Join us as we discuss the life and adventures of Epic Bill Bradley, an incredible story of perseverance and pushing ones limits. Epic Bill has done some of the hardest adventures on this planet, including a triple Ironman, quad Badwater, and so much more. We only scratch the surface of Bill's stories. Hope you enjoy! You can find Bill's film (referenced in the pod) on Apple TV and Amazon Prime. We recommend a watch. Enjoy! === AI-Generated Description Follows === Start with a slow jog through Boulder—flat miles, farm-stand honey, and training chatter—then pivot into a full-on masterclass in grit with Epic Bill Bradley. Bill built a $10M video business, went bankrupt, lost his identity, woke up at 3 a.m. with poison oak, and ran a 50 miler to feel human again. That decision launches a story that fuses ultrarunning, cold-water swimming, and entrepreneurship into one relentless throughline: choose hard things on purpose. We go deep on Badwater’s furnace—real heat management, tarmac radiation, crew strategy, and the dangers of overhydration. Then we flip to Arrowhead’s brutal cold: negative thirty-five nights, frozen hands in “California gloves,” empty checkpoints in the dark, and the stubborn pride of showing up again and again. Bill’s attempts stack into a philosophy: if it can’t kill you, it’ll bore me. Under the bravado lives a practical ethic—boredom breeds depression, challenge restores meaning. Bill draws sharp parallels between building companies and running ultras: uncertain timelines, lonely stretches, and the discipline to keep moving when the finish line disappears. His English Channel quests read like a survival manual—boat pilots, tide windows, seasickness, and the harsh moment a “four miles to go” sign becomes “seven” after a storm pushes him off the point. We unpack gear evolution, blister triage, trench foot swelling, and how twenty minutes of motion can make pain manageable. The Grand Canyon septuple crossing, done only because someone else did six, underscores a simple loop: set the goal, stretch it, learn, repeat. What’s next for Bill? A six-minute mile after 25 years, an eye on 200 milers, a Santa Barbara Channel swim, and another shot at the English Channel with smarter tactics. It’s raw, funny, and deeply useful—whether you’re chasing a PR, a start-up milestone, or the courage to take a dream off the shelf. If you’re ready to rethink your limits, press play, then share the hardest thing you’re willing to attempt this year. And if the conversation moves you, subscribe, leave a review, and pass it to a friend who needs a push. Thanks for listening to Running With Problems. Follow us on Instagram @runningwithproblems. DM us there with questions in text or audio messages! Or email us at podcast@runningwithproblems.run. Hosted by Jon Eisen (@mildly_athletic) and Miranda Williamson (@peaksandjustice). Edited by Jon Eisen. Theme music by Matt Beer.
