TARA "CANDY MAMA" DOWER

Tara Dower otherwise known as Candy Mama is a thru hiker, FKT record holder, and avid ultrarunner who resides in Virginia Beach VA. Unsure of what she wanted to do after college she decided to spend more time outdoors. After a failed attempt of thru hiking the Appalachian Trail in 2017 she went back in 2019 with her husband and hiked all 2,200 miles. This five month hike inspired her to try to always live life adventurously and with intentionality. Since then she has set the Mountains-to-Sea Trail fastest known time, solo built a camper van, spent considerable amounts of time on the JMT, Benton MacKaye trail and in the Smoky Mountains. Just recently Candy Mama has been entering more ultramarathons and has won her first four races including two 100 mile trail races.

When she is not hiking you can find Candy Mama editing videos for her YouTube channel, playing Settlers of Catan with her husband or spending time with her blind dog named Jerry. 

With a passion for environmental ethics and a purpose of making the outdoors more accessible for everyone her hope is to inspire others to spend more time among nature.

Instagram: @tara.dower

Youtube: Tara Dower

TikTok: tara_dower