Tom

1. Introduce Yourself and tell us where you’re from - Tom plater, windsor, uk

2. what does running meant to you? Through my life to date, running has filled the spaces that most people experience: fitness, escapism, routine, wellbeing and exploration. Most recently it’s become two distinct elements in my life: a mechanism for me to strive for limitations and something that facilitates time with people that is usually interrupted by routine life.

3. have you always been into runng? I enjoyed cross country at school, I seemed to be suited to the endurance element of it – and I loved the solitude and escape from a challenging prep school experience. I lost motivation for running when I got to university but after I left, I decided on the NYC Marathon, 2007, in an act of total ignorance and blind faith. I was living in ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, as the Emperor – I had all the bravado backed up by a pathetic training plan and a ridiculous diet (inc Rocky style pints of eggs), I was probably 25kg too heavy to be getting round the course - and no-one was reaching out to tell me the obvious. But I got it done in a painful 05:39.
All that changed when I got myself to Sandhurst - my love of, and necessity to, get faster and stronger took hold. I loved everything about the physical element of this career and again found a fairly natural adaption to physical endurance. I’ll be forever grateful for what I took away from this experience – mental and physical fortitude, camaraderie, self-discipline and the people that shaped my life.
Within this time, I put my marathon demons to bed with a 03:24 at the Belfast Marathon, 2013, not a course for PB’s but I loved everything about running in this place and recording a time I was happy with.
More recently my ambitions have focused on the longer distances, 100km, 100miles, and beyond, but that’s my next chapter.

4. can you run us through some of the more recent challenges you’ve faced? In 2019 I was diagnosed with bowel cancer – that year a close friend’s death pushed me to get checked out for symptoms I’d ignored for months. I very quickly faced a whirlwind of multiple surgeries and months of recovery, with my wife and young son as passengers. I was physically and mentally crushed, all my self-defined purpose vanished in a few months.
I went into the surgery fixated on my physical recovery but failed to recognise the toll it was going to take on me and my family.
Most of my life fell apart over the next few years, I caused a lot of hurt to a lot of people, and on multiple occasions I came close to decisions I wouldn’t have been able to walk away from. Post-surgery I faced adaptions that I thought could take me away from running full time. I was embarrassed about the physical outcomes, I couldn’t come to terms with what my recovery was going to take, my pride got in the way of getting back into training and even entering events.
But the Farm 2 Fan 2020 came to existence and was the perfect solution, without it I wouldn’t have come back as quickly as I did, or maybe at all. It was the prospect of running in the Welsh hills, with a brotherhood that knew my past experiences and wouldn’t judge me for my failings, along with some hacking banter. That Farm 2 Fan, and the people that were a part of it, became the stepping stone to a 100km in 2021 and then the Norths Down Way, 100miler, 2022.

Fast-forward to 2024, with life back on track, my wife and I were blessed with the birth of our daughter in May. Unfortunately, within 2 months I was back in hospital with another major surgical emergency – I’d somehow avoided another near-death situation but was physically back to square one, 5yrs earlier. However, my life this time is very different – I have a new learned resilience and now a rage that’s fixated on what’s yet to come.
Running, and physical activity is a huge part of my life and wellbeing. I’ve been very fortunate in this life, and I’m continually learning to recognise this.

5.⁠ ⁠⁠if time and money were not constraints, where would running take you?
I’m going to keep this humble: there’s so much of the UK and Ireland that I haven’t explored with my running, this is probably where my big ambitions lie. Put it down to the algorithms but as I was getting ready to get out hospital this year my phone was full of stories of the 3 peaks. There have been some records broken recently for running it, down to 4.5 days and 6.5 days, male and female. I’m in no position to be breaking records but it’s this sort of event, as well as the trailblazing nature of the people completing these distances, made me remember the types of places we have really easy access to on these islands.

6. what’s your go to nutrition choice nowadays? Proven combination: Percy Pigs - fruit chew variety (still waiting on the M&S sponsorship), Tailwind - Endurance Fuel Mix and Precision Hydration – Precision Fuel chews.

7.⁠ ⁠⁠do you listen to music when running / working out? If so, give us five songs from your playlist:
Steady runs are usually an audiobook (recently Bob Mortimer’s collection) or podcast (Chatabix / Guardian / Ways of Making You Talk / Respectful Parenting / File on 4, etc.) but decent sessions deserve some music. I’ll give you top 5 from this year.

8 Mile, Eminem. The guy epitomises what it takes to deal with a struggle, especially in this track, but this beat is a classic medium tempo cadence.

Wolves, Rag n’ Bone Man. Speaks for itself, my soundtrack to our Lone Wolf 2024 attempt. Defining memories of this year.

Jesus Walks, Kanye West. Iconic song from my uni days (end credits to Jarhead), but also a bit of anthem for my recovery this year.

Home Sweet Home, Motley Crue.

Dragonfly, Shaman’s Harvest.

8. Do you have a dream event or race? I do. My dream event is probably your answer to qu 12, but I can give you my next goals – (1) I’m gunning for Cocodona 2026 with my brothers, (2) I’m looking to run the UK 3 peaks in July 2025.

9. have you ever had any funny halLucinations? NYC Marathon, Oct 2007. Elvis.
North Downs Way, 104.5mile run, completed in 23:29, Aug 2022.
Getting through the graveyard shift, roughly 03:00-04:00, in an enclosed Kent footpath surrounded by fields, with zero light pollution, I saw a full-size HGV driving next to me, at a distance of 2m, glowing like the ‘Coca-Cola’ Christmas truck. I’d only been running for about 22 hrs but the night before had been restless and I picked up the nickname Turbo Tom for a reason – I’m baggage without my 6hrs.

10.⁠ ⁠⁠if there was one world crisis that you could solve what would it be and why?
Close to home this one, probably because of my time of life – the care system for our older population. I’ve been extremely fortunate to see my three remaining grandparents survive into very old age. However, it’s been a stark exposure to the deficiencies of our care system. Within the private sector, at significant cost, the provision is just about sufficient. But within the state system, or even on the fringes where only home assistance might be required, we’re not doing enough for this generation. I’m fortunate again to have a large family, we’ve been able to share the load: visits, supplementary supervision, financial support - on top of our family routine. But many aren’t in this situation. It seems we’ve collectively forgotten this group of our society and everything they’ve already contributed.

11.⁠ ⁠⁠faith takes many forms, what is faith in your world?
Fundamentally my faith is underpinned by my Christian beliefs. In recent years I’ve bolstered this with lessons from the Stoic philosophy.

More practically, the form it takes in my life, is a perpetual strength, determination and commitment. However, as much as its presence is, has been and always be a constant, my conviction towards it and assurance in it has been less continuous.

Like most, I’ve made many significant errors and I’ve also been through my fair share of challenges. In that time, I’ve dismissed and abused my faith, and then returned for significant periods. Life is continually teaching me not just the value of this faith but more deeply the fundamental need for it. I’ve learned lessons in tackling challenges, dealing equally with loss and triumph, and the comfort of uncertainty and the joy of life held in that consistency.

An anecdote you (Andy) and I discussed on the trails (the best place to catch-up); the life-threatening situation this year was one of, if not, the most terrifying episodes of my life – being carted into an ambulance, doubled over in pain, semi-conscious, hallucinating, trying to say goodbye to my family – I had no idea what was happening to me or whether I was walking away from this one. In the hospital, with that fear, waiting for emergency surgery – I was completely alone. I’ve since had time to reflect on that evening. Deep down I know, even through all that pain and uncertainty, there was a presence in that room with me, a hand on my shoulder, a comfort that whatever way it was going it was going to be alright.

I’m left with a trust and reassurance from what I believe when going through these events. This gives me the resolve that I’ve so often needed to just keep moving forward. “It’s not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning to dance in the rain” - whether it’s a quote, or just an Ikea poster, it’s a lesson I learned in the Army, underpinned by my faith and I’m applying it to what matters most now – my life, my family and my friends.

12. if you could run with one person, from any point in history, who woould it be and why? My Grandmother, Mary, set my family on a path of obsession with the marathon. She took on London 1987, at a time when she was laughed at as an amateur, but was never deterred. In hindsight she was lucky to not get picked up by the jack wagon, but she got it done! This would have been the end of her running story, but her determination became a golden thread through our family.

My uncles took on their own marathons, Detroit and NYC, initially in honour to her but predominantly in competition with each other.

10yrs later, inspired by the example they’d all set and intoxicated by their determination, I picked up the baton of this tradition, with all the trials I explained earlier.

When they were ready, many of my cousins took on the event to keep our collective motivation focused on this challenge. I hope to see our children taking to this distance as we all have, and so Mary Paul’s legacy continues to live on.

If I had the choice, in a mythical period of life, my last run would with be with all those important to me – those that have completed their marathon (my grandmother, my uncles, my cousins) and those yet do get it done (my wife, my children, my nephews and those I’m yet to meet). It’s something we’ve talked about for a long time, but it remains a dream.

13. any final words of wisdom? Keep moving forward.

Steve

1. Introduce yourself, name, where you live, anything else

I'm Steve Kinghan, 42 years young and I live in south Wales, United Kingdom. I'm a dad, husband, brother, and I like all sorts of things from 90's trance through to fantasy board gaming, from cyber related issues to studying languages. 

2. What’s your interest in running/ju-jitsu?

I used to be really unfit and let myself go in my early 20's, just drinking too much, chasing too many good times and girls and just not living a very productive or meaningful life. One day in 2006 I came downstairs without my shirt on and saw myself in the mirror and I hated what I saw and decided to make amends. That day I went for my first run in about 6 years and also decided to start eating better. That effort transcended into a desire to start MMA as a way to shock my body into becoming fit, and the story starts from there. Fast forward a year or two and both you and I were training at an MMA club and getting fit, I started to love BJJ over anything else, and I found running a joy. The Tube in London is horrendous at the best of times so often we would cycle or run in and back from work and I knew that we were on the right path. The financial crash in 2008 forced us out of London thankfully and we both joined the Army with a view to going to Afghanistan, which we did (#veteran); the two things that stuck with me was a love for running and a love for combat sports. I find myself now back on the mats as a Masters 3 Blue Belt at 85kg, a 2 x Ironman and having run numerous marathons and an ultra-marathon here and there. I'm grateful for that moment in the mirror because I was a fat piece of shit back then and its no way to live a life.

3. In recent years BJJ has played an increasingly important role, what’s your background with it?

Approaching 40 I wanted to find something that I could do that stimulated me mentally and physically outside of running and I randomly saw a banner on a local supermarket railing for a BJJ club. I had already been thinking about returning to the mats and so in a way I think it was some sort of divine intervention. I rock up to the club, start feeling the energy again and I find myself 3.5 years later and still rolling. I might not be progressing as fast as those around me but I need to remind myself that I am 42 not 24 now and life has other draws (fatherhood, work, injuries etc.). Comparison is also the thief of joy. BJJ is a saviour for many and without sounding like I've drunk too much Jesus juice and eaten too much Acai it has saved me. I love it. I've had the pleasure of training at a number of different clubs, I've competed, met some amazing people and I am surrounded by violently capable but thoroughly awesome individuals. I'm coming off a lower back injury and was meant to be competing this weekend in a submission only competition but that can wait, need to get fixed and then continue the journey to Valhalla. 

4. Can you talk about your injury to your leg? What happened and what’s the impact been?

Similar thing to BJJ really, I loved Hockey back in school, more so than any other sport. I was the Captain, used to have an eye for movement and positions etc. and so figured back in 2018 I would get back into it with a local club. Just prior in 2016 I had thrown my back out and had been prescribed a heavy weight lifting routine to fix it (sounds counter intuitive but its what works best) and I got very strong and heavy, almost 100kg at one point. That translated to some significant power downstairs and I have never been able to sprint like I could back then. Randomly one game I was warming up and felt like a small cramp in my hip and thought nothing of it, the game started, I turn to sprint for a loose ball and suddenly I hit the deck in agony. I heard a very loud pop and felt a searing sensation like nothing I have ever felt and was eventually helped off the field in absoloute turmoil. The scan revealed that I had avulsed my hip flexor from my hip bone and had a number of fractures in my hip which may have been caused by a mini dislocation. They also picked up that I had early onset arthritis in my hip too and a mini-hernia, all of which was fairly shit to hear. I thought the recovery might be tough but didnt expect it to take the 2 years it did. The recovery was a very long process and I had to rebuild everything which stayingon weight and mentally sharp. The depression came which I found oddly familiar so I was able to manage that somewhat easily. Anyways, I got the recovery and rehab done, and I am proud of that as its a very rare injury, less than 200 happen annually in the UK. I was able to avoid getting medically discharged from the Army and get myself back up to full deployability and fitness. Thinking about it now I should have half-arsed it and got a medical payout and monthly medical pension but I aint no bitch.

5. If you could train at any dojo/club in the world, where would you go and why?

Thats a hard one as you hear of all of these amazing places and see all of these hype videos from the likes of New Wave, B Team, Atos and AoJ etc. To be honest I like training at local joints with local killers. I do think I will open my own place up in the coming years with a few heads, the joy it gives people and the role it plays in people's lives is significant so watch this space.

6. What is it about BJJ that attracted you to it? Why are you on this path?

Mental and physical resilience whilst learning. Simple really. It also allows me to set a good example to my son which is a massive focus for me. If Daddy can do this at my age then he can do anything.

7. If you weren’t on this path, what would fill the void?

Coding or language study I think.

8. What’s your philosophy to training? Does it reflect your philosophy for life?

I never gave a shit about heart rate monitoring or zonal work and I would just have confidence in my ability to get after it. Ever since I got my Coros I have realised my error so I think a certain ethos would be to "get in the red once in a while and hold on for dear life". Anyone who has gone up the Storey Arms side on the Fan Dance will know what I am talking about. I don't really have a philosophy for life, other than I never want to see what I saw in that mirror back in 2006 ever again.  

9. If you could train with any person in the world, who would it be and how would it go down?

Genkisudo or Eddie Bravo. Both of them get me excited (pause). Running / phys wise I quite like the likes of Goggins and Chad Wright (3of7)

10. What’s better, gi or no gi?

Both are dope but I like the Gi. I am too old and carrying too many injuries for No Gi all the time. That said, my mate observed that Gi encourages a strong defence and No Gi a strong offence so I think its best to mix it up. Anything but Absoloute, I'm not into being squashed by fat guys

11. Belt progression is not a guaranteed process or linear path, how do you maintain motivation and is the journey about the belt, or is the journey the journey itself?

I would love to get my Black Belt by the time I am 50. That might be an outside chance seeing as I have 8 years to do it but a goal is a goal. If you are training consistently and enjoying it, whilst staying injury free and not burning out then the belts will come. Anyone that rolls knows its not about the belts, its about the progression and learning. I'm just happy and honoured that I am physically able to do it.

12. If you were to die tomorrow, how would you be remembered?

I just want to be known as someone that cared deeply for other people, that lived a selfless life and that enjoyed the fact he had air in his lungs and a vision for what he wanted to do. Our time on this earth is not guaranteed so get after it and life a life that reflects the privilege of being alive.

13. Final words to sum this up:

To summarise this, if you ever find yourself in a dark place, without an idea of how to progress or where to go, without an idea of how to reverse a poor lifestyle choice or a decision made, just know that there is a route out and there is hope. I'm not saying you have to go to war and hit long distance or the mats, but, it definitely helped me. Osss

BRANDON

1. Introduce yourself (Name, hometown, anything interesting) Brandon Dutra (B.A.D.), Paso Robles, CA which is the Central Coast of California in the middle of SF and LA known for its red wine. Grew up an only child with parents who let me navigate on my own while building me up that I could accomplish anything which led to trying a variety of everything and no siblings to check my choices and make fun of my thoughts. I believe this led to confidence and leadership with a deep longing for friendship and connection.

2. What does running mean to you? Running is amazing due to the fact of the individuality and relationship one can have with the term running. I have skateboarded for 27+ years now and I found a similar freedom/escape/community in running which drew me in. Running is exploration physically and mentally with the byproducts of fitness and community.

3. When did you start running properly, and taking an interest in it? I started running in September 2019 as a colleague strongly encouraged me to sign up for a “Tough Mudder” that our company was sponsoring a few teams for as I could get FaceTime with executives. He stated that I seemed in ok shape so I should sign up for the 10 miler as the fattys do the 5 miler. I signed up for the 10 miler and while it was a team based event, I thought what if my team is former XC athletes and did not want to let them down so I started running 3-4 times a week at just a mile or so and built up to 6ish miles in 3 months for the race. Come race day on my team of 10, only myself and 1 other were “runners” and we could not complete a challenge without our full team. I told her I’ve worked my ass off to run this thing and so her and I ran hard inbetween every obstacle and then just waited for our team of walkers to arrive. Once this goal was accomplished, I was confronted with what do I do now that I have no races to train for, do I waste the last 3 months and stop or continue, but why, what’s the carrot? I had a realization during a mountain run overlooking Los Angeles that I would run until I die as a form of health and longevity to be present and capable for my wife, kids and one day grandkids. What brought me to this realization is when I compared my Dad and his brother and sister, my Dad was a marine then highway patrolman who 6-7 days a week for 30+ years would run 5 miles a day and workout at the gym and took supplements and ate clean daily. His brother and sister did not run, workout, take supplements and ate the typical American diet. My Dad now 71 is in peak physical condition still riding a bike 50 miles a week, working out daily and up for any adventure I throw at him while my Aunt and Uncle have had diabetes, heart failure, cancer, and stroke to name a few. This clarity of what future do I want was ideal early on and now races I sign up for are just icing on the cake to test my fitness and feed my curiosity.

4. What's the coolest running story that you have? I have 1 FKT and I think this effort was so informative, scary, beautiful and worth mentioning here. Close to my current house is a trail called Goodwater Loop which is a full dragon like oval around Lake Georgetown. This loop is 27 miles with no shortcuts across unless you swim haha! Of these miles, there is about 7 miles of flat fire road trail and 20 miles of technical as shit single track which consists of “devil spike” carved out limestone rock along with cactus on the edges and other typical roots, loose rock, etc. To add context, Courtney Duawalter my savior ran it with Nick Bare and on his podcast said “that trail was so technical”, so there, I’m not exaggerating! Ok so the FKT was for a single loop around unsupported with only 3 water hose spigots along the 27 mile route which I thought nobody has tried a double loop (54 miles) unsupported so why not etch my name into this niche site that few recognize. The first loop was great as I had completed this several times in the past, but the critical point was already tired and beat to shit, I filled up my water flasks with disgusting warm hose water (only support you can get on unsupported FKT’s) and headed out for lap 2 past my truck knowing I had about 7 more hours of solitude and fight left to achieve this solo mission. I felt so proud to continue on as nobody (solo unsupported) had done before by foot! So going through fatigue and pain and around mile 44 I was hiking up this steep hill and came about 2’ from stepping on a fat fuckin rattlesnake disguised in the loose rocks on the trail. I obviously took a photo for proof and with all the hair on my arms standing up, the “cool” factor of this run took place, I then scared shitless and only focused on dying via snake bite ran mile 45 at a 7:42 pace, mile 46 at a 8:56 and remember I’m drained, this trail is technical as shit but that boost of adrenaline got me high stepping my way to the finish line. To give reference, the 5ish miles before the snake were in the 12’s and 13’s. To finish such an effort, set a new FKT and have nobody at the finish was great, eye opening on what’s important and who I need in this life to succeed, nobody!

5. Growing up, who were your role models and inspirations? Not sure why but I always liked the underdogs and couldn’t stand the most popular athletes/teams. That being said, from sports I loved Rickey Henderson, Shawn Kemp and Deion Sanders. From skateboarding I loved the teams Zero, Baker, and Deathwish. Music I loved 2pac, Biggie, Converge, Suffokate, and Sigur Ros. I think I was driven to individuality, work ethic and struggle for accomplishment rather than natural talent. When you say role model I laugh and think of a Charles Barkley commercial in the 90’s where he’s dunking on people being intimidating and says “I’m not a role model”, I love that as I love being influenced but not idolizing anyone. 

6. If you could go for a run with anyone in the world, from any era, who would it be and why? I’m not much of a history buff so I’d probably say Matthew McConaughey as his words put me in a trance of deep thought which I love reflecting during runs and thinking of my life as chapters finding excitement for future chapters and writing my own story. I guess to not be lame I could say similar things for Marcus Aurelius so maybe him! 

7. What was the Prophecy Runners about? I saw that the final Prophecy happened a while back, can you elaborate on that? Prophecy Racers was a race company I started with my best friend from back home. I was the running and operations side and he was the digital creative side. Once I saw how much money Aravaipa and Destination Trail make on a few races a year, I thought let me give it a stab as a side hustle with hopes to grow into something big and bring 200 milers to Texas where I currently live. Austin, TX has little to no ultra trail races similar to Houston or Dallas so as I reached out to the parks and rec departments to discuss my ideas they shut down every idea and only supported massive road races. This caused me to get my skater brain working and thought how can I still hold a race series without disclosing a location for the lame city officials to shut us down an remembered Thrasher skate events where they would barge a stair/rail/ledge until it got shut down as my inspiration. So I decided what do runners need to know and not to pull this off. I would disclose date, start time, range of distance (to not give away obvious trail location like 8-13 miles) and finally how many miles potentially the race would be from downtown Austin for example within 20 miles of Austin or 40 miles of Austin. I would let runners know I will email start line address 24 hours prior to race start and then give route details 15 min before the race started. This drew a very curious, easy going and social crowd of runners. What started out of necessity began a very niche group of people that were desperate for a new format of races that was not fixated on chip timing, winning, and solitude competition. I also added in challenges at each aid station which some included flip a coin (double sided hehehehe) and if you get heads, run 2 repeats back up the hill you just came down from or pick a face card out of this deck of cards (they were all face cards hehehehe) and eat a raw egg or while doing jumping jacks, give us your overrated and underrated musical artists or bands or throw a rock and hit the target to not run a bonus hill repeat holding a sledgehammer. The satisfaction I got from seeing runners adapt to any weird course, challenge or thing I threw at them was amazing and I met so many likeminded people to myself. The downfall is I could not simply say you liked this race, well it’s the same shit every year to build up a healthy following and grow naturally which caused me to have to market every race completely new which was time consuming and hard. Before putting out a bad product, I decided to end the company with 14 races in 2 years and learned/loved so much about the process.

8. How tough is the race director game, is it as glamorous as it looks in magazines and video? I found it very stressful the week of the race and during the race but only because I come from hospitality and care so much about everyone’s experience being the best race ever and not like all the shitty ones. I think if you find a team of people that enjoy their niche contribution it would be great, but an operations person trying to market or a communications expert trying to flag the course it just doesn’t work and causes unnecessary pain points. People only can do a passion project for so long until you need money coming in or fresh eager beavers to take over. But my passion of getting runners to new trails and courses led me to love it so much and hearing the runners stories during my races and triumphs, like people PR’d distances at my races, cried tears of accomplishment, laughed uncontrollably at the unique awards or challenges and the social media engagement showed I really had a 1 of a kind race format.

9. You're pretty covered in tattoos, what was the first tattoo you ever got, where is it, and why did you get it? My first tattoo was “Life to skate, skate or die” which is 1 of the many Thrasher skate mottos with a skull in the middle of the circular text on my right bicep. I got this because skateboarding was my life and all the skaters and musicians I looked up to were covered plus I had a high pain tolerance. When I was 20 I moved to San Diego, CA and talking to a artist there, I told him I wanted a ton, so he gave me a deal of $50/hour if I booked 5 hours sessions every 2 weeks so I did that for about a year and then my good buddy from back home started tattooing so I would get free or homie discount tattoos for years from him. 

10. If you had to only listen to a podcast or music when running for the rest of your days, which would you choose and what would you listen to? Ugh impossible question! I probably listen to podcasts 60% of the time, 20% music and 20% audiobooks. Podcast I’d probably choose Theo Von. Musician I’d probably choose Zach Bryan for his storytelling and audiobooks you know I got Goggins for life!!

11. What's the gnarliest running story you have? At time I will take some THC edibles and go trail running to soak in nature and let loose a little bit. One time in the Angeles Crest Forest north of LA, I was running some of my favorite trails getting lost a little too much and exploring a ton into new areas jumping a few fences and what not when I realized shit it’s close to dusk and I have no headlamp or prepared to be out here this long. Sidenote a viral mountain lion video just happened that week with it fake charging and hissing at a guy on a fire road in Utah. When I realized dusk is upon me, my brain was firing that 100% there is a mountain lion on the ridges above me tracking me and tonight is the night I die, remember I’m high as shit during this. I finally get to the final descent of the trail to some road/neighborhood section and I got a PR in the 1 and 2 mile during the duck descent with mega mountain lions just waiting for me to trip and tear my jugular out like I deserved. I believe my mile was 6:10 and 2 mile was 12:50, remember at this point my typical zone 3 pace was around 9:15. This run went from blissful connection to the universe through all my senses to sure death upon me and back to reality once I got home and chilled out a bit haha. 

12. What events have you got on the horizon? I am doing the Bandera 100k in January, Austin road marathon in February, also in February I’m on a waitlist for the inaugural 96 mile point to point race of the Lonestar Hiking Trail, April I have a fun hilly 50k called TNT 50 in Waco and then Cocodona 250 in May! In 2027 I plan to go back to Creede 100 in Colorado (the poor man’s Hardrock) and avenge my DNF!

13. Any final words of wisdom? Having kids has made me simplify my life to family, baseball, running, work in that order. I try to not force myself into hobbies or situations that I don’t value and I act on what my brain naturally thinks of. While I’d like to be a chef after watching the Bear, I stop thinking of that within a week. But I continue to watch baseball in fielding highlights on YouTube month after month year after year. I stick with what I want my top 10 people in my life to remember me as an say no to stupid shit as I am living my Larry David life by protecting my sanity and investing energy selfishly which leads me to writing these answers out as my fingers go numb, I must really like you, ya cunt!

coming soon…

the sound of da police