Live Interview Episodes

During 2020, we saw the rise of FKT attempts while so many races had been cancelled and postponed due to the pandemic. The 2021 FKT season is off to a blistering start with the Death Valley N-S standard route crossing (off-trail) FKT being taken by Sarah Estrella, a local runner from Davis. Sarah joined us for episode 30 to talk about this this multi-day challenge in the famed Death Valley and what it took to take it on and get it done. Along the way, we also learned about her mental and physi...

For our 29th episode, we sat down with two fixtures of our trail running community, Karen and Kjell Framnes! You can count on seeing Karen, Kjell and their daughter Olivia at pretty much any trail race in Northern California from 50k up to 200 miles in length, both racing and volunteering. They are true ambassadors of the sport, and we talked to them to find out all about how they got their starts, how they met and fell in love, what they've been up to the past few years and what big plans are...

In this episode, Jenny Maier joined us to talk about her unique approach to combining personal training, strength and mobility work and yoga to help build balanced runners with longevity in the sport. We got some great insights into her approach for helping runners achieve their goals and also how she made a big career change in her life from fast-paced attorney in the Bay Area to personal trainer and yoga teacher. On top of that, Jenny also led us through a short sequence of hip-opening yoga p...

In this episode, we were joined by Western States Endurance Run race director Craig Thornley, race medical director Dr. Andy Pasternak, president of the board of directors Diana Fitzpatrick, and vice president of the board Tim Twietmeyer. We were glad to welcome them back after first talking in early December to find out more about plans for the 2021 Western States race. Back in December, there was a great deal of uncertainty that made it difficult to decide how to plan for 2021. In this episod...

In this episode, we are joined by Clint Welch and his daughter Halle. Clint has been a fixture on the Northern California ultrarunning scene for a number of years, and his daughter Halle has taken up running to follow in his footsteps. We talked to both of them about the experience as Halle decided to take on this sport, what she likes, what she doesn't like and how she is coached. We got a good sense about how to approach encouraging your children just enough, whether in running or any sport, ...

In our final episode with Rebecca Sperry, she joined us for a live wrap-up interview as she recently completed her twelve rounds of chemotherapy and is starting a new phase of cancer treatment. During the interview, we reflected on her journey since we first reached out to her to ask if she would share her story with us. It has been difficult for her and getting harder with each round of chemotherapy, but she has maintained a positive attitude and desire to keep her fitness as much as possible ...

Katie Grossman, an accomplished professional mountain ultrarunner, advertising creative, soon-to-be mother of two and assistant RD of the Angeles Crest 100, sat down with us to talk about her early life, running and racing at the highest levels, life/family balance and the importance of protecting our open spaces. She and her husband Dominic and their family have built a life in the mountains, surrounded by beauty, that allows them to focus on what matters most and strip away as much as possibl...

Jocelyn Watson joined us for our 24th episode to talk about her running career starting all the way back in middle school, through high school, into college and beyond. She started out in track and cross-country but eventually found her way to trail running and now thoroughly prefers that discipline. She has an impressive racing resume (including the steeplechase in her track days!) and is looking forward to her first 100 miler. Jocelyn is also a manager at the Fleet Feet store in Folsom, CA an...

The modern-day Forlorn Hope Expedition Team sat down with us in this episode to talk about the genesis, planning and execution of their recently-completed journey from Donner Memorial State Park in Truckee, CA to Johnson's Ranch in Wheatland. Their route closely mirrored that of the original Forlorn Hope team that left the stranded Donner Party on December 16th, 1846 in an attempt to find rescue for the starving settlers. The original Forlorn Hope party faced an arduous trek through the mountai...

Auburn resident Eddie Schmidt sat down with us for a great conversation about his early years as a runner and how much family and the ultrarunning community means to him. Eddie started running seriously later in life after some inspiration early on from his sister and then meeting several people over the years. He was joined by his daughter Hannah, a new convert to ultrarunning with support from her dad. She was a key part of his 2010 Western States experience where at the age of 15, she paced ...

Western States Endurance Run race director Craig Thornley, board member Tim Twietmeyer and medical director Dr. Andy Pasternak joined us for our 21st episode to talk all about the current state of the race as we head into 2021. We found out about how the board reacted to the original onset of the pandemic, handling the cancellation and the plans to hold the race in 2021. Dr. Pasternak, with his background in epidemiology, also spent time explaining the various vaccine development efforts, how t...

Bryan Paisley joined us for an honest and in-depth look at his life, how he emerged from addiction and manages his bipolar diagnosis through meditation and running. He shared many stories, the joy he finds in running, finding his essence and his ways for dealing with everyday life. Bryan is also an accomplished musician waiting for gigs to start happening again! You'll find inspiring anecdotes and advice and his experience at the recent Moab 240 race woven throughout. Bryan is also committed to...

On October 30th, 2020 Dan Barger started from the Placer High School track, the legendary finish line of the Western States Endurance Run with his second attempt to complete a full out and back from Auburn to Olympic Valley and back to Auburn. The route would follow the WSER trails for a total distance of 200.4 miles and finishing back on the track. After a disappointing first attempt in August, Dan went back to finish the job and he did it in style with a blazing time of 2 days, 11 hours and 4...

Bruce Nguyen started his running career in 2013 with a 5k race, and fast forward seven years to 2020 where he completed the Moab 240 trail race in 106 hours! Bruce joined us for this episode to talk about his journey from that starting point all the way to accomplishing something that was truly transcendent for him and his crew and pacers. Bruce has used running as a way to stave off his anxiety, be in the present moment and use mindfulness to achieve his goals. Find out more from him and his p...

Bob Crowley, ultrarunning legend and current ITRA (International Trail Running Association) president, joined us in this episode to talk about his start in the sport, his involvement with ITRA, his latest adventure project and many other topics! Bob has been trail running for 30 years and has finished some of the hardest multi-day 200+ mile races in the world. As the new president of ITRA, he plans lead the sport of ultrarunning through its current rapid growth phase and beyond and ensure that ...

Chris Nottingham is an ultrarunner, community builder and mental health advocate. He sat down with us to talk about his journey from a stressed out daily existence to finding running and physical activity as a means to improve his mental health. Along the way, he created a vibrant Facebook group (We Are Greater Than Zero) with like-minded people to share inspiring stories, keep each other engaged and accountable and to help everyone get through everything that life can throw at them - including...

CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussion of domestic abuse and suicidal thoughts Kristina Folcik is a trail runner, race director, coach, multiple FKT (fastest known time) record holder and domestic abuse survivor. She joined us from New Hampshire to talk about the various forms of abuse she suffered for years, what it took to finally exit her marriage, and the people and resources that helped her do so. Part of her healing process in life is going into the mountains, and she settled ...

Jennifer Hemmen is an accomplished ultrarunner who has been running since her childhood. Along the way, she was inspired by her older sister, other runners, athletes and coaches to take on some of the toughest races out there, including a sub-24 hour finish at the 2015 Western States Endurance Run. Most recently, she has added adventure racer to her resumé, and what better way to do it than at the highest level at the Eco-Challenge Fiji in 2019! This incredibly difficult course brought multiple...

Renee sat down with us in this episode just two weeks after her successful FKT record on the Sierra High Route, a challenging route covering nearly 200 miles, mostly off-trail and typically above 9000’ elevation! Renee is a rock climber, mountaineer and runner and had to bring all of those skills to bear in order to complete her record under her target time. Executing an effort like this takes an incredible amount of planning, training and support. Renee gave us insights into all of those facet...

In this episode, we chatted with Bob Shebest, a pro ultrarunner (sponsored by Salomon, Buff, GU and Squirrel's Nut Butter), coach and middle-school educator. Bob recently relocated to the foothills from Sonoma County and is back on the roads around the area on his bike and seeking adventure on the trails here and in the mountains of the Tahoe region. He recently paced Adam Kimble, a Tahoe area runner, on his successful quest to break the Tahoe Rim Trail FKT record! We had entertaining discussio...

Sean Ranney is an ultrarunner, adventurer and race director of Northern California's answer to the Barkley Marathons, the Euchre Bar Massacre. We talked to him about how got into running after coming from a multi-sport background and how he created this incredibly tough race that travels all throughout the historic North Fork of the American River canyon. The North Fork is steeped in mining history, savage climbs and descents and maybe even some ghosts! Joining Sean were several Euchre Bar Mass...

Helen Pelster is an accomplished ultrarunner based in Truckee, CA, and in this episode we spoke with her about her initial discovery as running as a way to get in shape but then things really took off from there, culminating in successful completions of fastest known times (FKTs) on the Tahoe Rim Trail in 2019 and 2020. We hear all about those huge achievements and how she approaches running and techniques she uses to stay centered while doing something that could be outside of your comfort zon...

Camille Herron joined us for an interesting and inspiring talk about her lengthy running career in a wide variety of disciplines of the sport. She is a multiple national and world record holder, has dozens of victories at the marathon distance and is looking forward to more trail racing in her future. We got her insights into her science-based approach to training and racing, challenges she has overcome in her life to get the positive mental attitude she has and how she's dealing with the COVID...

Episode 8 with Rob Myers is an interesting conversation with him and his friends about the big adventure they had while running the Western States Endurance Run course in reverse! We hear from Rob, his crew and pacers and unravel all of the ins and outs and ups and downs of that epic journey while exploring other topics along the way. Tune in and get inspired for your own personal adventure! Intro music: Joseph McDade - Elevation: https://josephmcdade.com/music/elevation Support the show (http...