Episodes
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Dillon Osleger is a geologist, professional mountain biker, and longtime trail steward whose debut book, Trail Work: Restoring the Paths and Stories of America's Public Lands, uncovers the buried history beneath the trails we run, ride, and take for granted.
In this conversation, Zoe and Brendan get into why nobody wants to do the unglamorous work of maintenance (and the Kurt Vonnegut line that nails it) and how to read a trail like a layered history book. Dillon decodes what is hiding in plain sight, from barbed wire patents that date a fence to within two years, to the segregated CCC camps you can spot in the stonework, to the Indigenous place names that outlast every map. Along the way: what is quietly erasing two-thirds of America's historic trails, an extremely unhinged riff on trailmaxing as the next men's wellness trend, and a genuinely useful answer to the question most of us are too sheepish to ask, which is how do you actually start doing trail work.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, your one-stop shop for trail shoes, vests, poles, and the anti-chafe stuff you forget until mile 40. Join the UltraSignup Club.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Dr. Nick Tiller is an exercise scientist at the Lundquist Institute at Harbor-UCLA, a two-decade ultrarunner, and the author of The Skeptic's Guide to Sports Science and the new The Health and Wellness Lie.
In this conversation: why ultrarunning is, by Nick's cheerful admission, not actually good for you, and why we keep signing up anyway; the red flags that should trip your bullshit detector in 2026; the great protein panic and how a "health halo" turns a Pop-Tart into a recovery food; what the evidence does and very much doesn't say about AG1; KT tape, cupping, and the slippery ethics of selling someone a placebo; and how to stay skeptical without curdling into a cynic whose brain has fallen out.
This episode is brought to you by LMNT, the new Lemonade Iced Tea flavor has been quietly fixing our hydration and our 4pm coffee regrets; grab a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/UltraSignup.
Featured race: the Ode to Laz Michigan Backyard Ultra, a 4.167-mile loop run every hour on the hour through 8,000 acres of Holly State Recreation Area in Holly, Michigan, on Saturday, July 18. The only way to win is to be the last runner standing, which is why the motto is "finishing last means the most." If you're backyard-curious but not ready to sign over your soul, the Oak Flats 3-hour option lets you dip in for one, two, or three loops. It's a championship-affiliated race, so the winner takes a silver ticket toward the USA national backyard team. Registration closes Thursday, July 16. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Ben Ratliff is a former New York Times music critic, a writing professor at NYU, and the author of Run the Song: Writing About Running About Listening, longlisted for the National Book Award and named a finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay, which chronicles what he hears when he brings music into his near-daily runs through the Bronx.
In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with Ratliff about why running made him a better listener, and why the optimal-BPM running playlist is, by his lights, beside the point. He makes the case for listening as active attention rather than ambient wallpaper, explains why some of the slowest and quietest music turns out to be the most enlivening to run to, and pushes back on the idea that "good taste" is something you can buy. Along the way: defamiliarizing a song until it sounds brand new, the strange kinship between a long run and a long DJ set, and how a career critic ends up running to everything from jazz to Ice Spice.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, where Zoƫ gets basically all her summer running gear, vests, socks, hats, shirts, and a frankly irresponsible number of gels, with fast shipping and a return policy run by actual humans.
This week's featured race is the FCA Endurance Race in Oakwood, Georgia ā a choose-your-own-adventure event on a flat, one-mile paved loop around the University of North Georgia's Oakwood campus. Pick your distance: a 5K, a 10K that detours onto dirt and a stretch of cross-country trail, or a timed race of two, four, six, twelve, or twenty-four hours, with some durations offering a 6 p.m. start so you can run straight into the night. It all happens Saturday, June 6, 2026, and registration stays open right through race day. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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When you hit the wall at mile 19 of a marathon (or mile 80 of a 100-miler) it feels like your body is the problem. Your legs are concrete, your stomach is in revolt, and the finish line might as well be on the moon. But what if the wall is mostly in your head?
Emily Balcetis is a social psychologist who studies how vision and perception shape motivation: how what people literally see changes what they believe they can do. She runs the SPAM Lab at NYU and is the author of Clearer, Closer, Better: How Successful People See the World. Her TED Talk on why some people find exercise harder than others has been viewed over a million times.
Zoe and Brendan get into why highly motivated runners literally see the finish line as closer than it is, how Joan Benoit Samuelson used a woman in pink shorts to win the first Olympic women's marathon in 1984, and why the wall is a psychological phenomenon rather than a physiological one. Emily explains why willpower isn't a fixed trait you either have or don't, the if-then framework she calls foreshadowing failure, and how negativity bias means our brains lie to us about our own progress, which is why becoming your own accountant might be more useful than another motivational Post-it on the bathroom mirror. Plus: how Emily decided to learn the drums in a one-bedroom Manhattan apartment, and what it taught her about tracking the kind of progress the brain can't see.
This episode is brought to you by LMNT. Try the new 12oz Sparkling at drinkLMNT.com/UltraSignup and grab a free sample pack with any order.
The featured race is the Haul Ass Ultra Running Festival, Saturday, June 6th, in Erie, Colorado. Eight distances on the menu: a 50-miler, 50K, 10K, 5K, and 3, 6, 9, and 12-hour timed events, which means whatever shape you're in and whoever you're bringing along, there's a way to make it work. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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David Raichlen is a professor of biological sciences at the University of Southern California whose research examines how human evolution, physical activity, and brain health are linked across the lifespan. In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with David about what's actually happening in your brain when you go from couch to consistently active, why exercise might be the closest thing we have to a dementia preventative, and why his research on the runner's high, which famously involved humans, dogs, and ferrets, suggests it evolved as something more useful than feeling good.
They also get into what hunter-gatherers like the Hadza can (and can't) tell us about how to live, why "more is better" hits diminishing returns at the high end, the trouble with paleo prescriptions, and whether sitting really is the new smoking. Plus: Brendan tries to figure out if his rock-climbing mom or his golfing dad is doing better cognitive work than he is.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, the one-stop shop for all things trail running, with gear guides and expert resources to help you figure out what actually works for you. Use code TRAILHEAD for free two-day shipping on orders over $50.
Our featured race is the Sonoma Fall Classic, the inaugural fall festival in the heart of California wine country featuring a 100-miler, the original Lake Sonoma 50 returning to its 2008 point-to-point roots from South Lake Trailhead, a trail marathon, and four-person relays. Sixteen miles of buttery single track, sweeping lake views, swimmable water crossings, and free on-site camping. Registration closes Monday, October 12. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Rochelle Bilow is a romance novelist, food writer, French Culinary Institute graduate, former Bon AppƩtit editor, and current kitchen gear expert at Serious Eats, and she just came back to ultrarunning after nearly a decade away from the sport. In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with Rochelle about what she learned cooking on a farm that culinary school never taught her, why she pivoted from heartbreak memoir to romance fiction, and what it's like to balance writing deadlines with ultra training (her answer: ask for a deadline extension).
They dig into why romance as a genre gets unfairly dismissed, what makes a great enemies-to-lovers arc, and the trail running romance novel she's currently writing. Plus: the $400 toaster that changed Rochelle's life, the truth about toaster oven air fryers, and the only correct way to clean a cloudy Vitamix.
This episode is brought to you by LMNT. Stay on top of your electrolytes all day, not just on the run. Grab a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/UltraSignup.
Featured Race: Booneville Backroads Ultra ā 10K to 100 miles through the Bridges of Madison County countryside in rural Iowa. New for 2026: a fully marked course and crew support allowed. Trail Sisters members can DM the race for a discount code. Race day is September 5th, registration closes August 28th. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Ryan Goodman grew up on a cattle ranch in Arkansas, studied beef cattle science at Oklahoma State University, and now manages WSU's beef cattle research program as Beef Cattle Operations Manager in Pullman, Washington, where he also teaches hands-on lab courses to the next generation of pre-veterinary students. Online, he goes by @BeefRunner. He also runs a lot of 100-mile races.
In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with Ryan about what six weeks of calving season: sleepless, high-stakes, completely indifferent to your training plan, taught him about finishing a hundred-miler, and why "one thing at a time" works as well in the Crazy Mountains of Montana as it does on a ranch at 2 a.m. They get into the complicated but more negotiable than you'd think relationship between ranchers and trail runners, the farm-versus-ranch distinction (I-35 is the line, roughly), why the heifers following you on BLM trail are curious not threatening, and Red Dirt music as the ultrarunning soundtrack you didn't know you needed. Also: cow tipping, the correct post-ultra meal, and whether Pullman counts as a town.
This week's featured race is Mujeres and Marigolds, a women's only event with a 5k, 10k, 25k, 50k, and 100k relay!
Thanks to TrailCon for supporting the podcast. Register now to attend!
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C. Thi Nguyen is a philosopher at the University of Utah, a former food writer for the Los Angeles Times, a rock climber, and one of the world's leading thinkers on the philosophy of games. His new book, The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game, argues that games are the defining art form of our era, and that the scoring systems that make them so joyful turn quietly destructive when institutions and apps wield them instead. In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with CT about why ultrarunning is a game in the deepest philosophical sense, his concept of value capture and why it explains your relationship with Strava better than you'd like, what carbon plates and trekking poles reveal about game design, and why Bernard Suits, the philosopher who defined play as "voluntarily taking on unnecessary obstacles", thought games might literally be the meaning of life. Also: fly fishing pickup artists, the shot clock, elite yo-yoing, and Zoƫ's Smash Mouth Strava segment situation.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, the best place to find shoes, kit, and gear from top brands, with honest reviews and filters that actually help.
Our featured race is the Baker Trail Ultra Challenge, a 50-mile point-to-point through the Cook Forest stretches of the North Country Trail in Western Pennsylvania with 6,200 feet of climbing and a three-part commemorative medal ā complete all three sections and you get the full set. Registration closes August 28. Sign up at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Pavel Cenkl is a climate writer, ultrarunner, and Dean of Academics at Prescott College who has run hundreds of miles across Iceland, Scandinavia, and the Arctic through his project Climate Run. He grew up in the White Mountains, worked the AMC huts, started one of the first collegiate trail running teams in the U.S., and built a master's program combining movement, environmental philosophy, and ecology.
In this conversation, ZoĆ« and Brendan talk with Pavel about what happens when you push yourself to the edge of exhaustion in landscapes that are literally shifting beneath your feet ā disappearing glaciers, the vulnerability of being utterly alone in midnight sun, why "resilience over resistance" is a better framework for running and life, and the moment he screamed so loud on day three of his Iceland crossing that he scared a goose into flight and accidentally had a paradigm shift.
This episode is brought to you by Precision Fuel and Hydration, use code TRAILHEAD26 for 15% off at PrecisionHydration.com.
Our featured race is the White Lake Ultras on May 2nd in Tamworth, New Hampshire, a two-mile lakefront loop where you pick your poison: 6, 12, or 24 hours. Costumes encouraged. Register at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Christie Aschwanden is a New York Times bestselling author, former lead science writer at FiveThirtyEight, and one of the sharpest science journalists working today. She's also a former elite Nordic skier for Team Rossignol and a national collegiate cycling champion, so when she set out to investigate the multibillion-dollar recovery industry for her book Good to Go, she brought both a scientist's rigor and an athlete's bullshit detector.
In this episode, Zoƫ and Brendan talk to Christie about why cold plunges might actually delay your recovery, how your sleep tracker could be making your sleep worse, and why the most effective recovery strategies are boring, cheap, and unsexy. They dig into the rise of the "recovery industrial complex", from Tom Brady's infrared pajamas to cryotherapy chambers that NBA teams bought just because other teams had one, and what the research actually says about inflammation, ibuprofen, HRV, and the post-workout "window" myth.
Christie also makes a compelling case for radical acceptance, situational awareness for your body, and trusting your own perceptions over your Garmin readiness score. Plus: the beer mile, knitting as recovery, and why pizza might be the most underrated performance fuel.
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Brad Stulberg co-wrote Peak Performance with Steve Magness and has spent over a decade studying what excellence actually requires. He joins Zoƫ and Brendan to dismantle the myths of hustle culture and explain why genuine excellence isn't about optimization, it's about caring deeply about something worthwhile. We dig into "zombie burnout" (exhaustion from doing too little of what lights you up), what Brad learned from studying Courtney Dauwalter and powerlifter Layne Norton, and why chasing flow states prevents you from experiencing them. A grounded, research-backed conversation about pursuing excellence without losing yourself.
Brad Stulberg is the author of The Way of Excellence, Master of Change, and The Practice of Groundedness. He's on faculty at the University of Michigan and hosts the podcast Excellence, actually.
Sponsor: This episode is brought to you by LMNTāelectrolytes with no sugar, no BS. Try their chocolate flavors heated up for the ultimate winter hydration hack. Get a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/ultrasignup.
Featured Race: The Devil Makes Three 50k and 10 Miler ā May 16th in Waxhaw, North Carolina. Technical singletrack, prairie grass, lake views, generous cutoffs, and a low entry fee because trail running should be accessible. Cupless race, so bring your own hydration. Registration closes May 13th at ultrasignup.com.
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What happens when you strip away sleep, ego, and every external measure of success for 330 kilometers? Doug Mayer, founder of Run the Alps, former Car Talk producer, and three-time Tour de GĆ©ants finisher, has spent years trying to answer that question.
His new graphic novel, Last of the Giants, is his best attempt yet. In this episode, Doug joins Zoƫ and Brendan to talk about leaving a 25-year career in radio to build a trail running tour company in Chamonix, why he kept going back to one of the world's most grueling ultramarathons, and how he translated the experience of hallucinating in a snowstorm at 3am into a visual story. He shares what he learned from interviewing neuroscientists, a Buddhist monk who specializes in suffering, and the world's leading expert on pilgrimages, all in service of understanding why we do hard things and what we bring back from them. The conversation touches on "meeting the dragon" (a Buddhist concept for the moment when your usual tools stop working), the hero's journey, why Tour de GƩants feels like "the PhD of ultrarunning," and how Doug accidentally started dating someone mid-race because her prefrontal cortex was too exhausted to know better.
Links: ā¢ Last of the Giants by Doug Mayer, available at Bookshop.org, Amazon, and wherever books are sold
ā¢Run the Alps ā trail running tours in the European Alps
ā¢Running Warehouse ā gear guides and the Salomon Genesis
ā¢Salt Lake Foothills Trail Races ā May 30, 2026 (10k, half, 50k, 50 miler) More from UltraSignup Podcasts:
ā¢The Buzz with Buzz Burrell ā deep dives into ultrarunning culture and philosophy
ā¢Between Two Pines ā A trail running podcast that doesn't take itself too seriously
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Pat Cade has a PhD in mathematics, coaches high school cross country in Leadville, Colorado, and has finished the Leadville 100 six times. In this conversation, he explains what years of research math taught him about endurance: small steady progress compounds, inspiration only strikes if you're showing up every day, and sometimes the breakthrough comes when you stop following the plan and just go climb the mountain because it's beautiful outside.
Pat shares how he and his wife landed in Leadville after leaving academia in New York, and how they decided to pour their energy into coaching and teaching after facing infertility. He breaks down what actually makes a good coach (hint: it's not yelling), why training at 10,000 feet requires rethinking everything you learned about recovery, and what the Leadville 100's Dream Chaser program is all about. He also attempts to explain his dissertation, including whether the universe might be shaped like a donut, in terms anyone can follow. Zoƫ and Brendan are mostly able to keep up.
This episode is brought to you by LMNT, the tasty electrolyte drink mix with sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Pro tip for winter: heat up their chocolate salt or chocolate caramel flavors for a hydration hack that doubles as hot cocoa. And if you missed it, the fan-favorite lemonade salt is back full time. Get a free sample pack with any order at drinklmnt.com/ultrasignup.
Featured Race: The Salt and Sulphur 420 is a 420-mile journey run from Salt Lake City to West Yellowstone, traversing the Wasatch Range, Bear Lake, Jackson Hole, the Tetons, and finishing at the doorstep of Yellowstone. This isn't a stage raceāit's a test of resourcefulness and mental grit across four states, with all proceeds benefiting the Women's Center in Salt Lake City. Registration closes February 1st. Learn more and sign up at ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=118718.
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For the final episode of 2025, Zoƫ and Brendan share their own year-end reflections, summits, snacks, and slogs, including Zoƫ's experience hitchhiking to the start line of a 78-mile race in Italy, arriving 90 seconds before the gun went off to stand between Kilian Jornet and Jim Walmsley in a downpour that would last 15 hours.
Then they pull their favorite moments from this year's interviews. You'll hear coach Mario Fraoli explain why the marathon is where racing ends and insanity begins. Steve Magness on why running might be the healthiest cult you can join. Alex Hutchinson on the effort paradox, why we value things because they're hard, not in spite of it. Sabrina Little on running as a laboratory for virtue. And Dan Lieberman, who co-authored the original "Born to Run" research, telling Zoƫ and Brendan to their faces that ultra running is absolutely, completely, and totally bizarre.
Thanks for spending 2025 with The Trailhead. See you on the trails in 2026.
Featuring: Mario Fraoli, Steve Magness, Alex Hutchinson, Sabrina Little, and Dan Lieberman
This episode is brought to you by Victory Insoles. Get carbon fiber energy return without changing your stride. Try them risk-free for 90 days and get 25% off with code TH25 at checkout.
Featured Race: SoCal Ultra Trail at Tejon Ranch ā Run 270,000 acres of California's largest private land, normally closed to the public. Oak-filled canyons, the legendary Grapevine climb, and distances from 11K to 100K. February 28, 2026.
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Romy Ancona is a DJ, trail runner, and the force behind Broken Arrow's famously joyful finish line. Born in Cozumel and now based in Colorado's Roaring Fork Valley, Romy learned to mix on a trackpad on their mom's Windows laptop before somehow landing their first gig at a Maxim Magazine party in Hollywood. These days, they split time between spinning tracks on the mountain and chasing vertical on skis and trails.
In this conversation, Romy talks about shedding DJ ego, their work on Broken Arrow's inclusivity advisory council (think glitter, bubbles, and rainbow slip-and-slide dreams), and how a 2022 accident that broke their back reshaped their relationship to running. As they put it: as much as moving hurts, not moving hurts more. Plus: the lost art of the mixtape, why they watch pro paintball on the treadmill, and a running playlist spanning Celia Cruz to Limp Bizkit.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, your source for jackets, gloves, headlamps, and reflective gear to get you through the dark, cold months.
Race Spotlight: Registration is open for the Mount Mitchell Heartbreakerā50 miles and 12,000+ feet of climbing through stunning North Carolina single track. Sign up at ultrasignup.com.
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Lindsey Freeman is a sociologist, writer, and lifelong runner whose book Running offers a feminist and queer reading of the sport. In this conversation, Zoƫ and Brendan talk with Lindsey about what it means to treat running as a practice, becoming yourself through repetition, staying soft, and trusting that showing up matters even when outcomes don't.
The conversation moves through ideas like the magic circle that makes it acceptable to try really hard in public, the growth of queer run clubs, and the strange emotional math of caring deeply about things that often disappoint you. There's also a delightful tangent about Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian being a serious runner. Lindsey's advice for writer's block and bonking alike? Have a snack and come back tomorrow.
Get her amazing book here.
This episode is brought to you by Fast Pickleāgrab-and-go pickle juice shots at fastpickle.comāand Tantrums, makers of the Crest 6 hydration pack at tantrums.run. Plus: Ultra Trail Drakensberg in South Africa is now open for registration at ultrasignup.com.
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Raziq Rauf didn't set out to become a running writer, he set out to avoid burnout as a music journalist covering London's metal and hardcore scene. Now, through his newsletter Running Sucks, he brings that same critical eye to the running industry, asking where authentic culture ends and brand activations begin.
We talk about his transition from music journalism to running writing, how to spot the difference between meaningful community and manufactured hype, and discover there's exactly one death metal cowboy concept album in existence, the perfect metaphor for niche subcultures like running.
This episode is brought to you by Running Warehouse, helping you stay warm and visible through winter with jackets, headlamps, and gear that keeps you honest about getting out the door.
Our featured race is the Zion Ultras on April 11th, 2026, five distances through desert mesas with thousand-foot sandstone cliffs. Registration closes April 8th at UltraSignup.com.
The Trailhead is part of the UltraSignup Podcast Network.
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Nick Thompson has spent his life chasing big stories and finish lines. The CEO of The Atlantic and author of The Running Ground joins Zoƫ and Brendan to talk about running through life's hardest moments, from a cancer diagnosis at 30 to balancing elite training with parenthood and a high-powered media career.
Together, they explore why running became Nick's anchor through chaos and change, the strange parallels between journalism and endurance sports, and the lessons he learned from his father, and why he runs to not become him. They talk about what aging athletes get wrong about decline, the emotional threshold of a "real" ultra (and the world's shortest one), and how Nick manages to fit sub-three-hour marathons into a 60-hour work week. Along the way, Zoƫ and Brendan share their own thoughts on parenting as endurance training, finish-line family moments, and why run commuting deserves a comeback.
The Running Ground: A Father, a Son, and the Simplest of Sports is out now from Penguin Random House.
Sponsored by: LMNT, stay hydrated year-round with a free sample pack at drinklmnt.com/ultrasignup.
Featured Race: Peacock Gap Trail Run ā a love letter to Bay Area trails at China Camp State Park.
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What kind of person dreams up the hardest race on earth, and then follows it up with one of the weirdest? This week on The Trailhead, Zoƫ and Brendan dive deep into the mind of Lazarus Lake, the man behind both the Barkley Marathons and Big's Backyard Ultra.
Our guest, author Jared Beasley, joins to talk about his new book on Laz, unpacking the mystery, mischief, and mythology that made one man's backyard into a global endurance phenomenon. We explore what drives people to suffer on purpose, why Laz's races capture our collective imagination, and what they say about the culture of ultrarunning itself.
šāāļø Featured Race:
Yankee Springs Winter Challenge ā 50K, 25K, 10K, and 5K distances in Middleville, Michigan on January 3, 2026.
A beautiful, snowy loop through Yankee Springs State Recreation Area. Fast course, frosty singletrack, and plenty of aid.
š Register now on UltraSignup.š Presented by: UltraSignup, check out all our podcasts!
š„ Sponsored by: Running Warehouse ā your source for the best shoes, gear, and deals in trail and ultrarunning. -
Harvard evolutionary biologist Dan Lieberman is the scientist whose work reshaped how we understand running. His research on human evolution helped popularize the idea that we're born to run, that our bodies, from our toes and tendons to our oversized glutes, are uniquely adapted for endurance. In this conversation, he joins Zoƫ and Brendan to explore what running reveals about being human.
This week's featured race is the Naughty Hog 100k, 50k, 25k, 10k, and 5k! Dec 20. Register now!
We dig into why ultrarunning is evolutionarily bizarre but still deeply natural, what persistence hunting really looked like, and how belly fat, treadmills-as-torture-devices, and even the barefoot craze all tie into our running story. It's part science lesson, part reminder that while we didn't evolve for nipple tape, running is still one of the most human things we do.
Thanks to LMNT for supporting The Trailhead!
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