The Steep Stuff Podcast

Send us Fan Mail A two-loop skyrace sounds straightforward until you’re halfway through lap one and realize the real battle is in your head. We sit down with Morgan Elliott just before Whiteface Skyrace in upstate New York, where family is nearby, the terrain is steep, and the season is already packed with travel, racing, and big expectations. We get into what makes Whiteface different: a double-l...

Send us Fan Mail A double loop can turn a mountain race into a mind game fast. We sit down with Robin Vieira Brower right as Whiteface Sky Race week kicks off to talk through what changes when you know you have to climb the same mountain twice and still have the legs to descend it. Robin shares why she’d normally rather disappear into a point-to-point style course, and how she plans to use lap one...

Send us Fan Mail A 20K with nearly 8,000 feet of climbing shouldn’t exist, and yet Whiteface Sky Race is about to make a whole field of strong runners question their life choices. Steve Taylor joins us from smoky Colorado Springs as we turn our full attention to Whiteface, the opener of the Merrill U.S. Skyrunner Circuit, and one of the steepest, most punishing race profiles you’ll find in the Uni...

Send us Fan Mail Mount Marathon is the kind of race that makes no sense on paper and perfect sense the moment you watch it. It is short, steep, chaotic, and deeply tied to Seward, Alaska and the local mountain running community, yet it keeps attracting bigger names and deeper competition every year. We sit down with Klaire Rhodes just before July 4 to hear how she is feeling heading into race week...

Send us Fan Mail Mount Marathon is the kind of course that doesn’t care about your resume. It’s steep, loose, fast, and packed with a century of mountain running history, and that’s exactly why we wanted Kyle Richardson back on the podcast right before the 98th running. We talk about what it means to arrive in Alaska healthy after past injuries, and why that alone can feel like a win in trail runn...

Send us Fan Mail Mount Marathon looks simple on paper: sprint from downtown Seward, climb hard, then hang on for dear life all the way back to the finish. But the people who live it know it’s something else entirely. We’re joined by Eric and Denali Strabel to tell the story of why this Fourth of July mountain running race carries so much history, emotion, and identity for Alaska, and why it still...

Send us Fan Mail A 5K with nearly 3,000 feet of climbing should not be able to feel this fast, but Mount Marathon always does. We’re heading into July 4 in Seward, Alaska with a start list that looks deeper than usual, and we wanted a true course and field preview that actually helps you watch the race with smarter eyes. Meg Cook joins us to unpack why Mount Marathon still represents the most prim...

Send us Fan Mail Karina Andersen’s season doesn’t start with a perfect training block, it starts with a hard reset. After closing out her track era at Colorado School of Mines, she steps away from school for breathing room, takes on Denali, and then spends months living in Chamonix to see what a true mountain town feels like day to day. We talk about the real pressure that can come with places lik...

Send us Fan Mail Some athletes chase attention. Jen Day Denton chases a feeling, and somehow ends up rewriting what’s possible on the map. We talk with the Steep Stuff Podcast’s “FKT Queen” about how a non professional, mom first approach can still produce world class fastest known time performances across the Mountain West, from Lone Peak to long linkups and iconic summit days. Jen grew up in Uta...

Send us Fan Mail Broken Arrow is no longer “a big US race” and Sunapee is no longer “just a championship weekend.” These two stops are starting to feel like proof that trail running and mountain running in North America has entered a new era: deeper fields, smarter tactics, better coverage, and performances that hold up on the world stage. We sit down together to unpack what we saw across the US M...

Send us Fan Mail You can learn a lot about mountain running by talking to someone who didn’t grow up logging endless run miles. Marshall Graybill comes to the sport through cycling and ski mountaineering, with all the fitness those sports build and all the baggage they can bring, too. We get honest about what it feels like to line up for a race after crashes and concussions, how fear shows up in s...

Send us Fan Mail Skyrunning is back on U.S. soil, and we wanted to make the details impossible to miss. James Lauriello sits down with Eti Rodriguez (Managing Director, Skyrunner World Series), Ben Stark (Brand Manager, Merrell), and Louis Down (Media and Communications, Skyrunner) for a roundtable on what the new Merrell Skyrunner U.S. National Series is, why the timing finally makes sense, and h...

Send us Fan Mail Broken Arrow isn’t just another race weekend anymore, it’s the point in the season where trail running feels like it snaps into full focus. Steve Taylor joins me to talk through why this stop has exploded into a true international destination in North America, how the venue and spectator access change the vibe, and why the growing prize purse keeps pulling the fastest names into o...

Send us Fan Mail Two loops can turn a fast mountain race into a straight up psychological experiment. Broken Arrow 46K is the perfect example: you rip a demanding first lap, punish your quads on the descent, and then get asked to climb back into the pain cave all over again. We’re back with Steve Taylor to preview how this ultramarathon-style trail race really plays out when pacing mistakes start...

Send us Fan Mail $102,200 on the line, a Nike livestream, staggered elite starts, and a start list so deep we joke we’d need a hundred pre-race interviews to cover it. Broken Arrow 23K is lining up like a mini all-star event for trail running and mountain running, and we’re here to call the shots before the gun goes off. We dig into why this prize purse matters and why we want payouts like this to...

Send us Fan Mail Join us Thursday - Sunday at the Broken Arrow Vendor Expo at the Sidas booth!  You can also hang with us Thursday 6/18 at the Mountain Tiger Group Run at Donner Summit Use code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.us Follow James on IG - @jameslauriello Follow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_pod Follow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

Send us Fan Mail Someone finally closes the gap on you mid-race. You don’t know if it’s one runner or the whole field. Your legs are fading on a rocky climb, the descents are muddy and technical, and every choice feels expensive. That’s the moment where champions either tighten up or stay clear headed. We talk with 2026 U.S. Mountain Running Champion Maya Rayle just days after her win to find out...

Send us Fan Mail One wrong turn can end your day, or it can reveal what you’re made of. Right after the U.S. Mountain Running Championships, we link up with Ares Reading in the airport for a quick, honest debrief on how he ran himself into fourth place and onto Team USA, right behind names like Christian Allen, Dan Curts, and Mason Coppi. We walk the race from the opening climb to the moment Ares,...

Send us Fan Mail Post Sunapee Interview from Sunapee Mountain in NH - Mason was interviewed by the commentary team, Rachel Tomajacyk, James Lauriello, Remi Leroux & Corinee Shalvoy  Use code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.us Follow James on IG - @jameslauriello Follow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_pod Follow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

Send us Fan Mail 2026 USATF Mountain Running Championship - Sunapee Scramble Live Stream Audio Hosts James Lauriello - @jameslauriello Remi Leroux - @remi_leroux Corinne Shalvoy - @corinne_shalvoyage Rachel Tomajczyk - @rachrunsworld All Rights - Six03Endurance & Marathon Sports  Use code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.us Follow James on IG - @jameslauriello Follow the Steep Stuff Podca...

Send us Fan Mail Sunapee is the kind of short trail race that exposes everything you skipped in training. Two loops. Steep ski-area grades. A second lap that turns sloppy and technical. And if the forecast holds, wet rock, roots, and mud that can rip shoes right off your feet. That’s why we’re so fired up for the Sunapee Scramble and the US Mountain Running Championships, where a national title an...

Send us Fan Mail One muddy ski slope can turn a championship race into a traction test, and Mount Sunapee is exactly that kind of day. We sit down with rising mountain runner Rena Schwartz for a quick, honest pre-race check-in before the US Mountain Running Championships, where the stakes include confidence, experience, and a real shot at Team USA. Rena talks about how wild it feels to be back a y...

Send us Fan Mail The fastest races can be the most revealing, especially when they’re your first start back after injury. We sit down with a Quebec-based Brooks athlete ahead of the Sunapee Scramble to talk about what it really feels like to open a season in June, how to race without a perfect taper, and why “no pressure” still turns into a hard charge once the gun goes off. If you love trail runn...

Send us Fan Mail Mud, pressure, and a two-loop course that punishes impatience. We sit down with Oakley Olson as she heads into Sunapee for the US Mountain Running Championships, fresh off finishing her time at Florida State and moving back to Utah where altitude and technical trails feel like home again. Oakley walks us through what NCAA training in the ACC gives her heading into trail running se...

Send us Fan Mail A championship race can mess with your head before it ever tests your legs. We’re back with Mason Cobi on the eve of the US Mountain Running Championships at Mount Sunapee, and we get real about the early season weirdness: stacked fields, unknown fitness, and the uncomfortable shift from “underdog” to “the guy people watch” on the start line. Mason breaks down how he thinks about...