515 : The Ultra Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Billy RIckards is a veteran 515 racer that helps others to get to the finish line as an amazing crew person.  He lives Aloha, Ohana, Kokua within the Ultra Fam.  As a person who has chosen to call Hawaii home; it only makes sense that he has a strong connection to the island values. Do you like dolphins?  Then you have even one more reason to tune in to this episode. Resources men...

Send us Fan Mail Jen McVeay  joins me in this episode to preview the field of athletes toeing the line at 2025 Ultraman Florida, February 14-16th.  We are joined by to 2 time Ultraman Champion Steve Keller. Steve offers the perspective of previous champion, current athlete, and current coach.  Steve has embarked on a special journey that he reveals in our conversation.  First to Five Youtube Page...

Send us Fan Mail On today's episode of 515 The Ultra Podcast, we're joined by a true legend.  Bob Babbitt is the voice behind one of the most celebrated radio programs and podcasts in endurance sports – Competitor Radio and Breakfast with Bob . He is also a visionary community builder as a co-founder of Competitor Magazine and the Challenged Athletes Foundation . His impact on the sport...

Send us Fan Mail This episode has a number of past guests rejoining the podcast to discuss the 2024 Ultraman World Championships .  First up are two of the four people who were inducted into the Ultraman Hall of Fame at this year's Thanksgiving breakfast.  Gary Wang , who is a 20 time consecutive UMWC finisher, and Steve King (the voice of Ultraman). I also check in with the two winners of th...

Send us Fan Mail Happy Thanksgiving USA! When Thanksgiving rolls around 515 athletes know that it is time for the Ultraman World Championships . In this episode I speak with two athletes who will be competing in this year’s race. Mark Moody is an EMT from Bellevue Washington who holds the 60+ age group record at Ultraman Canada.  He has crewed numerous times at 515 races around the world and is no...

Send us Fan Mail Jen Annett drops by to speak about her recent record setting 515 race in Canada and preparations to take on the Ultraman World Championships at the end of the month.    Jen has not had the best luck when racing as a pro at the Ironman World Championships in Hawaii, but this time she has the backing of her entire community and she is ready for the challenge.  She also shares her Pr...

Send us Fan Mail The Ultraman World Championships are coming next month.  But today’s show has nine former World Champions telling stories about their experiences in Kona and about the lead up to the big race.  It is just what you need to start getting excited or to take a trip down memory lane.    In coming episodes, listen for some conversations with 2024 Hawaii athletes. You can go to my podcas...

Send us Fan Mail Gerard Charlton has had a pre Ultraman sporting career and post Ultraman sporting career. Like most athletes, pre Ultraman, Gerard was all about racing Ironman in Penticton (11 times) and just trying to get a little faster.  In 2005, with some prodding from Steve King, Gerard took on Ultraman Canada.   At that time in his life, his sports became more about meeting the challenge an...

Send us Fan Mail Retired Lieutenant-Colonel, Anthony O’Keeffe, member of the 2003 Canadian Armed Forces Sports Hall of Fame, joins me to discuss his sporting career.  A career that includes 33 Ironmans, 9 Ultraman Hawaii races, and 3 solo RAAM races.    Tony shares many tips on how to race these events based on the mistakes that he endured and the successes that he achieved.  We discuss his career...

Send us Fan Mail Ingrid Hillhouse is a farmer, a coach, and an addiction expert due to her life experiences.  She is a six time 515 distance racer who turned to ultra cycling and randonneuring.  We discuss races such as Ultraman, San Diego 300 , and Paris-Brest-Paris .  She is very open about her life experiences and how they have all brought her to where she is today – In Kona! Soon she will be r...

Send us Fan Mail She’s Iron.  She’s Ultra.  She’s Epic.   After being the second woman ever to complete the Epic 5 in 2017, Melissa Urie set out for an even more superlative title  – Uberman .   With the help of her amazing crew, Melissa was able to become the first female finisher of Uberman in 2019 (and set the swim record while doing so) in an overall time of 135 hours 55 minutes or 5 days 15 h...

Send us Fan Mail Steve King is a foundational guest on this podcast.  Even though he appeared in the first three episodes (S1E1) (S1E2) (S1E3) , I am not sure that we know all about this man.  So, I hosted an online Zoom meeting for anyone who wanted to show up and partake in the AMA with Steve.   This episode is the recording from that meeting.  You can just look down at the resources and people...

Send us Fan Mail I t’s another round table discussion on the state of Ultra.  This time I have four female coaches join me to speak specifically about female participation in the sport. Kate Bevilaqua from (S5E10) is back to lend her knowledge as a three time champion at Ultra 520K Canada, UM Australia , and the World Championships . She also brings years of coaching and her background as a profes...

Send us Fan Mail Two great races are highlighted in the first episode of the season. UM Australia + UltraMX 515 Non-Stop First, I have a conversation with the two champions of the 2024 UM Australia that recently wrapped in Noosa.  Melinda Cockshutt and Anthony Vloedmans share how the race went for them this year and a little about themselves.   In the second part, friend of the show, Van Sanchez,...

Send us Fan Mail UM Australia is the focus of this episode once again – like it was a year ago in (S4E8) . I caught up with race director, Jeff Morris, to preview the 40 athletes who are toeing the line in Noosa on May 11-13th.  With only four previous competitors in this year's field there isn’t an outright favourite, like last year’s, Simon Cochrane; but the women’s field looks to be very c...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Danish professional Ironman triathlete, Michelle Vesterby, talks about her recent win at her first 515 distance event – Ultraman Arizona .  Michelle has competed nine times at the Ironman World Championships in Kona and now may be looking at a November trip to Hawaii.   Michelle’s motto, “Keep Smiling”, was tested in Arizona, but her crew helped to keep her on the...

Send us Fan Mail Today’s Ohana guest is all heart and one kidney.  Race director of Ultra La Isla 520, Cesar Guilbert , is a live kidney donor who was inspired by team Hoyt to take on UltraMX 515 with his friend, Aarón Reza Lozoya, who is a person with quadriplegia.   His story is one of living life in peace by recognizing balance and he tries to share this through La Tribu collective. We also tal...

Send us Fan Mail Kate Bevilaqua has nearly 20 years of professional triathlon experience.  She is the winner of three Ironman races, the women's champion of Ultraman World Championships , and the first woman to win an ultra triathlon outright at Ultra 520K Canada in 2016. Kate continues to race the pro circuit along with her husband, Guy Crawford.   Together they run GK Endurance , their one-...

Send us Fan Mail Over 150 years of experience are on the podcast today.  A big list of big names in the Ultraman/515 world join me for a round table discussion.   All of my guests bring unique experiences and backgrounds as we establish some history of the sport before discussing its current state and where we see it moving in the future.   Resources mentioned in this episode: Ultra TriFest Canada...

Send us Fan Mail Will Rogers has travelled the world competing in 515 events which include Ultraman Canada, Ultra 520K Canada, Ultraman Hawaii, Ultra MX 515, Ultraman Florida, Ultraman Australia and Ultraman Israel.  When not competing himself he is often sharing his experience by crewing for other athletes. In this episode, Will shares stories from many of those events from both the perspective o...

Send us Fan Mail Ross Welton raced the Ultra 520K Canada two times as an athlete – one with greater success than the other.  Ross shares how he, and his wife Katie, were both able to stand on top the podium at that race.   These days Ross lives half the year in Mallorca and has been living “the lifestyle” of the island.  In the past few years Ross has replaced racing with travelling with friends o...

Send us Fan Mail Fifteen time Ultraman Hawaii athlete, Suzy Degazon, joins me to speak about her recent induction into the Ultraman World Championships Hall of Fame that occurred at this year's event.   Suzy has a prolific ultra triathlon career of over 450 events.   Just as interesting as some of her athletic endeavors are her stories of the other parts of her life.   Suzy has managed to tur...

Send us Fan Mail Returning guests, Jakub and Adam Atarsia share stories of brotherly competition in sports and how triathlon is growing in Northern Africa and the Czech Republic through the Ironman brand and the races that they put on.  Together the brothers offer the UltraCzech 515 and a series of races in Algeria – including SaharaMan .  Like many race directors these two are trying their best t...

Send us Fan Mail Manu Garcia,   the race director of Infinitri 515 , is my guest in this episode which was released early to coincide with race days of the 2023 version – October 19 - 21st. Being a triathlete himself, he decided to use his Masters in Event Planning and love of the sport to create his own career.  His company, Infinitri Sports , puts on various races throughout the year on the Medi...

Send us Fan Mail After walking into Tug’s Tavern Swim, Run, Swim event and finishing 30th out of 400 – a young Kurt Madden thought, ”maybe I can hang with these people”.    A few years later he was regularly travelling to Hawaii to compete in Ironman and Ultraman races.  In fact, Kurt was the first winner of Ultraman in 1983 .  He shares some stories of the early days in Hawaii and how it was view...