The Bend Racing Podcast

What a crazy few days. Top teams dropped like flies, there were tears of triumph and of joy. And there were lots of "getting lost" moments. Oh yeah - and we crowned a new AR champion, had a few huge bombshell shells shake up the podium, and a bunch of teenagers looking like teenagers not wanting to get up and go to school. Lets dive in, and they join us for parts 2 and 3 where we do drug...

Hope is a fickle thing. Fatigue is one of the great levellers. And competitiveness is a tool to be honed. It's what teams do in those longs spaces between fatigue and hope that makes seems interesting. And then there are the stories - the unexpected things that happen like warming up in a human sized bread oven. I think it was team Hansel and Gretel but that remains to be confirmed. Anyhoo - I...

Rules Rules Rules - how do you create a competition of something as epic as an expedition across South Africa. Or Patagonia. Or Faroe Islands? It is damn hard. We'll look at a few potential rules and gray areas that may impact the teams in the top 10 and why things can get complicated and emotional. Thanks to the referees - I don't envy your position at all! I'd love it if everyone cou...

From the field by a campfire. We talk about the failure for any team to make that "free" rest from the darkzone.

Darkness looms on night 2. Teams are 30+ hours with no sleep. Racing for a Darkzone that few (if any) will make. And a quick look at the tracking shows that they are now straying further and further from the green line that snakes across the map. It seems so simple and obvious sitting here in my chair, coffee in hand. But is it? We'll update you on the race, discuss the green line, and how to...

Racer Darkzones, Media Darkzones, FearYouth DarkZones...so many darkzones. What is it all about? Dive in and hear the scoop of what is happening, the critical next 24 hours and how one of the most promising young teams has a lot of learning ahead of them. The only DarkZone that we won't discuss is the excellent AR podcast. But I'll talk on it soon.

Want to dive deep into the AR world Champs. Come listen to thoughts and analysis from one of the most experienced expedition racers on the planet.

A new Study reveals how to improve map/compass/navigation skills without any training or instruction. Sound too good to be true? Yeah maybe, but with all the awesome races coming up you might owe it to yourself to keep an open mind and give this one a quick listen. I figure that I've been unconsciously doing this for nearly 20 years - since I've never really been taught navigation. Seems t...

How does a ground fall on a remote Scottish sea-cliff lead to questions of spirituality, heavy drinking, a broken back, and dancing Irish Jigs? Somehow it is all connected. Follow the folly and adventures as we hear a mostly true legend from before there were cell phones.

Having kids has been a very multi-faceted experience. But one of the best times is seeing adventure through their eyes. Taking them places that my wife and I would rate a 1 out of 10 on our "adventure scale", but rediscovering the magic through their eyes. A mellow class 2- river canyon only 20 minutes from our house is transformed into something akin to the Grand Canyon in our little bo...

Andy Magness/. Risk, Adventure, and being a dad. "Adventure" and "Risk" are easy bedfellows. But things become more complicated when you add "Parenthood" to the mix. In this episode, we'll hear from host Jason's twin brother as he weaves a story about an ill-fated expedition to seek out a talking bear named Stumpy. And then he will share with us some beautiful...

Check out an exclusive interview with the team! They already did a proper post race talk with Brian Gatens of the Dark Zone Podcast - so GO LISTEN to that one for a bit more play by play and insight. This one is more of an insiders look into our team culture, and the things that I (Jason) particularly wanted to ask them about. So dive in if you have time - and make sure you come back to listen to...

Final episode, lots of fun and excitement. And sponsor goodies if you listen to the end.

Let's talk about what it is like or there when things get sleepy. Everyone now for the rest of the race will be sleep deprived, but what does that mean? Join a sleepy Jason as he takes you into the science of sleep monsters.

Another Flash Cast about the Expedition Ozark Race. We lay out emergency Weather hold it's implications, as well as a "time bonus" that some teams received and a short course. The full field is down to about 13 out of 35 teams left on the full course!

Day 2 Expedition Ozark. We love adventure racing. More than we love Kidney stones. And what better way to distract myself from the pain of the latter with talk about the former. I am sitting out Expedition Ozark due a "little" 8mm stone, but I have lots of insight to offer. Sit back and catch up on the first day of Expedition Ozark! We'll talk through some of the overnight excitement...

We love adventure racing. More than we love Kidney stones. And what better way to distract myself from the pain of the latter with talk about the former. I am sitting out Expedition Ozark due a "little" 8mm stone, but I have lots of insight to offer. Sit back and catch up on the first day of Expedition Ozark!

A tube of exfoliating apricot face wash once saved me from trouble with the law. True story. Suggest that you listen to Episode 7: "First Day Of Work" before this one to get a bit of context, but this story stands on its own too. I bit bitter sweet recording this as I was supposed to be racing across Arkansas with my wife this week but a painful 8mm obstacle made me change my plans! Rega...

Eighty feet off the ground on the sheer brick side of the tallest building on campus hung a cryptic sign. No one admitted to having hung it, and few would have even had the skill to do so. It was in such a difficult place, that the best efforts of campus maintenance workers, local law enforcement, and even the pseudo-military boys from the ROTC were thwarted. No one ever came forward. Until now. L...

We all have formative figures from our past - and Aaron and Adam Gibson loom large in my memory as legendary friends.  Looking back it is crystal clear that these two helped create experiences that set the direction for my college and post college years, but more-so, the two were instrumental in showing me the power of positive "shit-talking" support within peer groups. I looked up to these t...

On Dec 31 1999, much of the world was poised and tense - waiting for potential disaster to strike from the Y2K bug.  But twins Jason and Andy Magness were more concerned with finding a place to ring in the new millennium that was as far away from any kissing couples as possible.  Maybe they went too far?  Or not far enough. Listen to find out.  This story was originally publish...

Most of the time when people ask, "What are you a Rocket Scientist?" they are being rhetorical.  But if you find yourself asking that to Mr Magness - he would have a different answer.  "Yeah, actually - once upon a time."  Despite being far more well know as a yoga teacher, acrobat or endurance athlete, Jason once worked at Raytheon Missile Systems on the team that was working on th...

Time Travel, Murder, heavy drinking, and a world slowly devolving into chaos and desperation.  All in a 10 minutes.  Listen to the story that first made host Jason Magness want to become a writer and teller of tales.  Bonus, it was written and performed by his father Mark Magness.  Complete with a haunting music, this one is especially eerie if you listen to it with eyes closed...

Some stories change the direction of your live forever.  This is that story for Chelsey Magness.  If you know the arc of Chelsey's love affair with Patagonia and the Patagonian Expedition Race, this will serve as somewhat of an origin story for her racing career and emotional resiliency in the face of tremendous loss.  There is not much else to say.  You might cry.  I did....

Inflection points in mathematics are where the direction of a line changes.  It may seem subtle at first, almost nonexistent until we zoom way out and look at things from a much more removed point of view.  Our life is full of these if we look back.  The saying goes - "life can only be understood backwards after it has been lived forwards. But on occasion we might get an inklin...