FACING VERT

The Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race took place on August 10, 2024, and my good friend, Steve Bennett was up for the challenge. Steve has loved his mountain bike since he was young, and throughout the years has dabbled in different disciplines of the sport. Steve loves to race, and has had quite the success, even though he is so humble about how skilled he is on a bike. On a whim, he put in for the lottery for Leadville, and to his surprise found out he was in. He and his friend, Adam Fisher, made there way to Colorado a week before the race, and both made it over the finish line. Steve was so patient with my questions, and he went through every detail of his experience, his gear and more. I so appreciate Steve for stepping out of his comfort zone and sitting down with me to share his journey to the finish line in Leadville, CO.

Steve's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/638459

Leadville Race Series: https://www.leadvilleraceseries.com/mtb/leadvilletrail100mtb/

Cognative MTB: https://cognativemtb.com

Follow Facing Vert on Instagram: @facingvert

The Table Rock Ultras are quickly approaching, so I sat down with race director, Brandon Thrower, to find out all the details. The Table Rock 50k & 30k will take place on September 21st and here is a little teaser from the website...

Roots and rocks; hills and creeks; views and memories... We offer them all and more at Table Rock Ultras. Your goal is the finish line, but lying between you and that goal is a lot of climbing, creek crossing, rock-hopping, gel-taking, and limit-pushing. The panoramic view from the summit of Table Rock is a perfect reward for all your hard work, until you realize you aren't done...

Hear why this race means to much to Brandon, and listen as he describes every detail of the trails your feet will land on. If you are running this race or simply a spectator, this episode is for you. Also, they are still looking for volunteers, so if you are free, this is a great way to experience this ultra-world that we love. I look forward to hearing about everyone's experience out on the course! Good luck out there!

Table Rock Ultras' website: https://www.tablerockultras.com

Tanawha Adventures website:

https://www.tanawhaadventures.com

Follow Tanawha on Instagram: @tanawha_adventures

Follow Facing Vert on Instagram: @facingvert

I had the pleasure of once again sitting down with the Mountain Monster, Marisa Romeo. (Yes, I made that name up, but just look at her Strava!) The last time we spoke she had just crushed the field at the Looking Glass 100K in November of 2023. I wanted to have her back on to hear all about her latest race, the Lavaredo 120K, that takes place in Italy. To say that I am jealous that she as able to travel to this part of the world and run in these mountains is an understatement, but I loved living the race through her words and her experience. We talked about her training, her strategy, every step of the race, and her thoughts throughout. And let's not forget that she got to witness a day of the Tour de France! So, what is next for Marisa? The sky is the limit, but in her mind...it better be something epic. Thank you, Marisa, for once again coming on Facing Vert. I always love our conversations!

Lavaredo 120K: https://lavaredo.utmb.world/races/lavaredo120k

Marisa's Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/41787031?oq=maris

Marisa's Coach:

Ryne [email protected]

Follow us on Instagram, @facingvert! You can also message me there. Thank you for listening!

In this episode, I sit down with race director, Brandon Thrower, to talk through every detail of the upcoming Grand-Further Mountain Run. See what Tanawha Adventure's website has to say about this race...

The Grand-Further Mountain Run is the premiere mountain race in North Carolina.  The 25 kilometer course will climb Grandfather Mountain a total of two times from both sides of the mountain.  The terrain is unforgiving, extremely technical, but most of all, astounding!  Fixed ropes and ladders are even placed in certain sections of the trails to assist in climbing the tallest mountain in the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. This race is not for the faint of heart or the weak of knees.  It demands your best and your utmost respect.

The Grand-Further Mountain run is coming up soon, and will take place on August 24th. To hear Brandon's excitement about this course would make anyone want to go out and attempt it. But, like the website says, "prior trail running experience is required". Good luck to all of those running in this beautiful and challenging race!

Tanawha Adventures: https://www.tanawhaadventures.com/grand-furthermountainrun

Tanawha Adventures Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tanawha_adventures/

Enjoying the podcast? Share with your family and friends. Let me know if you are running Grand-Further. Message me through Facing Vert's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/facingvert/

Tory Grieves, along with Sara Molskness, were on the podcast over a year ago to talk about their battle with injuries and the difficulty of simply not being able to do what the love. Tory had torn her plantar fascia, and it had taken her around a year to really start trying to run again. Then, right before we were going to record, she had re-torn her plantar fascia and was devastated. Now, a year after that podcast, she is back on again to talk about all the steps she took to tackle her injury, learning how to trust the process, and signing up to run The Mozart 100 (in Austria!) before she knew if it was even possible. I love her grit. I love how determined she is and how she never gave up when treatments didn't work. Tory just researched other alternatives to try and recover. We also talk about her experience at the Mozart 100 by UTMB, the horrendous conditions and ultimately her choice to cut her race short. Tory will tell you she doesn't have the fairytale story, but she savors every minute that she is able to run, and her mind has been strengthened through this entire process. This, to me, is a beautiful story, and I am so happy that she shared it with me.

Want to listen to Tory and Sara's episode? Click on this link or simply look up Episode 009: When You Can No Longer Run-Tory Grieves and Sara Molskness

Reach out to Tory on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/11923183308

Tory's Coach: Patrick McGlade, [email protected]

Tory's Physical Therapist: Dan Carmack, [email protected]

Follow Facing Vert on Instagram and message me there: @facingvert

I would love to hear from you! Thank you so much for listening.

Nathan Frantz has such an adventurous spirit, who loves to push the limits and seek the extreme. As a young boy Nathan found a love of the outdoors and this never grew dim...whether it was by BMX, cliff jumping, whitewater rafting, Spartan races or ultra running. Nathan is so easy to talk to, so humble, and he loves fiercely. We discuss his recent experience at Hellbender 100, his Palmetto trail FKT, his incredible pacing skills for Aaron Saft's Grand Slam last summer, and so so much more. I so enjoyed our conversation, and I look forward to his redemption story at Hellbender 2025. Thank you, Nathan. What an amazing guy you are.

Nathan's Instagram https://www.instagram.com/nate_ocr_85/

Nathan's Strava https://www.strava.com/athletes/8150029

Nathan's Coach, Aaron Saft: https://www.runningislife.run

Reach out to me through Facing Vert's Instagram, @facingvert. Thank you, thank you for listening!!

Bonus Episode! Ridge to Rails 50k, Half Marathon and 10k are THIS weekend, so Brandon Thrower (with Tanawha Adventures) and I sat down to talk about each race. If you are running this race this Saturday, or thinking about participating in the future, you will want to listen. Brandon walks through every turn, terrain and views found on each course, plus giving other valuable information about the races for the participants crew and spectactors. I hope you enjoy! The races all take place in the areas surrounding the beautiful and quaint town of Old Fort, NC. For more information on this race, visit https://www.tanawhaadventures.com/ridgetorails! I look forward to hearing how everyone's' adventure goes! Have fun out there...

Tanawha Adventures Instagram

Tanawha Adventures Website

Facing Vert's Instagram

Teresa Bowser is an incredible trail runner, ultra runner, crew, pacer and friend to all. Teresa began her trail running journey around 2019 and has now conquered some of the most difficult ultras around...the Hellbender 100, Cloudsplitter 100, Stillwater Ultras, and recently the Georgia Death Race to name a few. Teresa is also a beautiful, young lady with the biggest and brightest smile. You can't help but feel joy when you are in her presence, and she doesn't even seem to realize it. But hiding behind that smile is so much pain, an imposter she would say....a young woman carrying a burden that no one can see.

Little did I know, I asked Teresa to come on the podcast at the perfect time. Teresa had just recently finished the Georgia Death Race, a 74-mile killer of a race with 16000 feet of climbing and 16000 of descent. Throughout the duration of the race, you are required to carry a 1lb railroad spike, and upon completion you throw this nail into a coffin. Pretty epic. Teresa told me that her why started to change as her race began to unravel, and the spike she had to carry took on a meaning that she did not even expect. So, on this podcast, Teresa shares the burden that she began to release that day, that she threw in the coffin, and I am touched that she chose to share with me and all those that listen to this podcast.

I am overwhelmed, truly, that Teresa and so many others would open up to me and share some of their deepest hurts but also their greatest joys. We all have a story...runner or not. We are all on this journey together...FACING VERT of all kinds...side by side. We are all God's creation...masterpieces in His eyes. Know you are worthy, loved, and created for a purpose.

Teresa, I love you, and I loved seeing the sense of freedom that came over you as you shared your story. Keep fighting.

Want to reach out to Teresa? Her Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/teresabowserfitness/

Teresa's Strava

Teresa's Coach is Aaron Saft with Running is Life. His website is https://www.runningislife.run

I would love to hear from you or answer any questions you may have! Find Facing Vert on Instagram, and message me there!