Wild Ideas Worth Living

Michael Koppy is a 75-year-old ultrarunner and retired engineering professor from northern Minnesota who is still breaking records in endurance sports. Over the past decade, he's completed two fastest known times (FKTs) and continues to compete in some of the country's most demanding ultramarathons. In 2026, he became the oldest person to finish the Arrowhead 135, one of the toughest winter ultramarathons in the United States.

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Breannah Yeh is a slackliner, highliner, and content creator who has spent the last six years dedicated to life on the line. Whether she's landing tricks on a slackline in Los Angeles or walking highlines suspended thousands of feet above the ground, Breannah brings a joyful and creative approach to a sport that demands intense focus and balance. Through her videos, she shares the challenges and rewards of slacklining with a community of more than 2.5 million followers.

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Lisa Jhung is a writer, trail runner, and ultramarathon pacer who first began pacing runners more than 25 years ago. Drawn to the challenge and camaraderie of endurance sports, she's helped athletes through some of the most demanding miles of their lives. What keeps her returning to the trail is the opportunity to support someone else's big goal and be part of their journey to the finish line.

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Lucy Barnard is an Australian adventurer walking the length of the Americas, a years long expedition from Argentina to Alaska she began in 2017. Along the way, she adopted a blue heeler named Wombat, and together they navigate deserts, mountains, jungles, and remote terrain on foot. By 2026, Lucy had reached northern British Columbia, steadily continuing north toward Alaska.

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On June 12, 2025, 15 year old Tasia Linwood set out to kayak 310 miles down the Klamath River, from southern Oregon to the coast of northern California. She went with several other young Indigenous kayakers, from different tribes who live along the river. Their journey marked the first descent of the Klamath after the removal of four dams, which her community had fought for for decades.

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Liam Garner is a long distance cyclist who set out at 17 to bike from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska to Ushuaia, Argentina, completing nearly 20,000 miles and becoming the youngest person to ride the length of the Americas. Now, Liam is continuing his global cycling journey, riding roughly 15,000 miles from Portugal through Europe, the Middle East, and Asia toward Singapore as part of his goal to bike across every continent.

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Lindsay Branham is an environmental psychologist exploring how we build deeper, more reciprocal relationships with nature. Her work invites us to go beyond simply spending time outside and consider what it might look like to truly listen and even communicate with trees.

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Yassine Diboun is a Portland-based ultrarunner and coach who found endurance sports during recovery from addiction. After signing up for his first triathlon in 2004 to bring structure to his life, he discovered a talent for running that quickly evolved into a career in ultramarathons. Since then, he has become one of the sport’s most respected athletes, with top 10 finishes at Western States 100, multiple course records, and a place on the U.S. trail running team.

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Joe Holder is a Nike Master Trainer and GQ fitness columnist with a track record of coaching elite athletes and high profile clients. Grounded in a background in health and wellness, he brings a practical approach to endurance training and overall fitness. His work spans marathon training, thru hike preparation, and strategies to support long term health and performance.

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In January 2026, Taryn Smith became the third American woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean, completing a 46 day Atlantic Ocean crossing in open water conditions. With no rowing experience beforehand, she leaned on a foundation built through world travel, the New York City Marathon, and summers exploring Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

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