The Pain Cave

It’s time you got to know Zack Beavin, an East Coast speedster who in the last couple of years has been shown to be a rising star in the ultrarunning world. An impressive 5:03 in his debut 50-miler at Tunnel Hill last year may have been overshadowed by another young phenom’s debut 100 mile performance, but his performance at this spring’s Strolling Jim—an amazing 3:50 for 40+ miles, breaking a 30-...

What happens when you don’t do a recap pod for the two busiest months on the ultrarunning calendar? You need a MEGAPOD to catch up on everything you’ve missed. First, Paul Kentor (aka SteelTownRunner ) drops by to bring his unparalleled fund of knowledge to bear on Sania Sorokin’s astounding 24-hour world record run. Then, it’s a blitzkreig of ultra and trail news and results, from Chamonix to Lea...

We’re heading back into the Tennessee heat for a recap of an epic year at the Last Annual Vol State 500K. We weren’t sure anything could top Francesca Muccini’s incredible CR performance from last year, until 2020 runner-up and former Pain Cave guest Bob Hearn came back to Tennessee and obliterated both the crewed and screwed course records while running without a crew. Bob agreed to a return visi...

Summer is heating up (or as Phil would say, “hotting up”) and we’re here to cool you down with a fire hose blast of ultrarunning news, including recaps from Western States and Manitou’s Revenge. We tackle all the big storylines coming out of Auburn, including our biggest surprises, guttiest performances, and how we did with our pre-race picks. We also pour one out for the 24-hour world championshi...

One last episode before the Big Dance in Auburn! No beer for this morning pod, but The Legend is back as always to discuss the fallout from record attempts at Six Days in the Dome, plus our thoughts on the folks to watch this weekend at Western States. Intro music: "Fine Line" by  the Bloodletters Outro music: "When I Was Still Young" by  Yard Sale

Just over a week out from Western States, it was a real honor to have returning top-10 runners on both the mens’ and womens’ side in the Pain Cave to talk about the Big Dance. Clare Gallagher is the defending champion at the nation’s premier ultramarathon, and Kyle Pietari has four times placed in the top 10. The two Colorado residents joined us to talk about their recent trip to the Boundary Wate...

The pride of the Cornell Big Red machine and perhaps the most versatile runner on the MUT scene in the past 15 years, Max King is one of my running heroes and now one of my all-time favorite guests. Know how many people have won both the World Mountain Running Championship and the World 100K Championship? One guy. That’s the list. But he’s also qualified for the Olympic Trials five times by my cou...

A true legend of the sport joined us in The Pain Cave this week. The great Andy Jones-Wilkins dropped by to offer his perspective on the state of the sport following the big announcement of the new partnership between UTMB and the Ironman Group. We also talked briefly about our excitement for the upcoming Western States 100 before we dove into 20 Questions to discuss skeleton, pierogis, and the be...

For the first time ever on the pod, two Brits are on the mic as we welcome in the amazing Beth Pascall. A top 10 finisher at both Western States and UTMB, Beth has to be considered one of the favorites for the big dance next month following her dominant win at the Canyons 100K. We talk about her win at Canyons and being back on the WS course again, before diving into 20 Questions to learn about he...

Racing is back! And so are we, IN PERSON to drink some beer and throw out some lukewarm takes about the latest happenings around the ultra world. We dive deep on the big announcement on UTMB and Ironman, dissect results from Canyons and Jackpot, and discuss 100-mile world records on both the track and the treadmill. Also, I insult 200-mile trail races. Links UTMB + IM Beer for this episode: Westki...

Another awesome guest joins the pod as we welcome in neuroscientist, Skyrunning champion, author, and North Face athlete Hillary Allen into the Pain Cave for the latest episode of Twenty Questions. We talk about Hillary’s new book, Out and Back , which chronicles her recovery from a near-fatal accident while racing in Tromso, Norway, before turning our attention to the usual 20Q fare: you know, un...

It’s our second-ever EMERGENCY POD, and we finally wore down Paul Kentor (a.k.a SteelTownRunner) to come on the show and share his unparalleled fund of ultrarunning knowledge with us. We discuss Des’ amazing (if not unexpected) performance, the history of the road 50K as a competitive event (on the world scene not much), the historical context of this performance, and where we’d want to see Des go...

It’s been a LONG time since our last TMIU episode, so here goes! Phil is back in the Pain Cave to discuss all things ultrarunning, including his return to racing at GDR, results from the first two GT races of the year, the Barkley Marathons, and the Ohio Backyard ultra. (We touched on the Carbon X2 record attempt in February’s shoe draft episode , so decided to skip it here.) We also talk about th...

We’re back on the 20 Questions beat with #beastcoast stud and US National Snowshoe team member Cole Crosby. We talk to Cole about his recent run across the entire length of New Jersey, plus ducks, horses, motivation, pizza, and much more. Links: Cole’s business, Cresting the Summit Cole on IG Beers for this episode: Lawson’s Sip O’ Sunshine , Woodstock Brewing Mega Super Pixelated DIPA , Jackie O’...

We’ve drafted ultrarunning fantasy teams , we’ve drafted the elements of the perfect aid station , and now we’re drafting the perfect shoe closet. Bryon Powell of iRunFar and Ian Golden of the Trails Collective join Phil and I for a brief state-of-the-sport discussion before we select our favorite all-time shoes in each of eight different categories. Charge your flux capaciters and gas up your DeL...

The defending champ at Transgrancanaria and the newly minted holder of the Wonderland Trail FKT, Kaytlyn Gerbin faces her toughest test: the 20 Questions hot seat. We talk about her favorite races, snowboarding, watermelons, weird costumes, and much more. Links: Instagram: @kaytlyn_g Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kaytlyng/ Strava: https://www.strava.com/pros/kaytlyn_g Twitter: https://twitter...

We start the new year off right with a visit to the Pain Cave from Taggart VanEtten. Who is that, you ask? He’s the triathlete-turned-marathoner who shocked the ultrarunning world with an outstanding 12:19 win at the Tunnel Hill 100 in his ultramarathon debut. Taggart tells us about how his tri background helps him as an ultrarunner, why he decided to run Tunnel Hill this year, his training and nu...

Time to bid goodbye to the possibly the strangest year in ultrarunning history. Phil and I do a quick recap of recent results before we welcome back the great Dylan Bowman to look back at the yar that was and to make our picks for Ultrarunner of the Year, Performance of the Year, FKT of the Year, and much more. Links: DBo’s website DBo on the Pain Cave DBo’s podcast, The Well (soon to be rebranded...

The pride of the #Beastcoast, Patrick Reagan, joins us in the Pain Cave for another edition of 20 questions. We talk about his favorite race, why he like racing in hot weather, playing guitar, racing 100s, why watermelon is awesome, and much more. Links: Follow Patrick on Instagram Patrick’s website Interested in being coached by Patrick? Beers for this episode: Jackie O’s Who Cooks For You , Peak...

Phil gets to fanboy out as we welcome in defending Hardrock champ Sabrina Stanley to the Pain Cave to sit on the 20 Questions hot seat. We cover Sabrina’s exploits on Nolan’s 14 this summer, her favorite race and toughest race (hint: they’re the same race), which one of us won the Ultrarunning Fantasy Draft by selecting her (hint: it was me), and more. Links: Follow Sabrina on Instagram The truth...

British ultrarunner Kristian Morgan had to forego a second attempt on the Appalachian Trail this summer due to the travel restrictions in place because of the pandemic. Instead, he stuck close to home and took on the longest trail in the UK, the 630-mile South West Coast Path, taking aim at the four-year-old record set by the great Damian Hall. Kristian joined us for the third time in the Pain Cav...

Trail running beast Zoë Rom is the Associate Editor of Trail Runner magazine and the host of the DNF Podcast—a show about “failure in life and running…about unfinished business, and the unglamorous work of picking yourself up, dusting yourself off, and moving on.” Zoë joins us to talk about failure vs. hardship, overcoming fear, practicing self-compassion, FKTs, sled dog racing, and more. Also, ho...

In the past two years, SoCal native Jake Jackson has progressed from a solid competitor on the southwestern trail-running scene to a top-10 finish at the 24-hour World Championships. Jake joins us on the show to talk about his meteoric rise to becoming one of the top US runners ever at 24 hours, how he balances his training with full-time work and family obligations, why he started working with a...

Are you ready to rock? Author, music journalist ,and trail runner Tony Fletcher makes his face-melting debut in the Pain Cave. We talk about how he cut his teeth in the British punk scene of the late 1970s, becoming a de facto professional journalist at fourteen, the Who vs. the Stones, trail running in the Catskills, traveling around the world, Crystal Palace, and more. Links Tony’s website , whe...

Nice! The Legend is back for a “This Pandemic in Ultrarunning” update, as we check in on some of the recent trail and ultra races starting to every so slowly come back on line. We cover results from the Bear 100, IMTUF, Yeti, and Stumpjump and discuss our own returns to racing at Cat’s Tail and 3 Days at the Fair. Plus, we discuss qualification for the Golden Trail finale, the starting field for H...