Wookie Kim | Fighting For His Life in the Maroon Bells Ultrarunnerpodcast.com

Wookie Kim started out his weekend like many of us do. He’d planned a fun run in Colorado’s Maroon Bells with a buddy and they’d given themselves 12 hours to finish the 27 mile loop.







All was going well, until fit hit the shan.







Wookie and Will earlier in the day. First Pass.







Faced with an excruciating headache that spiraled into loss of balance, vision, and ultimately consciousness, Wookie was dealing with severe High Altitude Cerebral Edema (HACE) and High Altitude Pulmonary Edema (HAPE), two conditions that often lead to death.







This interview is about that weekend run and how he was ultimately rescued from the trails and the recovery process—both physically and emotionally—that followed.







Wookie Kim in the ICU after his rescue.







Wookie Kim Episode Notes:







Here’s the HURT running group.







Here’s our interview with Kyle Pietari.







You must read Wookie’s blog post about his ordeal and watch the videos.







Here’s a Spot 3 Satellite GPS Messenger for less than a hundred bucks on Amazon. It’ll keep you safe AND it’ll drop a few bucks into the URP coffers.







Here’s some research by Wookie’s neurologist Dr. Philip Yarnell where he writes about HACE.







Intro/Outro music used with permission from David Rosales.







Wookie Kim finishing HURT (Pic courtesy Augusto Decastro)







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Gear Talk with Ben:







HOKA ONE ONE Evo Speedtoat: More info here.















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