Like a Bigfoot

This week we are chatting with Irish Adventurer Gavan Hennigan all about his life as an adventurer! Get ready because this is an absolutely AMAZING episode of the show!! Gavan has spent his adult life diving head first into adventure. Having traveled around the world for work as a deep sea saturation diver (which is fascinating), he has taken on everything from climbing Himalayan peaks to running...

A couple months ago Clark Beckham laced up his shoes to run 50 miles at the Rocky Racoon in Huntsville, Texas. Since we previously talked after the Marine Corps Marathon, Clark's training had been a bumpy road- think busy life of a musician on tour combined with a rough marathon recovery. Despite a near non-existent training block, he lined up at the start line anyway. Braving the ups and downs of...

A month ago we chatted with Ryan and Emily Wanless as Ryan was days away from entering the Alaskan Wilderness to take on the EPIC 350 mile Iditarod Trail Invitational. Since that time, Ryan has slept near wolves, trudged through ridiculously deep snow, heard tales of Moose attacks, pulled a sled up through a mountain range, marched down a frozen river, and finished his incredible adventure at back...

While some take the path of least resistance, the easiest one before them, Jake Allison chose the path of passion, committing most of his time to the blood, sweat and tears necessary to pursue his dream. Jake and I went to high school together in Muscatine, Iowa. In high school he decided to pursue his dream to become a dancer. Leaving behind what was comfortable, Jake set out to see how far he co...

A few weeks ago Brittany Charboneau competed in the Olympic Marathon Trials. Just being a part of this race is a BIG TIME goal that athletes work years and years to achieve. Brittany not only participated, but she placed 13th in a stacked field AND beat her personal best marathon time by three minutes!! In this episode we chat all about Brittany's journey from "I guess I'll try one of these runnin...

A conversation about the absurdity of a massive endeavor, the fear of the unknown, the wonderfulness of a community, the power of stories, the compounding effects of small acts of kindness, the adaptability of humanity, and the inevitability of a bad time....when you're canoeing. This has been a long freaking anxiety producing, world shifting week. Thank goodness we have friends. Those wonderful s...

Tricia O'Hara loves stairs. Running them, climbing them, the feeling of floating up them to the top of a building using nothing but her body and a ridiculously hard, pure anaerobic effort. In fact, she loves them so much that she has become one of the elite stair runners, athletes who travel around sprinting up the most famous buildings in the world. Over the last six years, she has climbed stairw...

SPECIAL BONUS EPISODE!!! My buddy Brady Manriquez is in the middle of training for his very first ultramarathon- a 50k at the Booneville Backroads Ultra!! In this episode, Brady and I talk about the ups and downs of a 50k, what he should be ready for both mentally and physically, and I share mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned throughout my last seven years of ultrarunning. Prepare yoursel...

This week Ryan and Emily Wanless are back on the show straight from Alaska, the "Land of the Midnight Sun" to review their past year of ultrarunning and explain how Ryan's plans for enduring the 350 miles of the Iditarod Trail Invitational. Emily and Ryan are both athletes out of South Dakota who set out to take on some of the world's toughest, fastest, and coldest races. Last August, they travele...

This week we are chatting with Angus Peacock, the executive director of Rugby Colorado, lifelong rugby player, and Gobi March Stage Race finisher. Angus was a high level international rugby player who became coach of the Shanghai rugby squad before moving to Colorado where he is setting up a foundation for the sport in America. He also competed in the 2010 Gobi March, a weeklong ultraendurance sta...

This week I am honored to sit down and chat with an amazing ultrarunner from Asheville, North Carolina, Aaron Saft. Aaron's running career has spanned 30 years and in that time he has taken on everything from indoor track 2 milers and collegiate cross country events to the Georgia Death Race and UTMB. In 2007, he won the USA Track and Field Trail Marathon championship and his ultrasignup reads of...

This week we are bringing back on Travis Steffen for an unparalleled six time! Over the years I have successfully pressured Travis outside of his comfort zone to take on a variety of endurance races- an adventure race through the woods of Virginia, a mountanous 50k, and a brutally long desert 50 miler. I'm proud to say I have convinced (tricked....) him into pushing his limits once again as he is...

This week we are welcoming back ultra runner, race director, and all around awesome guy Brad Dains! Brad is currently taking on race directing duties of the Booneville Backroads Ultra, "Iowa's First 100 Miler" through the beautiful rolling countryside south of Des Moines. He has been with Booneville as either a racer, a volunteer or a co-race director over the last 6 years and is extremely passion...

(Photo Credit: Discovery) On Christmas Day, 6 athletes stepped foot onto Antarctica. Almost two weeks earlier they pushed off from Cape Horn, the southern most point of South America, rowing in hour and a half shifts to become the first people to successfully cross the infamous Drake Passage completely man-powered. Through sheer will, determination and positivity they conquered not only world reco...

This week we are welcoming back Danny, trail name "Oreo", to the podcast to share more stories from her hike of the Pacific Crest Trail! Last time we chatted a couple weeks after she finished the trail and this time she is about 6 months removed from the biggest hiking adventure of her life. We get into some honest discussions about the Post Trail Blues (which I think could be called the "I-just-a...

This week's guest is the incomparable Maggie Guterl! No event has captured the imagination of ultrarunners quite like Big's Backyard Ultra "the race with no end." A Last Person Standing event created by "Lazarus Lake" Gary Cantrell, the mind behind the Barkley Marathons, that tests the will, grit, and pure madness of its participants. This past October, Maggie outlasted everyone. For 250 miles ove...

This week race director and ultrarunner Candice Burt comes back on the show to chat about surviving 200 mile runs, organzing some of the biggest ultraruns in the nation and what she discovers through big time adventures! To say Candice has been busy over the last few years would barely scratch the surface. Not only does she organize, design and manage the Triple Crown of 200s (and many more races...

Happy 2020!! This week we are chatting with bikepacking champion, extraordinary endurance athlete, and all around awesome human being Alexandera Houchin! Alexandera has had an inspiring athletic journey culminating in dominant performances at the Tour Divide, Colorado Trail Race, amongst many other long distance bike races. She rides her single speed bike for days and days rocking steel toed boots...

This week we are bringing Don Reichelt back on the show to talk all about his experience running in this year's edition of Big's Backyard Ultra. Big's has quickly risen to the top of iconic ultra races in the United States. The format is simple- every hour runners must complete a 4.16 mile loop, the next hour they must complete it again....then again....then again....at any point a person can quit...

A goal of mine has always been to encourage people to take on an adventure, whether that's signing up for an ultra marathon, climbing a mountain, or simply stepping outside their comfort zone. More specifically I always joke that the secret intent of the podcast is to get people to sign up for their first 50k, the ultra distance that I believe is the perfect intro to adventure. Well I'm happy to s...

This week we welcome back Josh Milich and Brian Tjersland after their 500 mile journey in support of Mission 22 a community with the goal of putting a stop to the high amount of veteran suicides that unfortunately happen every single day. By running from the Massachussetts National Cemetary all the way down to Arlington National Cemetary, these two raised money and awareness in every single city a...

This week we welcome American Idol finalist, first time marathoner and future ultra marathoner Clark Beckham to the show!! I recently met Clark at the finish of the Marine Corps Marathon. Sitting there in my own state of pure exhaustion, I was re-energized by the brief synopsis of Clark's marathon journey- 6 months earlier he was 30 pounds heavier listening to David Goggins' book "Can't Hurt Me" w...

Imagine spending two whole days physically, mentally and emotionally pushing yourself to your absolute limits. Traveling over 80 miles full of insanely difficult physical challenges while carrying a heavy ruck all under the critical eye of a cadre member whose job it is to get the absolute best out of you and make you resist, with every part of your soul, the urge to quit. GORUCK Selection is know...

This week is the most delicious episode of the podcast yet!! We are sitting down with Chef Corso from Monty Boca to talk all about how to cook delicious food in the wilderness. Chef Corso is an avid hiker and backpacker based out of Seattle who is challenging the way we think about cooking food for various adventures. Most of us usually throw some oats in a bag or slap together some peanut butter...

I'm super excited to have ultra runner, adventurer, and all around awesome person Kayla Howell back on the show this week! When I think of someone who loves the outdoors and is up for any adventure life brings her way, I think of Kayla. She's competed in all sorts of different endurance events all over the country and always steps up to any challenge with a tremendous attitude. In this episode we...