Borderlands Pod Network

•

Channel • 4 Shows

Running

Running

Updated Semiweekly
Running

Running

Updated Semiweekly
Health & Fitness

Health & Fitness

Updated Biweekly
Running

Running

Updated Biweekly

May 25

What Happens When Running Becomes Your Job? | Jacob Puzey

Professional running can quietly turn into pressure, performance, sponsorship obligations, and constant visibility. This episode with Jacob Puzey is for runners who have felt burnout creeping into the thing they once loved and want to rediscover simplicity, rhythm, and freedom in running again. After twenty years as a professional runner, coach, race director, and sponsored athlete, Jacob reflects on what happened when the pressure finally disappeared. What starts as a conversation about road running slowly becomes something much deeper about identity, aging, social media, routine, and why signing up for hard things still matters even after competition stops mattering. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:43 Rediscovering the Joy of Running 07:41 The Journey Back to Running 11:39 The Transition from Competition to Personal Growth 14:50 The Journey to Scholarship and Running 19:20 The Importance of Commitment in Running Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 25

•

20 min
May 21

The Race That Makes Trail Running Real

Trail running usually becomes real for people at a local ultra, not while watching UTMB or Western States online. The parking lot at 5am with 53 runners, one exhausted race director, and volunteers giving up their Saturday to help strangers keep moving is still the clearest entry point into the sport. This episode is for the runners who believe the soul of trail running still lives there. Josh explores why the local 50K may be the most important layer in trail running, how participation precedes fandom in ultra culture, why authenticity in trail running still feels earned instead of performed, and why the small grassroots races that built the sport are becoming increasingly fragile in the modern era of spectacle, prestige, and professionalization. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps02:52 The Turning Point of the Race03:57 The Ecosystem of Trail Running07:45 The Local Ultra: An Introduction to Trail Running Culture11:22 The Challenges of Local Trail Races18:00 The Importance of Local Races in Trail Running Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 21

•

19 min
May 7

Cocodona Has a Fan Problem

Cocodona 250 exposed something trail running still doesn’t totally want to admit: the audience is already here, but the fan experience still hasn’t caught up. After spending more than 13 hours inside the livestream tracking viewer behavior in real time, Josh breaks down why thousands of people kept tuning in while constantly disconnecting from the coverage itself. This conversation goes deep on audience churn, race orientation, commentary drift, storytelling, and why trail running media still relies too heavily on goodwill from diehard fans. Not from the outside looking in, but from someone who desperately wants this sport to become easier to share with the people around him. This one’s for trail runners, ultra fans, and anyone who wants the viewing experience to evolve alongside the sport itself. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 7

•

21 min
May 18

What SATISFY Reveals About Trail Running

Trail running culture melted down this weekend after a Satisfy x Adidas event triggered accusations of cringe, elitism, rich-kid cosplay, and the death of authenticity. But the backlash revealed something much deeper about where trail running is headed and why so many runners reacted emotionally to it. In this episode, Josh explores why the footage felt so disconnected online, why Satisfy exposes contradictions already present inside trail running, and how the sport may already be transforming into something larger than athletics alone. From Cocodona and expensive race culture to meme accounts, identity signaling, and the rise of trail running media, this conversation is about the growing tension between authenticity, aesthetics, status, and culture inside modern trail running. This one’s for the trail runners trying to understand what the sport is becoming and why that question suddenly feels so uncomfortable. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:00 Resources / LinksSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 18

•

10 min
May 12

Can Trail Running Stay Human?

Trail running is getting bigger fast. Bigger races, bigger brands, bigger media, and more money entering the sport every year. What happens to trail running culture as all of that growth accelerates? And will the human side of trail running we all love survive? Recorded in Stockholm at Klättermusen headquarters, Josh sits down with Gonz Ferrero, CEO of Klättermusen, and Billy White, founder of Sörmlands 100, to talk about UTMB, independent trail races, elite sport versus dirtbag culture, why trail running still feels different from road running, and who actually gets to shape what the sport becomes from here. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps00:05 The Growth of Trail Running00:24 The Evolution of Trail Running13:19 The Personal Connection to Trail Running33:33 The Diverging Paths of Trail Running37:38 The Future of Trail Running: Balancing Elite and Everyday Experiences Resources / LinksKlattermusen Sormlands Trail RaceSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.cc Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningUltra Runners Need More Than Normal LifeWhy Running Changes You with Raz Rauf Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 12

•

45 min
May 4

Why Fueling Stops Working During Ultras

Ultra running nutrition is getting more extreme. More carbs, more precision, more pressure to “get it right.” But if you’ve ever had your stomach shut down mid-race, you know something isn’t adding up. This episode is for runners trying to fuel better without breaking their body in the process. I sit down with Chris Bellamy, engineer, ultra runner, and founder of Yanaa, to explore the hidden cost of the high-carb movement, what it’s doing to gut health, and why real food might be the missing piece. We get into the tension between performance and health, and what elite athletes are actually doing when it matters. This is for ultra runners who want to perform without sabotaging their system. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / LinksWhite Paper - From Health to PerformanceSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesAn Elite Coach Reframes Fueling for UltrarunnersPre-Race Nutrition for UltrarunnersNutrition Myths for Ultrarunners Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

May 4

•

45 min
Mar 30

Billy Yang - Why People Run 100 Miles

Why do people run 100 miles and keep coming back to ultra running even after it hurts, slows them down, and offers no obvious reward? If you’ve ever been curious about ultra running or felt the pull toward doing something hard without fully understanding why, this conversation is for you. In this episode, Billy Yang helps unpack what draws people into ultra running and what they’re actually searching for out there. It’s less about racing and more about identity, suffering, and the deeper reasons people choose to keep going. For runners and anyone trying to understand why we choose hard things. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. Topics / Timestamps00:00 Why Would ANYONE Run 100 Miles05:55 The Journey of the Soul in Ultra Running09:01 The Power of Storytelling in Sports16:08 Exploring the Stories Behind the Sport23:02 Why Do We Keep Going Back to the 100 Mile Starting Line28:11 Reframing Your 'Why'30:30 Ultra Running is the Great Equalizer Resources / LinksThe Why by Billy Yang"Nike Boys" DocI Finally Conquered 100 Miles Related EpisodesNils Arend, TSP FounderScott Jurek, Has Ultra Running Become too Polished? Presented by Kiprun. ---- Find us at Borderlands.cc and sign up for the newsletter. Want to run in the Salt Lake area? Check out the Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races happening May 30, 2026. And if you haven't checked out Wylder yet, it's worth a look. iOS or Android

Mar 30

•

32 min
Apr 8

Why Running Changes You (It’s Not Just Fitness) with Raz Rauf

Trail running and running culture go beyond training plans, races, and performance. Raziq Rauf explains why running isn’t just a sport, but a reflection of identity, place, community, and modern running culture. Raziq is the author of This Is Running and writes the newsletter Running Sucks. In this episode, we talk about running as culture, not just competition: place, community, creativity, solitude, fashion, consumerism, and why a run can change the person who started it. We also get into Haruki Murakami, narrative writing, run clubs, The Speed Project, and the strange modern shift from running as a sport to running as a lifestyle. This episode is for runners who care about the meaning of the sport, not just the metrics. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. Topics / Timestamps00:00 - The Deeper Meaning of Running01:12 - The Meaning of Running15:19 - The Evolution of Running Culture16:43 - Shifting Perspectives on Running Culture25:02 - Running as a Radical Act30:50 - The Intersection of Running and Self-Improvement43:01 - Exploring Creativity in Running46:05 - The Solitude of Running and Creativity Resources / LinksRaz Rauf on IGRunning SucksThis Is Running, Raz's new bookThumbnail photo by Carly PalmourJosh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningWhy Trail Running Isn't Skateboarding Presented by Kiprun. ---- Find us at Borderlands.cc and sign up for the newsletter. Want to run in the Salt Lake area? Check out the Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races happening May 30, 2026. And if you haven't checked out Wylder yet, it's worth a look. iOS or Android

Apr 8

•

50 min
Apr 1

Ultra Running Exposes Who You Really Are (wtih Mike Kratzer)

Ultra running reveals what happens when race plans fail, training falls apart, and things don’t go the way we want. Running helps strip away all the things we distract ourselves with and forces us to stand face to face with them. In this conversation with Mike Kratzer, a former DJ turned runner, we explore what happens when there’s nothing left to hide. From quitting drinking without rock bottom to rejecting the sameness of modern running culture, this is about what running reveals when you stop trying to be someone and just are. This one’s for runners who enjoy running culture and thinking about running on a deeper level beyond performance. Listen, and if this resonates, share it with someone who needs it. Presented by Kiprun. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. Topics / Timestamps00:15 - Exploring the Essence of Running06:07 - The Transition from Music to Running11:18 - The Decision to Quit Drinking23:26 - Exploring Influencers and Individuality in Running31:36 - The Evolution of Running and Creativity Resources / LinksThe confusing case of Camille Herron’s alleged Wikipedia editsBorderlands.ccMike Kratzer on IGJosh Rosenthal on IGLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningMike Kratzer + Tom Reynolds at UTMB20 Minutes with Mike KratzerNils Arend, TSP Founder ---- Find us at Borderlands.cc and sign up for the newsletter. Want to run in the Salt Lake area? Check out the Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races happening May 30, 2026. And if you haven't checked out Wylder yet, it's worth a look. iOS or Android

Apr 1

•

35 min
Apr 14

How People Become Ultrarunners (No Clear Path)

Nobody plans to become an ultra runner. There’s no clear path into the sport, no obvious starting point, and most people don’t grow up anywhere near it. So how do people actually find their way here? In this conversation, Josh sits down with Emory Atterberry, founder of Hyperlyte Liquid Performance, and rising ultrarunner Cade Michael to explore how three people from the same unlikely place all ended up in the sport. What emerges is a deeper look at rebellion, isolation, and why some people feel pulled toward something harder. This one’s for anyone trying to understand where ultrarunners really come from. Subscribe for more conversations that go deeper into the culture of the sport. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. Topics / Timestamps00:00 The Journey to Becoming an Ultramarunner01:34 The Journey to Ultrarunning12:55 The Spirit of West Texas15:58 Transitioning from Football to Ultra Running25:16 The Mosaic of Inspiration in Running33:12 The Journey to Ultrarunning: Growth and Transformation Resources / LinksHyperlyte Liquid PerformanceSalt Lake Foothills Trail Races - May 30Josh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailHigh TonesSubwhatever Related EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just Running Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack Listen on any podcast platform Belong one Wylder, our community layer - iOS or Android More at borderlands.cc

Apr 14

•

38 min

Borderlands | The Heart of Trail Running™