This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Mary Cates. From track and field and cross country trails to 100 mile mountain races with a little television producing career sandwiched in between, Mary Cates has been a part of the running community most of her life. Most recently, she won the Yeti 100 Endurance run as first female and second place overall with a time of 17 hours. She’s currently a coach with over 100 athletes and she’s still racing on roads and trails all over the southeast. You...

Clint and Dawson this week sit down with Heather Kelly. Heather was born and raised in Alaska, where she still calls home today.A two-time NCAA National Champion in women’s rowing and voted CRCA/Pocock All-American her senior year, she still considers herself an athlete and loves everything from CrossFit to weight training to long walks in the woods.While studying at Western Washington University she earned a degree in Evolutionary Nutrition and went on to study at the Institute for the...

Clint and Dawson sit down with Shannon Keizer. Shannon had planned to hike the AT in 2020 with her daughter then Covid and her father in law passed away from cancer that May so the trip was put on hold. Shannon decided the best year to hike the trail was this year 2023 and even though her daughter could not join her she left in mid March and hiked the trail in under 170 days. Shannon lives just outside the Smoky Mountains National Park and whenever possible you can find her hiking in her...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Lea Mulligan. Lea' s trail running results read like a highly successful 40 year old runner except she is 25 years old. Lea was born and raised in Chattanooga and has enjoyed exploring the woods since she was a little kid. She ran cross country since she was 8 years old and got introduced to the Ultra-Running world when she was in high school. Since she was young, Lea was inspired by her mom's running career and loved sweeping events with her as a...

The week Clint and Dawson sit down with Jason Finnell and Josh Braun and take about their recent Caribou hunt out of Kotzebue, AK. Kotzebue is a city in the Northwest Arctic Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the borough's seat, by far its largest community and the economic and transportation hub of the subregion of Alaska encompassing the borough. They were also joined by Christian Jones who was not on the show. We talk about their transportation, the hunt itself, wolves, grizzly...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Tim Bell. Tim was a multi-time TN state champion in Track and Field (Decathlon and High Jump) and SEC High Jump Champion and 2 time NCAA All-American and Captain of University of Tennessee SEC and NCAA Championship Track Teams 2001 - 2002 (4 titles during that time period). Tim was an avid Rock Climber after college (that is what brought him to CHA - V12 and 5.13c) then started Road Cycling in 2010 (cat 5 to cat 2 in 3 months). Tim was run over by a...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Russ Clune. Russ just completed his first book, "The Lifer". Russ shares parts of his book, discusses writing styles and shares stories of his travels and climbing from around the world. Russ is a rock climber living in the Shawangunk Mountains of New York. His articles have been published in multiple journals, including Climbing, Rock & Ice, Mountain, Alpinist, Der Bergsteiger, Iwa To Yuki, The Patagonia Catalog, and Urban Climber. Clune has been...

This week Dawson and Clint reach back into the Day Fire vault and share some of their favorite short stories with you! Some you may have forgotten and some you may have missed! Enjoy!  The 1st story is from episode #46 with Rob Robinson talking about climbing!  The 2nd story is from episode #100 with The Bargo Brothers! Story number 3 comes from episode #139 and Brad DeVaney talking about tire tread and Mars!  The 4th story is from episode #122 and Carl Roundtree talking about Burning...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Luke Swab. Luke just completed the famed TNGA bike race where he took a 3rd place finish. Luke may have been the only person to ride the route in "Jorts"; haha. With over 56,000 feet (17,000 meters) of climbing, the TNGA is physically demanding, to say the least. But it’s not all about the challenge. The route is an incredibly beautiful stitchwork of roads and trails that explore the southern heel of Appalachian Mountains. It traverses a variety of...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Tab Tollett. Tab started road cycling in the mid 90s on up until the mid-2000s. Picked up mountain biking and almost immediately signed up for the Leadville 100 mountain bike race with a great group of guys. He did the Leadville 100 three times with two being on a single speed. From that point he did several other mountain bike races and stage races in Tennessee, North Carolina Georgia and Colorado. Also twice he did the La Ruta de Los Conquistador...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Luke Swab. Luke got his first dirt bike when he was 10, and when he was 12 he rode a Yamaha TW200 in Guyana South America. That started everything. He has ridden a motorcycle or moped in 35 different countries to date with traveling to 45 in total. Luke's first solo trip was in 2009 where he headed from Texas to the Panama canal. (He didn’t make it). The trip went viral on Advrider.com and people started sending money through Paypal to help fund the...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Shannon Burke. Shannon founded Velo View Bike Tours in 2012 and originally offered tours all over the country before moving from Austin to Chattanooga in 2016 and narrowing his focus to the world-class cycling available in the Chattanooga tri-state region. In addition to providing custom tours in the region, Shannon produces the Cycle Sequatchie Century & 3 MtnChallenge bike ride in Dunlap, TN, (annually the first Saturday in October), and also...

This week Clint and Dawson sat down with Justin Shipp Founder and owner of Site Seven Custom Van Conversions. We talked about building a custom van for you. Considerations when designing the perfect build. How much space, showers, AC units, seating and where do all the toys go? We are also talking about things no one tells you about living out of a van. Trash, water, human waste O My, haha it's just part of it. Living or vacationing in a van this is a fun podcast. Site Seven is a custom van...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Coree Woltering who is a Rock/Creek Outfitters staff and Northface runner. Coree, who’s known by some as one of the #cornfieldcowboys, was born and raised in Ottawa, Illinois. He began his running career in the 400m and 800m distances and had his sights on becoming a professional triathlete, qualifying for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships twice. But before long, he discovered ultrarunning and became mesmerized by the idea of running 100 miles in...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Matt Schweiker. Matt joined us on episode 203 sharing his bike packing race adventure from the Silk Road. This week Matt is back from the Tour Divide bike race. Matt had an amazing performance and recorded a 18 day finish/result. "The Tour Divide is an annual mountain biking ride traversing the length of the Rocky Mountains, from Canada to the Mexican border. Following the 2,745-mile (4,418 km) Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, it is an ultra-distance...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Rachel Durchslag. What motivates a person to leave the comforts of home and travel alone to hike the mountains of foreign lands? Find out as author Rachel Durchslag walks some of the most beautiful hikes in the world in search of adventure, meaning, and an expanded version of herself. We had a great time discussing her poignant, honest, and funny memoir-meets-travel guide, Rachel invites you to set foot with her on trails spanning the globe from Chile...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Jason Vance. Jason has been riding bicycles for 40 years. He began racing in the late 90’s while at Oregon, focusing on track cycling. After moving to Nevada to pursue graduate studies, He was introduced to MTB’ing by a colleague and would eventually abandon all skinny-tired aspirations. An academic position would bring him to Charleston SC; after navigating the hurdles of tenure (and addressing his neglected health), He fell in love with the rugged...

This week Dawson and Clint dig through the 2023 episodes and pull out a handful of their favorite stories to reshare with you! Enjoy! Story 1 - Episode 198 Ghost Fireflies with Catey McClary from the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont! This was so cool and we should all plan on going to see it if possible! Story 2 - Episode 202 Rigging and Cameras for the Olympics with Chris Watford! There is WAY more that goes into it than we thought! Story 3 - Episode 200 with Ben Friberg! Ben has...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Joe Royer. Joe resides in Memphis and is the co-owner of Outdoors, Inc., which was founded 1974. Joe was a member of the U.S. Canoe and Kayak team in the late 60's and 70's, and is a world traveler, an adventurer and a lifelong cyclist. All these experiences influenced Joe’s vision for better access and inclusion for parks and recreation. Joe has volunteered on non-profit boards such as Tennessee Parks & Greenways Foundation (TN Green), Tennessee...

This Week Clint and Dawson sit down with Camila Simon. Camilla is the Executive Director for HECHO. She is passionate about elevating Latino voices in local, state and national conservation efforts, especially when it comes to accessing public lands. Since she joined HECHO in November 2014, she has worked to broaden the definition of a conservationist, and elevate the importance of Hispanic/Latino generational ties to the land and what that knowledge can add to public policy debates around...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Cassandra Riddle. Cassandra's list of accomplishments, talants, and hobbies is impressive. Yet she also has suffered from Cystic Fibrosis all her life but wasn't diagnosed until last year. Cassandra was an international opera singer and performed all over the world. She was based out of NYC in the 90's and early 2000's, and in 1997 won an Emmy award. At the height of her career, she retired for new challenges and began to run marathons, triathlons...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Bill Hodge. Bill became the Montana State Director for The Wilderness Society in January of 2023 after serving four years as the Executive Director of the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation. This role withThe Wilderness Society is his second tour with the organization. During Bill’s first term he started the ground-breaking organization Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (AKA -SAWS). Bill has spent the last 15 years fighting for the preservation...

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with John Davis. John is a Master Scuba Diver trainer with the Professional Association of Dive Instructors (PADI) and is also an instructor for Scuba Schools International (SSI). John enjoys teaching people how to dive, and currently does instruction at Choo Choo Dive and Aquatic Center in Chattanooga Tennessee. He has organized and lead dive trips for the last thirty-five years all over the world. John is an avid underwater photographer. We tell stories,...

This week Dawson and :Clint go into the studio for some fun and stories! 'Did You Know' facts about animals AND stories/advice from Dawson! Trust me - this one is fun! Tune-in and play along! Share and Enjoy! By the way - do you know where otters store extra food? What do you call a group of crows? Thanks for listening! Find all our episodes at dayfirepodcast.com This podcast is powered by ZenCast.fm

This week Clint and Dawson sit down with Matt Schweiker. Matt grew up in Memphis Tn and then went to College at University of Alabama. After college he moved West to Seattle, WA where he had his first real outdoor experiences climbing mountains and backcountry skiing in the Cascades. In 2012, moved to Yangshuo China and worked seasonally guiding outdoor education trips. In the off-seasons, traveled and began bike touring. Completed bike touring trips in Western China, New Zealand, Africa...