Advertise on podcast: Borderlands Trail (+ Ultra) Running

Ultrarunning gives ordinary people a rare place to feel strong, capable and tested. You don’t have to be elite, or even particularly good at it, to experience that. I know because I’ve DNF’d plenty of 100 milers, and when I finally finished Zion 100, I was the last guy across the line. Watching The Rookie with my son made me realize why that feeling matters so much. As adults, most of us lose the arenas where we get to find out what we’re made of. Maybe ultrarunning is one of the last ones we have left. Presented by Kiprun. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:00 You Don’t Have to Be Good at Ultrarunning01:03 What The Rookie Made Me Realize03:46 Adults Lose the Arena06:16 Stepping Back Into the Arena12:26 Finishing the Zion 10016:31 The Dignity of Ultrarunning20:17 Long Live the Local Ultra Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.cc Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Anton Krupicka has spent two decades becoming something harder to define than a trail runner. This conversation is about how that happened, why he stopped caring about fitting the sport’s mold, and what it looks like to keep evolving without chasing relevance. We talk about the injury that changed his relationship with running, the move toward scrambling and climbing, his influence on trail culture, the Leadville comeback, and why La Sportiva still makes sense for the athlete he is now. More than anything, it’s Anton on identity, aging, design, and trying to stay the peak version of yourself without pretending you’re still who you were ten years ago. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:00 Anton Krupicka on why trends don't matter 01:30 From trail runner to mountain man 03:52 When the whole landscape opened up 08:24 Identity, trends, and trail running culture 16:45 The Leadville 100 comeback 21:12 The peak version of yourself Resources / LinksUnbreakable | Western States FilmAnton's 2021 Leadville RaceSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.cc Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack

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.cc Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 + Limits Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccAdditional photo courtesty of Tycjan Trzpioloa Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 Right Resources / LinksLike the Wind | Run Culture LiveRunning Sucks - Raz RaufBorderlands.cc Related EpisodesCocodona Has a Fan Problem ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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.ccSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 Be Resources / LinksAltra Vanish Carbon 3Tara Dower Lives Between Two Worlds by Bryce CarlsonSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccThumbnail Photo by Pete Schreiner Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 Trail Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 Mayambi Topics / 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 Understand Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.ccHigh Tones Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

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 Mayambi Please 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 Pilgrimage Resources / LinksTINAR Race Series | RegisterBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Ciele helped change what running looked like, but the more interesting story is what sat underneath the aesthetic. This episode is for runners curious about how a hat brand became part of running culture without losing the product discipline that made it credible in the first place. What began as a film about Ciele turned into a deeper look at the rise of running as lifestyle, the influence of skate and snow culture, and the unreleased Miles hat that existed before Ciele had its name. Along the way, a portrait emerges of a brand whose visual identity was copied everywhere, while the craft, function, and ethos behind it were much harder to replicate. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / LinksWatch the Ciele doc on YouTubeJosh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

The Satisfy x Adidas collaboration became one of the loudest moments in running, but almost none of the conversation was about the shoe. It became a fight over price, fashion, authenticity, and what running culture is supposed to protect. Josh and Inky Steve look at what the collaboration actually did, why Adidas seemed to gain all the upside while Satisfy absorbed the backlash, and what the circle pit revealed about how tribal running has become. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / LinksBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Trail running in the Midwest looks different. No mountain towns. No towering peaks. Just a different kind of commitment. On the drive to Harvey Lewis's house, Josh and Sam Hartman explore what it means to build a trail running culture in flat country, and why some of the sport's deepest communities exist far from the places most runners imagine. Sam Hartman, founder of TINAR Races in Columbus, Ohio, argues that community matters more than scenery, why Midwest trail runners develop a different relationship with the sport, and how trail running becomes part of your identity when getting to the trails takes intention. It's a conversation about place, belonging, and a side of trail running that deserves far more attention. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / LinksTINAR - Alley Trail ClassicBorderlands.cc Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Hardrock 100 gave aging trail runners something many of us didn't realize we needed: hope. Ludovic Pommeret broke the course record at 50. Courtney Dauwalter won again and still walked away chasing something more. If you've ever wondered whether your best running is behind you, this conversation is for that part of you. Josh reads Bryce Carlson's essay Hardrock 100 in real time, stopping throughout to explore why Hardrock rewards wisdom as much as fitness, why experience compounds in endurance sports, and why the stories we tell ourselves about getting older might be our biggest limitation. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:00 The Unexpected Gifts of Hard Rock02:29 The Significance of Ludovic Pommeret's Wisdom as Performance06:21 Stripping Away Excuses and Embracing Aging in Running08:20 Ludovic Pomerret’s Record at 5009:39 Courtney Dauwalter’s Continued Excellence15:00 The Field Size and Competition Dynamics17:48 Remarkable Feats: Tara Dower’s Double22:37 Age as an Accumulation of Wisdom Resources / LinksBryce's articleBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

HOKA has become one of the few running brands to cross into culture without losing credibility with runners. If you're building a brand, launching new products, or wondering how companies grow without abandoning what made them special, this conversation is for you. Thomas Cykana and Travis Wiseman pull back the curtain on HOKA's collaboration strategy, why they refuse to make "toy shoes," and how fashion found HOKA before HOKA ever chased fashion. It's a conversation about culture, product, trust, and the surprisingly human decisions behind one of running's fastest-growing brands. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:00 Resources / LinksBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningJohn Ruben, founder of Unna Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack