In this first episode of If Only, we follow the life of Tsutomu Yamaguchi—an ordinary draftsman whose story was shaped by extraordinary loss and survival.

As a child, he lost his mother. As a teenager, he watched his father’s business collapse in the Great Depression. As a young man, he endured hunger, poverty, and the weight of war. And in August 1945, he survived what no one else survived—both the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

His life was marked by unanswered if onlys: if only his mother had lived, if only his father’s shop had survived, if only his nation had chosen peace. Yet Yamaguchi’s story is not one of despair—it is one of perseverance, dignity, and hope carried across nine decades.

This is a story about what it means to endure when the world collapses around you—and how perseverance becomes a quiet act of faith.

Next time, we stay with If Only: 1980, the slopes of Mount St. Helens, where one man refused to leave his home as the mountain erupted. His choice left behind a haunting question: what if?

🎙️ Host: Paul Johnson 🎧 Produced by: Get Some 🎵 Music and Sound Design: Epidemic Sound

📸 Show Notes, Photos & More: getsomepodcast.com ▶️ Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@UltraGetSome

✍️ Enjoying the series? Leave a review, subscribe, or share the episode—it helps others find these stories.

📬 Got a story to share? Reach out at getsomepodcast.com/contact

In this epilogue to Choosing the Unknown, we arrive at the breach: Babylon breaks through Jerusalem’s northern wall, and the city collapses. Amid fire and exile, Jeremiah and his scribe Baruch remain—two voices carrying words that kings tried to silence, scrolls that fire could not destroy.

This is a story of loss, survival, and endurance: of a prophet spared but exiled, a scribe who chose to stay, and a message that endured through centuries to sit at the heart of scripture today. Woven through their story is a parallel from the ultrarunning world: the runner and the pacer, a partnership of resilience where one voice leads and another ensures it endures.

As Choosing the Unknown closes, we ask what remains after everything falls away—and who helps us keep going when we can’t go alone.

Next time, we begin a new series: If Only—stories where history pivots on a moment, and we are left to wonder what might have been.

🎙️ Host: Paul Johnson 🎧 Produced by: Ultra Get Some 🎵 Music and Sound Design: Epidemic Sound

📸 Show Notes, Photos & More: getsomepodcast.com ▶️ Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@UltraGetSome

✍️ Enjoying the series? Leave a review, subscribe, or share the episode—it helps others find these stories.

📬 Got a story to share? Reach out at getsomepodcast.com/contact

In the final miles of the Cocodona 250 ultramarathon, runners descend through Flagstaff, Arizona—terrain as unforgiving as it is redemptive. But beneath the surface of these trails lies a darker history. In 1988, near this same course, 9-year-old Jennifer Wilson disappeared. Her body was later found near Sheep Hill.

This episode tells the story of two brothers: Richard Bible, who would be convicted of Jennifer’s murder, and Mark Bible, the man who turned him in.

Told through the lens of an ultramarathon's final push, Chapter 5 is about betrayal, reckoning, and the high cost of doing the right thing when it’s almost too late. Mark’s call to authorities didn’t just crack open a case—it shattered a lifelong bond.

The finish line isn’t just a place. Sometimes, it’s a decision.

In this chapter of Choosing the Unknown, we descend into the red rock corridors of Sedona alongside Cocodona 250 ultrarunners—and trace the escape of German surrealist Max Ernst from Nazi-occupied Europe to the Arizona desert. What connects a 250-mile footrace to a man fleeing war? Survival. As runners face the exposed cliffs of Hangover Trail, we explore Ernst’s arrest, internment, and rescue by a covert network of artists, poets, and smugglers. This is a story of exile, endurance, and sculpture built from the dust of freedom.

We also travel into the surreal—where Ernst’s legendary sculpture Capricorn stood as a monument to defiance, and where Cocodona runners push through the final threshold toward Flagstaff.

Next time, we leave history and step into memory: a vanished girl, a relentless detective, and the dark forests outside Sheep Hill.

🎙 Host: Paul Johnson 🎧 Produced by: Ultra Get Some 🎵 Music and Sound Design: Epidemic Sound

📸 Show Notes, Photos & More: getsomepodcast.com 📺 Watch on YouTube: youtube.com/@UltraGetSome

📣 Enjoying the series? Leave a review, subscribe, or share the episode—it helps others find these stories.

📬 Got a story to share? Reach out at getsomepodcast.com/contact

The Cocodona trail doesn’t care who you were. And in Jerome, halfway through a 250-mile race, neither does the mountain. In this chapter, we follow Maynard James Keenan—rock star turned winemaker—and explore what it means to trade certainty for something real, slow, and brutally honest. Because when you’re running on tired legs or planting stubborn vines, all that matters is how you keep showing up.

Chapter Three explores:

• Jerome, AZ: a town of ghosts, artists, and second chances

• Maynard’s journey from Tool to Tempranillo

• Mud, frost, failure—and the patience it takes to start over

• Why Cocodona's true test begins after halfway

🎧 Estimated runtime: 27–31 minutes 🎙 Hosted by Paul Johnson 🌐 Visit getsomepodcast.com for show notes and more

Choosing the Unknown – Chapter Two: The Veteran

What happens when expertise meets uncertainty?

In Chapter Two, we meet Andy Jones-Wilkins, a legend in the ultrarunning world, as he runs the Cocodona 250. Andy has run hundreds of races and taught countless runners how to navigate the highs and lows of ultrarunning. But what happens when even a veteran steps onto a course that demands everything, over and over again?

Through stories of the trail, quiet reflections, and moments of laughter, this episode explores what it means to keep moving forward when you already know how hard it’s going to get—and why you choose to do it anyway.

⛰️ What is Choosing the Unknown? It’s a special series from Get Some, a podcast about who we are, how we struggle, and why we keep going. In this series, we follow the Cocodona 250, a 250-mile footrace across Arizona, diving deep into the stories that connect.

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, please like, subscribe, and share it with a friend who loves great stories.

📸 Find photos, episode notes, and past episodes at: https://getsomepodcast.com

💬 Have a story to share? Drop it in the comments or email us at: [email protected]

#Ultrarunning #TrailRunning #GetSomePodcast #ChoosingTheUnknown #Cocodona250 #Endurance #Stories #Storytelling

What happens when you step into the unknown—even when everything is going wrong?

In Chapter One of our Choosing the Unknown series, host Paul Johnson stands at the starting line of the Cocodona 250, but the real story begins long before the race starts. Three weeks earlier, he pushed through the Arizona Monster 300, battling the desert, fatigue, and self-doubt. This episode explores what drives us to step into the unknown, even when everything is already going wrong, and what it means to keep going when it would be easier to stop. It's a story of fear, humor, endurance, and the quiet moments that define us.

What does it take to step into the unknown?

In this prologue to Get Some, host Paul Johnson looks at the moments when we leave certainty behind. From the starting lines of ultramarathons to everyday choices, Get Some explores what happens when we decide to take the next step, even when we can’t see the whole path ahead.

This prologue shares why choosing the unknown might just be the most honest way to live.