September 18, 2020

#218: Booneville Backroads Ultra -- The Final Chapter

1 hour 53 minutes

We finally did it. We went out and ran the Booneville Backroads Ultra. I-O-W-A! IOWA! IOWA!

It was a LOOOOOOOOONG time coming (months and months and numerous podcasts later), but we did the thing!

Today Thad Burkamper joins me on the show to tell the tale of his first attempt at a 50k while I explain the story of my very first 100K (62 Miles).

As in any good Ultra, there were super high highs and devastatingly low lows. The race itself though was AWESOME- the Iowa countryside is gorgeous, the course was diverse and kept you on your toes, the volunteers and other racers were wonderful, Brad Dains was an outstanding race director and it just felt good to be competing again!

But that heat......oh.....the heat. That was rough. That was when the race really kicked you in the face, brought you to your knees (quite literally in some cases) forcing you to dig deep into the ole grit basket deep inside our souls.

Huge thanks to everyone who helped me out at Booneville - The race volunteers, anyone and everyone who raced Booneville and battled that ridiculous heat, Jen Tischler for sharing a bunch of miles down those never-ending gravel roads, race director extraordinaire Brad Dains, "Calspirations" Calvin Johannsen, the legendary Carol Ward- my lovely mother, the lady who let us camp in her front yard, Thad's Jurassic Park Jeep, my wife Lindsey Ward for spending two days watching our three bonkers daughters, Sean Furlong, Travis Steffen, and Matt Rackers for making the months of training super fun (missed you guys!) and the "Muscatine Backroads Ultra 50k" Champion Brady Manriquez for hosting the show!!

I sincerely hope you enjoy today's episode, get some good laughs at our expense, and maybe even learn a thing or two (if Thad and I shared anything resembling wisdom). Thanks for listening!!