On September 2, 2024 Michelino Sunseri set a new speed record on Grand Teton in 2h 50m 50s. It was supposed to be a new FKT, beating an old record that has stood for over 12 years. What ensued afterwards turned an epic run into a much talked about news story, a social media fire storm, and an eventual lawsuit. Friend of Michelino, Alex Rienzie was out on the trails that day and shares his observations and some background info on all of it. Alex joined Singletrack on his own initiative and any...

Canadian multi-sport athlete Jessie McAuley, repping Arc’teryx, joins the show to talk about his journey from competitive mountain bike racing in his youth to finding skimo racing for his winter adventures and trail racing for the summer. As if that’s not enough Jessie still finds time to bike and climb and goes on long adventure runs in the coastal mountains in British Columbia. This seems to works for the Squamish resident who came in 3rd at this year’s Mount Marathon in Seward Alaska and...

After a year plagued by accidents and injury Katharina finds herself at the starting line of her dream race: the massive, and mighty Tor des Géants in the Aosta Valley of the Alps. Over the following days Katharina goes through the usual challenges any trail runners faces in a massive ultra distance event but always stays in the leading position and in the process crushing the women’s course record and arriving in seventh overall, almost 5 hours ahead of the second woman. This episode is not...

Rosanna follows up her incredible performance at Lavaredo earlier in the Summer with a stunning 3rd place finish at CCC in Chamonix at the UTMB World Series Finals. Here on Signletrack we chat about her race, misplaced chocolate, the surprise Western States Golden Ticket reception, and her upcoming trip to the Snowman Race in Bhutan. LINKS Rosanna Buchauer on Instagram Rosanna Buchauer on UTMB Snowman Race Cover shot by Helge Roeske for Dynafit Connect with Singletrack on: ...

Julie and I ran OCC. And while we both ran the same race we had very different days out there on the trails around Mont Blanc. Here we share our stories, our challenges, and our celebrations. And here’s to more gelato in town cheering on runners and connecting in person. LINKS Julie Urbanski on Instagram Team RunRun Team RunRun on Instagram OCC Results on Electric Cable Car Connect with Singletrack on: Singletrack.fm Instagram Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and...

Finally I got Scott Michie on Singletrack. It’s only taken 315 episodes. And all it took was Scott heading back to Chamonix for another dance around that big white mountain. Over the last few years Scott and I have trained together, run many trails, and climbed many mountains. And in a couple of weeks we’ll both be in Chamonix together. He will run UTMB, for the second time while I put on a bib for OCC. In this episode we’ll chat about Scott’s experience at UTMB a couple years ago and how...

Julie Urbanski, cofounder of Team RunRun will be racing OCC in just a couple of weeks. No stranger to the UTMB madness Julie has been with her family many times in Chamonix, crewing and spectating, but this year it is her turn to run the race. I also ask her about some of her favorite places and things to do in the Chamonix valley, including what gondolas to ride! I cannot wait to touch down in the Alps and take it all in. LINKS Julie Urbanski on Instagram Team RunRun Team RunRun on...

German superstar Katharina Hartmuth, running for Hoka, is back on Singletrack. She just ran the Hardrock 100 and had an incredible time in the San Juans above Silverton. We chat about her race, her time in the Wild West of America and the logistical challenges getting to Colorado and her dealing with recovering from a late injury. LINKS Katharina Hartmuth on Instagram Katharina Hartmuth on Strava Katharina Hartmuth on UTMB Cover Photo by Howie Stern Connect with Singletrack on: ...

David Norris is the current record holder and 5 times winner, including 2024! of Mount Marathon in Seward, Alaska. He runs for ON, often competes at Cirque Series events and in the winter switches to nordic skis. David is currently training to beat me racing OCC by UTMB in Chamonix in just a few weeks. LINKS David Norris on Instagram Endurance Training Strategies Mount Marathon Cirque Series Cover Photo by Mick Dees Connect with Singletrack on: Singletrack.fm Instagram Brought to you...

Scott Sowle is the owner of ‘Mountain Running Races’ offering several awesome events east of Seattle in Washington State. On this episode we talk about his visit to the Broken Arrow Skyrace, one of America’s biggest trail events, where Scott volunteered and took in the atmosphere. We ponder on what the team is building down there at Lake Tahoe in the days between Broken Arrow and Western States, including the new Trail Conference. LINKS Mountain Running Races Vert Running Series Beast of...

Michael Marchand, from Olympia Washington is running Hardrock in just a couple of days. He got his entry in the lottery and has been training his heart out at a local city park pounding the miles and vert just mere feet from his house. We talk about his training leading up to the race and his motivation to take on audacious challenges like this. Follow his tracker through the San Juan mountains and cheer him to a finish back to Silverton. LINKS Michael Marchand on Strava Hardrock 100...

Dale Garland has been part of the Hardrock family since the first moments. He’s the run director and part of an incredible team of locals from the Silverton, Colorado area who deeply care about these mountains and love to share them with the runners, support crews and spectators who come every year to this tiny, remote and very special place. We talk about Camp Hardrock and many of the behind the scenes elements that make this event one of the top trail races in the world. LINKS Hardrock...

Hannes Namberger, German Dynafit athlete and now triple winner of the Lavaredo Ultra Trail is back on Singletrack. We’re chatting about the race and his conversation with Tom Evans in the last few kilometers of the race leading to Hannes charging ahead and taking first place. We’re also touching on the topics of the longevity of an athlete’s career, what it takes to win at highly competitive races, and most importantly the famous Hannes Namberger Pizza at Ristorante 5 Torri in Cortina. See...

The German Dynafit athlete Rosanna Buchauer is the new queen of Lavaredo. Last weekend she ran an incredible race leading from start to finish at the highly competitive Lavaredo Ultra Trail 120K in Cortina, the heart of the Dolomites in Northern Italy. Rosanna is coming back from a rough winter battling injury and self doubt, raced her heart out and gained back her confidence with this stellar performance. Now, as she’s recovering and slowly restarting her next training block she has her eyes...

Buzz Burrell needs no introduction. A giant in our trail running world, Buzz joins Singletrack to talk about the differences and similarities of trail running in Europe and North America. We touch on tourism, permitting, environmentalism and the way the media has influenced the past, present and future of our sport. LINKS The Trailhead Podcast with Buzz Burrell an Zoë Rom from UltraSignup Buzz Burrell on Strava Buzz Burrell on Wikipedia Connect with Singletrack on: Singletrack.fm...

Ben Mead is a finisher of Cocodona 250 2024. After months of training, he almost didn’t make it to the starting line, and then just after a few miles his race seemed over before even the first nightfall. But, with his team by his side Ben rallied, adjusted, and gritted his teeth all the way to Flagstaff. The stories of humanity these ‘multi-day mega trail races’ like Cocodona generate are truly something special, and this is Ben's story. LINKS Ben Mead is Chasing Cutoffs on Instagram...

Adam Lee, Mr. Community Trail Running, from beautiful Vancouver, BC is back on the show to chat about the importance of keeping ‘community’ in trail running and challenges of the ever-changing media landscape. We opine about the possibility of taking our little sport of trail running to the Olympics and I check in with Adam about his screening of the Trail Running Film Festival at the Rio in his hometown. Catch Adam and the Trail Running Film Festival in early June in several more locations...

Swiss Alps 100 race director Jakob Herrmann stops by to chat about the origins of the event, what motivated him to get it off the ground, what keeps him going and what his dreams are for the near and far future. The event has grown offering lots of different race distances, including a Hike and Fly event and now for the first time a Backyard Ultra. Hosted in one of the most beautiful corners of the world a race at the Swiss Alps needs to be part of everyone’s bucket list. LINKS Swiss Alps...

Nick Triolo, writer, activist, and trail runner is back on Singletrack to share an update on his recent professional move and the giant leap of faith he just took. Nick and I chat about what motivates him to run, to share with others, and why he believes in beauty within our broken world. We also talk about running for a cause and the importance of story-telling in our overcrowded life full of churned out content. LINKS Nick Triolo’s website Nick Triolo on Instagram Nick’s new book: ‘The...

Gretchen Walla, race director for Walla Trails and now for the Cougar Mountain Trail Series just outside Seattle is back on the show to chat about the amazing events she’s putting on and what makes them so special. We share stories about the challenges of race directing, and I cheer her on taking on a personal challenge of training for Teanaway Country 100 while directing almost a dozen events. LINKS Gretchen Walla on Instagram Walla Trails on Instagram Walla Trails Website Cougar...

Madlen Kappeler just returned from the SkySnow Skyrunning World Championship in Tarvisio, Italy with 4 silver medals two her name. The Bavarian triathlete went to Florida Atlantic University on a scholarship and is now competing in sky running events for the German National Team. LINKS Madlen Kappeler’s Blog Madlen Kappeler on Instagram SkySnow World Championship SkySnow Championships in Tarvisio, Italy Connect with Singletrack on: Singletrack.fm Instagram Brought to you by Electric...

Matt Urbanski from Team RunRun returns to Singletrack to chat about Rock Candy Running’s LBA races in Olympia, Washington. We chat about the ins and outs of race directing and why I love being a race director. The 12hr event was held for the first time and here are your legends of LBA: Men’s race: Rob King - 19 Loops or 76miles Women’s race: Natalie Silver - 16 Loops or 64miles Nonbinary’s race: Estella Hassertt - 9 Loops or 36miles Links: Little Backyard Adventure LBA 2024 Results Team...

Chrissi Faber is from Germany, lives in New Zealand and just very cool came in 3rd at the Tarawera Ultra Trail Miler. We chat about her race day experience, the event and its origins and the evolution under UTMB ownership. LINKS Chrissi Faber on Instagram Chrissi Faber on UTMB Tarawera Ultra Trail by UTMB Connect with Singletrack on: Singletrack.fm Instagram Brought to you by Electric Cable Car - your trail and mountain news!