We Are Superman

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Dealing with my dad's serious illness has reinforced the value of one of my core philosophies: It Will All Work Out. Anytime I have faced adversity, just as all of you have numerous times, it's a great tool to keep in your arsenal.

Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
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How did Cody Poskin, a guy who was told to “get lost” by the coach at his college, become one of the rising stars of ultrarunning and getting invited to run across the Gobi Desert in China? I dig into that with the help of another 23-year-old ultramarathon beast, TJ Harms-Synkiew. After Cody was spurned by the college coach, he decided to target the Boston Marathon, nailing a qualifying time in his first attempt. At age 21, he jumped up to ultras and won his first two races, including the Midstate Massive Ultra Trail 100-mil...

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In this coaching episode, I discuss 13 creative things you can do this winter to renew and reinvigorate your running so you can be fitter and stronger for 2026 racing.  Please feel free to contact me if you'd like me to expand on any of these topics for you!

Bill Stahl
silly_billy@msn.com
Facebook Bill Stahl
Instagram and Threads @stahlor and @we_are_superman_podcast
YouTube We Are Superman Podcast

Subscribe to the We Are Superman Newsletter!

https://mailchi.mp/dab62cfc01f8/n...

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I was really intrigued when I heard about Matt Zemon and his advocacy for psychedelic therapy as an alternative when traditional psychotherapy hasn’t been successful. Colorado became the first state in the country to legalize therapy using psilocybin mushrooms, and I know someone who has done it and says it produced great results. Like many of you, I came from a place of complete ignorance on this topic, so I really appreciate Matt’s expert knowledge on it, and he enlightened me on information like about the hundreds of psychedelic churches and soci...

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Eric Pence is a guest I actually wanted to chat with a couple of years ago, but it is even better that it is occurring now because this summer he completed the Leadville Trail 100 for the 30th time, becoming just the second person to do so, after the legendary Bill Finkbeiner. Eric and I go back to the early 1990s days of the race, so we have lots of stories to share about that pioneering era, quite a few unique race memories, and the changes we have seen over the years. Eric discusses...

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Sometimes seeing a close relative struggle through chronic conditions can spur someone to take action to help themselves and then others. I often find these stories to be inspiring.  Like the story we had of 250-pound middle schooler Nathan Maze in episode 277, who saw his dad battle obesity and decided not to follow the same path. He dropped the weight, got jacked in the gym, and then as a 15-year-old ran and completed the American Heroes Run marathon. In this episode, I have an uplifting chat with Jonathan Boulware, who lost his mother t...

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We had an incredible two days at the American Heroes Run with great weather, the largest turnout yet, inspirational and speedy performances, and the humble opportunity to honor our military veterans and service people, first responders, the lives lost on 9/11, and race founder David Clark, not to mention the opportunity to see familiar faces either pushing themselves to their limits or helping put on this event that was David's passion.  Listen in for some amazing stories of people putting themselves out there to see how much they could achieve and to honor those w...

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David turned me onto learning about non-Western medicine because our system is primarily geared toward curing and not prevention. I’ve felt the difference in just modifying my food intake as much as possible away from the all-too-normal American diet that includes too much sugar, fat, and processed foods. So I’m excited today to share my chat with Dr. Shivani Gupta, an Ayurvedic medicine practitioner. We take a deep dive into how plant medicine and dietary modifications can benefit your body to battle inflammation, a popular buzzword these days. She explains what it r...

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We’ve had several WASP episodes about organ transplant recipients who have gone on to accomplish impressive feats, but here’s one from the other side. Dan Armstead had plans to be a kidney donor from the time he learned in a high school class that you actually only need one to function perfectly normally. He eventually got tested and officially listed on the donor registry and then it barely took 48 hours before he got linked to someone who was in end stage renal disease who desperately needed a kidney, and it turned out...

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When I volunteered at the Painter Boy aid station of the Leadville Silver Rush 50, there was a runner who came in who looked rather young and somewhat beaten down by the course and the heat and I thought might need some extra attention. I got to know a bit about 17-year-old Teagan Martin and his dad KC who was running with him in what was both of their first 50-milers, and that this was part of their buildup for the difficult Creede 100-miler in a couple of weeks. What really set Teagan apart...

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Most people don’t imagine octogenarians throwing shotputs, discuses, and the hammer at track meets. I have officiated enough track meets that I have seen bunches of them doing so. One is Terry Ten Eyck of Golden CO, who back in 1963 set the state shotput mark of 59’-10¾”, breaking the previous record by four feet, while throwing for Wheat Ridge H.S. He went on to briefly compete in track and football at the University of Colorado and then served for 7½ years in the Navy, including in Vietnam. After about a 50-year hiatus, Terry re...

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I really didn’t have to write much of an intro because I could simply copy the fascinating story in Dave Munson’s bio. It resonates with me because it reminds me about how David Clark found so much more happiness, not by making and spending huge amounts of money from his mattress and furniture businesses, but by serving others. I also love how Dave Munson manufactures products that are unique and insanely durable, which has become so rare these days. The story begins in 1999, in a dusty leather shop in Morelia, Mexico, youn...

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Brian Watson was in New York City in 2018 and noticed hundreds of thousands of people crowding the streets and asked what was going on. A friend told him it was the NYC Marathon, a foreign concept to a guy living in a 300-pound body. He calmly told those around him that he would run it the next year. While that might sound daffy to some, those that knew Brian knew to take him at his word. Before you knew it, Brian had dropped a third of his weight, had finished New York, and...

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In previous episodes, we’ve chatted with some young runners who have taken on ultramarathons like the Leadville Trail 100, something that was unheard of in the ancient days when I began in the sport. While it’s become less rare to see this, it’s now been taken up a notch. Meet the Chisholm family of Salem, NH. Brothers Ben, Brody, Elliott, and Asher all play hockey, with the three eldest at one time playing on the same line together on their high school team. Led by their parents, the boys started off climbi...

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All was good in the life of Kijuan Amey of Durham, NC. He had an exciting job as an Air Force in-flight refueling specialist, advancing to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He was finishing his bachelor’s degree with a 3.87 GPA, played semipro football, had a girlfriend, played the drums, had started a company doing website design and social media marketing for businesses, owned a sweet 2014 Dodge Charger with a Hemi V8, and was active in his church. All at the age of 25. He also enjoyed relaxing takes drives on his Kawasaki Ninja mo...

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At a high school track meet I was working as an official this spring, a young man came up to me and commented about my ever-present Yankees cap and mentioned that his uncle had once played for the Bronx Bombers. I figured it would be some nobody, but it turned out to be Hall of Famer and Yankees legend Goose Gossage. As Avi Rahmani of Ralston Valley H.S. in Arvada, Colo., and I got to know each other, I learned about his amazing story of contracting a rare form of cancer, leading...

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We all know veterans who have battled the transition from military service to civilian life. Nick Koumalatsos was a Marine raider who can certainly speak to that. After discharging from the military after 12 years of service, he battled that adjustment, going through divorce, bankruptcy, and even serious thoughts of suicide. It took him many years to figure out a formula that would work for him to pull himself out of these abysses. But throughout his life, Nick had always been seeking an angle to move up in the world. This led him to...

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Tyler Andrews is a good friend with whom I’ve done trips with to Peru, Ecuador, and most recently, the Atacama Desert of Chile where we climbed up to almost 20,000 feet.  Ty was a self-described high school nerd musician who went on to be an average D3 cross country runner. After battling depression, Ty dedicated himself to becoming a pro mountain runner, which has seen him set numerous FKTs on some of the most iconic tall peaks in the world, including Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, and Cotopaxi. One recent FKT in the Himalayas has been com...

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One of the most badass racers I know is Kat Edwards Anderson. She has been on the WASP twice before, most recently on episode #327 in January, chatting about her runs at the Sedona Canyons 125 and the Moab 240. I first met her in Chile in March, 2024, where she impressively conquered many new challenges for her in the high Atacama Desert. She built on these experiences by overcoming blisters on her feet, menstrual cycle irregularities, heat, and mental hurdles to get on the podium at Moab. In this episode, Kat shares some great insights on...

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This is a classic WASP comeback story in a different kind of direction. Alex Neist is a former college and pro quarterback who seemingly had it all post-football – a thriving business career and great family – and then had it all fall apart because of his snoring. It’s true, snoring. Alex found an unlikely answer with mouth taping, which he had to find on his own because he realized our healthcare system didn’t espouse it because there isn’t nearly the profit with it available to providers as, say, recommending meds or a CPAP mac...

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Colorado has always been known as a distance running hotbed, and some amazing runners have come out of our high school ranks. This episode’s guests are no exception – with an added twist. Bobby Kiesewetter, from Golden View Academy, a Class 2A school in Golden understandably was very concerned when his airway would shut down while he was running, making it impossible to breathe. Perplexed doctors suspected asthma and prescribed inhalers, but to no avail. Bobby happened to see a social media post from another local runner, Benji Anderson, who had experienced the same...

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David always had a deep appreciation for alternative and regenerative medicine. He and I have both had guests here who understand how broken our “sick care” system is and have created new pathways for those who want to take control of their health in ways the American system won’t allow. One such pioneer is Jay Campbell, co-founder of BioLongevity Labs. Jay’s lifelong mission is to inspire and empower others to optimize their health, reverse aging, and unlock their true human potential – physically, mentally, and emotionally. In this dynamic chat, he and I talk abo...

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I have been amused that 200-mile races have become a thing, and some now even call 100-milers a “speed event.” But now Destination Races, which hosts a series of 200-mile races has created the Arizona Monster 300 with a cutoff of 170 hours, or just more than 7 days. Good friend of the WASP Kelly Thrush ran its inaugural edition a few weeks ago. You might remember Kelly from WASP episodes #231 and 232 in November, 2022 after he completed 85 miles at the AHR following receiving a liver transplant. That two-part episode is definitely worth a re-listen as he desc...

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We haven’t chatted with anyone in Nepal for a couple of weeks, so we thought we’d go back there with Len Forkas, who is heading to Mt. Everest to cap bagging all of the Seven Summits – the tallest peaks on all seven continents. This achievement also brings him a step closer to completing the coveted Explorers’ Grand Slam, which includes the Seven Summits and trekking the last degree of latitude to the North and South Poles. He began his quest in 2013 summitting Kilimanjaro after accomplishing endurance feats like biking the Race Across A...

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Travis Robinson was an active 35-year-old IT project manager, spending much of his leisure time in the outdoors rockclimbing, when he began noticing weakness in his hands, which is not good news for this pursuit. This led to a diagnosis of early-onset Parkinson’s Disease that changed his life. Travis’ response was not one of resignation to a restricted lifestyle, but more of a “Screw you, Parkinson’s” attitude. That is evidenced in the theme of a podcast called I’m Not Dead Yet he co-hosts with Judy Yaros, whose husband died of the disease...

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Chris Fisher and Erin Ton are very down-to-Earth people, but they are also way-up-in-the-air. As in, they are almost constantly on a mountain, very high mountains.  And when I say constantly, I mean they are pretty much always climbing, running on, and exploring mountains, as well as challenging themselves in the wildest wildernesses. Erin is known for setting hordes of FKTs, speeding through the gauntlet of Colorado 14ers in record time, as well as climbing 14ers in high heels. Yep, you heard that right. She and Chris, who owns the current record for t...

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Melissa Davey took the adage about it’s never too late to try something new quite seriously. This wasn’t about jumping out of an airplane kind of stuff. In her sixties, she retired from a lengthy corporate career to pursue her second act and dream of becoming a filmmaker. I always tell teens I coach or meet who are stressed about picking a college major and choosing a career path, that the average American changes careers, not just jobs, seven times in their lifetimes. You never know when circumstances allow you to drop...

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The WASP has had a long history of inspiring stories about people overcoming alcoholism and addictions, but I really like the story and approach presented here by Tom Barnum. He is a former college and NFL player, who was on two teams that won the Super Bowl, including the 1972 Dolphins who is still the only team to complete an undefeated season – although in each case he only made it to the taxi squad. It was a culture that encouraged drinking, steroid use, and gambling. After engaging in these destructive behaviors for many years, as...

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This is the type of adventure story you don’t get to hear about very often. You very likely know something about Alaska’s Iditarod Trail dog-sledding race, a grueling, multiday wilderness endurance test from Anchorage to Nome. Did you know that there is also a race where humans bike, ski, and run on the course? Leadville’s own Mitch Dulleck trained for months in the high Rockies and then attended a camp in Alaska to prepare to run the Iditarod Trail Invitational 150-mile race. There was no designated route as he pulled a sled...

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Listing 285-pound defensive lineman or being the fifth-ranked high schooler in the nation in the discus on your resume aren’t typical prerequisites for running across America. But former big guy Mason Wright, who at 17 years old could bench press 450 pounds and squat 685 pounds will be doing exactly that, and not that “short” way, either. He won’t just run from one coast to the other, but from corner to corner, Seattle to Miami. But first this April he will run across Utah from north to south in eight days, averaging about 55 miles a day. H...

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I want you to explore the world! With a little creativity and ingenuity--and a willingness to get out of your comfort zone--you can have experiences that will open your eyes to people and places that will enhance your life in ways you can't imagine. In this episode, I describe my trip in October to places many people don't often visit. It began with a cruise with my family--including my parents who are in their 90s--beginning in Lisbon and stopping in Madeira, the Canary Islands, Morocco, and Spain. Following debarkation in Barcelona, without any...

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I first met Max Madorsky when the kids on my cross country team at Littleton H.S. invited me to join them at an all-you-can-eat sushi joint in the southern suburbs of Denver. They had invited along this guy who had this amazing capacity to shovel in food. This restaurant couldn’t have been too pleased seeing Max down eight plates of sushi all by himself. I happen to have a remarkable ability to consume large amounts of pizza, so right away I knew Max was my guy to win a challenge from a...

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Even though Maddy Reynolds was not a runner, COVID-19 spurred her and her homebound friends to start running around the limited area they were allowed to in their neighborhood in Sydney, Australia. On a lark, they decided to run their own marathon. Once racing resumed, Maddy ran an actual marathon. Then she was encouraged to try trail running and next racing. You can see where this is going. Maddy eventually took the risky leap, quitting her secure job as an investment banker to become a full-time runner. By 2023, successes started to accrue. After...

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I love when people don’t accept the status quo from the medical field. One disease where there is no known cure, and not much is known about its cause or treatments for it, is Parkinson’s an uncurable neurological disease. So Scott Hanley of Belfast, Northern Ireland chose a different path to dealing with getting diagnosed with it, and as a result believes he has reduced his symptoms by 95%! Repeat, 95%! That’s simply unheard of. He didn’t do anything magic, take any banned substances, or sell his soul to the Devil. Parkinso...

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As the world’s population ages, more and more of us are affected by diseases, truly horrible diseases, like Alzheimer’s. The latest studies show that 1/3 of seniors will have some level of dementia by the time they pass away. That’s staggering. Alzheimer’s now afflicts more Americans than breast and prostate cancers combined. Seven million people living in this country have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, plus 11 million more are caregivers for these patients. There’s not much that’s tougher than watching a loved one’s mental faculties decline to the point that t...

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It’s always great to jumpstart a new year talking again with Dan Herman of Dan Herman Performance. We are past the so-called quit day after which many people’s resolutions have gone down the drain, so Dan and I talk about both setting goals as well as how to keep them going. The great thing about Dan is he how he can present ideas in relatable ways that are not just pulled out of a textbook, and puts them into actionable steps that you can easily work in your everyday life. For thos...

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I have always thought that everyone has a sport or activity in which they could be world-class, but sometimes we haven’t tried it and discovered which one it is. Maybe it’s karate or curling or backgammon. Or as I’ve told kids I’ve coached in track that to get ahead, rather than run a common event like the 100 meters, try an event that few others do like the pole vault, triple jump, or 300-meter hurdles. Ultramarathoning is obviously a niche sport, as is an Olympic sport I’ve always liked, fencing. M...

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We are heading back Down Under for this episode to speak with a super-inspirational Aussie named Paul Jamieson, who at the age of 32 suffered a severe traumatic brain injury in a freak wakeboarding accident. He spent the following half a year in a hospital before being released to a rehab facility that for years basically had no hope for him and did little more than feed him puréed foods. Remarkably, these life-altering events transformed him into an extremely positive person. Paul used to be highly critical and negative, but post-accident, he has c...

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Let’s start off 2025 with someone who had a breakout 2024, and like the final episode of last year with Mary Denholm, in which there is a lot of great information from which to learn. I met the impressive Kat Edwards while on a mountain-climbing adventure with Tyler Andrews’ Chaski Endurance Collective in Chile’s Atacama Desert. This was the now-25-year-old’s first trip outside of the U.S., and in fact, she had barely even left the Eastern time zone before. It was part of a year in which she not only got out...

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I thought it would be good to end the year with someone who had a mind-blowing 2024. Mary Denholm finished it off at the JFK 50-miler, where she was the second female with a time of 6:04:15, which was faster than the previous course record. Her summer in Leadville really stood out. She won the very difficult marathon under four hours. Due to the schedule shift this year, the Silver Rush 50-Mile was just one week later, but Mary breezed to a 28-minute victory, good for fourth overall. She capped the summer off by winning...