The Stubborn Tortoise

Jessica Kestermann loves to remind me that she is exactly half my age. Ha ha. Still, we met on a cold, January morning a few years ago at Pedernales State Park, where we warmed up inside a mutual friend's Prius and got to know each other as our other friends finished their longer miles. Since then, we've tackled Rocky Raccoon half-marathon prior to the 2021 Big Texas Freeze. Later that yea...

There's an old saw in ultrarunning that you shouldn't crew or pace your significant other. Too much potential drama, they say. Well, Karen and Manny Olivo have proven that to be wrong. This couple, married three years, support each other through 100Ks, 100-milers and more. Sometimes in the 125-degree heat of Death Valley in July. In a few weeks, Manny will take on that specific challenge a...

Two friends decided to attempt the Cocodona 250, an arduous 5-day race set in the mountains of Arizona. Despite their best efforts to train appropriately, both were pulled by race officials on the first day. After processing this devastating situation, they stuck around and continued running/hiking parts of the course, while cheering on the remaining runners. Both admit to learning a lot from the...

Gordon Montgomery, 54, is originally from Ireland and ended up in the US. He is a longtime rugby player who turned to trail running. He has a storied career as a runner and was sidelined with the need to replace both hips. He's on the comeback trail and pursuing his PhD in transpersonal psychology. He is a leadership coach and practices Transcendental Meditation twice a day. He recently moved...

Bill Luttrell was told he no cartilage in his knee and that he shouldn't run. Instead, he signed up for the Bandera 50K not long after. He made it 21 miles before he called it quits. Undeterred, he signed up for it again the following year. A few months before the race, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. That didn't stop him, either. Race day was a rainy, sleeting, snowy mudfest, just...

Cyrus Walker lived a sedentary lifestyle her entire life. She left a corporate job after 24 years, lost 100 lbs with diet and exercise and found her true love - trail running.

He started his ultra journey in 2019 completed a few 50k s, a 100k in Zion in 2021, and a host of other shorter races. In Oct 2021, he was injured training for a 100miler in Colorado, which resulted in knee surgery, followed by a bad septic infection that landed him in the hospital for a week and was in bad shape. Subsequently, he suffered five infections, gained 40 pounds, and was diagnosed as a...

James Boler is a lifelong Memphis resident who has had a lifelong love of being active. He says he's always been an athlete mainly in the baseball world.  He played competitive softball from age 22-38.    After that, he started running, at age 40 .He  made a bet with his wife that he could run a half marathon without training.  He ran the race and regretted not training as had to walk pretty m...

Amanda Eaton has only done a few races, but she has won a few of them. Most notably, she won the Habanero Hundred in August 2022, along with her fellow Rio Grande Valley compadre, Art Hurtado. Amanda talks to me about her running adventures, wins and future plans. I also talk about "active listening" and upcoming events.

After the devastating loss of his longtime partner, Kenny Gardner got more bad news: he was overweight and diagnosed with diabetes. He had to change his habits from eating junk food as a comfort to finding joy in eating clean and working out. He's also returned to running and plans on conquering his first 50K this fall. As of this recording, he is down 47 pounds and counting.

Aurora Kerr ran her first 50K in February at Jackalope Jam. She turned 11 in November. Aurora, who has the cutest giggle, recounts that race and what led up to it in her running career. She likes math and science and has some ideas about what she wants to be later in life. Oh, and there will be more 50Ks.

Howard Avery suffered a stroke while training last fall. After a brief hospitalization, he was back at it. The only concession was that he dropped from the 50-miler to the 55K at Antelope Canyon race in mid-March. He finished the race and is eyeing a flattish, warm-weather 50 or 100-miler in the not-so-distant future. Avery, who hails from Memphis, will turn 74 in a few days.

I'm trying to make a lot of changes. Some are going better than others, but I haven't given up. One of the biggest realizations is the need to be grateful for something every day, no matter how crappy the day is. This is hard for me because I am hard on myself and sometimes set unrealistic expectations. But I'm getting there.

Liza Howard is one of the kindest, most down-to-earth ultrarunners you will ever meet,. She wins races but is humble about it. She also coaches runners to reach their goals. She also has a couple of other hats she wears. Oh, and she has a family. On March 18, she will tackle Badwater Cape Fear. Find her at https://www.sharmanultra.com/coaching

Vincent Antunez was sitting on a mountaintop in Afghanistan when the idea for Trail Toes foot creme came to him. The accomplished ultrarunner was deployed there at the time and was devising ways to soothe the tortured soles and toes of fellow runners. At first, people thought it was just for the feet. But, it can go anywhere -- and he means anywhere. The company has evolved from one creme type to...

I spent six hours on Saturday running out .75 miles to a traffic cone that I named Bob and then back to the start over and over again. I was one of the slackers by comparison to some of my friends who spent 100 hours out there. This madness was the Jackalope Jam, a timed event put on by Trail Racing Over Texas. I found the experience uplifting, even though my left hip was hurting. (I'm going to st...

Yeah, so today is my birthday. It is marked by a morning spent helping at a road relay race. Yesterday, I made some new trail friends. Friday, things got heavy. I had a therapy appointment on Thursday and the revelations from that weighed on me. That, and my job has become overwhelming. I had to cancel a celebration with friends because of these things and I am sorry. I hope you understand. The ph...

This past week's icy/wet/cold weather made me move my workouts indoors. I did some indoor cycling, yoga, Pilates and weights. I wasn't entirely idle. I did do a 5-miler on Sunday afternoon that wasn't too bad. I think it's important to incorporate other practices into our lives because we can get bored with one thing or not see results. All that said: I'm curious about the types of episodes you pr...

I am proud to say that had P.J. not accepted my invitation to volunteer with me at the J&J Trail Running Reunion in September 2016, he may not have become a part-owner of Tejas Trails. He immediately got it and fit in. Seeing him evolve into a race director has been an exciting journey. And he's only 29! He is one of my favorite people in the world and I couldn't be happier to call him my frie...

San Antonians Liza Howard, Thomas Bowling and Chris Russell join me to talk about The Band of Runners. This is a national group that caters to veterans and their surviving family members to empower them through trail running. It's more than this, but it's the simplest explanation I can offer for this group of folks, www.bandofrunners.org if you are interested.

My DNF at Snowdrop hit me harder than I expected. I think some of it is because I rejected what I'd done in training and just winged it. No wonder I was a mess. It's a stupid mistake and one I have learned from. That said, I do not plan to do anything beyond a 30K this year. It's fine. I don't need to prove anything.  I did, however, finish a virtual 10K today in a decent amount of time (fast...

I still haven't run since my Snowdrop debacle, but that will change today. I spent last week pondering the year ahead. I also spent Wednesday helping set up for the Bandera race. Let me tell you: it is a ton of work and takes a week to physically set up this thing. I tied pieces of caution tape, learned how to set up large tents, schlepped boxes and sodas in my little, red wagon. Saturday, I volun...

I dropped out at Snowdrop after 23 miles. It's embarrassing and humiliating, but my mind wasn't right. I didn't feel like being out on the course for over two days, even though I knew what I signed up for. I was surrounded by friends but I felt lonely. I tried getting out of my head, which worked for a while and then the DNF Fairy would return, encouraging me to quit. I learned that I am not cut o...

Kenneth Anderlitch has had an audacious running career: he won his first marathon and took second in his first 100-miler. There have also been missteps but he has considered them learning experiences. Just after Thanksgiving this year, he ran across Texas. It took him 19 days and he covered somewhere between 840 and 850 miles. (He and his two-man crew are still tabulating the Garmin data.) The cau...

I think I just created a new subcategory. Joe Schmal is an exceptional runner. He is humble about admitting it. He has won 100-mile races and used running as a way to overcome alcoholism. He now faces a new challenge: the effects of long Covid. Even though he had a  mild case, the lingering aftereffects have impeded his ability to run the way he used to.  This setback has him evaluating...