“The U.S. team was full, and Ryan Kerrigan and I were really good buddies, and we'd always talked about maybe creating a Canada team because I'm a dual citizen. Because there wasn't a Canada team. And I knew that the International Skyrunning Federation, they wanted to keep growing. So I was like, “Hey, let's make a team. Let's make a Canada team.”

Naia Tower Pierce loves Skyrunning. The sport and the competition are a big part of it, but the fact the 21-year-old is pushed physically in beautiful mountain landscapes is also a huge part of the equation. When the opportunity to start a youth Team Canada arose, she jumped at it, excited at the notion of growing the sport in one of the two dual-citizens home nations. She coached and competed for the first year and by year two was strictly coaching. It’s a role she has embraced, all because of her love of the sport and wanting more people to experience it.

“When I was 15, all of a sudden I met all these other people who just loved dying on mountains. And at the end of the day you're on the start line and no matter if you were first or last it was about the sport itself and it was you against the mountain. I think that's awesome and just beautiful.”

Naia was a lot of fun to chat with and learn some more about what she’s up to with Skyrunning and Team Canada. I’m sure you will enjoy the conversation as much as I did, make sure to let us know what you think!

The Long Run - Coming September 30

I’m super excited to be launching “The Long Run” with Chantelle Erickson! We will be premiering the show on September 30, and you can look forward to 5 additional episodes coming out on the last Monday of each month. We are excited to work together and do a bit of a deeper dive with our guests. The shows will be 45 - 60 minutes and we’re incredibly excited about our guests. More information to come in the weeks that follow, including some of those guests. Stay tuned!

Food Fight Friday

The latest episode went up Friday, I really like doing this show with Jason:

#Naaksquad - Try it and get 15% off

I enjoy the Naak products, even if the sauces took a few tries to grow on me. They get the job done and they don’t give me any issues, and isn’t that the point? So I applied to be part of the squad to get a discount on the products I plan on using a bunch. Reach out to me if you have any questions and I’ll do my best to answer! They give me a referral code, so I’m including that today.

If you’re gonna check it out, click through this link (CTR15 for 15% off), I appreciate it.

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Music by Paolo Argentino from Pixabay

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