Seasoned Athlete

We’re excited to welcome Marathon Goddess Julie Weiss back to the show this week to talk about her new memoir 52 Weeks, 52 Marathons: The Miles and Trials of a Marathon Goddess . Back in 2012-2013, Julie ran 52 marathons in 52 weeks to raise funds and awareness for the fight against pancreatic cancer. We first had Julie on the show to talk about this feat, why she did it and the impact she was abl...

In this episode, we talk to Andrea Owen, an Arizona-based wife, mother of three, and competitive obstacle racer. In 2014, after a long hiatus from sports and athletics, Andrea somewhat reluctantly ran her first Spartan Race, and she was immediately hooked. Andrea has since completed 79 Spartan Races along with a variety of other races. In the last five years of racing, she has earned 9 masters eli...

  In this episode, get to know Karen Putz of Naperville, Illinois – also known as the Passion Mentor. Karen is the author of several books, including Unwrapping Your Passion, a book that shakes up the status quo of aging and redefines the barometer of living a passionate life – concepts we can definitely get behind. Karen is also a barefoot water skier with a remarkable comeback story, which has l...

This episode features Marissa Axell, a personal trainer, coach and competitive cyclist. Marissa is a team captain on Revolution Racing Team in the San Francisco Bay Area and a USA Cycling category 1 in road cycling and category 2 on the velodrome. She has earned five national podiums (so far) in USA Masters Road Cycling. And when not competing, Marissa is creating impact through health and fitness...

In this episode, we talk to women’s running pioneer Anne Audain.  Anne was born in New Zealand and suffered through her younger years with bone deformities in both of her feet. After successful reconstructive bone surgery at age 13, Anne joined a local athletic club and that set her on the path to become a pioneer for women’s professional running. Throughout Anne’s career, she has qualified for th...

This week, we talk to 47-year old Kim Cole. Kim is a wife, mother of two, veterinary tech and competitive Spartan Racer out of Boise, Idaho. In 2018, Spartan introduced a competitive age group category and Kim made a huge mark over the course of the year, landing on the 40-49 women’s age group podium for every single race she ran. Kim earned thirteen first place finishes, three second place finish...

We are back with a brand new season and an incredible story of overcoming obstacles in life and eventually in sport. We kick off our new season with 66-year old Bob Ashcraft of Allentown, Pennsylvania. Over the last 40 years of his life, he has faced a number of trials – from major accidents to devastating illness. And yet, thanks to a commitment to physical activity, Bob has stayed resilient, bec...

 In this episode, we talk to Ginny Maccoll – dancer, actor, swimmer and American Ninja Warrior. Ginny is the mother of stuntwoman and American Ninja Warrior Jessie Graff. At age 63 she took up strength training and it changed her life. In the last couple years Ginny has become a notable ninja competitor in her own right – appearing on American Ninja Warrior Seasons 9 & 10 and competing in regi...

For our 50th episode, we’re going BEAST MODE! This episode features an interview with Sue Spencer of Vancouver, British Columbia…also known as Beast Mode Grandma! Sue is a late in life athlete who has found mental and physical wellness, health and strength through competitive Olympic weightlifting. Since she began competing at age 61, Sue has earned multiple age group and provincial records and ha...

This episode includes the final interview from the 2018 Spartan Podfest that took place at the 2018 Spartan World Championships at the Squaw Valley Resort in Lake Tahoe. This interview features world-renowned endurance athlete and current World OCR President Ian Adamson. A little background on Ian - he started his athletic career as a young age group cyclist in 1973. From 1996 to 2006 he accumulat...

This episode features a Seasoned Athlete first: this is the first time a guest is featured on this show for the second time! This week we talk to 73-year old Spartan Racer Marla Sweeney. We first featured Marla in a short Everyday Seasoned Athlete segment in 2017. This time around, she sat down with us for a full interview. Marla ran her first Spartan Race at age 70, and from then on she was hooke...

In this episode, we bring you a new interview from last September’s Spartan Podfest at the Squaw Valley Resort in Lake Tahoe - featuring 68-year old Olympian Rod Dixon. Rod Dixon is a legend in the running community. He’s an Olympic Bronze medalists and won the 1983 NYC Marathon in one of the most dramatic finishes the race has ever seen. Rod’s additional triumphs include: winning the national 150...

This week we offer another interview recorded at the Spartan Podfest last September in Lake Tahoe. And this time we’ve got double trouble for you. Our latest guests are race directors, ultra runners and adventurers Johnny Waite and Luis Escobar. Johnny Waite is a race director for Spartan Race Canada, and a man of many great soundbytes, including the motto he lives by, which is “a lifetime of adve...

Audition Template: 1 Mono Host track (with Speech Volume Leveler), 1 In this episode, we get to know Steve Mittleman of Long Beach, CA. Steve is a husband, father, weightlifting coach at Mo-Mentum Fitness in Huntington Beach AND he’s a competitive Highland Games athlete. Steve is a member of the Orange County Highlanders, a group that practices in Orange County and competes at Scottish Festivals t...

This episode comes to you from the Spartan Podfest at last September’s Spartan World Championships, and features Willie Banks. Willie is a former World Record Holder and Olympian, President and CEO of the ANOC World Beach Games and President of the US Olympians. Much of Willie’s fame comes from his innovative approach to sports and his exuberant personality that he brought to track and field compe...

t’s a New Year and we’re back with new episodes of the Seasoned Athlete Podcast! For many of us, a new year signifies an opportunity to look within, reevaluate and reset our goals. But often times, we don’t stick with those goals, or get stalled out even before we get started. The mind is a powerful tool – it can work for you and help you do amazing things, or it can tell you lies about yourself a...

As has become tradition here at the Seasoned Athlete Podcast, on host Robin Legat’s birthday every year, she turns the tables and answers listener questions. On this episode, recorded the day Robin turned 44, Robin talks about her year in racing, including successes and shortcomings, shares her experience as a budding competitive obstacle racer, and gives advice to listeners who are working on acc...

This week, we talk to 67-year old Helen Leeds of Bullhead City, Arizona. Helen is a mother of three, grandmother of seven and she has one great grandson. She’s a retired Senior Accountant, a golfer, a bowler and a competitive soccer player. Helen medaled twice in the Bullhead City/Laughlin Senior Olympics in 2017 and recently competed with the San Diego Soccer Women Global Goals team in Norway, pl...

Jimmy Choi, 43, is a husband, father, runner, cyclist, obstacle racer and American Ninja Warrior. After being diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease at age 27, and spending years in denial, a life changing incident was the catalyst that led him to make a change to lead a more active life. Since his first 5K in 2012, Jimmy has literally hit the ground running and has run countless road race...

On Friday, September 28, 2018, John Witzing, Josh Chessman and Brian “Tosh” Chontosh entered individual shipping containers and spent 24 hours running on Trueform Runner human powered treadmills. They did this in the dark, isolated from the outside world. No communication, no music, nothing but their own thoughts and iron will pushing them through. The goal? Run as many miles as possible in 24 hou...

It’s Spartan World Championships Week. And this week we talk to two Spartan World Championships competitors with completely different stories! We start by debuting our new Seasoned Firsts segment. This segment features people who are stepping outside their comfort zones to try new challenges for the very first time. Whether it’s a race, event, competition or new sport, we want to know what drives...

This week, we meet 61-year old Helen Fritsch - a flight attendant, published fitness model, IFBB Bodybuilding Pro and Certified Wine Specialist who believes that age is irrelevant to pursue goals, dreams and desires. To that end, she started competing in bodybuilding shows when she turned 55 and consistently placed in the top 5. When Helen turned 60 last year, she won a national championship and e...

This week, we talk to 55-year old Charlie Engle of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Charlie is a husband, a father, a writer, a runner and a recovering addict. He’s run across deserts, summited ice-covered volcanoes, swam with crocodiles and even served a stint in federal prison. But Charlie’s greatest challenge is the daily challenge of sobriety. Instead of trying to kill his addictive nature, Charli...

his week we talk to 66-year old Masters Runner Tom Bernhard of Castro Valley, CA. He currently holds four men’s 65-69 American age group records - 1 Mile, 5000m, and 10,000m on the track along with the 5K record on the road.  Tom is a four-time Road Runner of the year in your age group: once in 55-59, once in 60-64, and twice in 65-69. And he's won the Masters LDR Grand Prix two times: once in...

This week we talk to  Alene Nitzky  of Fort Collins, Colorado. She’s an oncology nurse turned health coach that specializes in helping cancer survivors and their families. She’s a writer, blogger and author and she recently published your first book Navigating the C: A Nurse Charts the Course for Cancer Survivorship Care. On the Seasoned Athlete side, She’s an ultra runner, and one of her great ac...