Run Long After 60

Mark Vega

Run Long After 60 is a podcast about durability, curiosity, and continuing to do hard things as the years stack up. Hosted by Mark Vega, the show features long-form conversations with runners, endurance athletes, coaches, creatives, and professionals who are still showing up — often well past the age when society expects people to slow down. This is not a podcast about speed, podiums, or shortcuts. It’s about adaptation. Perspective. And learning how to keep moving forward — physically, mentally, and creatively — over the long arc of a life. Episodes are often recorded in motion, including running intros captured mid-workout, because this show isn’t about talking around endurance. It’s about living it. Conversations explore training, aging, setbacks, reinvention, discipline, failure, resilience, and the quiet decisions that allow people to keep going long after others have stopped. Run Long After 60 is for anyone who believes that endurance doesn’t expire — it evolves. 🎙 New episodes weekly 📍 Hosted by Mark Vega

  1. 1d ago

    Episode 39 - Ann Trason | Incurable. Unstoppable. Champion.

    Ann Trason is widely considered the greatest female ultrarunner of all time — 14 Western States wins, 20 world records, a career that rewrote what was possible. But this episode isn't about any of that. It's about who Ann is at 65. With rheumatoid arthritis attacking her joints. Using a walker. Refusing surgery after spiral fractures. And training right now to climb Aconcagua, the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, by December 2027. Ann joined Mark Vega on Run Long After 60 for a rare on-camera conversation — warm, funny, honest, and deeply human. She talks about patience and acceptance as the tools that actually get you through hard things. She talks about living in the now moment — not as a philosophy, but as the only practical way to manage a body that's fighting itself. And she talks about why, after years away from the spotlight, she's back — on her own terms, with her walker, her Crazy Ladies Running Club, and her bucket list very much alive. This one will stay with you. In this episode: What rheumatoid arthritis actually feels like — and why Ann says her body (and her walker and trekking poles) are just tools to get her where she wants to goThe now moment: what ultrarunning taught her, and how it applies to the hardest chapters of lifeHer return at Across the Years — 112 miles with a walker, a turtle night light, and Ken Michaels blowing her cover on FacebookThe spicy decision — refusing surgery for spiral fractures while wearing a plunger hatHiring her first coach ever at 65: watching Ryan Mitchell climb Everest at 19 on YouTube, tracking down coach Alan Arnette, and two Zoom calls in two daysAconcagua: the dream, the team, the porter(s), the 100 mph winds, and why this isn't about the summitThe Crazy Ladies Running Club — how a walker stuck in a creek started something wonderfulDick Collins, Roger Daniels, Gard Leighton — the legends who shaped Ann and why their stories deserve to be toldWhat she'd say to anyone in their 60s who thinks their best days are behind themThe unicorn emoji — what it actually means"I'm not magical. But I believe in magic. When I send that emoji, I'm saying — still believe in magic. Still reach for that rainbow." Run Long After 60 is hosted by Mark Vega and celebrates athletes over 60 who refuse to stop, slow down, or be defined by their age. New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe wherever you listen. Follow on YouTube for the full video interview.

  2. Jul 19

    Episode 38 - Mark Vega | 37 Episodes. One Race. Everything Changed.

    It didn't take more than half a second to say yes. Paul James Johnson had just finished telling Mark about his fourth Cocodona 250 finish — four belt buckles, a thousand miles at that distance — and right there, mid-interview, invited him out to crew and pace. Mark showed up the day the race started. He didn't leave until everyone packed up and went home. Six days. Forty-four miles as pacer, from mile 190 to mile 234, in the dark, in the Arizona desert, with a man who already had 190 miles on his legs. Something shifted out there. And this episode is what came out of it. Episode 38 of Run Long After 60 is the first-ever self-supported episode — no guest, just Mark Vega: U.S. Army veteran, attorney, two-time stroke survivor, and ultrarunner. He reflects on what 37 extraordinary guests actually taught him, what he's changing about the show and his race calendar, and six lessons that kept showing up whether he was looking for them or not. In this episode: why community isn't just the finish line — it's the six days around it; the trash we're leaving on our sacred ground and what we're going to do about it; the evolving why that took Mark from "can I do this after two strokes?" to something quieter and more durable; DNF as Data Not Failure and the five-lens framework he built after four of them; what Ray Mena's question about identity and Jim Glenn's Guinness World Record taught him about reinvention; and why Lion Caldwell, Bobby Keogh, and Pete Livingstone are proof that it is genuinely not too late. Plus: the referral network that built this show, a full roll call of all 37 guests who made it possible, and a brief tease of something new coming out of the endurance community. This is a transition episode. The show is changing. So is Mark. 🎥 Watch the full video episode on YouTube — search Run Long After 60. New episodes every Sunday. Audio at 5:00 AM. Video at 12:00 PM Pacific.

  3. Jul 5

    Episode 37 - Bobby Keogh | 45 Years Running. 108 Hundreds. Still Racing at 77.

    There are fewer than 40 people on earth who have finished 100 or more races at the 100-mile distance or longer. Bobby Keogh is one of them. He has 108 official hundred-mile finishes — closer to 140 when you factor in his multi-day mileage across 6-day and 10-day events. He ran his first trail race at 32. He is 77 years old. He has been at this for 45 years and he is not slowing down — he is registered for a 100-hour race, a 140-mile crewed run along Route 66, and a 72-hour race. This year. Bobby Keogh almost never gives interviews. He doesn't own a computer, a television, or a microwave. He borrowed a computer to record this episode. And for two and a half hours, he talked. He talked about what made the early Leadville Trail 100 and Rocky Raccoon so special — when the whole town showed up, local restaurants competed for best aid station food, and runners were treated like family. And he talked about exactly what got lost when the money arrived. He described guiding six heat-exhausted runners to safety during a race that had run out of water — then nearly missing the cutoff himself. He made the case for mandatory trail maintenance as a condition of race entry. He explained, quietly and without drama, why ultrarunners are fundamentally different from every other endurance athlete, and what the sport owes the land it borrows. He ran the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning twice. He finished Nolan's 14 on a torn adductor tendon. And in the final minutes of this conversation, he described what happened on that rock face in the dark — guided across by seven cherubs he could smell, feel, and see. "The most amazing thing that has ever happened to me in my life." Bobby Keogh is the third guest in 37 episodes of Run Long After 60 who belongs to the sub-40 club of runners with 100+ hundred-mile finishes. Catra Corbett was the first. Ed Ettinghausen was the second. That is not a coincidence. That is the mission. If you want to see the full unedited video conversation — the laughter, the pauses, all of it — head to the Run Long After 60 YouTube channel and subscribe. If you know someone who belongs on this podcast — someone doing hard things in the second half of their life, with stories that haven't been told — send a guest suggestion to guestinvite@runlongafter60.com. Thank you to Christopher Neil Johnson for the music and the team at @MurphyOtter for the animation and graphics that make this show what it is. The Hippo Avatar is here to stay. LIVE STRONG. RUN LONG. AFTER 60.

  4. Jun 29

    Episode 36 - Mark Werkmeister | 58 Races. 5 Hundreds. 65 Years Old. No Rush.

    In this episode of Run Long After 60, I sit down with Mark Werkmeister — a 65-year-old ultrarunner from New Mexico who retired at 53 after a 25-year career as an engineer at Intel, started running ultras in his late 40s, and hasn't stopped since. Mark is grounded, humble, funny, deliberate. A guy you'd love to have crew you or pace you or just hang out. He didn't start desperate. He didn't start chasing records. He started late, built deliberately, and just kept showing up — race after race, year after year. 58 races on UltraSignup. Five 100-mile finishes: The Bear, Rio Del Lago, Run Rabbit Run, Wasatch, and Javelina. One DNF in 58 starts. He stopped at mile 84 at Zion 100 because he was injured and stopping was the smart call. We talk about: Going from 40 pounds overweight to 17 Colorado fourteeners in a single summerWatching the Imogene Pass Run from a motorcycle at 13,000 feet — and deciding to race itLosing his first wife unexpectedly and raising a teenage daughter aloneThe engineer's approach to 100-mile racing: eliminate the variables, plan for chaosWasatch 100 — still the hardest thing he's ever done, and the dark moment at mile 50Prostate cancer, two hernias, plantar fascia — and why none of it has him stoppingHis past work with the New Mexico Off Highway Vehicle Alliance and what it means to steward the trails you runCascade Crest 100, coming up one week after he paces at Hardrock. No real taper.The 200-mile question — and why he hasn't signed up yetWhat he says to someone in their 60s who thinks it might be too late Mark is the everyman ultrarunner in his 60s. Not desperate. Not in a rush. Just deliberate. Just showing up. At the end of this conversation I told him — I finally feel like I know the pace I need to take. Not a rush. Just get there. Run Long After 60 is a video-first podcast focused on running after 60, ultrarunning, longevity, and staying active later in life. If you'd like to watch the full conversation, you can find the video version on the Run Long After 60 YouTube channel. 🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, or Amazon Music to follow the journey. 📍 Hosted by Mark Vega

  5. Jun 21

    Episode 35 — Andy Jones-Wilkins (AJW) | 58 Years Old, Two New Hips, Zero Plans to Stop

    In this episode of Run Long After 60, I sat down with Andy Jones-Wilkins — known throughout the trail and ultrarunning world simply as AJW — for a conversation rooted in the history of ultrarunning, the growth of the sport, and what it really means to evolve with it. AJW is a ten-time Western States finisher with seven top-ten finishes. He has written AJW's Taproom, a weekly column at iRunFar.com, every Friday for 16 years. He hosts the Crack a Brew with AJW podcast. He spent 34 years as an educator before stepping away. He coaches senior-level athletes at CTS. And in 2023, at 57 years old, he had both hips replaced with ceramic implants — and went right back to running 3,000 miles a year. But what makes AJW genuinely rare isn't the résumé. It's that after 30 years in and around this sport — as a competitor, a writer, a commentator, a coach, and a volunteer — he remains one of the few people willing to say out loud: I had a strong opinion, and I changed my mind. In this conversation: • How the Phoenix desert trail community in the mid-90s gave him his foundation — and why community has always mattered more to him than competition • Western States at 53: the race as living history, what it looks like from inside the ropes and outside them, and why showing up for 26 years as a regular person has taught him more than racing ever did • The DNF debate: 20 years of strong opinions on paper, and what finally shifted • Both hips replaced at 57 — and the patience and acceptance that brought him back stronger • What the runners who keep going into their 60s have in common • Walking away from 34 years in education, managing a running store, and rebuilding a life around the things that matter • The question a friend asked on a long training run in the Oakland hills — and why AJW's answer is exactly the same today as it was 20 years ago • What running into his 60s actually looks like: not a comeback, not a slowdown — just the next chapter This is a conversation about knowing when to hold your ground, knowing when to let go, and understanding that the wisest people in any community are usually the ones most willing to do both. If you'd like to watch the full conversation, it's available now on the Run Long After 60 YouTube channel. 🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, or Amazon Music to follow the journey. 📍 Hosted by Mark Vega #RunLongAfter60 #AndyJonesWilkins #AJW #WesternStates100 #Ultrarunning #TrailRunning #MastersRunning #Over60Running #CrackABrew #iRunFar #AJWsTaproom #UltraMarathon #RunningPodcast #RunnersOver60 #Longevity #RunningCoach #TrailRunningPodcast #UltraRunningCommunity #AgingAthletes #RunningLife

  6. Jun 20

    Episode 34 - Ed Ettinghausen | The Mindshift Coach. First to 300 100-Mile Races. The Jester.

    In this episode of Run Long After 60, I sit down with Ed Ettinghausen — known throughout the ultrarunning world as The Jester — the first person in history to finish 300 races of 100 miles or more. He is the number one ranked 100-mile finisher in the United States and the world. He has 38 DNFs. And he will tell you exactly what he learned from every single one of them. But Ed didn't come on this show to talk about his records. He came to talk about coaching. For years, Ed has been quietly coaching runners — never charging a dollar, just giving his time because he loved it. Because helping someone cross a finish line gave him more satisfaction than crossing one himself. That's changing. And this conversation is about what that transition looks like — from legendary competitor to the Mindshift Coach. The name matters to him. A mindset, Ed will tell you, is static. A mind shift is movement. It's the act of going from neutral to first gear — from fear to logic, from doubt to forward. In this conversation, he walks through how he teaches that to runners who are 55, 60, 65, and 70, still showing up, still earning their place at the start line. His coaching philosophy, in one line: your number one job isn't to finish the race. It's to survive — so you can run another day. Find Ed on Instagram @runningwiththejester or at edettinghausen@msn.com Run Long After 60 is a podcast about durability, curiosity, and continuing to do hard things as the years stack up. Hosted by Mark Vega — stroke survivor, lawyer, US Army veteran, and ultrarunner. New episodes every Sunday.

  7. May 25

    Episode 33 - Keith Allison | First Try. Cocodona 250 Record. 61 Years Old.

    In this episode of Run Long After 60, I sit down with Keith Allison — a 61-year-old runner from British Columbia who had never run a 200-mile race before this year. His first attempt was the Cocodona 250. He finished in 99 hours, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds. That time made him the first person in the 60–69 age group in the six-year history of Cocodona to break the 100-hour mark — out of 34 finishers across all six years who ever attempted it in that age group. He did it on his first try. But the finish time alone doesn't tell the story. Keith paced runners at Cocodona in 2022 and 2024. He attended training camp on the course. He drove up in a camper weeks before the race to acclimate to altitude and heat. He ran segments of the course in training until they were no longer surprises. And the runners he paced in those earlier years came back and ran him across the finish line in Flagstaff. This was years in the making. And he always knew it would be a one-time thing. We talk about: Hating running as a kid — and not starting until his 40sQualifying for Boston on his second marathon everRunning UTMB in 2022 and IMTUF 100 before setting his sights on 250 milesWhy he paced others at Cocodona first — and what he was really learningMoving up in a camper to acclimate before the race even startedThe dust that got into his lungs at mile one and never fully clearedThree trail-side massages — a first for him — and why the crew insistedThe solo loop: 14 miles, no pacer, middle of the nightThe lean that showed up in the final miles and what he did about itRunning the last stretch into Flagstaff with his entire crew beside himWhy he won't be returning to 200-mile racing — and what comes next Keith wasn't the only one making history that day. Pam Reed — one of the most decorated ultrarunners in the sport's history — finished second in the age group at 69 years old, in 100:28:57. She and Keith now hold the two fastest times ever recorded in the 60–69 age group at Cocodona. Both set in the same race. Same year. Paul James Johnson finished fifth all-time in the age group — and it was his fifth Cocodona finish. No one in this age group has done it more. This episode is 2.5 hours long. Keith was on that course for 99.5 hours, and not a single segment deserved to be left out. Run Long After 60 is a video-first podcast focused on running after 60, ultrarunning, longevity, and staying active later in life. If you'd like to watch the full conversation — including chapter markers for every segment of the course — you can find the video version on the Run Long After 60 YouTube channel. 🎧 Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, iHeart, or Amazon Music to follow the journey. 📍 Hosted by Mark Vega

  8. May 17

    Episode 32 - Dave Perry | @fitandrunning60: Longevity, Plants, and 45 Years on the Road

    He's been running since he was 15. He's never had a major injury. At 60, he just went out and ran 30 miles for the first time — and felt fine. Dave Perry found his audience six months ago when his daughters told him to start posting his runs on TikTok. No ring light. No script. No production team. Just a 60-year-old man in Northern California going out and running — and his videos have crossed 10,000 views. Multiple times. What makes Dave so relatable isn't that he's an elite. It's that he isn't. He's a middle-of-the-pack guy who married his high school sweetheart, served in the U.S. Army, raised two daughters, has four grandchildren, and has been quietly building one of the cleanest longevity lifestyles you'll hear described on this show. Plant-based for over a decade. Sober for over 35 years. Fasting daily in a 2-to-4 p.m. window. Asleep by 9:00 p.m. and up at 4:30 a.m. In this conversation: the Atkins-to-fish-to-plant-based journey that dropped his cholesterol from 240 to 152; why he stopped racing at 50 and never looked back; how making TikTok videos actually made him a better runner; surviving long runs without taste or smell after Covid; and why he's only ever run one marathon and one Ironman — on purpose. This episode also opens with a long and deeply personal running intro from Mark — his full reflection on crewing and pacing Paul James Johnson at the Cocodona 250, what it meant to witness a multi-day event for the first time, and why that experience changed everything. Dave Perry is the guy who makes you think: maybe I'll go out and run today. That's the whole point. 🎥 Watch the full video episode on YouTube — search Run Long After 60. 📲 Follow Dave Perry on TikTok: @fitandrunning60 New episodes every Sunday. Audio at 5:00 AM. Video at 12:00 PM Pacific.

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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Run Long After 60 is a podcast about durability, curiosity, and continuing to do hard things as the years stack up. Hosted by Mark Vega, the show features long-form conversations with runners, endurance athletes, coaches, creatives, and professionals who are still showing up — often well past the age when society expects people to slow down. This is not a podcast about speed, podiums, or shortcuts. It’s about adaptation. Perspective. And learning how to keep moving forward — physically, mentally, and creatively — over the long arc of a life. Episodes are often recorded in motion, including running intros captured mid-workout, because this show isn’t about talking around endurance. It’s about living it. Conversations explore training, aging, setbacks, reinvention, discipline, failure, resilience, and the quiet decisions that allow people to keep going long after others have stopped. Run Long After 60 is for anyone who believes that endurance doesn’t expire — it evolves. 🎙 New episodes weekly 📍 Hosted by Mark Vega

Information

  • Creator
    Mark Vega
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Mark Vega

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