Further. Faster. Podcast

Hello and welcome to Further, Faster in association with Montane. My name is Daniel Neilson and in these podcasts, I speak to athletes, explorers, mountaineers and climbers and ask why they do what they do, why they put themselves through such strain. 

In this special episode, I spoke to John Kelly. You may have heard of him recently, as he's just won the Montane Spine Race, a non-stop 268-slog across the country, and generally regarded as one of the hardest endurance races in the world. And then you learn that John also finished the infamous Barkley Marathon – watch the Netflix documentary if you haven't heard of it. He is only the 15th person in its history to do so. 

So, how does he do it? And why? If there's something we've learnt over the last couple of years making the Further. Faster. Podcast, is that everyone has a very different approach. 

Listen in. 

Hello, and welcome to Further, Faster in association with Montane. My name is Daniel Neilson and in these podcasts, I speak to athletes, climbers and explorers in an attempt to understand why they do what they do, what makes them so tenacious and successful. 

My guest this month perhaps understands this better than most. After all, he's dedicated his life to documenting remarkable journeys; whether that's first ascents on Baffin Island or following my recent guest Jesse Dufton lead up the Old Man of Hoy, a remarkable feat for someone almost entirely blind. Al Lee's resulting film Climbing Blind has so far won the  Grand Prize at the Kendal Mountain Festival and the Best Climbing Film at the Torello Mountain Film Festival. Inevitably there are plenty more gongs on its way. 

Why? Well, Al makes his films with such humanity, such a strong narrative hook, and avoids all the cliches. Let him tell you how he does it. 

Welcome to Further Faster in association with Montane. My name is Daniel Neilson and in this series of podcasts I speak to ultra athletes, climbers, explorers and mountaineers to understand how they do what they do and why they do what they do. In this month's podcast, I speak to someone who perhaps has delved deeper than most into these questions. 

If you're a climber you'll know Jerry Moffatt, he's one of the best, of all time. We speak primarily about the theories behind Mastermind, a manual of sorts for better climbing. Not the physical, not the route choice, but the psychological. It's at once alarming and affirming, insightful and exciting. I'm not a climber, but I left this conversation learning so much about what we can do to achieve our goals. This is a conversation about life, not climbing. Listen in. 

Hello and welcome to Further, Faster with Daniel Neilson and in association with Montane. In Further, Faster we have an in-depth conversation with explorers, mountaineers and athletes to understand exactly why, and how, they do what they do. What is it that pushes them to the limit of human endurance and why do they feel the need to do it.

This time we’re speaking to Jesse Dufton. So who is Jesse? Well, he’s a climber. A good one. His dad first took him climbing at the 2. At the age of 11, he led his first route. His climbing life continued through his uni years, and then recently he led a climb on the Old Man of Hoy. So far, so impressive, but what you may not know about Jesse is that he is almost completely blind.  His story, told in the film Climbing Blind, is touring now. Catch it at the Kendal Mountain Festival or on the BritRock tour. But first, listen in to his remarkable story. 

Hello and welcome to Further, Faster in association with Montane. In Further, Faster Daniel Neilson meets explorers, mountaineers and athletes to understand exactly why, and how, they do what they do. What is it that pushes them to the limit of human endurance and why do they feel the need to do it. 
 
Daniel posed this question to Galen Reynolds, an ultra runner from Canada, now living in the UK. A few years ago, Galen felt the need to get fit; he could barely run 5km. But this running thing soon turned into a passion. He has since ran some of the most iconic ultras in the world, including the UTMB and Montane Tor des Géants coming second on the podium in 2018. In 2019, he won the Berghaus Dragon’s Back Race, one of the world’s toughest multi-stage races. It’s a remarkable story… listen in .

Hello and welcome to Further, Faster in association with Montane. We started this podcast to delve into why mountaineers, explorers and endurance athletes do what they do. Why they push themselves, why they feel the need to put another foot forward or crank out another turn of the pedal. 

In this episode, we spoke to Jenny Graham, a Scottish endurance athlete. The resulting interview fulfilled everything we set out to do. In this searingly honest conversation, we learn about her record-breaking round the world cycle, how she got into riding and running very, very long distances, and how she balances it with her work and family life. We also discuss why, through her work with The Adventure Syndicate that she co-directs, inspiring children is one of her most important aims. Jenny is a superb interviewee, we're sure you'll enjoy it. Listen in.

Welcome to Further, Faster, in association with Montane and hosted by Daniel Neilson. In this episode, we speak to Jon Gupta. He is a mountaineer. A very, very good mountaineer, one who specialises in very very big mountains. But he's also an expedition guide, notably working with a previous interviewee Steve Plain for his 7 Summits project. He's a penchant for more remote, lesser-known mountains. But over the last couple of years, he's also run the Bob Graham round, and the the 430-Yukon Arctic Ultra.. on his second attempt.  

We chat as Jon was on his way to Chamonix, in his van, to climb, just for himself. At the age of 32, Jon is also going through something that nearly everyone listening to this will recognise - the search for balance. In this podcast, we delve into the choices he makes. The choices of risk and the choices of training, the choices of summits and the choices of life balance. It's a fascinating listen, disarmingly honest, plus he's a lovely fella. Listen in.    

In this episode, we meet a remarkable character. He has completed some of the most difficult races in the world, including only recently the Montane Yukon Arctic Ultra, the 430-mile course, and the Montane Spine Race. So far, so impressive, until you learn that he often ‘doubles’ the race. Having completed the Spine Race he simply had a break, turned around and did it all again. Incredible!

Yet speaking to Javed Bhatti, his attitude isn’t as crazy as it first seems. There’s a logic to the ‘doubling’, there’s a logic to his preparation, there’s an exploration of the body and mind, and from that and there are deep learnings for him and for us. He’s a buoyant chap, an entertaining and insightful conversationalist, and full of information and inspiration. The rules of the game are ever so slightly different for Javed, and from that, we can all learn.  

There is so much more we could have chatted about, and in time we probably will, but in the meantime, pop on your running shoes or kick back and listen to the enlightening story of Javed Bhatti. Listen in.

Dr Melanie Windridge describes herself as a speaker and writer… with a taste for adventure. She's also a plasma physicist working in fusion energy. She's also a healthy obsession with the Northern Lights, leading to her to write the groundbreaking book, Aurora: In Search of the Northern Lights. Melanie also has a blog called Science at Extremes which led from her successful Everest expedition where she took a distinctly scientific look at climbing the mountain. 

In this wide-reaching conversation, we spend time discussing the importance of science on expeditions to high altitude and in turn, what we can learn from exploring these zones. Dr. Melanie Windridge is a fascinating, inspiring and eloquent interviewee. Listen in. 

Welcome to Further Faster, in association with Montane. In these podcasts, presenter Daniel Neilson talks to ultra-athletes, explorers and mountaineers to discover how they do what they do and, most importantly, why.

In this episode, Daniel chats to Damian Hall. You may have come across him before. He’s a journalist and ultra runner. He’s positioned highly in the Montane Spine Race and the Ultra Tour du Mont Blanc, about which a film called Underdog was made. Most recently, with his teammate Beth Pascall, they achieved the fastest known time of the 230 mile Cape Wrath Trail. In this podcast we talk about his training, team dynamics and running 26 miles dressed as a toilet. There’s some serious stuff too. Listen in.