Welcome back to another episode of the Golden Ticket Talks in which we meet with the overall winner of the Bandera 100K, Jonathan Rea. Jonathan is currently unsponsored athlete - maybe that will change soon - based in Boulder, Colorado.

In addition to race preparation, analysis, and aftermath, Jonathan and I talk about some of the parallels between trail running and his first love of baseball, the mindset and community-based strategies he leverages to execute good race performances, how his work on environmental policy influences his involvement in our sport, thoughts on competition and sponsorship in our relatively niche sport, and more.

Jonathan strikes me as one of the more cool, calm, and collected runners I’ve come across. It’s a personality that I think bodes well for consistently good performances in our sport. Be on the lookout for a top-10 performance at Western in June. It would not surprise me one bit.

Timestamps:

• (2:04) - athletic background in baseball, not running
• (6:29) - similarities between baseball and ultra running 
• (11:06) - why Jon avoids most social media platforms
• (13:18) - why Bandera over other golden ticket races
• (17:33) - why  Jon doesn't travel to a lot of races
• (21:47) - physical and mental training philosophies, race frequency
• (27:06) - memorable parts of Bandera
• (29:21) - thoughts about competition, teamwork
• (36:24) - preparation for Western States
• (38:10) - doubting ultrarunning talent
• (43:03) - ultrarunning sponsorship

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