Fact is that I’ve never met an actual sturgeon.  I’d like to some day.  Any sturgeon would be cool, but I’d really like to meet a Montana pallid sturgeon…  

And though I’ve not yet met an actual pallid sturgeon, I still respect the hell out of them.  According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:

“Pallid sturgeon are prehistoric. The sturgeon family has been in existence since the Cretaceous time period, about 70 million years ago. They do not have skeletons made of bones like most other fish, but instead, pallid sturgeon have a cartilage skeleton, just like sharks. They like deep, swift moving and murky water. Pallid sturgeon live a long time and grow to be quite large. Research shows that they can live up to at least 80 years old, maybe more. When pallid sturgeon are ready to spawn, they can migrate 100 miles or more to reproduce.”

Now that is one impressive fish!

Since it may be a few years before I have the opportunity to meet an ACTUAL pallid sturgeon, I have decided to prepare for our eventual meeting by joining the Happy Fish Athlete Challenge in 2024, running 1000K between January 1st and April 30th.  And I intend to challenge my best friend, Steve, to walk the same distance in the same amount of time.  But since I live in Colorado and Steve lives in Maine, I will be adopting a surrogate to serve in Steve’s stead on miles completed out here in the mountains.  Steve’s surrogate will be a plastic sturgeon named Steve.  I will also be sending Steve a plastic sturgeon to occasionally accompany him on his walks.  

I will be creating a website to track my journey with Steve the plastic sturgeon, featuring updates from real Steve and his plastic sturgeon.    

Game on.