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Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running: Daily Summaries Delivered
by Josh Rosenthal
The Heart of Running. Hosted by Josh Rosenthal, founder of Borderlands Trail Running.
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- 5 days ago28 min
The Trail Races We Can’t Afford to Lose
Trail running is growing fast, but what happens to the races that don’t scale cleanly? After spending one night volunteering at the Wasatch 100 and the next day at a brand-new UTMB race, I came away wondering whether the messy, human parts of ultra running are exactly the parts we can’t afford to lose.Pacers, old-timers, exhausted volunteers, DNFs, polished finish lines, UTMB, and the strange ways a race becomes more than a race. This isn’t an argument for grassroots over corporate. It’s about why trail running needs both, what each is uniquely good at, and what disappears when every race starts looking the same.Presented by Kiprun.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps2:22 Races like Wasatch fill the human spirit.6:09 I love ultrarunning pacer culture.10:29 Someone else’s problem becomes mine.14:55 The back of the pack is where I come alive.16:52 Wasatch rewards staying.22:04 You can’t manufacture heritage.26:21 The fragile one is not the one I thought.Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- 1 weeks ago29 min
"I Need This to Stay Alive" | Inside the Compulsive Mind of Biel
Ultrarunning rewards people who can keep going. Biel makes you wonder what happens when stopping no longer feels like an option, and where ambition ends and compulsion begins.Biel is a Brazilian ultrarunner, Speed Project athlete, tattoo artist and printmaker living in Berlin. He has represented Brazil at the 24-Hour World Championships and set records from Los Angeles to Las Vegas and Chamonix to Marseille. But the more interesting story is the force connecting his face tattoos, his art and the extreme experiences he says he needs to stay alive.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Introduction02:27 Face Tattoos, Identity + Freedom05:17 Why Ultrarunning Keeps Biel Alive07:19 TSP | Chamonix-to-Marseille Record10:59 24-Hour Racing x The Speed Project13:07 A Perfect Fit for Biel18:40 From Nightclub Cleaner to Pro Runner22:48 Art + Life Beyond Running27:39 Beyond Records + LimitsResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- 2 weeks ago35 min
The Problem with Hating UTMB
UTMB is the center of trail running for one week every year, and somehow the people most frustrated by it keep showing up. After a week in Chamonix, I came home thinking the problem with hating UTMB is that the race keeps complicating the argument against it.The fan experience is better than the criticism suggests, TDS might be the hardest race of the week, the women are racing with ego, and some of the most interesting parts of UTMB have almost nothing to do with racing. Ten observations from inside the chaos, including what brands keep getting wrong, what Chamonix reveals about status in trail running, and why everyone should be reading Raz Rauf.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.Presented by Kiprun.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Introduction02:36 The Critics Are at UTMB08:12 UTMB Doesn’t Have a Fan Problem12:24 TDS Might Be the Hardest Race at UTMB16:26 The DNSs Aren’t About Professionalization20:38 The Women Are Racing With Ego24:57 UTMB Isn’t Just About Running28:20 The Ultimate UTMB Flex Is Not Needing Chamonix30:34 Brands: Embrace the Chaos32:21 Read Raz Rauf. Read Running Sucks.35:45 Limiting Brand Activations Made UTMB Better - The Chamonix Mayor was RightResources / LinksLike the Wind | Run Culture LiveRunning Sucks - Raz RaufBorderlands.ccRelated EpisodesCocodona Has a Fan Problem----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- 4 weeks ago39 min
Why the World’s Biggest Trail Race Happened in France
UTMB is the biggest trail race in the world, but why did it happen in France? The easy answer is Mont Blanc. The better answer has more to do with culture, timing, and the kind of endurance tradition that was already there long before UTMB existed.Josh talks with Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps and author of The Race That Changed Running, about the deeper conditions that made UTMB possible, from old mountain races and ski mountaineering to the Pellettis’ execution and the way places like Vallorcine turned the race into something people gather around, not just run.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Resources / LinksRun the AlpsSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- Aug 20, 202640 min
With Tara Dower | Built Different
Ultra running rewards obsession, but Tara Dower seems wired for something beyond results. She wants to solve hard problems, chase the best competition, run faster, and keep finding out what she’s capable of.Tara joins me to talk Western States, her planned Pacific Coast Trail attempt, why she hasn’t raced UTMB, learning from Karl Meltzer, and her evolution with Altra from the Lone Peak to the new Vanish Carbon 3. Underneath it all is a bigger question: as Tara becomes one of the defining athletes of modern ultra running, what parts of herself does she want to keep?For ultra runners interested in the people shaping where the sport goes next.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.This episode is in partnership with Altra for the release of its new super road shoe the Vanish Carbon 3 - a light, responsive, and efficient race day shoe made for PRs.Topics / Timestamps00:00 Introduction02:54 Tara Dower Has Always Been Stubborn07:07 The Problem Solving Mind of Tara Dower09:06 Results vs. A Life of Interesting Running13:38 Why Tara Dower Hasn't Raced UTMB17:54 The Problem with Pro Trail Running20:07 Why Ultrarunners Want to Run Fast | Altra Vanish Carbon 330:31 What Speedgoat Taught Tara36:40 What Tara Dower Wants Her Legacy to BeResources / LinksAltra Vanish Carbon 3Tara Dower Lives Between Two Worlds by Bryce CarlsonSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccThumbnail Photo by Pete SchreinerRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- Aug 17, 20261h 2m
Karl Meltzer | Speedgoat, UTMB, and Trail Running’s Boom
Trail running has exploded into a global business, and Karl Meltzer somehow ended up at the center of it. HOKA turned his Speedgoat nickname into one of trail running’s defining shoes, Red Bull paid him to chase the Appalachian Trail record, and UTMB eventually bought the race he created.Karl came up when ultrarunning was tiny and has watched the money, brands, athletes, and races transform around him. Josh and Karl talk about the strange experience of becoming valuable to an industry that barely existed when he started, selling Speedgoat to UTMB, his relationship with HOKA, and what someone who has lived through the entire boom thinks about where trail running goes from here.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccLa French TrailRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- Aug 13, 202639 min
Harvey Lewis | The Mind Behind the Ultras
Ultrarunning eventually becomes a mental problem. The body hurts, the race stops going to plan, and the question becomes what the best ultrarunners understand about continuing when quitting makes sense.Harvey Lewis has spent 30 years figuring that out. In part two of our conversation in Ohio, we get into the mental strategies behind Backyard Ultra, why different races require different mindsets, the failures that changed how Harvey competes, and what decades of Badwater, journey runs, and 200-milers have taught him about going farther than he thought possible.Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Thumbnail photo by Romain MayambiTopics / Timestamps00:00 Harvey Lewis Intro01:15 The Mental Game of Ultrarunning10:47 Learning How Not to Quit14:06 Different Mindsets for Different Races16:55 Pilgrimages and Journey Runs23:31 What Failure Taught Harvey Lewis30:33 What the Best Ultrarunners UnderstandResources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccHigh TonesRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
- Aug 10, 202634 min
Harvey Lewis | The Man Behind the Ultras
Harvey Lewis is one of ultrarunning’s most accomplished endurance athletes, but the more interesting question might be how a high school civics teacher from Ohio became capable of doing any of this. Badwater, Backyard Ultras, Barkley, 250-mile runs. Harvey has built an extraordinary career without making running his entire life.I spent a morning with Harvey at his home in Ohio, days before his 16th consecutive Badwater, trying to understand what makes Harvey Harvey. We talk about the dreamer and engineer he inherited from his parents, the teachers who changed his life, how running and teaching grew together, and why the hardest races have become something closer to pilgrimages.The conversation ends somewhere more personal, with Harvey remembering the person he still imagines waiting for him when things get hard.Thumbnail photo by Romain MayambiPlease give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Topics / Timestamps2:17 Harvey Lewis' Origins6:33 Harvey Lewis' Parents: The Dreamer and the Engineer18:39 Running and Teaching30:59 Running as PilgrimageResources / LinksTINAR Race Series | RegisterBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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The Heart of Running. Hosted by Josh Rosenthal, founder of Borderlands Trail Running.
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