Borderlands Trail and Ultra Running

Nobody plans to become an ultra runner. There’s no clear path into the sport, no obvious starting point, and most people don’t grow up anywhere near it. So how do people actually find their way here?

In this conversation, Josh sits down with Emory Atterberry, founder of Hyperlyte Liquid Performance, and rising ultrarunner Cade Michael to explore how three people from the same unlikely place all ended up in the sport. What emerges is a deeper look at rebellion, isolation, and why some people feel pulled toward something harder.

This one’s for anyone...

Trail running is growing fast, but is it actually scaling? If you’ve ever felt like the sport looks bigger than it is, or struggled to follow it as a fan, this episode breaks down why. This is for runners and industry insiders trying to understand what’s really happening beneath the surface of trail running’s growth.

Josh unpacks the difference between participation and fandom, why brand investment is propping up the pro layer, and what’s missing for the sport to become something people actually follow. Western States and UTMB become the proving ground for a bigger question that could define the future of trail running.

This one’s for the runners wh...

Trail running and running culture go beyond training plans, races, and performance. Raziq Rauf explains why running isn’t just a sport, but a reflection of identity, place, community, and modern running culture.

Raziq is the author of This Is Running and writes the newsletter Running Sucks. In this episode, we talk about running as culture, not just competition: place, community, creativity, solitude, fashion, consumerism, and why a run can change the person who started it. We also get into Haruki Murakami, narrative writing, run clubs, The Speed Project, and the strange modern shift from running as a sport to running as a lifestyle.

This episode is for runners who care about the meaning o...

Kiprun used to feel like an entry-level running brand, not one serious runners would put in the same conversation as the best trail running shoes in the sport. If you’re curious how a brand changes that perception and what it looks like when a running company genuinely reinvents itself this episode is for you.

Josh sits down with Inky Steve to break down the shift they’re seeing at Kiprun through the Kipsummit Max, Kipsummit Race, and the broader portfolio now taking shape under Decathlon. They get into stigma, design, price, performance, and why this feels less like a one-off good shoe and more like a brand returning with a completely different level of...

Ultra running reveals what happens when race plans fail, training falls apart, and things don’t go the way we want. Running helps strip away all the things we distract ourselves with and forces us to stand face to face with them.

In this conversation with Mike Kratzer, a former DJ turned runner, we explore what happens when there’s nothing left to hide. From quitting drinking without rock bottom to rejecting the sameness of modern running culture, this is about what running reveals when you stop trying to be someone and just are.

This one’...

Why do people run 100 miles and keep coming back to ultra running even after it hurts, slows them down, and offers no obvious reward? If you’ve ever been curious about ultra running or felt the pull toward doing something hard without fully understanding why, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, Billy Yang helps unpack what draws people into ultra running and what they’re actually searching for out there. It’s less about racing and more about identity, suffering, and the deeper reasons people choose to keep going.

For runners and anyone trying to understand why we choose hard things.

Please give us a follow, rate the podcast, ...

Trail running culture is starting to look a lot like skateboarding—crews, aesthetics, a more raw identity.

But if you’ve ever wondered whether that comparison actually holds up, this episode breaks it down.

There’s a reason the connection feels right—and a deeper reason it might not be. This isn’t about dismissing what’s happening in running, but trying to understand what it actually is.

This episode is for runners who care about the culture of the sport, not just the miles.

Please give us a follow, rate the podcast...

Many runners come to ultrarunning through performance, but what happens when running comes after everything else falls apart? This episode explores how sobriety, loss, and identity shape the path into ultrarunning and what it actually looks like to rebuild a life from the ground up.

Josh sits down with Tommie Runz to trace the arc from heavy drinking and personal collapse to running across the desert from Los Angeles to Las Vegas, and eventually into ultrarunning. The conversation moves through early sobriety, community, and the tension between commitment and loss, including missing his best friend’s funeral du...

Ultrarunning is evolving and growing fast and with that growth, ultra running feels different. Josh digs into how the sport is changing as it becomes more competitive, more visible, and more professional than ever before and asks whether something essential is being lost along the way.

From duct-taped water bottles and campfire start lines to global races with thousands of runners and highly engineered gear, this episode explores what that shift really means. From the rise of new brands and technologies to the increasing professionalization of the sport, the conversation looks at what we’ve gained—and what...

If you've ever wondered why luxury running brands suddenly started appearing in ultrarunning—a sport built on dirtbag ethos, thrift-store gear, and anti-status culture—this episode explores the tension behind it.

Josh unpacks where the idea of luxury collides with traditional ultrarunning culture, what actually defines a luxury running brand, and why some runners see it as evolution while others see it as a threat to the identity of the sport. At the center is a deeper question: is ultrarunning defined by what you wear, or simply by the act of running ultras?

For trail and...

If you've ever spent too much money on trail running shoes and wondered whether any of them are actually worth it, this episode is for you.

I sit down with Inky Steve, a guy who has tracked 44 pairs of running shoes across 6,000 miles on Strava, to get his most honest verdicts on the shoes he'd recommend to his best friend, the ones he regrets, and the models brands should have never stopped making.

For ultra runners and trail runners who take their gear seriously and want real talk and not sponsored opinions.

Please...

Trail running doesn’t have journlists and no one’s holding the sport accountable. I think memes might be the closest thing we’ve got and that’s just one of the 10 things on my mind this week..

This week I pulled up a chair with a pile of gear and just talked: race season fandom, scrappy brands worth knowing, the shoes I'm fired up about right now, and the two-hour long run philosophy I'm using in training for Paris Eco Trail.

For ultra runners and trail runners who are in it for the culture, the gear...

If you've ever wondered how running brands like Ciele Athletics reshaped the culture of modern running, this episode explores the moment performance gear started becoming identity.

Jeremy Bresnen, cofounder of Ciele Athletics, walks through the brand’s origin story—from a hats-only startup in Montreal to one of the most recognizable names worn by runners across road, trail, and ultra distances. Along the way, he reflects on the shift that happened in the 2010s when people weren’t just running anymore—they were runners.

For trail, road, and ultra runners curious about how modern running brands c...

If you've ever wondered what it takes, mentally, physically, and emotionally, to push the human body further than most people can imagine, this one's for you.

I sit down with Camille Herron, one of the most decorated ultra runners alive, to talk about what keeps her going when everything falls apart, the two-hour long run training philosophy that changed how she prepares for 100-mile races and beyond, and what it really felt like to set the 24-hour world record in Albi, France.

For ultra runners who want to understand the mental game at the highest...

If you've ever wondered how ultra running nutrition changes when races stretch beyond a single day, this episode reframes race day nutrition to better address multi-day endurance races.

Jesse Rich, nutritionist to elite ultrarunners, explains why traditional fueling advice breaks down during multi-day endurance efforts. As sleep deprivation, calorie deficits, and digestive fatigue accumulate, runners must think beyond electrolytes and gels and begin considering deeper nourishment ideas like how the body burns calories during mult-day events, how long it takes to absorb them again, and how sleep, recovery, and caffeine timing all affect performance.

For...

If you've been following the recent surge in ultra running records, Anne Flower’s name has suddenly been everywhere from the Leadville 100 course record to a 50-mile world record and a dominant win at Javelina Jundred.

But her rise isn’t sudden. Anne has been grinding for years while building a demanding career as a physician in Colorado Springs. She reflects on her training philosophy, how she approaches ultrarunning through the lens of medicine, and what she’s thinking heading into Black Canyon 100K against one of the fastest fields in the sport.

For trail and ul...

If you’ve been following ultra trail running, Francesco Puppi has long been a name serious fans recognize—but his 2025 wins at CCC, The Canyons 100K, and Chianti 47K put him squarely on the radar of the broader American audience.

Puppi brings a rare mix of mountain strength and marathon speed, making him a contender whenever he toes the line. In this episode, we talk about his racing philosophy, why courses like Black Canyon suit his strengths despite their technical sections, and what it takes to consistently compete at the front of the sport’s biggest races.

F...

If you’ve noticed the rise of running apparel that reflects the culture and spirit of the sport—not just performance metrics—designer and runner Alex Zono is part of that shift.

Recorded at Paris Fashion Week, Alex joins Josh Rosenthal and Sam Lohse to talk about designing gear for runners who love the sport from dirtbag trail adventures to racing at the front of events like Black Canyon 50K. He shares the mindset behind his “Running is My Best Friend” collection, how trail culture influences his design philosophy, and why he’s still planning to line up at Black...

If you’ve noticed the rise of high-end running apparel, you may also feel the tension it creates inside a sport rooted in dirtbag simplicity.

Recorded at Paris Fashion Week, Josh Rosenthal sits down with Inky Steve, Sam Lohse, Mike Kratzer, and Simon Freeman (co-founder of Like the Wind) to unpack why fashion-forward running brands are gaining momentum, what actually happens at Paris Fashion Week for runners, and why this unusual, decentralized B2B event matters more to the future of running culture than most runners realize.

For trail and ultrarunners curious about how running ap...

If you’ve ever wondered how the running industry shapes the gear ultrarunners depend on, this episode explores why paying attention to the business behind the sport actually matters.

Paul Mellor, founder of creative agency Mellor&Smith and producer working on a new documentary about Barkley Marathons creator Lazarus Lake, joins Josh to unpack how outdoor brands compete for attention, why Nike’s return to trail running feels different this time, and what separates unforgettable running brands from those that quietly fade away.

For trail and ultrarunners curious about how the running industry influences the gear...

If you spend time around ultra running, you’ve probably felt the tension around run influencers. They can be annoying in the moment—film crews at races, cameras everywhere—but they’re also inspiring thousands of people to start running, many of whom just needed that final push to move.

Ultra runner and content creator Tommy Lewis joins Josh to talk about the strange reality of influencer culture in ultrarunning: being tired of the business of running while still deeply in love with the sport itself. From Western States to UTMB, they explore the balance between content, communit...

If you've ever crossed a finish line and felt something you couldn't quite name, or dropped out of a race and carried it with you longer than you expected, this conversation is going to land.

In the final installment this trilogy with Laz, the two sit on Laz's porch in Tennessee working through three artifacts: a pack of cigarettes, Hemingway's Old Man and the Sea, and the question underneath all of it, whether the struggle itself is the victory, not the outcome.

It's the most personal of the three conversations, and the most philosophical. It’s...

Ultra running is professionalizing fast. Bigger prize money, more sponsors, and smoother finishes. Laz Lake is the counterbalance to all of it, and this conversation is about why that matters.

In part two of this trilogy at Laz's Tennessee farm, the two go deep on what makes Laz unlike anyone else in the sport: untouched by modernization, unbothered by fame, charging $1.60 for race entry while the rest of the industry chases scale. Josh draws a line from Popcorn Sutton, the last Tennessee moonshiner, to the Donner Party, to Bigs Backyard Ultra, and somewhere in the middle of...

If you've ever wanted to understand how Lazarus Lake thinks, not just the Barkley Marathons legend, but the man behind every race he's ever designed, this is the episode you've been waiting for.

Josh spent a day at Laz's home in Tennessee walking the trails of Big's Backyard Ultra and talking through his entire race catalog: Big's and Little's Backyard, the Barkley Marathons, the Fall Classic, Race for the Ages, the Idiot's Run, and more. What came out of it is a portrait of someone who believes that if no one can fail, no one can truly...

Ultra running has changed dramatically over the past few decades, but Dean Karnazes still believes the heart of the sport is simple. In this episode, Josh sits down with one of ultra running’s most recognizable figures to talk about the philosophy that’s guided him through decades of running: at the end of the day, it’s still just a pair of shoes and a place to run.

Dean reflects on the impact running has had on his life and the lives of countless runners he’s inspired through his books, stories, and global advocacy for the spor...

Scott Jurek represents a generation of ultratrail runners who either had day jobs or were true dirtbag trail runners. Scott and Josh Rosenthal dive into the 'good old days' of trail running when a lot of the gear was DIY like punk rock or skateboarding.

Presented by Kiprun.

...

The Speed Project is one of the most unusual events in running—an unsanctioned, no-rules relay that sends teams roughly 340 miles from Los Angeles to Las Vegas (and now across Europe from Chamonix to Marseille). Josh sits down with founder Nils Arend on a rugby field in Albi, France at midnight to talk about how TSP began and why it has become something far bigger than a race.

What started as an extreme endurance challenge through desert heat, sleepless nights, and relentless miles has evolved into a powerful community. The conversation explores the origin story of The Sp...

Monday, 22 Dec 2025 marks a new beginning for Borderlands' podcast presented by Kiprun.

We've had a helluva a run and now I'm doubling down on the things I believe will take us to the next level. Tune in to find out.

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Ultra running rarely comes with ordinary stories, but Allie Gibbons’ recent season pushed the boundaries of what most people think is possible. In this episode, Josh sits down with Allie to talk about running nearly 300 miles across Chile’s Atacama Desert during The Speed Project while 22 weeks pregnant, where she not only finished but won as the first female.

They discuss the physical and emotional realities of racing while pregnant, from monitoring health and managing risk to navigating the mental waves that come with multi-day efforts in extreme environments. Along the way, Allie reflects on racing the Bigf...

Josh Rosenthal and Inky Steve explore the future of running gear, discussing innovations in shoe design, the impact of cultural elements like movies on running, and the competitive landscape of brands in the industry.

[Presented by Kiprun]

They share insights from the TRE event, highlight the rise of smaller brands, and reflect on their experiences with various running products, including the Naked belt. The discussion emphasizes the importance of community and personal preferences in the running world.

Brands discussed:

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I still consider myself a trail runner even though I never run on trails. I'm trail runner-ish.

There are a lot of people bringing light into the world through running. Let's talk about a few of them - Tommy Lewis, Josh Lynott, Nils Arend, Dean Karnazes, and more.

Presented by Kiprun.

Yes, we're presented by Kiprun but I also think they are the next big running brand coming out of France. Salomon and Hoka both started here. If Kiprun build momentum and iterate/improve year after year on the portfolio they just released...

At the beginning of 2025 did an episode where we looked at a bunch of brands and trends in trail running and evaluated if we were optimistic about their future (buy) or pessimistic (sell)

[Presented by Kiprun]

In this episode I review my predictions and assess if they were right or wrong on these topics:

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Presented by Kiprun.

The Dude Abides and would probably never wear trail running shoes. But we love this movie too much so Josh asked Inky, what shoes go best with The Big Lebowski? Slides. Super chill running recover slides.

There's a boom in them right now. You see them popping up all over the place and there's actually some innovation happening.

But at the end of the day, The Dude would wear the hell out of some recover slides and we have a blast exploring it.

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Mike Herrera and MxPx have been playing for 30 years. I was there from the beginning so I was stoked to do this interview with an all time great and hero of mine.

[Presented by Naked Sports Innovations]

Mike knows a thing or two about endurance and keeping on when life and circumstances get you down.

Enjoy.

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I stopped using strava and found 7 bugs that ended up being features.

[Borderlands TRE event - RSVP here]

Here are the bugs.

Listen to find out how these became features.

Presented by Naked Sports Innovations

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James Lauriello joined Josh to talk trail running from multiple angles. James is the host of the Steep Stuff Podcast and an athlete for La Sportiva.

Presented by Naked Sports Innovations

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Ryan Becker runs for Naked Sports Innovations and competes at the highest level in mountain running.

He brings an honest and analytical view of the sport that feels fresh and from the heart. In this episode they discuss the difference between being a pro runner and an elite runner.

You don't have to be a pro running fan to enjoy this episode.

Ryan runs for Naked Sports Innovations

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Mount to Coast is one of the newest trail running shoe brands entering a crowded and rapidly evolving gear landscape. In this episode, Taylor Bodin—Lead Trail Reviewer at Believe in the Run—joins Josh to break down where the brand came from, what it’s trying to do differently, and why runners across the sport are starting to pay attention.

From shoe design philosophy to how new brands try to earn credibility in trail running, the conversation explores what Mount to Coast represents in a moment when the industry is shifting quickly and expectations from runners are hi...

I've never interviewed someone so at peace with themselves. This interview with Ian Morgan felt real and honest and kind. There's something in his eyes that I think we all want.

[Presented by Naked Sports Innovations]

In this interview we talk about his relationship with alcohol, the sedentary life, and the way he left it behind.

He also died once while running and came back to life to tell the story.

Take this episode with you on a run to find inspiration to keep going.

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Brett Harrison started Red Knot Racing Co. as an expression of his heart for Tanzania, Tanzanians, and running.  His first mission, however, is not running.  It's community development.

[Presented by Naked Sports Innovations]

Brett moved to Tanzania in 2009 where, among other things, he helped improve agricultral practices.  But over time, his staff grew to 15 local Tanzanians who started putting on endurance events at the base of Kilimanjaro and to this day is the only organization permitted to do them year after year.

But again, its not about the races.  Races are a means of c...