple from Greenfield, Wisconsin. It appears that Ken died in 2020
His obit says he was a volunteer with the Ice Age Trail and Wehr Nature Center.
His obituary can be seen here: Ken Waracynski Never met
5. Tim Malzhan
Longtime director of Trail Operations for the Ice Age Trail Alliance. He is responsible
for building much of the trail as we see it today, including many structures like boardwalks
and bridges. He now has his own Trail Consulting Business called Trail Eyes. Has recently
consulted with the Superior Hiking Trail about fixing their trouble spots. Is featured
in this SHT Ridgeline Article: Trail Eyes Article
8. Mark Vincent
9. Kathy Vincent (First Thru hike by a female, tie)
10. Alison Vincent (First Thru hike by a female, tie, Youngest Completion, age 2)
A couple thru hiked the Ice Age Trail in 1997 with their 2 year old daughter. Kathy has
recently done a presentation at a virtual Trailtessa event. Never met.
21. Sharon Dziengel
Well known presenter and Volunteer at the IATA conferences. Had the fastest time (50 days)
for a female before Melanie McManus beat it at 36 days. But the fact that Sharon had the
fastest time for a woman was someting that Melanie figured out. I don’t think Sharon
was hiking it to get the fastest time. A few years ago Sharon did a hike of just the
bifurcations. I haven’t heard of anybody else doing that. She has also hiked Appalachian Trail,
the Continental Divide Trail and the Pacific Crest Trail (hiking’s Triple Crown) She has
contributed to several publications of the IATA including the Databook.
24. Luke Kloberdanz
Longtime employee with the Ice Age Trail Alliance. He currently is the Director of Philanthorpy.
So, if you have an endowment, etc that you’d like the IATA to receive, contact Luke. I did a little
interview with Luke at the 2016 Fall Colors Run located here: Luke at the FCL
25 Pat Witkowski
Longtime volunteer with the Milwaukee/Waukesha Chapter. Founder of the Blazin Babes, a group
of lady volunteers that paint blazes on trees all over the Ice Age Trail. Was the IATA Spirit Stick
Award Winner in 2017. Here is an article about it: Pat Spirit Stick
36. Ed Talone (Hiked the NCT, also)
Ed Talone is a hiking machine. Avid hiker who has worked for the American Hiking
Society and volunteers for the Florida Trail. Has done over 60,000 miles of hiking
including the North Country Trail, Appalachian Trail and Pacific Crest Trail.
It appears he may be hiking the 4600 mile NCT for a second time. Here is an article
about him in 2020: Ed Talone Valley City Article Never met.
40. Jason Dorgan (Fastest Completion at that time)
In 2007 Jason set what is considered the first fastest known time on
the Ice Age Trail of 22 days and 6 hours. That time held up until
Annie Weiss broke the record in 2018. Jason ran to raise money for the
Ice Age Trail, and he still is seen at some IATA events. Just before Covid
I was volunteering at a buckthorn clearing event with Jason at the new Ice Age Property
between Madison and Cross Plains. Previously we staffed the Fall Colors Run
together and I did a short interview with him about Annie Weiss’s Record Run.
He was very prophetic in the interview saying the record would be broken again
The interview starts at the 2:50 mark in this video: Jason Dorgan Fall Colors Run
46. Mark Cook
47. Wayne Prior (1st completion)
Mark and Wayne were hiking buddies who complete the Ice Age Trail together.
They decided to hike the IAT a second time but Mark died and Wayne continued
on hiking. Wayne received a little bottle of Mark’s ashes from Mark’s wife, and on every hike thereafter
he would say a prayer for Mark and spread some of his ashes on the trail. Mark was
a revered Professor of Animal Sciences at UW Madison with several patents to his name.
Wayne is an engineer that still works on some engineering project even though he
is over 70. Wayne came and hiked with me on my 2nd completion hike.
See Wayne talk about Mark in my video here near the beginning: Wayne at My Completion Hike
55. Chet Anderson
Avid hiker logging over 10,000 miles in ten years. Chet also was highly involved
with the Indianhead Chapter of the IATA and became a crew chief for the Mobile
Skills Crew. He was known for help developing the Trade River Segment
Here is a Minneapolis Star/Tribune article about him: 10,000 miles
and here is a IATA post about him getting the Trail Stewardship Award: Chet’s Award
I had called him to do a shuttle for me, but he was out hiking and his son
ended up doing the shuttle. His trail name was the Grey Ghost. Chet died in 2020
57. Jim Brenner (1st Completion)
Jim is best known in Ice Age Trail circles as the first person to hike the
IAT twice. He lives near Cornell, Wisconsin area where he has been active
in volunteering in the Chippewa Moraine Chapter. In 2012 he received the
“In the Mud” Award from the IATA and in 2017 he received the 1000 hours
of service recognition by the National Park Service. I had heard that Jim
had set out to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, but I never heard whether he
completed it. He did shuttle me one time when I was hiking near Otter Lake.
58. Dave Caliebe
Dave is a longtime employee of the Ice Age Trail Alliance. His position is
the Trail Program Manager who works with the trail volunteers to make
sure the trail is being built and maintained properly. The stories that I heard
about Dave were that when he thru hiked the trail, he would end up at a
Tavern or Bar at the end of the day and ask the owner if he could sleep on
the floor. Dave takes a lot of photos that are used on the IATA website
and publications
70. Meredith (Eb) Eberhart (Completed all National Scenic Trails)
In 2021 Eb became the oldest person to hike the Appalachian Trail.
Read an article about it here: Nimble completes AT
His website is located here: nimblewillnomad.com
When he hiked the IAT, I met Nimblewill in Portage and took him out to
see the Aldo Leopold Shack. Eb really interested interested in history having
hiked several National Historic Trails and he is also very much an environmentalist,
so he really liked seeing the Aldo Leopold Shack.
77. Cheryl Gorsuch
Active in the Lakeshore Chapter where she leads hikes and been a trail
angel to hikers like those participating in the Wounded Warrior Hikes.
80. Dale Cardwell
Trail Volunteer and Maintainer for the Superior Lobe Chapter. He was
instrumental in doing a reroute in the very soggy Grassy Lake segment.
He attended one of my Presentations at the Midwest Mountaineering
Outdoor Adventure Expo and helped answer some hiker questions.
82. Will Luedtke
Will can be seen in my Film “Tman’s Ice Age Trail Hikes.”
His most memorable scene in the movie is when he got his car stuck in the snow
on Saddlebag Lake Road. He has been hiking all over the country from the Florida
Trail to Pictured Rocks. We hiked together several times and probably did over 200
miles together. Will met my good friend Bernard Gallenburg (who also was in the film)
when we were hiking. Will has a wonderful wife from the Philipines named Gloria.
She is a good photographer and collects old cameras. (that’s a different story)
Gloria became good friends with Bernard’s girlfriend Dalyn, also from the Philipines.
To make a long story short, it ended up that Gloria was the Maid of Honor at
Bernard and Dalyn’s Wedding.
87. Melanie McManus (1st Completion)
Melanie is the first woman to complete the Ice Age Trail twice.
She is a writer and on her second hike she wrote a book called
“Thousand Miler.” Now she is hiking Trails in all the State Parks.
Don’t know if she is writing a book about it. Plus she has been
hiking every National Scenic Trail. Don’t know if she is writing
a book about that. We have been on a panel discussion together.
She has a website located here: The Thousand Miler
90. Jared Wildenradt (1st Completion)
Jared is another hiking machine like Ed Talone, Chet Anderson and Eb Eberhardt.
Jared is the first person with a 3rd completion, 4th completion,
fifth completion and Sixth Completion. Over the past few years he
has been active in trail maintenance in the Kettlebowl Segment of
Langlade County. He can be seen in my movie “Tman’s Ice Age Trail Hikes.”
Recently, Jared has been watching the real estate listings in Landglade County
and alerting the IATA when there is a property for sale in the IAT corridor.
91. Tess Mulrooney
Tess and I hiked together several times while I was completing the trail for
for the first time. It was on some group hikes of 5 or 6 people. I remember we
did the Kettlebowl to Veteran’s County Park (Jack Lake) and she was also in
on a hike of the Harrison Hills. She has been active in the Dane County Chapter
of the IATA. She’s in “the best photo of the Ice Age Trail I ever did”
93. Matt Kaufmann
Matt was formerly employed by the Ice Age Trail Alliance. But then he quit to
go back to school and get a degree in Business Adminstration: Non Profits.
Not sure where he ended up. If someone could give me an update, that would be great.
95. Gail Piotrowski
Hiked with her a quite a bit during my first completion. She is a retired librarian from Wausau.
She is featured in my film “Tman’s Ice Age Trail Hikes.” Her most memorable scene was the one
that we were hiking in the hot sun near Westfield, Wisconsin. It was so bright and hot that she
was sunburn through her pants.
96. Jim Brenner (First person with 2nd Completion)
See Number 57
97. Kassie Kolden
She completed the trail with her boyfriend Sean Quinn. They eventually got
married and then divorced, so I really don’t know how to handle that. We
are still friends on Facebook but she rarely posts anything. She really loves animals.
My Favorite video of Kassie is one where we were hiking down a road in Waushara
County and we see a St Bernard owned by a guy named Willie. It’s a video from
2013 and I’m not sure if I have ever have published it. I had to reach far into
my vault of video files to find it. Here it is: Kassie and the St Bernards
98. Sean Quinn
Hiked the trail from one end to the other, in sequence, but they were day hikers.
In other words, they would hike the trail on one weekend and pick up where they
left off the next weekend. We hiked together in Waushara County and also in the
Barron, Burnett and Washburn County Areas. Sean and I still are connected on Facebook
where we did commentary on the Corey Woltering Run, and we are usually chatting
with each other on election night.
102. Betty Schraith
Hiked together on several group hikes including her completion hike on the Milwaukee
River Segment north of West Bend. She had been volunteering with the Milwaukee/Waukesha Chapter.
103. David Georgson
104 Jean Georgson
We didn’t hike together but we completed on the same year so I got to know
this husband and wife team. They do volunteering with the Milwaukee/Waukesha Chapter of the IATA
105. Rachel Riehle
Rachel volunteers with the Central Moraines Chapter and has helped out on Mobile Skills Crew events.
She shuttled me one time between Poplar Lane near Hatley to Sportsman Drive Trailhead on the
Plover River Segment. She can be seen at the 39.40 mark of this video: Mid Sept Hikes 2018
106 Jo Swanson
Known as the hiker with the “someday” in her name: Jo “Someday” Swanson. Previously, she hiked several
other trails including the Great Eastern Trail, Appalachian Trail and Tahoe Rim Trail. She had her Dream Job
of working for the Superior Hiking Trail. But on December 3, 2021, she quit her dream job and is selling
her house in Two Harbors. She plans to do the Foothills Trail (SC-NC), the Bartham Trail (NC – GA) and
the Continental Divide Trail (NM – MT) in 2022 and beyond. Her website is located here: Someday Adventures.
Evidently, someday is today.
107. Dan Rambo
Known as Scatman because he always was on the hunt for animal droppings when hiking. His hiker presentation at the
IAT Conference was all photos of animal scat he had located. I did a hike with him from Packwaukee to Westfield
with about 6 people. He became a crew leader for the Mobile Skills Crew.
108 Todd McMahon (1st Completion)
That would be me. Besides doing the Ice Age Trail Twice, I have do the whole 800 miles of the
North Country Trail in Minnesota and almost all of the 220 miles of the NCT in Wisconsin.
My sister gave me a go pro camera about 5 years ago and I have been prolific in doing hiking
videos. My youtube is located here: Isawtman channel and my website is: www.tmanshikes.com
109. Ruth McCann
Lives in the Whitewater area and can be often seen hiking with her dogs on the IAT in the
Kettle Moraine State Forest. She hiked the whole IAT in day hikes after having knee replacement
surgery. Wow. We hike together a few times in groups of 5 or 6. Most notably, the hike from Elkhart
Lake to School Hill which ended up being in the dark.
110. Andrea Braatz
Former Girlfriend of another hiker. We hiked together from Mission Lake County Park to Hatley
on a snowy day. All Road Walk.
117 Jared Wildenradt (2nd Completion)
See Number 90
118. Al Learned (hiked NCT, also, Oldest person to hike the IAT)
Another hiking machine completing several other trails. In 2018 at age 81 he was the oldest person
to complete the Pacific Crest Trail. He also has completed the 4600 mile North Country Trail and
he famously lost his wallet on the in the middle of the Boundary Waters on the Kekekabic Trail portion of the NCT. His facebook page is located here: Al Learned Hikes But he hasn’t updated it recently.
I am friends on Facebook with Al’s son Craig Learned who recently completed the Appalachian Trail
Never met either of them
121 Melanie McManus** (First Female with a 2nd Completion, Fastest time for a Female at that time)
See Number 87
127. Tom Wallschlaeger
Will and I were at a bar in Medford waiting for Tom to show up. But Tom was really late
so Will and I drove out to the trailhead where we thought Tom’s car would be and it wasn’t there.
Turns out he made it back to town and he didn’t have any cell phone reception where he was
hiking.
132. Holly Lorentz
Holly, Holly Holly, where do I begin with Holly. We went on several group hikes together,
then we decided to do a hike alone together to see if we were compatible.
We did a hike up near Kewaunee and it started raining. Well, my back started stiffening
up and by the end of the hike I could barely walk. I had been free of back problems
for years before that. But, nevertheless, this whole incident didn’t leave a good
impression of me to Holly. Maybe it was a message to me from god.
This whole incident can be seen in my film “Tman’s Ice Age Trail Hikes.”
140. Ricky Swanson (1st Completion)
I was unable to find very much about Ricky Swanson other than he is from
Colorado Springs, Colorado and he has hiked the IAT twice.
141. Michael Visuri
We hiked together on the Sunday of a Ice Age Trail Conference. We did the New Hope
segment near Rosholt. He does a presentation called “Ice Age Trail 101”
to help promote the trail.
142. Andrew Saeman
We never hiked together, but a bunch of people were hiking near Hartman
Creek State Park one Saturday and we all ended up at the Heffron Bar.
Andrew was one of the people hiking that day
143. Jared Wildenradt* (First person with a 3rd Completion)
See Number 90
151. Mike Summers** (First Winter Thru Hike Completion)
Mike is known for the First Winter Completion of the IAT.
Formerly was a drummer for the death metal band Dorian’s Decay.
I did a video interview with him here: Mike Summer’s Winter Hike
Here is a music video from Dorian’s Decay: Rude Awakening
I like heavy metal but this is way too heavy for me
154. Kathy Kehl
156. Shane Peltonen (hiked NCT also)
163. David Clouston
165. Sandy Kallas
Sandy was hiking with Holly one weekend up near Sturgeon Bay and I just
kind of tagged along for the shuttle. However, they were doing a different
chunk of trail than I was, so we were not hiking together. But, Sandy’s Husband
Roger (a nonhiker) did shuttle me from the Eastern Terminus back to my car
that day. Here is a video of Roger and I at the Eastern Terminus: Roger & Me
176. Pam Smith (1st Completion)
Hiked together in January, 2018 from Albany to Evansville. And ever since
then she has been a hiking machine. She hiked the IAT a second time then
became the first woman to complete it a 3rd. She messaged me recently that
she is closing in on completing it for a 4th time. She is quoted in this article
about building the new Sailor Creek Bridge in the Chequamegon National
Forest: Medford Star News Article
180. Lou Ann Novak
181. Kris Van Handel* (1st Completion)
182. Jared Wildenradt* (4th Completion)
See Number 90
184. Wayne Prior* (2nd Completion)
See Number 47
185. Annie Weiss (Fastest Completion at that time, Current Fastest Female Time)
187. Janet Wood
190. Gary Vaughan
191 Sharon Vaughan
199. Todd McMahon (2nd Completion)
See Number 108
204. Ricky Swanson (2nd Completion)
See Number 109
212 Piper Nowicki (Youngest Male to hike the IAT at age 5)
216. Pam Smith* (2nd Completion)
219. Mike Butterbrodt
See Mike’s Youtube Channel here; Turtle Treks
223. Sean Emmerich
226 Mary Guell
232. Kris Van Handel* (2nd Completion)
233. Jared Wildenradt* (5th Completion)
See Number 90
234. Laura Hinish (1st completion)
245. Judy Geisler (also completed NCT)
252 Pam Smith (First Woman with 3rd Completion)
See Number 176
262. Emily Ford (First Winter Thru Hike Completion by a Female)
266 Yolanda DeLoach
Posted a lot of stuff on the Thousand Miler Wannebe Facebook Page.
270 Cameron Gille
287. Dan Dorrough (hiked NCT also)
288. Ruth Dorrough (hiked NCT also)
290. Jim Annello
296. Wanda Brown
306. Kris Van Handel* (3rd Completion)
307. Jared Wildenradt* (First person with a 6st Completion)
See Number 90
308. Ari Clouse
309. Fred Nash
310. Marilynn Nash
330 Jeff Pepp
337. Andrew Novak
340 Michelle Amacker (last person on list, Feb 1, 2022)
Laura Hinish has announced her second completion
People that say they have done the IAT but are not on the list
(people who have not turned in their paperwork to the IATA)
Coree Woltering (Fastest Time)
Bart Smith (book photographer)
Ryan Bunting (Constantine)