Gotta Run Podcast

On this episode, we feature 53 year old Jeff Bond, an ultra runner from Manitoba.  He has competed in several ultras including the Canadian Death Race, Epic East Gate in Riding Mountain National Park and the Dead Horse Ultra. He just completed 100 miles on foot at the Yukon Arctic Ultra; a race not for the faint of heart! You can choose your mode of discipline at this event either by foot, cross c...

Lauren Puretz is a 40 year old practicing gynecologist in Colorado Springs, CO.  She has been running ultras for a few years now and has always been in the mix of things - 5th at Bandera 2021, 7th at Black Canyon 2022, and 4th at last year's Javelina Jundred.  She is a member of the Colorado Aravaipa running team. Fun fact - she won the Sawatch Ascent 50K in Colorado outright last year and the onl...

Rachel Drake, 32, resides in Portland, Oregon. She is a new Mom to Lewis, partner to ultrarunner Tyler Green, and has her PhD in medical sciences.  She was the first woman across the line in this years Black Canyon 100K, where she earned ultrarunning's most sought after Golden Ticket to Western States.  Rachel started 2024 off with a win at the Hong Kong 33K, the first World Trail Majors race of t...

Hot off the Arizona trails is Becca Windell, celebrating not only her podium finish at Black Canyon 100k but capturing one of the elusive golden tickets to Western States 100K. Her passion for wildlife led her down the path to her career as a biologist, studying diseases threatening the fauna in the American west. We also chat about her experience at The Bear 100 in 2021; her only 100 miler to dat...

Tania shares a fascinating chronicle of her journey into ultra running, from her initial days of being a non-runner to resolutely training and completing ultra-marathons, over 20 to date.  She details her latest adventure, to race across five deserts (Namibia, Gobi, Jordan, Antarctica, Chile) in 12 months with the aim of raising funds for Indigenous children in Mexico.  Find out why she chose this...

Jakob Herrmann is a Swiss living in California, and an experienced runner who has completed an incredible number of races including seventy-nine marathons, over fifty 50K’s, and twenty-five 100 milers. His first ultra was back in 2005 at the JFK 50 - go big or go home!    Some of his more notable races include Javelina 100, Rio Del Largo 100, and Man vs Horse.  Jakob is also the race director of t...

Marcus Kjellberg is an ultra runner with diabetes and content creator from Sweden.  We came across one of his YouTube videos that he created about the Val D’Aran race in Spain last year - it’s an event put on by UTMB and some say the 100 miler is equal to or harder than the UTMB’s 100 miler. During his Val D'Aran experience it turned into a lightning show and the race was stopped,  what happened n...

Wow Wow Wow !! What a year 2023 has been, we hit 100 episodes and chatted with amazing ultra athletes. The 4 events in our Gotta Run Racing series were a success and we have added more content on our YouTube Channel with new virtual runs, our running adventures and Podcast chats.  Head on over to our Youtube channel and subscribe to not miss any uploaded videos. If you enjoy our show, please leave...

Holly Grahn is an ultra runner, certified registered Hypnotherapist and Life Coach living in British Columbia. She has conquered some of Canada's epic ultra races finishing the Canadian Death Race 4xs as well as Fat Dog 120 and Squamish 50 just to name a few,  through her coaching, she specializes in helping runners change their mindset, reduce stress, improve focus and visualize success!  In our...

On this episode, we, have Dr. Claire Heslop, an emergency physician in our home city of Toronto. We became aware of Claire after her amazing performance at Ultra Trail Du Mont Blanc as the top Canadian in 2021. She has competed in some pretty amazing races including the Ultra Mirage in Tunisia, MIUT Madeira, Bigfoot 200, Moab 240 and The Track in Australia - 520KM stage race in 2017. 2023 has been...

Based out of San Francisco, California, 30 year old Anna Kacius is an endurance athlete with an impressive resume, including qualifying for the Olympic marathon Trials in 2020 and competing for Team USA at the 100K World Championships in Berlin 2022. Anna placed 4th at Black Canyon 100K this year, and recently won the Javelina Jundred 100K breaking the course record by 25 mins with a time of 8:13!...

Jon Rea, fresh off his Javelina Jundred record breaking win with a time of 12:43, earned his third golden ticket to Western States. We chat about his very first ultra - the Golden Gate Dirty 30 50K back in 2015 and Desert Rats 100k (50k) which earned him a spot at CCC this past summer.  He also shares his thoughts on the UTMB/WAM controversy and going back to WSER in 2024. All this and more! Here...

Blake Slattengren of Seattle, Washington had a great performance in his debut 100 miler at Javelina Jundred this year, coming in second and snagging his first Golden Ticket to Western States 100. We chat with Blake about how he started in the ultra scene with his first race in New Zealand the Old Ghost Ultra - 85K in 2021 then went on to win the next 5 out of his 7 ultras. We chat about the ultra...

Ragna Debats of the Netherlands (living in Spain) put in a stellar performance at the 2023 Javelina 100, placing 2nd and punching her golden ticket for the 2024 Western States Endurance Run. Ragna will be returning to Auburn next June to try and better her current masters record of 17:41 where she places 3rd in 2021. She has won some pretty incredible races around the world including Istria 100, T...

While pretty fresh on the ultra trail scene, Ethan Peters has achieved quite the string of impression wins. He started running ultras in 2018 by completing his first ever ultra the Haliburton 100 in his home province of Ontario. After that he finished first at the Canadian Death Race and Black Spur, both Sinister Sports events. He was the fastest Canadian at this years Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc wi...

We came across Aaron's profile on Instagram @irunovermountains and it peaked our interest; he's a content creator, ex-pat from Northern Ireland spending his time between London and Chamonix and he's addicted to mountain running! Aaron has competed in several UTMB series events including TDS, CCC and of course the iconic 100 mile distance UTMB twice. This past August, he took on the Swiss Alps 100...

Jocelyn Briggs is a personal trainer, coach and ultrarunner living in Whitby, Ontario. We met her when she volunteered at our Fiddle50 event this past June and learned that she would soon be taking on the iconic Hardrock 100 miler after earning her final ticket (after several years of trying) at the Bigfoot 200. After the highs and lows of Hardrock 100, she had a secret 200 race planned in her bac...

Norman finally made it to the start line of the UTMB after reading about it in a magazine fifteen years ago.  The idea of running through 3 countries, (France, Italy, Switzerland) has been on his mind ever since.  This is his race recap and Jodi’s perspective of race crewing (well, kinda). Listen to hear his thoughts on the start line atmosphere, climbing over 10,000 metres, sleep deprivation, hal...

Our final day came upon us a little sooner than anticipated (weather was expected to rapidly change from the extreme heat to a lot of rain/thunderstorms) but we made the most of it! We enjoyed another mostly downhill day from La Fouly to Champex-Lac (dubbed Little Canada).  Stayed in a hostel for the first time ever (and possibly last) Arrived to spectacular views in Chamonix before the rain and c...

Said arrivederci to Italy, Bonjour to Switzerland today! Headed out from Val Ferret just outside Courmayeur and climbed almost 800 metres in about 6K to arrive at the Grand Col Ferret bordering the two countries. Lush mountainsides, herds of sheep and more cowbell please! Oh, and finally some epic downhill running - WOOT!   If you enjoyed our show please leave a rating and review.  We would really...

Off to a fresh (and earlier) start on Day 2 from Courmayeur. Our itinerary included an 18K day with a long climb in the first 5K.  Met some interesting people on the trail, many of whom were circumnavigating Mont Blanc in 10-14 days and were shocked to learn of the runners who could do it in less than 24 hours! Literally ran into one of our recent podcast guests, Priscilla Forgie! She is set to to...

We arrived in Courmayeur from Geneva and got right down to business!  An 8K 'shakeout' run was on the itinerary and we figured it would be a great way to get our flatlander legs warmed up. Little did we know that it would be a lesson in map and sign interpretation, steep climbs (with rewarding views) and oppressive heat. We learned some important takeaways for Day 2, bring more nutrition and alway...

Hey everyone we are back after a little break, here's a quick recap of our Rainbow Trail Run event that took place last month and a preview of what we are up to next (and why you won't hear a new episode for a few weeks)! We are off to hike the Alps and then Norman will be running UTMB.  You can track him live on the UTMB site bib #2478 Sneak Peek - Contest Alert, listen in or follow on our social...

Jennifer St. Amand, a 48-year-old ultrarunner from Dexter, Minnesota, originally from the east coast of Canada, was the final finisher at the 2023 Western States 100, finishing with 21 seconds to spare. We discuss a couple of her ticket races where she had impressive results; Superior 100 and Lean Horse 100. Her WSER experience was a roller coaster of emotions from fighting cutoffs, never-ending c...

Originally from Hungary now based in Hong Kong, Eszter Csillag made the most of her first ever visit to the United States by not only competing in the country's oldest 100 miler Western States 100 but placing 3rd in a very competitive year where records were broken! The mother of two tells the story of how she gained entry into Western States, her vast experience of racing in South East Asia as we...