This week we’re going climbing. Literally, because Lena Müller from Innsbruck, Austria is a world class climber. And figuratively, because Lena brings the seemingly uphill battle of our changing climate to the Singletrack. We discuss the limitations of our public transportation systems and what we can do in our daily lives to make an impact and reduce our carbon footprint.

In this episode of Singletrack we connect with multi-faceted athlete Marchel Höche of the Adidas Terrex team calling in from beautiful Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the south of Germany. Marcel shares his FKT on the iconic and quite exposed Jubiläumsgrat on the Zugspitze. We chat about the diverse trail racing landscape in Europe and what it means to run as part of a larger trail running team. Finally as a cofounder of the German Skyrunning Federation Marcel shares some challenges and opportunities in getting the organization positioned in the outdoor nonprofit landscape of Germany.

Summer’s not over. Mountains are still open and this week we get a full dose of high alpine inspiration from Chris Fisher who’s the first person to complete the famous WURL, but make it double! Yes, that Wasatch Ultimate Ridge Linkup dreamed up by Jared Campbell. And Chris, with the help of some friends and the incredible mountain running community is the first person to complete the full out and back of the route.

Adventurer, climber and FKT Chaser Travis Soares shares the story of his massive summer project linking all 247 peaks of the Sierra Peak Section List in an incredible 117 days and change. We chat about the beauty of the Sierras and the inspiration we find in following other’s footsteps.

Barrett Gray and Charlie Levy are the first ones to successfully follow my footsteps and complete the Cushman Six. This FKT route above Lake Cushman in the Olympics is just the right mix of trail running, bushwhacking, and climbing to make it challenging, fun, and a very unique adventure experience. And Barrett and Charlie bring just the right amount of experience and speed to the project and take 4 hrs off the time I, Scott, and Chris established almost 2 years ago. Here is the story of their successful run of the Cushman Six. So honored to have them complete this project.

Singletrack is live from Chamonix for UTMB. Well, sort of. Keith Laverty is calling in from the (almost) finish line during the biggest event in trail running, UTMB week. Keith is sharing his experiences crewing his runners, navigating the Alps for the first time, and some personal impressions of the atmosphere in town. We’re hyped! This is big!

Lifelong runner, co-founder of the apparel brand rabbit, and Santa Barbara Running Company co-owner Monica DeVreese joins Singletrack this week to share her personal journey into running. Monica talks about her transition from roads to trails and later ultra distances and getting picked from the waitlist for this year’s Western States.

Beast of Big Creek 2022 DFL Champions Dawn Golden and Jacque Hooyer are in the house. They join Singletrack to chat about training routines, how they decide on what races to run, and their major marathon projects for this fall. And of course the main conversation is around racing up and down the trails of Mt. Ellinor, joys and cheers at the aid station, and that special feeling of finishing last, but still being celebrated as winners.

Matt Urbanski is back on Singletrack and he’s calling in from freakin’ Chamonix. Jealous! Matt just ran the Hardrock 100 and is here to share what it means to toe this extraordinary start line for the first time and run alongside the legends of our sport around this mighty mountains in the San Juans in Colorado. We chat about what makes a race so remarkable that people want to sign up for it year after year, and of course, I had to ask Matt a bit about the atmosphere in Chamonix in these last few weeks before the biggest event in trail and mountain runnings.

In this episode we take a new look at the difference between trail races in Europe and North America. German trail runner Steve Auch joins us and shares his experience running the Zugspitz Trail, Lavaredo, Squamish and The Rut. His dream race, is and will be Western States, until the lottery gods finally grant him his wish.

Fresh off a fantastic race Brent Miller joins me to talk all about the Beast of Big Creek. It was an incredible day of racing and I loved hearing Brent stories from the trails, that I, as the race director didn’t experience just sitting in camp waiting for runners to cross the finish line and hoping everything would go smoothly. Thanks to all the runners, volunteers, helpers and sponsors who made this incredible event happen. We’re already excited for 2023.

This week we’re traveling back to the Alps with Lauren Head. To be precise, we’re heading to the magical, wonderful Dolomites. Lauren shares her story as she runs Lavaredo Ultra Trail around Cortina d’Ampezzo and rewards herself with all the gelato and pizza.

It is almost time to race. Beast of Big Creek is just around the corner and I couldn’t be more excited. To share a bit of the history of the race and what makes it such so a special event, I have fellow podcaster, trail runner, and Olympia local Ben Mead with me this week.

Thank you Kevin Hayward State Farm, Tailwind Nutrition, and Wildernest Outdoor Store for sponsoring the 2022 Beast of Big Creek. And thanks to Olyfed and Club Oly Road Running for the year-round support.

Just nine days before the race Melissa Tucker got the call off the wait list and got to fulfill her dream to run Western States. This week on Singletrack she shares how she dealt with being undertrained, how she was not being able to eat due to the heat and how she still made it to Auburn in one piece.

Melissa is also the new race director for Secret Beach in Gold Beach, Oregon and we chat about the challenge and beauty of putting on a race right on the beach.

In this episode of Singletrack I am chatting with Tomasz Drybala from Poland. He’s a long, long, long distance runner, motivational speaker and book author. Searching for a new direction, Tomasz discovered running, and through it a new perspective on life, while covering huge distances in Asia, the UK, and Poland.