Natalie Larson Interview

Natalie Larson won the #4 FKTOY of the year for 2017 for her self supported 1200 mile trek up the California coast. In that adventure, she cussed out a mountain lion, fell in love with Malibu, learned the tidal tables on the Lost Coast, and had to take an Uber through a Naval base. At the end, she set the OKT with just over 44 days on her feet.

“I met this guy and his nephew (on the California Coastal Trail) and they said they saw a human skull up ahead….and then that was also the day I saw the mountain lion [that she cussed out]…”

Natalie has a fascinating story that predates her FKT run, and that includes her joining a monastery, cheerleading, and high-level academics. How many people do you know with a degree in art, masters degrees in math and computer science, and internships at NASA and MIT? Natalie is that type of person, and her persistence and varying interests shine through in her attitude towards running.

In this interview, we talk about:

How and why Natalie got into running marathons, ultramarathons, and FKTs.

* Different diets she’s tried, and what works best for her now.

* How she decided to finally pull the trigger on her California Coastal Trail FKT.

* What she likes about track ultramarathons.

* What type of characters (both the human and wild animal variety) she encountered on her CCT journey.

* What advice she has for people getting into ultramarathon distance events and what type of training she did for CCT.

* What type of shoes and gear she took on her 1200 mile trip.

* What she’s got her eyes on for this year, besides, ya know, starting a cyber security job with the Department of Defense.

* And here’s something we forgot to talk about. From Natalie: “I forgot to mention Eric Clifton was a great influence on my running, training with him, his belief in me, and his style of going out fast is what took me from mid to front of the pack… So another tip would have been — try going out fast!