Free Outside

In this episode, I’m talking Cocodona 250 with Allison Powell, where things go from “best half marathon ever” to “walking a corpse to the finish line” in about 200 miles. We break down everything that went wrong last year, including cold, sleep mistakes, and just generally making questionable decisions for multiple days straight. Then we get into what we’re changing this time around, from pacing e...

This one is part training update, part origin story, and part figuring things out in real time. I’m down in Arizona right now, overheating on purpose, trying to finally solve the thing that’s crushed me at Cocodona 250 for years. Day one. Heat, hydration, sodium, all of it. I’ve known it’s a weakness, but this is the first year I’ve actually committed to fixing it. So I built a training camp aroun...

Eric Jenkins joins the podcast to talk about one of the weirdest things in sports, retiring in your early 30s… and then figuring out what comes next. Follow Eric online: https://www.instagram.com/_ericjenkins/ We get into his career from running 9 miles a week in high school (with snorkel training and backyard workouts) to becoming an NCAA champion and professional runner. Then we talk about the p...

Liz Derstine is back on the podcast to talk about her self supported Pacific Crest Trail effort, the highs and lows of going after a huge goal, and the film that came out of it, Ridgeline. We get into brutal desert heat, night hiking, trying to balance daily trail updates with an FKT effort, and what it feels like when a record starts slipping away but you keep pushing anyway. We also talk about t...

Allison is back and we cover a ton in this one. Will Peterson is officially going after the Appalachian Trail self-supported FKT, so we talk about what it is like when someone comes for your record and how different people approach these huge trail efforts. We also get into Cocodona 250 strategy, race-day chaos, pacing, heat, and how not to implode over 250 miles. Then we hit the running news, inc...

March Madness is here… but make it outdoors. We just wrapped round one of Outdoor March Madness and chaos has already taken over. No perfect brackets remain, upsets are happening everywhere, and somehow Nerds Clusters might actually win the whole thing. I break down the biggest results, the closest matchups, and what’s coming next as we head toward the Sweet 16. We also raffle off our first prize...

Mike McKnight is on the Free Outside Podcast, and this one goes all over the place in the best way. We talk about his jump into Hyrox, why it might be more of a runner sport than people think, and what it was like dealing with a brutal back injury that left him unable to run but somehow still riding 200 miles on a bike. https://www.freeoutside.com/outdoor-march-madness We also get into his massive...

Today I’m introducing something I’ve been putting way too much work into: Outdoor March Madness. Luke Pearsall of Trail Goods Co joins for a Bracketology episode discussing the outdoor march madness bracket. Join for a joke filled episode. Follow Trail Goods Co: https://www.instagram.com/trailgoodscompany It’s a giant bracket where outdoor things go head to head. Trails, gear, snacks, and the thin...

I have a huge announcement. The Free Outside Outdoor March Madness Bracket is live. https://www.freeoutside.com/outdoor-march-madness Go to freeoutside.com and fill out your bracket to predict which outdoor things will win head-to-head matchups all month long. Trails, snacks, gear, and trail problems will face off until we crown a champion. Follow Cody Taylor online: https://www.instagram.com/cody...

Madison Blagden joins me to break down one of the wildest hiking years I have ever heard of. In 2025, she completed a border-to-border Calendar Year Triple Crown, then kept going until she hit 10,071 miles on foot. We talk about how the goal evolved in real time, what it takes to hike that kind of mileage day after day, and how she handled injury, snow, isolation, grizzly country, and the mental t...

This week on the Free Outside Podcast, I’m joined by Allison Mercer to talk about one of the strangest weekends the running world has seen in a while. Allison was in Atlanta covering the US Half Marathon Championships, but before the reporting even started she paced a marathon, took a hard fall at mile 16, finished the race covered in blood, and ended up getting stitches. Somehow that still wasn’t...

Anthony Lee joins the Free Outside Podcast for a deep, honest conversation that starts in Vancouver, Washington (not Canada) and runs all the way to Boulder, Colorado, and 30 completed 100-milers. Anthony opens up about growing up sedentary, finding fitness through family, and the non-linear reality of turning your life around. We talk about bad decisions, real consequences, therapy, and the suppo...

Jacob Banta has spent years photographing the fastest runners in the sport. Now he’s racing them. After grinding as a privateer photographer, ski instructor, and self-sponsored athlete, Jacob earned a Golden Ticket at Terrawera 100K and punched his way into Western States. Follow Jacob Online: https://www.instagram.com/banta.visuals/ Thumbnail photos from Ryan Thrower: @ryanthrower Jacob Banta: @b...

Jeff Galloway passed away on February 25, 2026 at age 80. He was a 1972 U.S. Olympian and the creator of the Run Walk Run method, the simple idea that made running feel possible for millions of people, from first time 5K runners to marathoners and ultrarunners. This episode starts with a short monologue about what Jeff’s legacy means, and why inspiration is not always about being the fastest. Some...

The conch shell blew at 5 a.m. and the 2026 Barkley Marathons began, this time in the anti clockwise direction and on Valentine’s Day. In this episode, I break down my full loop at Barkley, from the chaotic descent off Chimney Top to the long climb up Rat Jaw, the prison tunnel, Little Hell, navigation errors, and the final push back to camp just under 14 hours. I also share some of the lesser kno...

We recorded this one on the drive home from Frozen Head State Park to Bozeman, while the mud is still on the shoes and the bruises are still fresh. Allison finally gets to talk about the last three months of secret training, the stress of learning map and compass, and what it is like to go from “I might get lost” to “I just found every book” in the same day. Find Allison's Substack: https://alliso...

Ski mountaineering is officially coming to the Olympics, and if you’ve never watched skimo before, this episode is your crash course. I’m joined by Max Valverde, former U.S. skimo athlete and NBC Olympic commentator, to break down how the sport works, why the Olympic version is so different from traditional backcountry skiing, and how the U.S. somehow snuck into medal contention at the last possib...

In 1988, before the 100-mile version existed, before the conch shell start became legend, before the documentaries and global fame, one man proved the Barkley Marathons could be finished. Frozen Ed was the first person to ever finish the Barkley. Not the 100-miler. The original three-loop race that no one thought was possible. In this episode we talk about: – What Barkley was really like in the 80...

The Barkley Marathons is designed to sit right on the edge of possible. Sixty hours. Five loops. Nearly all off trail. No GPS. No course markings. Books hidden in the woods. A cigarette lights the start. In 2021, I stepped onto the course and heard Taps play when my race ended. In 2026, I’m lining up again. In this episode, I break down what Barkley actually is, how it started under at Brushy Moun...

Madison Liechty joins the Free Outside Podcast and we keep the promise of no hard questions for about five seconds. We talk about her very normal Montana childhood (no horses to school, sorry), how one turkey trot convinced her friend Makena Morley to start coaching her toward big marathon goals, and why the trail world, where you can eat bacon mid-race, ended up being a better fit. Follow Madison...

Zach Perrin has run 3:59 for the mile, then promptly got humbled by his first trail race in road shoes and swore he would never do it again. Now he is all-in on ultras, dialing sweat rate and sodium, and lining up at Black Canyon with a golden ticket on the mind. We talk sub-4 race strategy, the “panic point” in the mile, ego-check moments on the trails, and what it actually takes to run well for...

The White Mountains have a special talent for making strong hikers question their life choices, and their mileage math. In this episode, I’m joined by Eli Burakian and Justin Chapman, the brains behind Northeast Trail Adventures, to break down what makes the Northeast so rugged, so beloved, and so different from anywhere else. Sign up for the retreat: https://northeasttrailadventures.com/ We dig i...

Allison Mercer drops a one-month-in “ins and outs of 2026” list that should be printed and taped to every smartphone: ranting to your phone is out, solutions and actual dialogue are in. From the chaos of Burrito League to the hype of the Millrose Games, we bounce between weather-whiplash field reporting, race-culture grievances (selfie sticks, pacers, entitlement), and a very biased Black Canyon 1...

Ben Dhiman has one of the best names in the sport, and he actually earned it. We talk nicknames, alter egos, and the wild cat energy he taps into when racing, then rewind to the thru hiking years that shaped his brain, his grit, and his need to keep pushing the edge. From the AT and CDT to the Hayduke and a full-on Himalayan mission in Nepal, Ben explains why big adventures can be both glorious an...

I’ve struggled to record this episode. Lately, it’s been harder to run, harder to feel motivated, and harder to know what to do in a world that feels increasingly loud, divided, and unjust. This episode is about words without action, the illusion of impact created by social media, and the lessons the trail has taught me about accountability, humility, and real work. Community isn’t built by the lo...