Fastest Known Podcast

We catch up with the "indomitable force" for a quick introduction to the upcoming Fastest Known Time Of the Year award, and more.

"This is my favorite time of the year!  We get to discuss all the cool FKTs."

But first, we delve into the wonderful world of gravel-bike racing.  Many runners got into SkiMo, which we've discussed here, but now the new cross-training sport is gravel riding. 

Our Co-Founder and our Director of Community Partnerships gives us the scoop - - -

PB: "Races are resuming so FKTs are coming in at a more manageable rate. The UK has a very strong tradition so a lot of action there, including in winter.  Australia is active as well."

AM: "It's been an amazing year!  We forget that Rob Krar and Mike Foote did R2R2R.alt almost a year ago. Then Stringbean beat the AZT by 3 days after temporarily quitting due to snow."

Allie Mac flies down the trails (USATF Trail Marathon Champion 2 years in a row) and in the air (300 skydiving jumps).  And did we mention riding dirt bikes?

"It was super technical. So I revved the engine, closed my eyes, and took off."

"I've gotten hurt way more times from running than from sky diving."

At the Moab Trail Marathon in November, her BASE-jumping friends were on the cliffs high above the course as she went by the halfway point.

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.