The Midpacker Podcast

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

Today on the Pod Troy Meadows brings you a conversation with Shelby Farrell.

Shelby is a marketer, cat mom, trail runner, and ultra runner who last year took the plunge, quit her job at Coros, bought a van and with her partner Jason started living the van life with the goal of setting a new FKT on the Long Trail in Vermont.  They cover a lot in this episode including how they got connected back in 2021 when she was looking to attempt an out and back of the Lost Coast.  Yes, you hear that right an out and back. 

As many of you know on the pod the Lost Coast was a 2 year running muse for Troy and when he heard about this attempt it definitely got his brain turning. 

During their convo, they geek out about the Lost Coast.  They talk about her solo win at The Speed Project. Dive into her marketing journey and the work that she did for Goodr and Coros before deciding to bet on herself and her running and start living the van life. They talk through the good and some of the not-so-good things about the nomad lifestyle. Rounding things out by talking about her “A” goal for 2023, setting an FKT on the Long Trail.  Shelby just released a full write-up on her site about her Long Trail journey so make sure you check it out HERE.

Shelby’s ability to lean in and bet on herself is a true inspiration and the stoke is high her next year exploring and living the van life.

“My goal is to use my brain and body to its fullest”

LINKS

IG - @shelbzzf

Shelby’s Website

Long Trail FKT attempt write up

Adidas LA run club

Goodr

Coros

The Speed Project

Lost Coast

Solius 59 px - Winnebago

Leki

Squirrel Nut Butter

Scratch Labs

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

The stoke is high today as Troy Meadows brings you a conversation with Travis Loncar. Travis is a trail and ultra runner, computer programmer, and the brains behind Freetrail Fantasy the platform that allows you to pick your top finishers for some of the best trail and ultra races for great prize packages. They talk about how this platform came to be and the work that goes into the back end so that the race fields can come together so we can all get our picks in come race day. 

They also talk about Travis’s ultra volunteering vacation where he and his wife both bookended a week-long trip with aid station duties at Grindstone 100 and Yetti 100 in the mountains of Virginia. This a fascinating way to give back to the community as well as have a great time exploring new places.Tavis also loves to do hard things and they dive into his recent run at the Jigger Johnson a 100-mile race in the white mountains that might just be the hardest 100-mile race in North America.

Travis’s willingness to give back to the community through his volunteerism and his work on Freetrail Fantasy is truly inspirational and we hope you gleaned a tactical approach to setting up your next round of picks.

Links to things we talked about on the show:

Freetrail Fantasy

Barkley Marathons - The Race that Eats it’s Young

Chasing Walsley non-edited version  -  edited version

Races

Grindstone 100

Yetti 100

Jigger Johnson

Laurel High lands 70.5mile

Eastern Divide 50k

Tammany 10

Breakneck Point

Crewl Jewel 

Books

North by Scott Jurek

Travis’s Personal Links

Twitter - Tbloncar

IG - @Tbloncar

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

Today on the pod Troy Meadows brings you a conversation with Callie Vinson. 

Callie is a body image advocate, trail runner, ultra runner, and creative director for a large ad agency who balances living the “Mad Men” vocational life with her love of running and the trails. In today's show, they touch on her journey of losing over 200 lbs that led her from the roads to the trails as well as her advocacy for body image and how she uses her platform to help others reframe their relationship with food, exercise, and how they look at there own bodies. They also dive into her role as a marketer and how it has shaped her approach to her own personal content. We round out the conversation with her next project, a 250+ mile FKT that she will be attempting on November 22nd.

Hope you enjoy this episode, talking with Callie and her personal transformation is a powerful story worth sharing.

IG@callievinsonn

Featured in Born to Run 2

Janji Apparel

Run Fasta - Scott Traer Coaching

Across the Years

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

Today on the Midpacker Pod Troy Meadow talks with Hillary Li and Celeste Banks.  These ladies are trail runners and ultra runners who are passionate about creating diversity and inclusion on the trails. They recently took over the leadership roles at the Trail Sisters Boston Chapter and are eager to share their love of the trails with the Boston community.  The conversation dives into the Boston-run club culture.  Some of the clubs that made them feel extremely welcome when they first got to the city and some of the takeaways that they are going to try to implement with Trail Sisters Boston. 

They also talk about what it means to be a no-drop run club as well as some other ways that they intend to show up for the community as they work toward creating a more diverse and inclusive club. They also touch on some of the systemic issues that the BIPOC community faces with feeling welcomed on the trails and in running groups in general.

The stoke is high for the greater Boston run scene as these ladies bring a passion and joy for running to the table that is super infectious and I can't wait to see where they take the Trail Sisters Boston club in the coming months and years.

LINKS

Trail Sisters

Trail Sisters Boston Chapter

Trail Animals Run Club

Trail Blazhers

Pioneers run crew

26.True

MT Hood 50K

Sun Mt 50K

Zip Running Packs

Running While Black - Alison Marielle Désir

IG

@trailsisters_boston

@sohillaryous

@celeste_banks

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

Today on the pod Troy Meadows talks with Tim Lock. They focus a lot of the conversation on sustainability and practical ways to minimize your carbon footprint. 

Tim is an architect and partner at a firm called OPAL where their focus is on sustainable building design. Tim is a subject matter expert in sustainability and they go deep on this topic.  Tim is also a husband, father, and trail runner who loves the ultra side of the sport. They touch on Tim’s background growing up in Maine, what got him into running, and how he balances the demands of a very busy work life with showing up for his family and getting in some training. Toward the end of the episode, They dive into a few questions on what trail and ultrarunners should be thinking about concerning our actions and how they impact the planet.

Coach Sasha Teninty - IG @sasha.teninty

Presi Traverse

Mountain Lakes 100

Bold Coast 50K

On Running Cyclon Program Recyclable shoe

Got Sneakers - Mail in shoe recycling program

Timothy Lock Personal Links

IG - @timothylock

LinkedIn - Timothy Lock

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website
Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is part of the Freetrail network of Podcasts.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Make sure you leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods.

Today on the show Troy Meadows talks with Michael Loeffler.

Michael is a father, husband, psychotherapist, and trail and ultra runner. They tease out some actionable tips that Micheal has for fellow trail runners looking to find balance with and have clear communications and expectations with the people in their lives and their relationship with running.  They also discuss some of the things he does personally to get in his training and show up for his family.  

They talk about the triple Michael just completed at the Mammoth Trail Fest completing the 26K, 50K, and Dragons Back Assent, and some of the work that he has done with the trail running community around that event, we also talk about the suffer fest that he endured at this year's Canyons 100k were temps topped out at 105 degrees and event say a 50% DNF rate.

Freetrail article by Michael A Trail Runner's Guide to Mid-Life

Michael’s Psychotherapy Practice

Sanfranciscotherapy.com

IG

@trailpsyche

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

MidPacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is Presented by Freetrail.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Today, Troy Meadows talks with Matt Chittim. Matt should need no introduction as the host of the Rambling Runner Podcast and one of the founders and co-creatives at Relay. He is also a masters runner and father and recently started dabbling on the trails.

They talk about several topics, including how Rambling Runner came to be, the new updates to the Boston Marathon qualifying standard, Matt running his first 50K, and his upcoming race at the Womp Romp 50K in a few weeks. This race is put on by OG Freetrailer and the first guest on this pod, Matt Hoadley. In true Matt Chitrim fashion, this conversation rambles along, dissecting a few run media-related topics, and these two have a fantastic time doing it. 

Womp Romp Race Series

Womp Romp is Looking for volunteers for their race coming up on Oct 21st. If you are in the Massachusetts area and want to lend a hand, volunteer HERE.

Squatch apple 50KRambling Runner Episode 517 Breaking

Down My First Ultramarathon with Peter Bromka

Rambling Runner Podcast
Relay Podcast

IG

@Rambling_runner

@Relay_site

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

Midpacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is Brought to you by Freetrail.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Today we are flipping the script on you and the mics are getting turned on the host Troy Meadows!

We are stoked to have Freetrailers MVD and Corinne Shalvoy host the pod to ask me about my latest 100 mile effort at the Grindstone Trail Running Festival By UTMB. They talk briefly about Troy's running background, some of his training this year and dive into how his 33 hour experience on the course played out. 

They finish off by discussing the differences between this year and last year which happened to be Troy's first 100 mile run on the original course prior to the UTMB acquisition of the race.

Please leave us a rating and review wherever you get your pods. 

It would be a huge help to the pod.

Episode 2 with Corinne Shalvoy

Unsupported Lost Coast FKT write up

The Big Alta

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

Midpacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

The MidPacker Pod is Brought to you by Freetrail.

You can now support the MidPacker Pod on Patreon.

Today on the Pod, Troy Meadows sits down to talk with Matt Feldhake. Matt is a father, husband, marketer, and trail runner.  

Matt is the Marketing Director at Aravaipa Running and has played a pivotal role in bringing us the amazing live stream coverage that we have all come to love from Jamil and Crew.

We geeked out a lot on Marketing but also talked about Matt's running and his next race, the Georgia Death Race, which he claims is coming out of retirement. 

We also talk about how, as a father of 3, he juggles his family's needs with his job requirements and running goals.

We hope you enjoy the episode!

YouTube Links:

Aravaipa Running - Black Canyon, Cocadona, Javelina  Live Streams

Run Steep Get High - Hardrock 2023

Mountain Outpost - Mammoth Trail Fest Live Stream

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

Midpacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube

​​The MidPacker pod is brought to you by FreeTrail with generous support from Vacation Races. 

Today on the Pod, Troy Meadows talks to his dear friend Heidi Garner. Heidi is a mother, community organizer, artist, entrepreneur, and Trail and UltraRunner. They talk about how Heidi has found balance in raising several children with her running goals. How she has used her passion for endurance sports to give back to her local community as a board member of the youth swim league that her children are a part of and with a program that she founded that works with local schools to teach young children the joy of running. 

They discuss her need to take a step back from racing and training recently as she reevaluates her “why” for running and resets the stoke for an upcoming adventure trip to the Grand Canyon.  

Lastly, they talk about the small cottage business, Heidi Garner Studio, that she has formed around her art and the love of the trails and how she was able, through a chance encounter, to give Bronco Billy a trucker hat with some of her Grand Canyon art on it. 

If you follow Jeff Browning on IG or FB, you have likely seen him running the trails wearing it. 

Talking with Heidi about her work for her local community and how she juggles all the things was super inspiring. Hopefully, it kindles the fire in you to give back to your local community. 

We hope you enjoy this conversation with Heidi Garner.

Heidi was gracious enough to give a discount to our listeners. 

Check out her website: heidigarnerstudio.com

Use code: midpacker for 10% off your order.  

Heidi Links

FBHeidi Garner Studio

IGHeidi_Garner_Studio

Website:heidigarnerstudio.com

If you are enjoying the content, please consider supporting our sponsors using the links below.

Sponsor Links: 

Title Sponsor:

Vacation Races - Race in epic American National Parks or take a week-long inclusive Global running Adventure with Vacation Races - Vacation Races: Run Were You Play 

Use code: "freetrail15" to get 15% off any half-marathon or ultra-marathon

Use code: "freetrail200" to get $200 off any Global Adventures trip

Space is limited for these epic experiences, so sign up before they sell out.

Visit vacationraces.com to learn more.

Run Trail Life - This is a brand I am super passionate about because I am the Founder and Chief everything officer for RTL. Run Trail Life Brings you casual apparel that lets you show off your love of trail running and ultrarunning while giving back to ensure that everyone has access to the beauty of nature for generations to come. With each item purchased, we donate $1 to runners for public lands.

Use code: midpackerpod to double the donation from your purchase. 

Visit RunTrailLife.com to check out our line of Hats and Organic cotton T's.

Freetrail - Bring Trail Culture with you everywhere you go and join an amazing community of extraordinary trail runners. Freetrail Pro membership is just $96 a year, giving you access to the Freetrail Slack community, training plans, weekly office hours, and so much more. I absolutely love this community and have personally used the training plans to get ready for my ultra efforts.

Visit Freetrail.com to sign up today.

Midpacker Pod Links: Instagram | Patreon

Troy Meadows Links: Instagram | Twitter | Website

Freetrail Links: Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | Website | YouTube