The Bend Racing Podcast

4 Hour Fuel is slowly making a name for itself in the advenuture racing world, and ultra distance paddling and bike-packing races. But many might not know about the Superfood Smoothies, the high-carb mix, the expedition mash, and the new Daily mix. And how do you make sense of it all - when to use what? We've got you. If you are at all curious about the brand, why it was created, and how it ca...

Dean Potter was an influential figure in adventure sports for nearly two decades, and perhaps the single person that influenced me the most in my 20's and 30's and my personal interactions with him are many and profound. His death in 2015 was a shock (but not necessarily a surprise) to many that knew him, and left a diverse community of climbers, high-liners, and wingsuit jumpers grappling...

Want to know the one piece of gear that will up your endurance cycling game even more than an actual nice bike? Then you have come to the right place. And yeah - this should be on the Adventure Race Training Podcast - but my co-host and I have both been busy, I lost my computer, and well sometimes it is better just to get stuff out and sort it all out later - and I know you all missed my excited v...

The Kiwi Sessions Continue: I have the pleasure of talking one on one with greats of Adventure Racing for the past two decades. With 8 world championships to his name, he's been a cornerstone of New Zealand's top team (Seagate and then Avaya). He's humble, open, and still super stoked on the sport. He's just taken back to back wins at both of New Zealand's expedition races - de...

Want to know what to look for when you dotwatch the Magnificent? Check out this course walkthrough that details the challenges and highlights of each stage, and what we expect to see out of the racers. Where will the racers find special challenges, surprise navigation difficulties, weather sensitive stages, and more. Sleep card? 3d printed maps? What's that all about? Dot watching is so much f...

What's it like being a race director out in the wild preparing for one of the most challenging events in the world circuit? And are RD's as nuts as you imagine that they are for doing what they do? Heck Yeah. And we took a microphone along on some route setting to capture the action (and random thoughts) that pop up as we hack through the bush in the rain. It'll add some color to your...

Just when you thought the conversations coming out of New Zealand couldn't be better after hearing from both Fear Youth and Sophie Hart. - we bring you Tide Faavae. Unless you are a total newbie, you've marveled at Nathan Fa'avae's winning career. He won his first major adventure race in 1999, and shortly thereafter started a family with his wife Jodie - a 7x NZ MTB national champi...

Tell me you are a new adventure racer without saying it. Easy. "Sophie Hart? Never heard of her. " Now tell me you are an long time competitive racer that just was granted a wish to add a female racer to your next World Champs bid. Easy. "I pick Sophie Hart". But whichever one of those you are - this podcast is worth a listen. Sophie is the most successful female adventure race...

Ephebiphobia: The Fear of Youth Straight off their amazing work at the Godzone race, where they entertained dot watchers across the globe with their antics, we talk to this young Kiwi team that has been making waves the past half decade as they've improve drastically each year. They are now firmly entrenched in the top echelon of the expedition racing game, and their meteoric rise shows no sig...

A new Adventure Race Training podcast has been launched! Wait what? People actually train for adventure racing? And coach adventure racers? Preposterous. Well maybe not. Meet Nick, and why he might be worth listening to...

The season was a banger for sure. But what can we learn? Are pack rafts bad for the sport? Should race directors design easy media coverage? Will next year's races be as "flawed" as this year's top events? Lots to unpack here with two opinionated folks.

Legit advice from 25 years at racing. I been holding onto this advice until I had enough street cred to get people to listen...so after a podium (podium is top 5 at worlds!) at this year's World Champs, I might never have a better moment. So buckle up for a quick "top 15" of things that you probably don't do, and won't believe...but would make you a better racer if you did.

Best Race - Worst Race. Flip sides of the same coin?!? Just listen - either you were there and survived, your happy that you weren't there cause you know you might not have survived, or you wish you were there creating memories that will never be forgotten.

We're back with Darren Steinbach for the state of AR #10. Lots going on and we'll recap the current scene! Darren is as opinionated as always!

Come along as we take on the iconic Seventy48 boat race with a bunch of yahoos and a home-made pedal powered contraption. That's right, we brought bikes to a boat race. We'll take you with us as we pedal on the water all through the night. You'll hear the music, the groans, the excitement of the crowd and even some live time catastrophe. Will we sink or swim? Or maybe just pedal our wa...

We dive deeper, hear the origin story of this power couple, and find out who is faster and who is more competitive...as well as all their secrets (spoiler - it might involve pajamas!). Join us for the second part of this interview with racing and race directing legends Brent and Abby!

This one has been a long time coming, and ended up being so fun and informative that we cut it into two. Apparently Brent likes to talk about all things AR as much as BR host Jason Magness. So there is plenty of discussion around the sport, the recent Endless Mountains expedition race, and all things AR, parenting, racing and race directing. Enjoy!

Sitting at the base of Mt Rainier on the eve of North America's biggest (too big) 24 hour race, we watch the end of North Americas biggest expedition race of the year (Endless Mountains, also maybe too big), and wonder if there are any reasons why? We also wonder if Navy Seals are any good at AR, so we interviewed one that is racing tomorrow, and racing the upcoming World Champs in Canada. So...

During the pandemic, the crazies behind the infamous "Race to Alaska" (R2AK) were banned from holding an event that entered Canadian maritime waters. So the pivoted and hosted the WA360 - a 360 mile boat race that maximized the many arms and island of Puget Sound. It was non-stop an pitted sail boats, kayaks and any other non-motorized Frankenstein contraptions you could dream up all all...

Peter left a mark on the AR community that is hard to argue with. His tragic packrafting accident in 2022 left a huge hole in the lives of his teammates at Team Checkpoint Zero, as well in the entire landscape of expedition racing. But he made his legendary mark on me way back in 2010. He may not ever have know how his small actions had such big impacts on who I have become as a racer, and who our...

Sometimes we witness people do things that change who we are...and the people that do them never realize that their "normal" seeming actions are perceived by another person as "the stuff of legends". These shorts are about those moments, and those people. Welcome to Bend Racing Legends.

Double episode. There are many ways to look at what "worst races" mean. And here we look at two different takes on 12 hour races. Both take place in 2003, and both were with "newer" racers. One was bad because of the format, length, and lack of follow-through. The other was bad because the racers were really bad. Maybe the race was bad too, but the racers were so bad they'd...

Yeah - it was bad. But looking back at it is oh-so-good. It was the who's who of AR at the time - with Mari Chandler, (the late great) Peter Jolles, Ryan Van Gorder, WEDALI, Marco Anselem (Vidaraid), Kyle Peters, Bob Miller, Fletcher Hamel, etc. And in the mix was our baby team when Dan was only 24 and could barley grow a mustache. Seriously, after you listen (or before) check out the video pl...

Yep - we all know they happen. And this race in Brazil's remote Pantanal region (the world's biggest wetland) was incredible - both in it's scope and failures. And we were there. A guy lost his hearing. No one finished. And not even the military could get into some of the TAs to help get people out. Oh yeah, and did we mention the crocodiles? The Indiana Jones pilot? Teams rebelling against the or...

Ok, this really isn't #9, cause I am pretty sure we only have done 5 of these, but I was not sure so we said 9. Join us as we discuss the recent La Ruta Madre Race, the Magnificent, racer responsibility, getting sick post race, and a host of other AR related stuff. Good to have Darren back with us, and excited to get back on the podcast train and churn out some episodes while we recover.