German ultra runner and North Face athlete Ida-Sophie Hegemann joins me this week to chat about her eventful racing season. We discuss sponsorship deals, shoe choices, and what not to do with poles on race day. She’s also an ambassador for next year’s World Mountain and Trail Running Championships in Innsbruck and has some suggestions on how to best kick off your summer running season in the Alps.

Lifelong runner and founder of the US Trail Running Conference Terry Chiplin joins the show from England to share his story into running, his motivation to make running the focus of his career, and his perspective on what combines us as a community and how we can grow into the future.

Fresh from an incredible performance at the World Mountain & Trail Running Championship in Thailand Rosanna Buchauer joins Singletrack to talk about her year of racing, her inspiration to move to Innsbruck, Austria, and her role as project manager for Tourism Tyrol. We chat about delicious Kaiserschmarrn, the finish line atmosphere in Chamonix, and what it means to wear a Team Germany’s jersey when racing ultras.

In this episode Thomas Reiss shares his experience as the international athlete manager of the epic and unique Snowman Race that just happened a couple of weeks ago in the Kingdom of Bhutan. This event was about so much more than racing. It’s goal was to bring people and cultures together to share the urgency to address climate change. Especially as it affects people living in the shadows of massive glaciers high in the mountain regions of our world.

Stephen Johnson is back on the show to share his first impressions of the Apple Watch Ultra and how it holds up in the backcountry. He’s is also bringing us an exciting update of his app Topo Maps+ that includes CarPlay and a renewed focus on the watch. The new, bigger, and beefier Apple Watch Ultra holds lots of promise for us outdoor lovers and we discuss some challenges, opportunities and differences with this new product on the market.

After a rather long break from racing ultras I am back and in this episode I’m in the hot seat with my coach Matt Urbanski from Team Run Run checking in after my brutal, but glorious DNF at Rainshadow Running’s Orcas 100 Miler last weekend.

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.