The Ascent Journal

"One thing I've always been able to do is find pleasure in discomfort. Again, that sounds like I'm trying to be a tough guy, but I think fun trumps tough... every time, especially in a race like this. So if I say to myself, you're a tough guy, push through it, push through it, it's not gonna work for me. This race is the pinnacle of ultra marathon. I'm so lucky to be doing stuff like this. Look at the scenery, look at the people you're meeting, look at the texts and calls flo

Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run is the penultimate one hundred mile trail running race in the United States. For non-elites, the WSER lottery can consume athletes’ hopes for close to a decade before their name is drawn. Once the hurdle of entry is cleared, suddenly runners are left with the burning question: “How am I going to finish this thing?” A new analysis examines more than 15 years of finisher data to help us understand how it’s done.

Super shoes have taken over elite road and tracking running in the decade since they first emerged with Nike’s invention of the Vaporfly 4%. One category of runner that hasn’t gotten the same boost that everyone else got when super shoes appeared: trail runners. Research on trail running can be hard to do. Simulating rock and switchbacks on a treadmill in a laboratory poses some readily apparent challenges. Two recent studies provide some answers though.

If you’ve run long enough, you already know this: your feet at mile 5 are not the same feet at mile 45. After a series of races that absolutely trashed my feet, I decided to dig into what's actually happening during long efforts. How do blisters really form? Why does a shoe that feels fine in training fall apart on race day? What actually matters when picking the right fit?

Race-Day perspectives from Shae Rhinehart, Robbe Reddinger, and Coach Greg illuminate the experience of JFK 50 for future runners

My experience finishing the 2022 Rut Mountain Runs in Big Sky, MT.