This is the first of two parts of a very fun conversation with one of the really impressive relatively-new stars of the ultraendurance world, Don Reichelt. After pretty much his debut doing Leadman in 2015, Don has plunged headlong into running long distances and doing everything he can to embrace finding out how far he can go in the sport. He has moved to a house at 9600-feet elevation near Fairplay, Colo., and has outfitted his place with a workout space, ice plunge barrel, sauna, and more. When he first broke out, he won the Lean Horse 100-miler and ran a blazing 13:16 at Tunnel Hill. He has won the 52-mile Coldwater Rumble in Ariz. the past two years. His most recent achievement was breaking the Guinness World record for running 12 hours, 24 hours, and for 100 miles on a manual treadmill, which is quite a bit more challenging than a motorized one. In this first part, we talk about Don’s ups and downs running at the Leadville Trail 100, about his relationship to David and David’s continued influence on him to this day, about learning the process to taking big jumps in his running abilities, which I think is quite educational, the benefits he’s noticed from his vegetarian diet, and challenging himself to run races like the Keys 100 in Florida’s humidity, and the Badwater 135, where he surprised a lot of people in finishing third in his debut. His focus and his curiosity to see how far he can challenge himself is truly inspirational. Plus, he’s a super nice guy, so I hope you enjoy this great chat.

Don Reichelt
Facebook @Don Reichelt
Instagram @runwithdon

Bill Stahl
[email protected]
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram @stahlor