Most Pleasant Exhaustion

We turned our attention to three big stories this week: Tara Dower's new FKT on the Appalachian Trail, the controversy over Camille Herron's Wikipedia edits, and the two press releases from the Boston Athletic Association regarding entry into the Boston Marathon. We had a lot to say about each of them, including hearing Michelle's first-hand account from the finish line of Tara's run!

This weekend, friend of the podcast Tara Dower (from Episode 293) is going to be finishing the Appalachian Trail in what is likely to be a Fastest Known Time! Michelle will be there to watch the end of Tara's run, but before we sent her off, we talked a bit about where we are, what our fall plans look like, and how we're doing on our resolutions some of our resolutions . . . from 2023.

The weekend after Labor Day means it's time for our favorite race: the Blue Ridge Relay! Last weekend, Erik, George, and four other guys took on the Blue Ridge Relay for the seventh time. Hear about how it went, what we wore, and the challenges we faced along the way.

Have you ever wanted to run fifteen miles on trails at altitude with a donkey? Well, we haven't either, but this week, we talked to two people who did just that! Megan Ressler and Amy Krupka joined us to tell us about their experience with Millie and Charleston--their donkeys--at the Leadville Boom Days Pack Burro Race. We talked about managing the animal and the challenges they faced. And of course, we made a lot of jokes.

This week, we looked back at Sifan Hassan's historic TRIPLE at the Olympics, climaxing with the Olympic Record in the marathon. We also talked about the men's marathon, and we considered how the Americans performed. We wrapped up the podcast with a quick review of the record-setting day at the Leadville 100.

Two years ago, in Episode 227, we interviewed Ken Sevensky, the race director for the Blue Ridge Relay. This week, we brought Ken back to hear about his preparations for the 2024 race. Ken told us about how the race has overcome obstacles over the years and grown into the event that it is today, and he gave us a glimpse of all that goes into pulling off a 200-mile relay across two states with 187 teams and over 300 volunteers.

The three of us have been consumed by the Olympics over the last two weeks, so we took a few minutes together to talk about them today. Even though the Games aren't yet over, we had fun talking about the things we have seen and what we've been thinking over the last little while.

For the second week in a row, we talked to a 2024 Race Across America finisher! This week, it was Katie Aguilar, who raced as part of Four the Record, a four-woman team. Her husband, Carlos, was on the crew, and he also joined us. Katie and Carlos told us about what it was like to take on such an ambitious goal, the changes that Katie had to make to her training (with Carlos's support!), and the various highs and lows they faced when racing from California to New Jersey.

This week, we talked to a couple of folks who just successfully finished Race Across America: Brian Hetherington and Alyssa Godesky! Brian raced as part of a four-person team called Team One Life, and they raised money for a charity called Special Love. Alyssa, herself an accomplished professional triathlete and ultrarunner, coached Brian and served as the crew chief during the race. We talked about training, fueling, logistics, and some of the unexpected difficulties they faced on their way from California to New Jersey.

There is so much going on in the world of endurance sports right now! We spent a lot of time this week talking about our experiences in the 2024 Peachtree Road Race, plus the first week of the Tour de France, the Olympic Track Trials, and an incredibly fast day at the Western States Endurance Run.