Podcast
Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running
Hosted by Josh Rosenthal | Ultra Runner · EN
Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running is a storytelling podcast for ultra runners who love this sport deeply, the iconic races, the legendary athletes, the gear, and the culture that makes all of it worth caring about.
Hosted by Josh Rosenthal, founder of Borderlands Trail Running, this show exists to collect the ultra running stories that define the sport, from spending a day at Laz Lake's home to deep conversations with Scott Jurek, Dean Karnazes, Camille Herron, and the everyday runners doing extraordinary things out on the trails.
This podcast covers the full world of ultra and trail running: race coverage and analysis of marquee events including Western States Endurance Run and UTMB, honest trail running shoes reviews and ultra running gear breakdowns from someone who has tested 44 pairs over 6,000 miles, and big conversations about where the sport is headed, including what dirtbag runners bring to a sport that's growing fast.
This show gives ultra runners the stories, perspectives, and gear knowledge to go deeper into a sport they already love while celebrating what makes trail and ultra running unlike anything else.
We'll answer questions like:
- Who is Laz Lake, and why does everyone in ultra running revere him?
- What makes the Barkley Marathons the hardest race in the world?
- How does Western States Endurance Run work, and why is it so hard to get in?
- What are the best trail running shoes and ultra running gear right now?
- Who are the greatest ultra runners of all time?
- What does dirtbag running culture actually mean?
- How is ultra running changing, and is that a good thing?
- What does it take to run a 100 mile ultra marathon?
- What should ultra runners eat during training and on race day?
If you want the stories, the gear, and the culture that make ultra and trail running the most addictive sport on earth, you're in the right place.
50episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
Satisfy x Adidas: Who Won the Circle Pit Backlash?
4d ago00:19:26Tap to summarizeThe 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 / LinksBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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This is Trail Running Without Mountains.
1w ago00:31:03Tap to summarizeTrail 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 / LinksTINAR - Alley Trail ClassicBorderlands.ccRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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What If Your Best Running Is Still Ahead?
2w ago00:22:07Tap to summarizeHardrock 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 / Timestamps00:00 The Unexpected Gifts of Hard Rock02:29 The Significance of Ludovic Pommeret's Wisdom as Performance06:21 Stripping Away Excuses and Embracing Aging in Running08:20 Ludovic Pomerret’s Record at 5009:39 Courtney Dauwalter’s Continued Excellence15:00 The Field Size and Competition Dynamics17:48 Remarkable Feats: Tara Dower’s Double22:37 Age as an Accumulation of WisdomResources / LinksBryce's articleBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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They Refuse to Make Toy Shoes. | Inside HOKA's Culture Strategy
3w ago00:29:56Tap to summarizeHOKA 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 / Timestamps00:00Resources / LinksBorderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningJohn Ruben, founder of UnnaPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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What is Borderlands Actually Building?
3w ago00:21:34Tap to summarizeFor 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 episodeWhy Paris changed the way I think about media, culture, and BorderlandsThe mission behind Borderlands: The Heart of Trail RunningOne-month, one-year, and ten-year visions for the companyWhy Borderlands is expanding beyond podcasts The role of the website, newsletter, documentaries, YouTube, live events, Arcade, and Live on CourseThe contributors helping shape Borderlands, including Bryce Carlson, Inky Steve, Stan Van Kimmel, Christian Brecheis, and othersA look at where Borderlands is headed nextPlease give us a follow, rate the podcast, and give a review.If you’re new to Borderlands, start here.Resources / Links8 Bit Trail Running | ArcadeLive on Course [LoC]Borderlands.ccLa French TrailSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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Western States 2026 Analysis | 10 Things I Couldn't Stop Thinking About
Jun 2900:28:57Tap to summarizeWestern 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 / Timestamps01:05 Dylan Bowman is the Voice of Trail Running/Racing04:10 The Broadcast Knows Where Everyone Is09:05 We Don't Care About Places, We Care About Stories11:38 We Interviewed the Wrong People16:14 Whose Job is it to Find Tomorrow's Stories?20:21 Hans is the Rabbit I Was Asking For21:53 American Men Ran it Like Old Days at UTMB22:46 The Race has Outgrown the Broadcast26:23 The Next FrontierResources / Links8 Bit Trail RunningBorderlands.ccSubwhateverRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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Trail Running Culture Doesn't Scale | Bob Crowley's Response
Jun 2200:22:55Tap to summarizeWestern 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 / LinksWestern States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to GrowBob's Full Op-edBorderlands.ccLa French TrailRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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Western States Wants to Protect, UTMB Wants to Grow
Jun 1900:17:15Tap to summarizeWestern 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 / Timestamps01:33 Two Philosophies of Trail Running03:19 Is Growth in Trail Running Corruption?06:13 The Scale Problem in Trail Running11:06 What Cultre are We Protecting in Trail Running?15:50 The Supply Chain of Trail Running CultureResources / Links8 Bit Trail RunningJosh Rosenthal on IGBorderlands.ccLa French TrailRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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Wasatch 100 & Bear 100: When Ultra Running Just Hurts
Jun 1600:14:39Tap to summarizeWasatch 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 / LinksBorderlands.ccLa French TrailRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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The Trail Running Sea of Sameness | Nike ACG, Nostalgia, and the Cost of Optimization
Jun 1200:28:23Tap to summarizeModern 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 / LinksThe Mountain That Made ACGInky's Article about theROCKERRelated EpisodesUltra Running isn't Just RunningI Was Wrong About KiprunPresented by Kiprun.----Borderlands explores trail running through culture, media, and the forces shaping it.Watch on YouTubeRead on Substack
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