Coming to you every Friday: interviews with FKT-setters and other athletes in the world of Fastest Known Times.
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John lives in Australia, where the whole country is sports-mad, the runners are fast, the routes long ... and it's now summer.
"Normally it's starting to get hot, 40 degrees, but it's a La Nina year so it's raining now and the conditions are still good."
Gary Cantrell, aka Lazarus Lake, (or is it the other way around?) could be the most creative person in the entire sport. That is a low bar, but possibly by accident he has single-handily changed ultrarunning forever. The Barkley Marathons is an iconic, world-renowned event, and the subject of two films, even though only 40 people enter, there is no website, and the time and even the date of the race is secret.
Jack is a Regional Editor for fastestknowntime.com - he volunteers his time to process your FKT submissions.
And he is young, fast, knowledgable, and passionate. Don't miss this view of our sport from behind the curtain!
"I think the FKT scene is where the elite runners should be. Races are fine, but the courses are not - we can't get permits to hold races on our best terrain. But with an FKT, you can race up the best mountains and the best routes in the country."
"I'm a mom to three teenagers and on the verge of turning 50. The fastest I normally travel is in my mini-van shuttling kids around town. Achieving an FKT as an amateur middle-aged athlete with minimal time to train was a huge stretch of my comfort zone. So adding my name to this roster was one of my proudest and most rewarding moments."
This is a re-airing of our November 15, 2019 episode exploring the relationship between speed and safety.
Original Show Notes
What is the relationship between speed and safety? What is the boundary and how do you know when you're hitting it? Ultrarunners have the fitness to get really far into the backcountry, but do they have the skill and experience to get back safely?
"People are drawn to these routes, because they're super aesthetic, iconic lines. But are they over their head?"
On October 18, Drew ran back and forth across the Grand Canyon 4 times (R2R2R2R2R). It was his third try, so he learned some things! Which he shares with you ...
"They start turning off the water when the weather gets cold. So there's a narrow window when most people try this. I did the first R2R2R at night, so the warm sun made starting the second lap easier."
This route was 83 miles, with 22,000' of vert. And unlike running in the mountains, to finish it off, you have to run almost 5,000' back UP!
We finish our 3-2-1 countdown interviews from the Men's podium of the US Mountain Running Championships with the winner, Joe Gray. Joe is one of the best mountain/trail runners in history. He is very articulate and insightful, and is extremely well respected by other runners, while some casual runners may not have heard of him. How can that be? Let's correct it!
Joe has won a ridiculous 20 National Championship races, as well as 2 World Championships, in addition to wins at countless (literally) other races - see his Bio below.
We are counting down the podium from the US Mountain Running Championships! Last week: Joe Demoor, #3. This week: Max King, #2. (Stay tuned for next week!)
When asked if he wanted to be a guest on the podcast, Joe wrote back,
"I realize this will be a bit about talking about myself, which I have to admit is one of my least favorite activities."
Right on! Joe is the kind of person we especially like talking with. Called the "quiet crusher" by some friends, Joe is a classic mountain person: he works hard, runs hard, and doesn't need to talk about it. He has no shoe sponsor, and says with a laugh,
Welcome back to a classic episode of the Fastest Known Podcast. That’s right, this week we are re-airing our August 15th, 2020 interview with Kelly Halpin who had just completed the Wind River High Route, solo and unsupported.