The Trailhead

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The Trailhead isn't your typical trail running podcast—we're not dissecting splits or debating race strategies. Instead, hosts Zoë Rom and Brendan Leonard take you straight to the heart (and funny bone) of the sport, celebrating the people, stories, and quirks that make trail running so special. With a mix of humor, heart, and a little irreverence, we explore the personalities, people, artists, and everyday athletes who give the sport its soul—because trail running is about more than just the miles.

  1. Race Photographer Anastasia Wilde on What 200-Milers Really Look Like

    قبل ٤ ساعات

    Race Photographer Anastasia Wilde on What 200-Milers Really Look Like

    Anastasia Wilde is a Missoula-based adventure photographer who has spent the last five years shooting the country's biggest 200-mile races like Bigfoot, Tahoe, Cocodona, and hiking up to eight miles into the backcountry with thirty pounds of gear to photograph runners at their most unfiltered. In this conversation, Anastasia tells us how a Costco camera kit and a suspiciously well-timed $500 raffle win turned a middle school music teacher into one of ultrarunning's most prolific race photographers, why the mid- and back-of-pack will tell a stranger with a camera things they haven't told their families, the memory card catastrophe at the Bigfoot finish line she still thinks about, whether AI will ever make any of us look good while running (no), and what it means to photograph someone crying alone at sunrise on their way to a five-year buckle. This episode is brought to you by LMNT and their new lemonade iced tea flavor. Get a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/UltraSignup. This week's featured race is the Machete Muertos 200 at Lake Perris, California, starting Wednesday, October 28. 200 miles, 44,000 feet of climbing, and a 96-hour cutoff at one of the toughest 200-milers in the country, part of Machete Madness's Día de los Muertos celebration. There's also a 100-miler, a 50-miler, and 10- and 20-mile ruck divisions, with free family camping, free professional photos, and no pacer fees. Registration closes Friday, October 16. Sign up at UltraSignup.com. The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.

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  2. A Longtime New York Times Music Critic on How Running Changed the Way He Listens

    ٢٦ مايو

    A Longtime New York Times Music Critic on How Running Changed the Way He Listens

    Ben Ratliff is a former New York Times music critic, a writing professor at NYU, and the author of Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening, longlisted for the National Book Award and named a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, which chronicles what he hears when he brings music into his near-daily runs through the Bronx. In this conversation, Zoë and Brendan talk with Ratliff about why running made him a better listener, and why the optimal-BPM running playlist is, by his lights, beside the point. He makes the case for listening as active attention rather than ambient wallpaper, explains why some of the slowest and quietest music turns out to be the most enlivening to run to, and pushes back on the idea that "good taste" is something you can buy. Along the way: defamiliarizing a song until it sounds brand new, the strange kinship between a long run and a long DJ set, and how a career critic ends up running to everything from jazz to Ice Spice. This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, where Zoë gets basically all her summer running gear, vests, socks, hats, shirts, and a frankly irresponsible number of gels, with fast shipping and a return policy run by actual humans. This week's featured race is the FCA Endurance Race in Oakwood, Georgia — a choose-your-own-adventure event on a flat, one-mile paved loop around the University of North Georgia's Oakwood campus. Pick your distance: a 5K, a 10K that detours onto dirt and a stretch of cross-country trail, or a timed race of two, four, six, twelve, or twenty-four hours, with some durations offering a 6 p.m. start so you can run straight into the night. It all happens Saturday, June 6, 2026, and registration stays open right through race day. Sign up at UltraSignup.com. The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.

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  3. Why Your Brain Needs You to Run with Evolutionary Biologist David Raichlen

    ٢٨ أبريل

    Why Your Brain Needs You to Run with Evolutionary Biologist David Raichlen

    David Raichlen is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California whose research examines how human evolution, physical activity, and brain health are linked across the lifespan. In this conversation, Zoë and Brendan talk with David about what's actually happening in your brain when you go from couch to consistently active, why exercise might be the closest thing we have to a dementia preventative, and why his research on the runner's high, which famously involved humans, dogs, and ferrets, suggests it evolved as something more useful than feeling good.  They also get into what hunter-gatherers like the Hadza can (and can't) tell us about how to live, why "more is better" hits diminishing returns at the high end, the trouble with paleo prescriptions, and whether sitting really is the new smoking. Plus: Brendan tries to figure out if his rock-climbing mom or his golfing dad is doing better cognitive work than he is. This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, the one-stop shop for all things trail running, with gear guides and expert resources to help you figure out what actually works for you. Use code TRAILHEAD for free two-day shipping on orders over $50. Our featured race is the Sonoma Fall Classic, the inaugural fall festival in the heart of California wine country featuring a 100-miler, the original Lake Sonoma 50 returning to its 2008 point-to-point roots from South Lake Trailhead, a trail marathon, and four-person relays. Sixteen miles of buttery single track, sweeping lake views, swimmable water crossings, and free on-site camping. Registration closes Monday, October 12. Sign up at UltraSignup.com. The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.

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  4. Rochelle Bilow on Food, Running, and Romance Novels

    ١٤ أبريل

    Rochelle Bilow on Food, Running, and Romance Novels

    Rochelle Bilow is a romance novelist, food writer, French Culinary Institute graduate, former Bon Appétit editor, and current kitchen gear expert at Serious Eats, and she just came back to ultrarunning after nearly a decade away from the sport. In this conversation, Zoë and Brendan talk with Rochelle about what she learned cooking on a farm that culinary school never taught her, why she pivoted from heartbreak memoir to romance fiction, and what it's like to balance writing deadlines with ultra training (her answer: ask for a deadline extension).  They dig into why romance as a genre gets unfairly dismissed, what makes a great enemies-to-lovers arc, and the trail running romance novel she's currently writing. Plus: the $400 toaster that changed Rochelle's life, the truth about toaster oven air fryers, and the only correct way to clean a cloudy Vitamix. This episode is brought to you by LMNT. Stay on top of your electrolytes all day, not just on the run. Grab a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/UltraSignup.  Featured Race: Booneville Backroads Ultra — 10K to 100 miles through the Bridges of Madison County countryside in rural Iowa. New for 2026: a fully marked course and crew support allowed. Trail Sisters members can DM the race for a discount code. Race day is September 5th, registration closes August 28th. Sign up at UltraSignup.com. The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.

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  5. From Cattle Ranching to 100 Mile Races with "Beef Runner" Ryan Goodman

    ٣١ مارس

    From Cattle Ranching to 100 Mile Races with "Beef Runner" Ryan Goodman

    Ryan Goodman grew up on a cattle ranch in Arkansas, studied beef cattle science at Oklahoma State University, and now manages WSU's beef cattle research program as Beef Cattle Operations Manager in Pullman, Washington, where he also teaches hands-on lab courses to the next generation of pre-veterinary students. Online, he goes by @BeefRunner. He also runs a lot of 100-mile races. In this conversation, Zoë and Brendan talk with Ryan about what six weeks of calving season: sleepless, high-stakes, completely indifferent to your training plan, taught him about finishing a hundred-miler, and why "one thing at a time" works as well in the Crazy Mountains of Montana as it does on a ranch at 2 a.m. They get into the complicated but more negotiable than you'd think relationship between ranchers and trail runners, the farm-versus-ranch distinction (I-35 is the line, roughly), why the heifers following you on BLM trail are curious not threatening, and Red Dirt music as the ultrarunning soundtrack you didn't know you needed. Also: cow tipping, the correct post-ultra meal, and whether Pullman counts as a town. This week's featured race is Mujeres and Marigolds, a women's only event with a 5k, 10k, 25k, 50k, and 100k relay! Thanks to TrailCon for supporting the podcast. Register now to attend!

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  6. What Running 150 Miles Across Iceland Taught Pavel Cenkl About the Planet

    ٣ مارس

    What Running 150 Miles Across Iceland Taught Pavel Cenkl About the Planet

    Pavel Cenkl is a climate writer, ultrarunner, and Dean of Academics at Prescott College who has run hundreds of miles across Iceland, Scandinavia, and the Arctic through his project Climate Run. He grew up in the White Mountains, worked the AMC huts, started one of the first collegiate trail running teams in the U.S., and built a master's program combining movement, environmental philosophy, and ecology.  In this conversation, Zoë and Brendan talk with Pavel about what happens when you push yourself to the edge of exhaustion in landscapes that are literally shifting beneath your feet — disappearing glaciers, the vulnerability of being utterly alone in midnight sun, why "resilience over resistance" is a better framework for running and life, and the moment he screamed so loud on day three of his Iceland crossing that he scared a goose into flight and accidentally had a paradigm shift. This episode is brought to you by Precision Fuel and Hydration, use code TRAILHEAD26 for 15% off at PrecisionHydration.com. Our featured race is the White Lake Ultras on May 2nd in Tamworth, New Hampshire, a two-mile lakefront loop where you pick your poison: 6, 12, or 24 hours. Costumes encouraged. Register at UltraSignup.com. The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.

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  7. Why Run 205 Miles? Doug Mayer on Tour de Géants and the Hero's Journey

    ٢٠ يناير

    Why Run 205 Miles? Doug Mayer on Tour de Géants and the Hero's Journey

    What happens when you strip away sleep, ego, and every external measure of success for 330 kilometers? Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps, former Car Talk producer, and three-time Tour de Géants finisher, has spent years trying to answer that question.  His new graphic novel, Last of the Giants, is his best attempt yet. In this episode, Doug joins Zoë and Brendan to talk about leaving a 25-year career in radio to build a trail running tour company in Chamonix, why he kept going back to one of the world's most grueling ultramarathons, and how he translated the experience of hallucinating in a snowstorm at 3am into a visual story. He shares what he learned from interviewing neuroscientists, a Buddhist monk who specializes in suffering, and the world's leading expert on pilgrimages, all in service of understanding why we do hard things and what we bring back from them. The conversation touches on "meeting the dragon" (a Buddhist concept for the moment when your usual tools stop working), the hero's journey, why Tour de Géants feels like "the PhD of ultrarunning," and how Doug accidentally started dating someone mid-race because her prefrontal cortex was too exhausted to know better. Links: • Last of the Giants by Doug Mayer, available at Bookshop.org, Amazon, and wherever books are sold •Run the Alps – trail running tours in the European Alps •Running Warehouse – gear guides and the Salomon Genesis •Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races – May 30, 2026 (10k, half, 50k, 50 miler) More from UltraSignup Podcasts: •The Buzz with Buzz Burrell – deep dives into ultrarunning culture and philosophy •Between Two Pines – A trail running podcast that doesn't take itself too seriously

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  8. What a PhD Mathematician Learned About Running 100 Miles

    ٦ يناير

    What a PhD Mathematician Learned About Running 100 Miles

    Pat Cade has a PhD in mathematics, coaches high school cross country in Leadville, Colorado, and has finished the Leadville 100 six times. In this conversation, he explains what years of research math taught him about endurance: small steady progress compounds, inspiration only strikes if you're showing up every day, and sometimes the breakthrough comes when you stop following the plan and just go climb the mountain because it's beautiful outside. Pat shares how he and his wife landed in Leadville after leaving academia in New York, and how they decided to pour their energy into coaching and teaching after facing infertility. He breaks down what actually makes a good coach (hint: it's not yelling), why training at 10,000 feet requires rethinking everything you learned about recovery, and what the Leadville 100's Dream Chaser program is all about. He also attempts to explain his dissertation, including whether the universe might be shaped like a donut, in terms anyone can follow. Zoë and Brendan are mostly able to keep up. This episode is brought to you by LMNT, the tasty electrolyte drink mix with sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Pro tip for winter: heat up their chocolate salt or chocolate caramel flavors for a hydration hack that doubles as hot cocoa. And if you missed it, the fan-favorite lemonade salt is back full time. Get a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/ultrasignup. Featured Race: The Salt and Sulphur 420 is a 420-mile journey run from Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone, traversing the Wasatch Range, Bear Lake, Jackson Hole, the Tetons, and finishing at the doorstep of Yellowstone. This isn't a stage race—it's a test of resourcefulness and mental grit across four states, with all proceeds benefiting the Women's Center in Salt Lake City. Registration closes February 1st. Learn more and sign up at ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=118718.

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The Trailhead isn't your typical trail running podcast—we're not dissecting splits or debating race strategies. Instead, hosts Zoë Rom and Brendan Leonard take you straight to the heart (and funny bone) of the sport, celebrating the people, stories, and quirks that make trail running so special. With a mix of humor, heart, and a little irreverence, we explore the personalities, people, artists, and everyday athletes who give the sport its soul—because trail running is about more than just the miles.

المعلومات

  • صناع العمل
    UltraSignup
  • سنوات النشاط
    ٢٠٢٢ - ٢٠٢٦
  • الحلقات
    ٩٧
  • التقييم
    ملائم
  • حقوق النشر
    © 2022
  • موقع البرنامج على الويب
    The Trailhead

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