Becoming a trail runner changed her life. Now she's changing others' by making the outdoors more accessible

Charlotte Young Bowens was at work when she passed out and landed in the emergency room.

Doctors told her she had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and borderline diabetes. At 400 pounds, she was morbidly obese. She also was clinically depressed.

"In many respects, I had given up on life," Young Bowens said.

That moment 10 years ago really shook her.

"It made me realize I do want to live. I do want to be alive," Young Bowens said.

After being released from the hospital, Young Bowens went to the gym and got on a treadmill. She managed to walk only two minutes at a 2-mile-per-hour pace.

A gym trainer told her: Good job. Now come back tomorrow and do it again.

She did.

That was the beginning of Young Bowen's transformation into a runner, hiker and trailblazer.

There is a lack of diversity among people who participate in outdoor recreation. Although outdoor recreation is gaining popularity among people of color, a large majority of participants remain white people, according to the Outdoor Foundation. But as a Black, queer female entrepreneur, Young Bowens is helping make the outdoors more accessible to everyone, including people with bigger bodies.

Young Bowens, who lives in Tempe and works at Arizona State University, is the creator of a hydration vest made for taller, curvier and bigger people.

Called VestaPak, the gear is equipped with a 2-liter bladder that allows users to stay hydrated on walks, runs, and hikes and comes in sizes previously not available. The vest is already on sale at the REI store in Chandler and will soon be sold at REI stores around the nation.

In March, Young Bowens received a $10,000 grant from Verizon to help pay for marketing to expand her business.

What inspired the creation of a hydration pack for bigger people?

Just 16 months after her health scare, Young Bowens completed a 50-mile ultramarathon, the Woodstock Run in New York, finishing in 12 hours, 41 minutes and 43 seconds.

She started with shorter 5K races and built up to ultramarathons.

At one of her first races, Young Bowens met a woman who told her, "If you do a 5K, you can do a 10K. And if you do a 10K, you can do a half marathon. And if you do a half marathon, you can do a marathon."

"So I believed her," Young Bowens said.

The first runs Young Bowens did were on pavement. But after participating in a group trail run, she switched to running on dirt because the softer surface was easier on her body.

When Young Bowens began doing ultramarathons, she discovered the gear she bought didn't fit her body comfortably.

"The pack that I was wearing was totally uncomfortable the whole time," she said. "It left rub burns and I was frustrated. I thought if I'm going to do this long term, I need gear" that fits.

At first, Young Bowens came up with a hack.

She bought two vests, a large and an extra large, and tore the vests apart. Then, with a sewing machine borrowed from the public library in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was living, she sewed them back together to make a single vest that fit her better than the vests she bought at the store.

Young Bowens kept waiting for outdoor brands to come out with a pack for plus-size people. It didn't happen. Her friends finally suggested she create a vest and start her own business.

At first, she said no. But then, in 2020, she gave the idea more thought.

"I guess the pandemic made me more reflective of, 'Wow, Charlotte, you had this amazing opportunity to reclaim your life and wouldn't you want that for other people too,'" she said.

"That is what compelled me to start the business," she said. "For all the other fat people that get off their butts and decide to change their lives, I want them to have the best. You shouldn't have to struggle to find gear to support being more physically active and taking better care of yourself."

Idea resonated with REI sporting goods store

During the pandemic, Young Bowens moved to Arizona so she could be closer to more trail running options.

She began selling the vests online from her website in September. Her business is called "Conscious Gear." As the name implies, her hydration vest is consciously designed to fit bigger bodies.

"I didn't take what they were making for smaller bodies and then just add extra fabric," Young Bowens said. "No, I started with the bigger body, the nuances, the uniqueness, the way our flesh lays on bigger bodies. And I designed it around that."

In November, USA TODAY included the VestaPak on a list of 10 best gifts for outdoor enthusiasts.

The REI in Chandler was the first store to sell the VestaPak. REI will begin selling the VestaPak at other stores in the coming months, said Carter Clark, a spokesperson.

Young Bowens' business motto — "Bigger bodies deserve to be the center of design" — resonated with REI, said Jeffrey Schmidt, an REI merchandise buyer.

It's important to have gear that fits properly when doing endurance activities, he said, but most hydration vests in extended sizes are scaled-up versions of traditional sizes, which only works to a certain point since not all bodies are the same.

"Charlotte built the vest from the ground up with and for larger bodies, serving a body type that has been historically underserved in this category," Schmidt said.

On March 27, Verizon surprised Young Bowens with a $10,000 grant after she completed several courses the telecommunications company offers through its Small Business Digital Ready program to help small businesses grow.

Charlotte's story was inspiring, said Claudia Hidalgo, director of small and medium business sales at Verizon's offices in Phoenix.

"Just her grit, the not giving up, her finding a solution for things that we know are broken. Her medical journey ... where she was heading, and the change she needed to make to live a healthy lifestyle, and knowing there are other people like her in the community that need the same type of support," Hidalgo said. "People want to be healthy and you shouldn't have to look a certain way to start your journey."

Reach the reporter at daniel.gonzalez@arizonarepublic.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Charlotte Young Bowens' Conscious Gear VestaPak now in REI in Arizona