ULTRARUNNERpodcast

Brad Dains Interview Brad Dains joined Ethan and I to chat about his most recent hundred miler--his fifth in 18 months--and lessons he's learned during past races. What'll he do differently in his next big race, and how will he find time to train with a pregnant wife and three girls? Brad describes the ultra/trail scene in the Midwest--Iowa specifically--and takes us back to a time when runners could sign up for an ultramarathon on race day. He talks about the terrain, club scene, and...

Brian Morrison Interview Ten years ago, Brian Morrison staggered across the finish line in Auburn, the first to do so at the iconic Western States Endurance Run. Only problem is, he'd been assisted by his pacer Scott Jurek and the Board disqualified him for not completing the race under his own power. Over the years, I've heard various versions of the story---how long he'd been out for, what his medical situation was in the ER, and who blamed who for what---so it was nice to hear it from...

Timothy Olson Interview After setting the Western States course record, Timothy Olson has had mixed success in competition. Alongwith some more monster wins, Timothy has also struggled with symptoms that resemble Over Training Syndrome. His physical mojo was gone, he was tired, sore, and struggled to race past 30 miles until just recently. In this interview, we talk the past few years. His family has grown, he's moved around the country, he's raced hard, experienced some disappointments...

Darcy Piceu Interview Whether you know her as Darcy Africa or Darcy Piceu, she's undoubtedly the Queen of Hardrock, having won the race in three out of her six finishes. Darcy also holds the overall (male or female) record for the Rocky Mountain Slam---that's Bighorn 100, Hardrock 100, Leadville 100, and Bear 100, all in one year. In this interview, I learn more about her life, her workouts, and she helps me understand what it takes to succeed in such a tough race. Essentially, run smart,...

Nikki Kimball and John Onate, MD: Depression and Ultrarunning Nikki Kimball is one of the most accomplished female ultrarunners in the sport. She's won Marathon des Sables, UTMB, Western States, represented the US overseas in countlessraces, and even went to Olympic Trials for the damn biathlon. Nikki has also been suffering from severe depression, and that's one reason I asked her on the show: To talk abouthow she's lived with depression and ultrarunning. To provide a clinical/medical...

Jade Belzberg And Her First Hundred Miler Sarah and I asked Jade Belzberg to come on the show toshare her story about her first hundred miler. Jade is like many people in the sport...she's run a bunch of 50ks, one 50 miler, then jumped feet first into a hundred. Not like many of us, her boyfriend is Nickademus Hollon, Barkley finisher, HURT finisher, and frequent URP guestand she was able to pick his brain about the race, preparation, and use him for a pacer and crew. In this interview we...

Dominic Grossman and Overtraining Syndrome Sarah and I chat with Dominic Grossman about his life on the trails and overtraining syndrome: The symptoms, effects, and results of this interesting condition. We're not doctors, but we get a very real sense of what OTS does to the body and the mind of ultrarunners. Most importantly, we discuss how to prevent OTS from wrecking your time on the trails--and at home. Dom shares a story about the first sign that something was wrong, and it surprises...

Gary Robbins Interview Gary Robbins joins URP to chat about a wide swath of topics, all of which kept me captivated during our hour-long conversation. This is one of those interviews that I'll go back and listen to over an over, as Gary drops a few metric tons of wisdom on this funky little sport of ours. In this Gary Robbins Interview, we cover three main topics. The Barkley Marathons. Gary just ran the race last weekend and made it 4 1/2 laps with eventual winner Jared Campbell before...

Starchy Grant Post-Barkley Interview Starchy Grant's introduction to running is pretty funny and has some obscure parallels to the Barkley Marathons. You'll have to hear how he figured out he was a good runner, and what inspired him to keep going to the hell no end of the running spectrum. In this episode, Starchy recounts his time at Barkley this past weekend, the auspicious record he helped set, and what'll he do differently if he's entered in the race again. Was the hoopla what he...

Amy Rusiecki - Elite Ultramarathoner, Wife, and Race Director Amy Rusiecki (Team Inov8) is an elite runner from the North East who's been tearing it up on the trails for the past ten years. She's won races big and small, as well as had some bonks and a DNF that've left her hurting. She shares all of those stores with Sarah and I in this chat. She's also married to Brian Rusiecki, another elite runner for Patagonia, and she shares the benefits--and drawbacks--of being married to another...

Chris DeNucci Interview Chris DeNucci, "DeNuch" to most, started running a few years ago after he had his entire colon removed. Fast forward to 2014 when he came onto the competitive San Francisco/Marin ultra scene and started kicking butt, winning a Western States Golden Ticket along the way. There's a lot in that few year span I've got questions about, from his first real trail run, to training, preparation, and recovery. It seemed he appeared out of nowhere and started kicking butt...

Jason SchlarbSkiing the Hardrock Interview Not content with justrunning the iconic Hardrock 100 this summer, Jason Schlarb and friends decided they'd like to ski the course in freezing temperatures and snow. What resulted will be featured in an upcoming film called Skiing the Hardrock, but we got to hear it while fresh in Jason's head. Sarah and I sat down with Jason to hear more about the project. How do you plan such an adventure? What type of gear do you bring? If your usual partner...

Coree Woltering Interview Coree Woltering recently came onto my radar after winning a small 50k in Ohio by over 40 minutes. Who is this guy, and what's he all about? Turns out Coree has been running his whole life, but just in the past few years started with trail ultramarathons after a friend asked him to pace at Leadville. Coree was hooked and though he's learned some valuable lessons along the way, has been tearing up the trails from Colorado to California ever since. Of course,...

Tim Tollefson - Transgrancanaria Sufferfest Interview Fighting an injury and against his wife's judgement, Tim Tollefson headed to the Canary Islands off the coast of Morocco for a monster race called Transgrancanaria. How'd it go? How would he perform on the notorious technical trails while virtually all of his training block had been focused on the flat and fast Olympic Trial Marathons three weeks prior? In this interview, Tim shares his preparation for the race, what the islands are...

Chris Solarz - Ultramarathons, stairs, triathlons, pub crawls, streaking, and more! Chris Solarz is one of those guys who's figured out what's important in life, worked hard, prioritized his passions, and is pushing pushing pushing for more. Having just returned from the UltraMan competition in Florida, Chris and I chat about his life in endurance sports (road, trail, ultra, stairs, triathlon, swim, etc) and why he's do drawn to them. Is it the physical nature, the camaraderie, or...

Jim Walmsley Interview Jim Walmsley joined us right before Lake Sonoma 50 last year and we were impressed with his talent, attitude, and low key outlook on the ultra scene. He finished fifth in the hyper-competitive field, and since then, has won every single trail race he's entered, despite living in Flagstaff, going through some dark emotional times and getting into a bike accident. Jim is back for a full interview this time to talk about his mind blowing run at Bandera 100k, where he...

Amelia Boone - Obstacle Course Racing Ultrarunner Extraordinaire! In the world of Obstacle Course Racing, Amelia Boone stands tall. She's been named the World's Toughest Mudder, she's graced the covers of magazines, and enjoys a lucrative contract with Reebok. So what's she doing on an ultramarathon podcast? Turns out, she's also one heckuva trail runner and just entered her second ultramarathon in the Golden-Ticket-eligible Sean O'Brien 100k. Amelia finished 2nd female, 4th overall, and...

Maggie Guterl - Ultrarunner Two years ago, Maggie Guterl was a solid mid packer with a few marathons and ultramarathons behind her. Then something snapped. She got a coach, became laser-focused, and represented the US overseas. Currently, she's aiming for a Golden Ticket to Western States and winning races. So what happened? How'd she go from average to great? Sarah and I dig into her life a bit to track her ascension in the ultra ranks and find out what makes her tick. Maggie has a...

Matt Fitzgerald Interview Sarah and I chat with author and nutritionist Matt Fitzgerald about his latest book How Bad Do You Want It: Mastering the Psychology of Mind over Muscle. (Velo Press) Fitness, nutrition, crew, and gear are all important to ultramarathon success, but where is psychology? Recent studies indicate that the mind controls the muscles more than we'd previously thought, so shouldn't mental strength be paramount in ultra preparation? Do we slow down because our muscles get...

Avery Collins Interview In this interview with Avery Collins, I get a chance to hear what it's like racing Gary Robbinsthrough the jungle at HURT 100, and what he'd do differently next year. We talk about weight training, an insane schedule of some of the world's toughest ultramarathons, and the proper use of bodyglide. For the bulk of the interview, we chat about Avery's outspoken advocacy of cannabis in the world of MUT running. Is it a PED at all, and when is it not OK to get high while...