Sage Canaday joins Elise for a wide-ranging chat on trail running, YouTube, speaking out on social media, and starting again after major setbacks, including a surviving life-threatening blood clots in both lungs.

If you have been running for a while, chances are you are already acquainted with Sage. In addition to his running accolades, Sage is one of the OG running YouTubers with a very successful channel called Vo2 Max Productions. We reflect on some of his earliest vids (hello Nipple Tips!) and how the scene has changed today.

We hear about Sage’s running career, spanning Cornell University, and his first pro contract as part of the Hansons-Brooks team (which also included a musical side quest), and his long-term partnership with Hoka from 2014 onwards on the roads and the trails. He has a marathon PB of 2:16:52, is a two-time US Olympic Trials qualifier, and placed in the top-20 at Boston and Chicago. On the trails, he is a three-time US National Champion (12km Mountain Running, 100km Trail Running and Trail Marathon events), as well as the 2014 World Long Distance Mountain Running Champion, among many other achievements.

In 2021, Sage suffered inconceivable adversity – he was diagnosed with bilateral pulmonary embolism, and soon after, he and his partner Sandi Nypaver lost all their belongings in a devastating house fire in Boulder, Colorado. It has been a long road back for Sage since. But he recently finished seventh at Black Canyon 100K in a performance that he says felt like a return to form. Sage shares what still drives him, now aged 40, and where he hopes running will take him next.

Plus: Doping in trail running, the running boom, influencer culture, coaching in the AI era and a life built around adventure.

Sage will line up at Ultra-Trail Australia in a couple of weeks’ time, so make sure to give him a cheer if you’re out there!

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Subscribe to Run With It wherever you get your podcasts, so you don’t miss a thing!

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Check out Sage’s You Tube channel: youtube.com/@Vo2maxProductions

And his coaching business with Sandi Nypaver, Higher Running: higherrunning.com  

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Follow us on Instagram:

@sagecanaday

@runwithit.pod

@elisebeacom

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Intro/outro music by Dan Beacom

Graphic design by Kate Scheer