The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast

Nathan Fa'avae returns to the Dark Zone — over 100 episodes after his first appearance as guest #50. A seven-time adventure racing world champion with Seagate and Avaya, Nathan officially stepped back from traditional AR in 2023, not to slow down but to redirect: growing youth and women's adventure racing in New Zealand through his events company, and chasing ultra-endurance paddling with longtime...

For the next two weeks, Rootstock Racing is taking over the Dark Zone feed, offering a limited series podcast chronicling the 2026 Endless Mountains Adventure Race. In this episode, the race kicks off at the summit of Mount Defiance in Ticonderoga, New York and teams push through their first night on the course. Shownotes: The Endless Mountains Adventure Race - www.endlessmountainsar.com Rootstock...

For the next two weeks, Rootstock Racing is taking over the Dark Zone feed, offering a limited series podcast chronicling the 2026 Endless Mountains Adventure Race. In this episode, final gear preparations, race fuel, and packing your fears. Shownotes: The Endless Mountains Adventure Race - www.endlessmountainsar.com Rootstock Racing - www.rootstockracing.com Music credits: Mountain Sun, Jason Sha...

For the next two weeks, Rootstock Racing is taking over the Dark Zone feed, offering a limited series podcast chronicling the 2026 Endless Mountains Adventure Race. In this episode, teams talk preparation, goals, and the blurry lines between adventure racing and adventure parenting. Shownotes: The Endless Mountains Adventure Race - www.endlessmountainsar.com Rootstock Racing - www.rootstockracing....

For the next two weeks, Rootstock Racing is taking over the Dark Zone feed, offering a limited series podcast chronicling the 2026 Endless Mountains Adventure Race. In case you missed it, this is a rebroadcast of the teaser. Listen here for Episode 0.5 of the Endless Mountains Podcast, produced by Rootstock Racing. Shownotes: The Endless Mountains Adventure Race - www.endlessmountainsar.com Rootst...

We love it when race directors send teams our way, and that's what RD Mark Lattanzi did in 2025 following his three-day The Cerberus Expedition Stage Race. Three-person team, One Degree Racing, tackled the course and stood out for their enthusiasm, high spirits, and teamwork. This conversation is a clinic for newer teams. One Degree digs into strategic point-dropping, rotating the maps so everyone...

Twin sisters Jennifer Robertson and Jamie Miller of Team Overconfident and Undertrained join TDZ to talk about the greatest team name in adventure racing. Based in Oklahoma, Jennifer and Jamie discovered adventure racing two and a half years ago and never looked back. In this episode, they talk with TDZ about the accountability of training with your twin living across the street, learning navigati...

Adam Rose joins The Dark Zone for a full debrief on the 2025 Bimbache adventure race in Morocco. Racing with Team Beacon, Adam has a lot to say about five days in the Atlas Mountains — the terrain, the race design, the decisions that cost them, and the moments that made it worth every dirham. Race director Antonio de la Rosa leaves his signature on everything he touches. Bimbache was no different....

Returning guest Marina LeGree, Executive Director of Ascend Athletics, is always a delight to have on The Dark Zone. In this episode, we discuss her introduction to adventure racing, the parallels between Ascend and AR, and how her family is again returning to The Maine Summer Adventure Race. LeGree founded Ascend Athletics in Afghanistan in 2015 — taking girls into the mountains to teach navigati...

Before we get into the race and event updates, we take a moment to remember TDZ Guest #2 Shelley Johannesson. Her loss has been a tremendous blow for our community, and TDZ wanted to join the community in honoring her and who she was. We then turn to Jason's Adventure Bash, June 13th in Columbia, South Carolina, a race that Jason Schmidt designed himself before he passed away this past winter. His...

Kevin Tucker didn't find adventure racing through a slick marketing campaign or a friend with a team slot. He found it because famed RD Grant Killian left the door open to Untamed New England. Now, fourteen years later, Tucker is doing the same thing for Pittsburgh — and his team is taking the philosophy further than most race organizations would dare. "His Pay What You Want" six and twelve-hour r...

What do adventure racing and ultra cycling have in common? More than you think. This week on The Dark Zone, Brian sits down with David Ayre of Lost Dot — the organization behind some of the world's most demanding ultra cycling events. What starts as a conversation about bikes across continents quickly reveals something familiar: dot watching, control points, self-sufficiency, volunteers as the bac...

Adventure racing has always depended on people who love the sport enough to build it. Greg Callas is one of those people. Greg is the new president of Gold Rush Adventure Racing, a nonprofit based in the foothills of the Sierras with a two-decade history on the West Coast. He inherited a legacy, and a responsibility, from the founders who built it, and he's determined to carry both forward. But th...

Kate and Cliff White of Strong Machine Adventure Racing have been a fixture in the adventure racing community for over a decade — first as racers stumbling toward the back of the pack at a winter race in Wisconsin, and eventually as two respected race directors on the East Coast. The path between those two points is anything but straight. In this episode, we trace that journey: how a family machin...

Episode 150 of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast honors a milestone with someone who embodies the long arc of endurance sport — Dan Brannen. Dan was my first adventure racing teammate back in 2011, when I was just breaking into the sport. But long before that, he had already built a remarkable career across decades of endurance. A winner of the legendary JFK 50 Mile, former American recor...

For almost 150 episodes, The Dark Zone has been free — stories of grit, uncertainty, partnership, and the long road through the unknown. Now we’re turning those miles into something bigger. From March 19–22, 2026, Bob Mina and Brian Gatens of TDZ will attempt to ride 400 miles from West Chester, Pennsylvania to The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia. No guarantees. No shortcut...

In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, we sit down with the team behind a new and exciting expedition-length race — Ajita Madan and Sayeesha Kirani, founders of NthAdventure, alongside Heidi Muller and Stephan Muller, veteran adventure race directors. Together they unpack the story, strategy, and heart behind Adventure @ Mechukha, India’s first Adventure Racing World Series...

You’re listening to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, where we try to understand how adventure races really play out—over long distances, under fatigue, and within the relationships that make or break a team. Today’s episode is a conversation with Emily Panietz and Becca Lunnon, racing as The Wonky Donkeys, about their strong showing at The Legend Adventure Race in Tasmania. That result...

In this episode of The Dark Zone, we sit down with Slade Combs, a performance coach who helps people understand, confront, and work through fear — not by eliminating it, but by learning how to carry it well. Whether you’re standing on a start line, staring down a scary race section, preparing for a big presentation, or simply trying to perform when the stakes feel high, fear shows up. The question...

In Episode 147, we step onto one of the most storied and demanding landscapes in European adventure racing. Flavie Bahuaud of Raid In France, joins TDZ to pull back the curtain on the 2026 Adventure Racing World Championship, coming to Corsica in September 2026. This isn’t just another host venue—it’s an island defined by extremes: jagged mountains rising straight from the sea, historic trails, te...

On this extended episode of The Dark Zone , we head into the rugged heart of Monterrey, Mexico, home of La Ruta Madre—a race that blends blistering heat, steep technical terrain, cultural immersion, and the kind of navigational complexity that defines true expedition racing. Our guests—Una, Joel, and Zach—join TDZ to unpack the story of their team’s experience on this iconic course. But rather tha...

In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast, we shift gears—literally and figuratively—to explore a different kind of endurance adventure. Our guest is Tyler Stancill, a passionate bikepacker who pedaled more than 6,000 miles from Key West, Florida to Newfoundland, Canada along the newly established Eastern Divide Trail. His journey captures the same spirit that fuels every adven...

In this episode of The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast , host Brian Gatens welcomes John Karlsson, captain of Team SAFAT, the reigning Adventure Racing World Champions. Known for their precision, discipline, and calm under pressure, SAFAT has come to define the standard of excellence in expedition racing. John shares his introduction to the sport, his growth as a racer, and the lessons lear...

Happy October, TDZ Nation Here is a quick 5-minute update following the Adventure Racing World Series AR World Championship in Penticton, British Columbia. TDZ was onsite to help with media, and the race was quite the ride. Per the episode, everyone involved in the race - racers, supporters, volunteers, family, media, EVERYONE - is encouraged to record and send a 90-second (or so) voice message/me...

Welcome to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. From time to time, we like to support our companion podcast, The Course Reveal, by crossposting special episodes. ———————————————————– Welcome to a special episode of The Course Reveal Podcast, a companion show to The Dark Zone: An Adventure Racing Podcast. Today, we turn our attention to the 2025 Subaru Canada Adventure Racing World Champions...