Cultra Trail Running

What can be said about a podcast episode that clocks in at a svelte two hours and fifty minutes? Meet our newest cast member Vicki as she asks to talk to a grizzly bear's manager, Fred has an altercation with a bobcat, Art is still afraid of chipmunks and Jimmy covers a lot of ground by speaking well over 90 words a minute. A very special jackassing episode. BURCS Upcoming Races Border Patrol Chal...

We caught him folks, and we set and FKT in the process- actually a world record! Yes that's right, it's the longest podcast we've ever recorded. Over three hours of Ben; we discuss his running, family life, his research, FKTs, psychology; you name it, we talked about it. Art had a cool week and managed to get in 28 miles with Shan Riggs on his second to last day running across America. Fred is sti...

Adam Osmond is not likely to run Western States anytime soon. As a recovering gambling addict, these days he will not even put his name into a race entry lottery. Instead, Adam has established himself as a fixture of the Northeast running scene and is very active in sharing his experiences with others on social media. However he does not carry a GoPro camera to simply capture the moment, and to sh...

Yakkin' it up about jackassin' = that's YACKASSIN' my people. We go full crew sans guest (so no one looks on in horror) as we dissect Becky's day at the Brewery. Hear how she almost bested the field of ladies and how our friend Brian V and his Steep Endurance squad once again put on a safe event during a global pandemic. Fred keeps on running, hitting 4000 miles for the year while us mere mortals...

Craig Lloyd is an ultra runner living in Utah. He also heads up Trail And Ultra Running (TAUR) which has a Facebook group of over 122,000 members, making it the largest online running community in the world (allegedly). It is a place of huge proportions, where most posts are likely to get hundreds of answers. We talk about how he manages to keep 122,000 runners in line, and keep it fun. Craig also...

Alex McDaniel is the founder of the West Rock Ramblers, West Coast  transplant, and a three time Western States finisher. He joins AFB for a one on one interview and the rest is Cultramatic poetic history.  We talk about the differences between East and West coast, the Connecticut running scene, and so much more.

"Sorry Jimmy I got nothing" is the message Art Byram sent over to me with the draft of this show, as far as the title of the show is concerned. I actually like it- we're all still sitting here in limbo waiting for the 2020 Presidential election results so it's fitting, really captures the zeitgeist. We recap the Pachaug Trail Runs, thrown by yours truly and we hear how Becky and guest Amy Sorensen...

Ah, Runners World- you kill me. Listen I get it, you want people to read you, take it all in, see the hundreds of advertisements and then instantly forget that they ever read you. I get it. I really do. It's just that we need more from you, if you're going to be the voice of our sport, we need more. Okay whatever. Here's the damn RW article Science of Ultra podcast about trekking poles that Art me...

Finn Melanson grew up in New England but truly, he's a man of the world. A restless soul in the best possible way, young Finn's spirit is too large to be confined or defined by geographical boundaries. In this episode we crack Finn open- nay, he cracks US open and we get down to the heart of the matter; what it is that makes us who we are and why the idea of "balance" is overrated. One of my favor...

Art picks the names of the episodes but I write the show notes. Art said "hey how's this name?" in reference to the title and I said "I like this other name" in reference to the alternate title and Fred chimed in with "How to Get Into Brown?" which works really well too and I thought we may have reached an impasse but alas, Art sent me the draft with his title so I lose yet again. But I have to te...

Hey gang! Do we have a special episode for you- this is a jam-packed, all-star interview session with the top gals and guys from last week's Blue to Blue Challenge in New Haven, CT- and it was a barn-burner! Hear all the gory details from a knock down, drag out fight between friends Laura Becker and Deb Livingston (I jest) and third place finisher Clorice Reinhardt. Then the top two guys Dan Bates...

Robert Jason Jeffers gives us exclusive expert information on Pop-Tarts, and how they can help you get the calories you need and deserve.  There is a Pop-tart Test and Robert Aces it! He tells us his origin story and we have many laughs with AFB and Evil Becky. Art and Robert also share their first hand experience of what it was like to be in downtown lower Manhattan on the morning of 9/11, and ho...

It was supposed to be a triple half marathon. 39 miles for a 39th birthday they said. They said they'd have gelato along the way. But someone had to go and turn it into a 100-miler. Hear all the details of how Gelato (who the fuck is Kate?) ran 100 miles with Bill DUMBASS Odendahl as they were supported by a cast of characters and friends to get Gelato's first 100 done. And since Kate was here (wh...

Who is Justin Kousky, and how did he manage to run the CUT112 unsupported in under 26 hours? Tune in to this episode for details on this FKT and hear how he has approached 22 other unsupported FKTs this year. He is definitely someone to keep an eye on! So glad to hear his stories and to have the full Crew together- Becky is back and in all her awkward glory.  Four spots left in The Blue 2 Blue Cha...

Liz Allen and Rick O'Toole are trail runners. They recently ran Live Loud Running's Six Hours at the Reservoir race in Ansonia, CT. The both won their respective races and had fun doing it. Listen to what makes a champion.  Becky shows up late for an awkward and fun time, Fred is still streaking and Art is befuddled by Jimmy's jackassing. That's basically every episode though. Photo courtesy of Ja...

Phat Phred Mulrolo and AFB sit down to talk with Mike Cook.  Mike proceeds to tell us the history of the ancient world, and we bond sharing stories of digging up bones, tools and Peruvian outhouses.  Somehow all stories involve poop.  Mike got a first class tune up from Coach Steve LaBranche, helping him prepare for a 100k.  Was it the workouts or did Sandwiches somehow enter the plan?  Either way...

Most of the crew ran 112 miles from Long Island Sound to the Massachusetts border and back last weekend, hear their tale of life, death, resurrection and rebirth. A classic episode that's brand new. Allegedly. We're on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/44etXyR0WbJtmKRKrP7V6M We're on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultra-trail-running/id1446356779 Please support Cultra Trail Ru...

CULTRA Crew puts Desitin all over you! What a fun episode to record- we hope you like it. Jimmy recounts the debacle of his second M&M Trail attempt, Fred has a ton of Umstead gear, Art shows his junk and Becky has us all rolling along. Later in the episode Reagan joins the fun to help plan out a 114-mile adventure for the weekend.  Live Loud Running 2020 Calendar: https://www.liveloudrunning.com/...

Kevin Dames went to Fresno State as an Exercise Major, then moved to Colorado to get his PhD  in bio mechanics. He now teaches others about how humans move and why they move that way, as well as applied statistics and research methods.  He now lives in Cortlandt New York and allegedly occasionally hangs with Ian Golden and crosses paths with Ellie Pell.  Translation: he is a cool dude. We talk app...

When Cindy Sullivan was in middle school, she was forbidden to run- she had a degenerative genetic knee condition that got her out of gym class and physical activity. Fast forward about 20 years and Cindy decides she's going to run for the most selfless of reasons- to inspire her then three year old son. After running her first trail race (Nipmuck South), she graduated to ultra (Steep Rock 50k) an...

We talk race strategy, hydration, nutrition, equipment and mental toughness as we recount our recent efforts at running 104 Dumbass Miles on the Pequonnock River Trail in lovely Trumbull, CT. No monkeys were harmed during the recording of this podcast. Special shout-outs to Chip Howard, Mike Crutchley, Sally Campbell, Michelle O'Neill, Jason Roberts, Jay Durand and Tek Ung for making the day (and...

Believe it or not, he's walkin' on air, he never thought he could feel so free! Flyin' away on a wing and a prayer, who could it be? Believe it or not it's just Jay Durand! "Here's the episode folks!" We're on Spotify! https://open.spotify.com/show/44etXyR0WbJtmKRKrP7V6M We're on iTunes! https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cultra-trail-running/id1446356779 Please support Cultra Trail Running Pod...

Paulius, O Paulius! He has the name and physique of a Roman emperor, except he hails from the mean streets of Lithuania and went to Glasgow for university. He loved it so much he decided to stay and conquer. Paulius loves the mountains, he's an avid climber, mountaineer and boss trail runner; although we learned that in Scotland you can go wherever you want. Other highlights: the Cultra Social Dis...

First of all, this was a rare Monday night recording so all of our moons and stars were aligned and... naw I don't believe in that stuff. We were in rare form so to speak, and everyone is getting after it. From the local to the regional to the national FKT scene to Jimmy celebrating 10 years running by running 40 miles to Simon's triumphant return to Evil Becky running 75 miles overnight on a trac...

Its hard to paddle a canoe without water, but we give it our best shot. Would you expect anything less from the Crew? First we dive into some serious jackassing- Jimmy DNFs an FKT attempt, we recap the latest Social Distance Challenge, introduce the newest challenge, the longest Patreon reading ever, then we get all cinematic and dive out of the canoe into our favorite trail films. We go over some...