Mentor native Joe Baur lost his mother to breast cancer in 2019. In honor of her memory and to raise funds to battle the disease, he has decided to turn to another love in his life — long distance running. This spring, Baur will run the 326-mile Ohio to Erie Trail. Mentor native Joe Baur is planni ng a spring fundraising run across the 326-mile Ohio to Erie Trail in honor his mother, who died of breast cancer. (Courtesy of Joe Baur) The scenic trail links the Ohio River to Lake Erie, primarily on rail trails and canal paths. It goes through four major cities, numerous small towns and miles of the Buckeye State’s countryside. “It’s incredibly meaningful because so many people who’ve supported the fundraiser have shared how cancer has, unfortunately, touched their own lives,” Baur said. “I didn’t really appreciate until doing this fundraiser that few can really say they don’t have any friends or family who’ve battled cancer. And I think that tragic ubiquity of the disease is why so many people were willing to support the cause.” Baur was born and raised in Mentor, attending Rice Elementary, Shore Junior High and Mentor High for a couple of years before finishing up his senior year at Lakeland Community College. Mentor native Joe Baur is planning a spring fundraising run across the 326-mile Ohio to Erie Trail in honor of is mother, who died of breast cancer. (Courtesy of Joe Baur) He attended Miami University and moved to Chicago for a couple of years. He then moved back to Cleveland where he lived downtown for about three years, met and married his wife, Melanie. The couple moved to Costa Rica for about a year for graduate school, back to Ohio City for about a year and then to Germany where they’ve been for the last nine years. Related Articles Willoughby resident among EMU Presidential Scholarship recipients Fairport Harbor Village looks ahead to variety of key projects in 2026 Polka hall of fame selling tickets for Sweetheart Ball Kirtland Schools aims to continue focus on academics, wellness in 2026 Lakeland Community College officials highlight year, school’s path forward As for his passion for running, Baur said his dad was a coach, so he’s been into sports and fitness ever since he can remember, doing the typical baseball, basketball and football for most of his childhood, before switching up to lacrosse in high school. Baur worked as a personal trainer at Miami of Ohio and while in Chicago, but didn’t get into running until Cleveland. He ran his first half marathon there, but said he remembers crossing the finish line and thinking, ‘It would be absurd to go even one step further.’ “I didn’t get into distances longer than the half marathon until moving to Germany,” Baur said. “I really don’t like cars or having to rely on them to get anywhere, which was part of why I was interested in moving to somewhere in Europe where car ownership isn’t the de facto way of life.” “We first lived in Düsseldorf and we’d regularly hop on the train and go to some village for a weekend getaway,” he added. “That’s how we found out about Germany’s extensive trail systems. “So we’d go on long hikes, either from town to town or in a big loop, and eventually that turned into trail running,” he continued. “I started doing longer distances on the trails before eventually running the Berlin Marathon. After running it a couple of times, I decided to try for the ultra distance, which is usually a 50K for starters. “I did that two years ago almost to the day and have since run a handful of other ultras, including in Japan and France,” he added. “Earlier this year I did a couple of stage races in Oman and Nepal, which gave me the confidence to try something like the Ohio to Erie Trail.” Baur said he is focused on writing and filmmaking, and he and his wife are starting to host trail running tours around the world through a new business, Burning River Running Company. The couple runs and trains in Germany. Most of the runs are in Berlin, but almost all of their travel involves getting onto some trails or participating in a race. Baur said they will also go on weekend getaways to some of the national parks near, especially if they have a big training run and are bored of running the same routes around the city. As for the idea of running the Ohio to Erie Trail, he was inspired by another athlete from Mentor — Katie Spotz. “A couple years ago, I was in Rostock, Germany with my wife and in-laws and somehow it came up that another local, Katie Spotz, had run it in, I believe, 11 days,” Baur said. “I’ve long wanted to take part in a big, multi-day adventure that pushed my body to its limits, even further than those stages races in Oman and Nepal. “Back in May, I saw that a guy in Columbus, Gary Sines, ran the fastest known time in six days and some change to help bring attention to the trail and encourage others to do it,” he continued. “I did the math and figured that beating that was attainable for me all the while still pushing myself far beyond what I ever have before. “I aimed to do 60 to 70 miles a day, five days in a row. I estimated I’d be on my feet for roughly 12 to 14 hours a day. I’d done an ultra that had me on my feet for 10 1/2 hours, so I figured it was doable.” Baur initially was going to attempt the run in late October on the six-year anniversary of when he lost his mother to cancer. However, an ankle injury on the trail pushed the run back to the spring. “It’s getting better day by day, but I’m still taking it easy, just focusing on strength and cycling in the meantime,” Baur said. “In terms of what happened, the easiest answer is overuse, which is a risk any time you take on these kinds of distances. Nobody training for this kind of thing would run a 100K in their training, so you just do everything you can to prepare your body for that distance.” Around 50K into the run, Baur said he started feeling a knot in the muscle next to his shin bone on my right leg. Then it was a pain underneath his right ankle bone. Occasionally it would dissipate enough that he could run, but by the end of the 108K day in Xenia — 67 miles — he was just running through the pain. The foot got worse overnight. “That’s when we decided we had to call it, which was wildly frustrating, not just because I’m sure I would’ve been able to bring more attention to the fundraiser had I been able to finish, but because I otherwise felt physically and mentally good,” he said. “I woke up at 5 a.m. the next morning naturally, ready to go. Just my right ankle wouldn’t cooperate.” For the next few months, Baur is focused on healing and finding sponsors for the run as he gears up to try again. “So hopefully the stars align again and I can do it next spring. As my mom would’ve said — we’ll see.” ...read more read less