Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running

The Problem with Hating UTMB

UTMB is the center of trail running for one week every year, and somehow the people most frustrated by it keep showing up. After a week in Chamonix, I came home thinking the problem with hating UTMB is that the race keeps complicating the argument against it. The fan experience is better than the criticism suggests, TDS might be the hardest race of the week, the women are racing with ego, and some of the most interesting parts of UTMB have almost nothing to do with racing. Ten observations from inside the chaos, including what brands keep getting wrong, what Chamonix reveals about status in trail running, and why everyone should be reading Raz Rauf. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. Presented by Kiprun. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 02:36 The Critics Are at UTMB 08:12 UTMB Doesn’t Have a Fan Problem 12:24 TDS Might Be the Hardest Race at UTMB 16:26 The DNSs Aren’t About Professionalization 20:38 The Women Are Racing With Ego 24:57 UTMB Isn’t Just About Running 28:20 The Ultimate UTMB Flex Is Not Needing Chamonix 30:34 Brands: Embrace the Chaos 32:21 Read Raz Rauf. Read Running Sucks. 35:45 Limiting Brand Activations Made UTMB Better - The Chamonix Mayor was Right Resources / Links Like the Wind | Run Culture Live Running Sucks - Raz Rauf Borderlands.cc Related Episodes Cocodona Has a Fan Problem ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Why the World’s Biggest Trail Race Happened in France

UTMB is the biggest trail race in the world, but why did it happen in France? The easy answer is Mont Blanc. The better answer has more to do with culture, timing, and the kind of endurance tradition that was already there long before UTMB existed. Josh talks with Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps and author of The Race That Changed Running, about the deeper conditions that made UTMB possible, from old mountain races and ski mountaineering to the Pellettis’ execution and the way places like Vallorcine turned the race into something people gather around, not just run. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Run the Alps Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IG Borderlands.cc Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

With Tara Dower | Built Different

Ultra running rewards obsession, but Tara Dower seems wired for something beyond results. She wants to solve hard problems, chase the best competition, run faster, and keep finding out what she’s capable of. Tara joins me to talk Western States, her planned Pacific Coast Trail attempt, why she hasn’t raced UTMB, learning from Karl Meltzer, and her evolution with Altra from the Lone Peak to the new Vanish Carbon 3. Underneath it all is a bigger question: as Tara becomes one of the defining athletes of modern ultra running, what parts of herself does she want to keep? For ultra runners interested in the people shaping where the sport goes next. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. This episode is in partnership with Altra for the release of its new super road shoe the Vanish Carbon 3 - a light, responsive, and efficient race day shoe made for PRs. Topics / Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 02:54 Tara Dower Has Always Been Stubborn 07:07 The Problem Solving Mind of Tara Dower 09:06 Results vs. A Life of Interesting Running 13:38 Why Tara Dower Hasn't Raced UTMB 17:54 The Problem with Pro Trail Running 20:07 Why Ultrarunners Want to Run Fast | Altra Vanish Carbon 3 30:31 What Speedgoat Taught Tara 36:40 What Tara Dower Wants Her Legacy to Be Resources / Links Altra Vanish Carbon 3 Tara Dower Lives Between Two Worlds by Bryce Carlson Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.cc Thumbnail Photo by Pete Schreiner Related Episodes Ultra 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

Karl Meltzer | Speedgoat, UTMB, and Trail Running’s Boom

Trail running has exploded into a global business, and Karl Meltzer somehow ended up at the center of it. HOKA turned his Speedgoat nickname into one of trail running’s defining shoes, Red Bull paid him to chase the Appalachian Trail record, and UTMB eventually bought the race he created. Karl came up when ultrarunning was tiny and has watched the money, brands, athletes, and races transform around him. Josh and Karl talk about the strange experience of becoming valuable to an industry that barely existed when he started, selling Speedgoat to UTMB, his relationship with HOKA, and what someone who has lived through the entire boom thinks about where trail running goes from here. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.cc La French Trail Related Episodes Ultra 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

Harvey Lewis | The Mind Behind the Ultras

Ultrarunning eventually becomes a mental problem. The body hurts, the race stops going to plan, and the question becomes what the best ultrarunners understand about continuing when quitting makes sense. Harvey Lewis has spent 30 years figuring that out. In part two of our conversation in Ohio, we get into the mental strategies behind Backyard Ultra, why different races require different mindsets, the failures that changed how Harvey competes, and what decades of Badwater, journey runs, and 200-milers have taught him about going farther than he thought possible. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Thumbnail photo by Romain Mayambi Topics / Timestamps 00:00 Harvey Lewis Intro 01:15 The Mental Game of Ultrarunning 10:47 Learning How Not to Quit 14:06 Different Mindsets for Different Races 16:55 Pilgrimages and Journey Runs 23:31 What Failure Taught Harvey Lewis 30:33 What the Best Ultrarunners Understand Resources / Links Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Borderlands.cc High Tones Related Episodes Ultra 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

Harvey Lewis | The Man Behind the Ultras

Harvey Lewis is one of ultrarunning’s most accomplished endurance athletes, but the more interesting question might be how a high school civics teacher from Ohio became capable of doing any of this. Badwater, Backyard Ultras, Barkley, 250-mile runs. Harvey has built an extraordinary career without making running his entire life. I spent a morning with Harvey at his home in Ohio, days before his 16th consecutive Badwater, trying to understand what makes Harvey Harvey. We talk about the dreamer and engineer he inherited from his parents, the teachers who changed his life, how running and teaching grew together, and why the hardest races have become something closer to pilgrimages. The conversation ends somewhere more personal, with Harvey remembering the person he still imagines waiting for him when things get hard. Thumbnail photo by Romain Mayambi Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 2:17 Harvey Lewis' Origins 6:33 Harvey Lewis' Parents: The Dreamer and the Engineer 18:39 Running and Teaching 30:59 Running as Pilgrimage Resources / Links TINAR Race Series | Register Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

Ciele Athletics and the Rise of Running Culture

Ciele helped change what running looked like, but the more interesting story is what sat underneath the aesthetic. This episode is for runners curious about how a hat brand became part of running culture without losing the product discipline that made it credible in the first place. What began as a film about Ciele turned into a deeper look at the rise of running as lifestyle, the influence of skate and snow culture, and the unreleased Miles hat that existed before Ciele had its name. Along the way, a portrait emerges of a brand whose visual identity was copied everywhere, while the craft, function, and ethos behind it were much harder to replicate. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Watch the Ciele doc on YouTube Josh Rosenthal on IG Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

Satisfy x Adidas: Who Won the Circle Pit Backlash?

The Satisfy x Adidas collaboration became one of the loudest moments in running, but almost none of the conversation was about the shoe. It became a fight over price, fashion, authenticity, and what running culture is supposed to protect. Josh and Inky Steve look at what the collaboration actually did, why Adidas seemed to gain all the upside while Satisfy absorbed the backlash, and what the circle pit revealed about how tribal running has become. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

This is Trail Running Without Mountains.

Trail running in the Midwest looks different. No mountain towns. No towering peaks. Just a different kind of commitment. On the drive to Harvey Lewis's house, Josh and Sam Hartman explore what it means to build a trail running culture in flat country, and why some of the sport's deepest communities exist far from the places most runners imagine. Sam Hartman, founder of TINAR Races in Columbus, Ohio, argues that community matters more than scenery, why Midwest trail runners develop a different relationship with the sport, and how trail running becomes part of your identity when getting to the trails takes intention. It's a conversation about place, belonging, and a side of trail running that deserves far more attention. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links TINAR - Alley Trail Classic Borderlands.cc Related Episodes Ultra 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

What If Your Best Running Is Still Ahead?

Hardrock 100 gave aging trail runners something many of us didn't realize we needed: hope. Ludovic Pommeret broke the course record at 50. Courtney Dauwalter won again and still walked away chasing something more. If you've ever wondered whether your best running is behind you, this conversation is for that part of you. Josh reads Bryce Carlson's essay Hardrock 100 in real time, stopping throughout to explore why Hardrock rewards wisdom as much as fitness, why experience compounds in endurance sports, and why the stories we tell ourselves about getting older might be our biggest limitation. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 00:00 The Unexpected Gifts of Hard Rock 02:29 The Significance of Ludovic Pommeret's Wisdom as Performance 06:21 Stripping Away Excuses and Embracing Aging in Running 08:20 Ludovic Pomerret’s Record at 50 09:39 Courtney Dauwalter’s Continued Excellence 15:00 The Field Size and Competition Dynamics 17:48 Remarkable Feats: Tara Dower’s Double 22:37 Age as an Accumulation of Wisdom Resources / Links Bryce's article Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

They Refuse to Make Toy Shoes. | Inside HOKA's Culture Strategy

HOKA has become one of the few running brands to cross into culture without losing credibility with runners. If you're building a brand, launching new products, or wondering how companies grow without abandoning what made them special, this conversation is for you. Thomas Cykana and Travis Wiseman pull back the curtain on HOKA's collaboration strategy, why they refuse to make "toy shoes," and how fashion found HOKA before HOKA ever chased fashion. It's a conversation about culture, product, trust, and the surprisingly human decisions behind one of running's fastest-growing brands. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 00:00 Resources / Links Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra Running isn't Just Running John Ruben, founder of Unna Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

What is Borderlands Actually Building?

For the first time in months, I'm stepping away from interviews and monologues for a Borderlands Trail Running founder update. By the time this episode goes live, my family and I will be somewhere over the Atlantic, leaving Paris after two years and moving back to Salt Lake City. I came to France thinking I was building one thing and left building another. I'm leaving with a much bigger vision for what Borderlands can become. In this monologue, I share what changed during our time in Paris, the mission that continues to guide Borderlands, where I want the company to be over the next month, year, and decade, and how everything we're building fits together. In this episode Why Paris changed the way I think about media, culture, and Borderlands The mission behind Borderlands: The Heart of Trail Running One-month, one-year, and ten-year visions for the company Why Borderlands is expanding beyond podcasts The role of the website, newsletter, documentaries, YouTube, live events, Arcade, and Live on Course The contributors helping shape Borderlands, including Bryce Carlson, Inky Steve, Stan Van Kimmel, Christian Brecheis, and others A look at where Borderlands is headed next Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links 8 Bit Trail Running | Arcade Live on Course [LoC] Borderlands.cc La French Trail Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

Western States 2026 Analysis | 10 Things I Couldn't Stop Thinking About

Western States 2026 is over. The course records have been set, the winners crowned, and the internet has already moved on. This isn't another race recap. It's a cultural breakdown of what Western States revealed about trail running, its media, and where the sport is headed next. From Dylan Bowman becoming the voice of trail running, to Hans Troyer's fearless pacing, to why Thomas Cardin exposed a storytelling gap, Josh shares the ten ideas he couldn't stop thinking about after the biggest weekend in trail running. Along the way, he asks whether Western States has outgrown its broadcast and why the next frontier isn't better cameras, but better context. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 01:05 Dylan Bowman is the Voice of Trail Running/Racing 04:10 The Broadcast Knows Where Everyone Is 09:05 We Don't Care About Places, We Care About Stories 11:38 We Interviewed the Wrong People 16:14 Whose Job is it to Find Tomorrow's Stories? 20:21 Hans is the Rabbit I Was Asking For 21:53 American Men Ran it Like Old Days at UTMB 22:46 The Race has Outgrown the Broadcast 26:23 The Next Frontier Resources / Links 8 Bit Trail Running Borderlands.cc Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

Trail Running Culture Doesn't Scale | Bob Crowley's Response

Western States and UTMB are often framed as opposite visions for the future of trail running. One protects through limits. The other protects through growth. But after publishing an episode on that tension, I received an unexpected response from Bob Crowley, former President of the International Trail Running Association (ITRA). Bob argues that both sides may be focused on the wrong thing. What follows is a conversation about culture, stewardship, local races, and whether the values that built trail running can survive success. Somewhere along the way, the debate stops being about Western States and UTMB and becomes something much bigger. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Western States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to Grow Bob's Full Op-ed Borderlands.cc La French Trail Related Episodes Ultra 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

Western States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to Grow

Western States and UTMB have become the two most influential institutions in trail running, but beneath the debate over lotteries, race series, and growth is a deeper question: when something becomes successful, how do you protect it? Josh explores why UTMB believes trail running is important enough to scale globally while Western States believes it's important enough not to. Along the way, he examines scarcity, culture, the hidden cost of success, and whether the thing worth protecting was ever the race itself. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 01:33 Two Philosophies of Trail Running 03:19 Is Growth in Trail Running Corruption? 06:13 The Scale Problem in Trail Running 11:06 What Cultre are We Protecting in Trail Running? 15:50 The Supply Chain of Trail Running Culture Resources / Links 8 Bit Trail Running Josh Rosenthal on IG Borderlands.cc La French Trail Related Episodes Ultra 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

Wasatch 100 & Bear 100: When Ultra Running Just Hurts

Wasatch 100 and Bear 100 are two of the hardest races in ultra running. Michael Whiteside ran both just three weeks apart, and what stayed with me from this conversation wasn't the accomplishment. It was the way he talked about suffering, expectations, and the moment he realized he wasn't going to feel better. What follows is less a race report and more a conversation about endurance. Crew guilt, self-doubt, late-race bargaining, and the strange acceptance that sometimes arrives when the problem in front of you can no longer be solved. Somewhere in the middle, Michael offers one of the best descriptions of ultra running I've heard: it wasn't hard, it just hurt. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links Borderlands.cc La French Trail Related Episodes Ultra 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

The Trail Running Sea of Sameness | Nike ACG, Nostalgia, and the Cost of Optimization

Modern trail running shoes are better than they've ever been. So why do so many runners still find themselves drawn to older designs like the Nike ACG LDV? Josh and Inky use one nostalgic shoe to explore a bigger question: what happens when an industry spends years optimizing toward the same answer? Somewhere between old Nike catalogs, modern trail shoes, and a sea of increasingly similar products, they uncover why certain designs still stop us in our tracks. Shout out to Marty from Global Sales Guys who talks about the Sea of Sameness in outdoor retail. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Resources / Links The Mountain That Made ACG Inky's Article about theROCKER Related Episodes Ultra Running isn't Just Running I Was Wrong About Kiprun Presented by Kiprun. ---- Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it. Watch on YouTube Read on Substack

Why Western States is America's Most Important Race | More than a Run

Western States 100 occupies a different place in trail running than almost any other race. Months before the starting gun, runners and fans are already studying the field, imagining the canyons, debating contenders, and wondering what story will emerge from Auburn. This episode explores why Western States feels bigger than a race. From Jim Walmsley and Kilian Jornet to Wendell Robie, Rucky Chucky, and the old buckle holders still working aid stations, Josh makes the case that Western States belongs in the same conversation as The Masters and the Kentucky Derby. Not because of the sport, but because of what happens when greatness, history, place, and uncertainty all meet in the same event. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 01:54 Elite Runners vs 'Participation Runners' 08:05 The Course as Character 11:14 The Importance of The Course 13:54 The Importance of Rucky Chucky 16:12 The Dual Nature of the Race 19:58 The Spirit of American Trail Running 22:09 The Unfolding Drama of Race Day Resources / Links 2026 WSER Entrants List Live on Course - LoC by Borderlands Borderlands.cc La French Trail Related Episodes Trail Running Loves Winners, Does it Love Competitors? Ultra 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

Why Trail Running Hides Competition

Trail running culture loves winners. That's obvious. The sport builds documentaries about them, fills Instagram feeds with them, and spends months debating who will win Western States. But the more Josh thinks about it, the more he wonders whether trail running is actually comfortable with the competitive mindset that creates those winners in the first place. As Western States season begins, this conversation explores the difference between the participation version of trail running and the elite version, why those two worlds often get conflated, and what we miss when we use the values of one to understand the athletes competing in the other. Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review. If you’re new to Borderlands, start here. Topics / Timestamps 00:00 Two Sports Sharing One Start Line 02:51 The Values That Make Champions 05:49 Elite, Professional, and Why It Matters 08:38 What Trail Running Rewards 11:26 Telling an Inward Story About an Outward Competition 14:22 Do We Actually Want Competitors? Resources / Links Borderlands.cc Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IG Related Episodes Ultra 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

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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 / Timestamps 00:43 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 / Links Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races Josh Rosenthal on IG Borderlands.cc La French Trail High Tones Subwhatever Related Episodes Ultra 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

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