The Roots Podcast

Following an ultra-race is one thing. Filming and co-hosting the live broadcast of 2020 Big Dog's Backyard Ultra World Championship is a completely different story. It was an epic format: 20 satellite races all over the globe, 75 hours and 300+ miles that brought the ultra-running community together.  Fabien was on location with the French team to film the event and fill the role of co-host.  As fellow co-host, I was on location with Team Canada -- we break down some of our favorite moments, the magic behind an event like this and the brilliance of a man fondly known as Lazarus Lake and his wife Sandra (never forget Sandra!).

About Fabien:

Fabien Duflos began his career back in 1999 as a journalist and video reporter, for the French TV news channel I Tele. He has covered many international competitions including the Olympics, Football World Cup, and Rugby World Cup. In 2008, Fabien joined Canal+ as a Senior Reporter where he specialized in documentaries, for a famous show called Intérieur Sport. In one of the documentaries, he followed Kilian Jornet, one of the best ultrarunners on the planet. It was then, he caught the ultra-endurance bug and as they say...the rest is history.

Since then,  Fabien has worked on some of the most difficult races in the world : Norseman in Norway, Ötillö in Sweden and in 2014, the Barkley Marathons. As the founder of Tangram Films in 2017, he had the independence he needed, to share his vision of sports and promote events where ordinary people achieve extraordinary goals. Last year, Fabien was in Bell Buckle, Tennesse to capture 2019 Big’s Backyard where Maggie Guterl became the first female world champion outlasting the rest of the field with 63 yards. He has also released « Out There », on YouTube, a documentary about Karel Sabbe, who had just won the Satellite Big’s Backyard Ultra World Championship setting a new world record with 75 yards. 

Out There: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jt3XPQFLOF8

From team spirit, pushing all limits and pineapple as an acceptable pizza topping, Stephanie breaks it down with some of Canada’s best ultra runners as they prepare to go head to head with countries from around the world in this year’s satellite version of Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Championship.

Time stamps for individual team members:

Ryan Kershaw - 0:36

Terri Biloski - 8:04

Viktoria Brown - 11:37

Scott Cooper - 15:50

Stéphanie Simpson - 19:22

Myron Tetreault - 24:20

Jeremy Welwood - 31:06

Chelsey Topping - 37:03

Del Salt - 43:04

Kevin Barata - 49:46

Wayne Gaudet - 57:26

Greg Courtice - 1:08:44

Matt Shepard - 1:17:41

Mike Huber - 1:25:42

Dave Proctor - 1:37:10

Street-photographer, Dino Serrao has inspired millions with his photographs.  His mission - to make the invisible, visible.  

Walking the streets of Sydney, Australia Dino is inspired to capture the beauty of everyday people.  In his own words "no matter what, somehow ordinary people are Extraordinary."

You can follow Dino's journey on Instagram and catch all the behind the scenes action on TikTok and YouTube. Simply search Dino.Serrao on any of the platforms to connect to his incredible work.

Christian Marcello, a social entrepreneur based in Toronto, Canada is the passionate founder of Team Plover. His goal: to create a world where every pet has a loving home. 

Following university, Christian took a pause to follow his heart and try new things. He found himself driving countless miles to help transport animals from high-kill shelters in Quebec, Canada, to rescue organizations around the city of Toronto. Armed with a simple idea and a desire to make a difference, Team Plover was born. The business model - sell handmade dog collars and use those funds to transport one dog in need, on a leg of their freedom ride toward a loving home. Team Plover has gone one step further to expand their efforts to include spay and neuter initatives and tackling pet overpopulation at its source.

A passion project turned successful business model.  As Christian puts it: "align your success with the success of the world."

To learn more about Team Plover or purchase a collar, visit www.teamplover.com or www.teamplover.ca. You can also follow the Team Plover story on Instagram and Facebook at Team Plover. 

We've all had bad experiences that we wish we could forget, right?  Now imagine turning those bad experiences into a passion and creating impact in your community.  That's exactly what Yana did!  In this episode, Stephanie explores Yana's ability to turn so many negatives into one seriously big positive. 

12 marathons, 12 days all while raising awareness and funds for a local charity.  Be inspired.

A chance to hear first hand all the in’s & out’s of how Jon Noll claimed the Last Person Standing title in the Quarantine Backyard Ultra.

Answers to burning questions:

~ best pizza toppings for an ultra?

~ how to stay entertained for 51 hours on a treadmill?

~ where does one find cool running shorts and so much more 

Chander Kandpal, an ultra-runner from India, won the hearts of thousands from around the world as he pushed through 41 hours of the Quarantine Backyard Ultra (QBU).  Fairly new to ultrarunning, Chander's resume is lengthy and with his latest performance in the QBU, he set a new National record in Backyard style racing totalling 274.7 kms. His humble nature is obvious from the moment he starts talking - he credits his crew for his recent success and all the positive comments from the live broadcast viewers. 

Chatting with Chander's crew was equalling inspiring. Their stories of planning, or lack there of, Chander's pure joy of running and the family that is Team Sunchasers. 

For more inspiration, follow:

Instagram: @explorechander   

Instagram: @teamsunchasers

 The backyard ultra is a form of ultramarathon race, created by Gary 'Lazurus Lake' Cantrell, where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6706 meters (4.167 miles) in less than one hour. When each lap is completed, the remaining time within the hour is typically used to recover for the next hour's race. Exactly one hour after a backyard ultra's first starting time, the competitors run an additional 6706 meters with a one-hour window for completion. These distance loops are repeated hourly. The race ends when the last runner or runners either concede or fail to finish the distance within the allotted time frame.

In this episode, Stephanie chats with 16 year-old Team Cure Founder, Lindsay Pacios. Team Cure is Massachusetts-based charity that sends care packages to kids fighting cancer cancer all over the world. 

To date, Lindsay has sent 300+ unique care packages to these young fighters. Team Cure doesn't stop there - the charity also offers a small wish service to support these medically complex families with covering big Christmas gifts or birthday gifts, purchasing furniture, room makeovers, video game consoles concert tickets, collecting gift cards, and so many more wishes for these children. To learn more about Team Cure, visit www.teamcure.org

Stephanie and Anne chat about the ever changing media landscape, the virtual race season and its impact on the running community, pitching story ideas and the ever important need to build relationships.

Anne Francis has been editor since February 2020, after two years writing web stories for the magazine's website. The magazine, based in Toronto, is published seven times a year. Anne resumed her writing and editing career after taking a few years out to raise three kids and try her hand at other things, including piano tuning. A recreational runner since 2003, she has run five marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2019.

What does one do when travel restrictions are in effect & you can’t visit your family? You challenge them to a virtual race of course.

In this episode Stephanie chats with three generations of Sutherland’s about why they chose to register for the Quarantine Backyard Ultra. They chat about challenging each other, training programs, and the fact that race day falls on Dave Sr.’s 50th wedding anniversary to his bride Margaret and how they plan to celebrate.