¶ Back of the Pack Ultra Runner
Hello and welcome . If this is your first time with us , thank you for stopping by . You're listening to Choose to Endure , the show dedicated to the back-of-the-pack runners , where we share stories , interviews , gear and training tips specific to the tail-end heroes of the Ultra Universe .
If you haven't had a moment to do so yet , please consider heading over to your favorite podcast app hit , follow , rate the show and if you're on Apple , you have the opportunity to leave us a short review as well . Those things are like gold dust . They're really appreciated . My name is Richard Gleave . I've been running ultras now since 2017 . Now , since 2017 .
I've taken on and finished numerous distances at this point , all the way up through 220 miles , and I am unashamedly a member of the back of the pack , just like many of you are Now . Today's episode is especially awesome since our guest was actually suggested by a listener , brandon Walker . So hey , brandon , hello out there .
Thank you so much for the email and the suggestion , and Brandon said we simply have to talk to this next individual .
So I am thrilled to be joined in the studio today by Mr William Iron Will Sprouse , an ultra runner with a pretty incredible story of resilience After surviving a pretty devastating motorcycle accident and a stroke that doctors said would leave him in a wheelchair .
Will has defied the odds to complete over 100 100-mile races , and he's recently been taken on his biggest challenge yet running eight 100 mile races in just seven weeks . Now let that just sink in for a minute .
In addition to his personal running achievements , will is also the founder of the Iron Will 100-mile race , an adaptive-friendly ultra-marathon designed to welcome runners of all abilities , including those with physical challenges .
Tune in , as Will shares his journey , his insights into overcoming adversity and how he's working to make the sport more inclusive , along with his 100-mile challenges . We'll be back right after this . Discover raw inspiring stories from runners who've been right where you are . This is the Choose to Endure Ultra Running Podcast With your host .
He's English , not Australian . Richard Gleave Will welcome to the show . Really fantastic to have you on . There is so much to talk about here . I think Maybe we start with a little bit of your background . How did you first get into running ? Because I think , just checking your UltraSignUp account , you've been running for some time now .
How did that all come about ? Where did you , where did your love of running come from ?
Well , in high school I did do some track , but the furthest distance I ran was a quarter mile and I played football , so I didn't do cross country or anything . Oh yeah , my dad was , um , a really good marathon runner . Oh right , a really good marathon runner , oh right .
Unfortunately , he got cancer and he fought it for about 12 years and upon his passing I was 35 years old and I was overweight , weighed 308 pounds , and just to kind of cope with his death , I kind of started to take up running . I lost half my body weight in about six months and I was up to running over a hundred I mean over a hundred miles a week .
Eventually I would peak out at about 140 miles a week and then I started to run marathons . That's a lot . Yeah , I wasn't a fast marathon runner just under four , four hour marathon runner and I was , oh , just kind of doing that as a hobby .
Unfortunately hopefully I'm not going too fast into this but I had a motorcycle wreck and broke 46 bones and I was kind of told by doctors to find a different hobby . But I was pretty stubborn . I got back out there and I started running . So I noticed right away I was considerably slower Instead of running eight-minute miles .
It was a struggle to even get down to 10-minute miles , or 12-minute miles was my comfort zone . So I looked to cultures . I had met a guest speaker at the Lincoln Marathon that I thought was kind of crazy .
His name was Dean Karnazes and I actually met him in the elevator of the hotel I was staying in very cool , and I never that's the first time I'd ever heard of 100 mile races , and so I kind of looked into it and I found it . After the motorcycle wreck and all those injuries , I still had great endurance , but I just didn't have any speed .
So that's where I crossed in the ultras at that time .
And now did you go straight for the 100 miles or was there any kind of buildup ? I know some people take the normal path and others just jump right in .
Yeah , so I jumped right into the 50 miler . I did do some 50 Ks later on , but my first one was dances with dirt . It was devil's lake , which is a pretty brutal 50 miler . It's technical trails and elevation gain . I was hooked . I actually ran that trail marathon in road shoes .
I had no clue what I was doing and once I switched to trails , I've went back for some road races . Most of them are like Badwater type formats . I did Badwater , salton Sea and Honey Badger , but typically the single track trail was what I got hooked on and where my love was .
Brilliant . Now that motorcycle accident that you mentioned I think that was 2010 . Yes , I mean just moments on that , in the midst of your running journey , sort of . I'm just my mind is blown a little bit . How did you mentally and physically recover from what I assume was a pretty significant injury ? How did you come back from that ?
What was your mental state , never mind your physical state ?
Yeah , well , I'll give you just a real quick on my physical . I hit a dog in broad daylight that came out of the weeds . It was about 4 pm and when I hit the dog it flipped me over the bike but my right foot got caught in the brake pedal or the brake lever and snapped my right toe in half .
So I knew before I even hit the pavement that I'd broken my right toe and as a runner I was already mad about that before I even hit the asphalt . Yeah , it was kind of crazy .
And when I got that toe caught I was getting ready to face plant right into the asphalt and it kind of whiplashed me and it caused me to rotate and I landed on my right shoulder across my back and pelvis and basically everything from my shoulder down was kind of shattered my pelvis and ribs , backbone . But my back was broken 10 places .
23 of my 24 ribs were not . They weren't just broke , they were just obliterated into me and just shattered . And I don't know they had me so drugged up . For the first few months I didn't , even don't remember a lot of it . I did a lot of sleeping and I finally broke myself off the pain meds and actually asked them to quit .
You know doping me up and then I actually I didn't feel any pain until they started to take me off of that . But yeah , I bet I got back to running . That happened Memorial day week in the 2010 . I did my first run and try attempt in September , but I had some issues my ribs .
When they healed back they kept cutting me up in the inside and I get internal bleeding . So then they'd have to punch through my front ribs , put a chest tube in , drain the blood and at any rate , february of 2011 , I ran a 50K called the Black Warrior in Alabama and I ran that successfully as about I don't know six hours , 15 minutes not real fast .
And then in 2012 , I decided to move up to the 100 miler and it would be February 4th 2012 . Rocky Raccoon oh , yes , I remember as a trenchal downpour , heavy rain , muddy , sloppy conditions .
I think I finished it around 27 hours , but that was my first 100 miler and after that I was just completely hooked on the 100 miler , and after that it was just completely hooked on the 100 miler . In fact , if you ever look at my ultra sign up , there's almost nothing but 100 milers .
since that point , you know I did , I did look at that , yes , and that was going to be my next question , like what ? What about the rocky raccoon in in the downpour , the mud running around huntsville state park there ? I mean , what was it that hooked you on on the 100 miler ? Was it more the distance , the challenge ?
I think it was the distance , the challenge of you know , the first three miles of that race is extremely technical with the roots and then you go onto the fire roads and I think it was more to distance . But I I just let one thing I found I finished Cajun coyote five times and that race eventually turned into Lugaroo .
Oh right , and it's the same course , but I think I love those pine trees . I like going down in the Southeast , whether Mississippi , georgia or Texas , and just the smell of running through those pine trees , or Texas , and just the smell of running through those pine trees .
Of course I've ran Black Hills 100 as a similar deal , but it's a little more hilly , a lot more hilly actually . And then Levitt is a beautiful course , but I think a lot of it was the beauty of the wilderness and , like you said , just the distance of the 100 mile .
Yeah , and you really took off with that distance after that . Is that right ? You're now at over 100 milers .
Yeah , I think I'm at 109 , give or take one . I haven't been counting lately , Wow , but yeah . So I think it's right around 109 , somewhere in there .
Yeah , well and that's also including , I mean , the motorcycle accident isn't your only big scare challenge that you've had along the way either . I mean in 2020 , you had a stroke , and so how did you manage to overcome that challenge and all the challenges that followed in life , as well as trying to continue running after a stroke ?
Well , 2020 was a crazy year . That's the COVID year . I was actually registered for 36 100 milers and I had a goal of doing three per month . In 2021 , I planned on trying to run one every weekend , which would have been 52 . So 2020 was my training plan of . I thought , well , I'd just start with three in a row , one off . Three in a row , one off .
So January , february , no issues . Finished the first rattled off six right then in those months . Then COVID came along and they started canceling races . I was , in fact , so desperate that year I actually ran a hundred mile . It was a 24 hour race around a quarter mile track and I finished in under 24 hours to get the credit for the hundred mile .
But I mean , if that tells you how desperate I was to get a hundred miles in , that's the only quarter mile track when I've ever ran . It wasn't as bad as I thought it was . I just kind of stayed focused with my pace and before long it was over . So right after Dinosaur Valley , it was a pretty tough 100 miler .
It actually required the runners to wear masks the entire time . I don't think it had anything to do with my stroke , but three days later I got a pizza restaurant . I went to work there and I got a headache . I've never had headaches in my life . Everybody says I'm crazy because I never had a headache . I got this weird headache so I went and sat down .
The pain went away in about 10 minutes , got up and my employee's nose right away the side of my face was drooping and I was slurring my words . So we knew I was having a stroke . So I went to the ER at the closest hospital , which they rushed me to a bigger hospital . Rushed me to a bigger hospital .
But I had a hole in my heart from when I was born . That was undiagnosed so I never
¶ Stroke Survivor's Remarkable Running Journey
knew about it . But what happened was between the two chambers blood had coagulated , caused the clot and then it shot up into my brain . So my stroke , my brain damage , was in the medulla , which is part of your brain stem .
Unfortunately for that type of stroke , if you have a stroke and get brain damage in other parts of your brain , I was understood that different parts of your brain could take over for that function , but there's nothing that can take over for medulla damage . But I'm starting to question that now .
I hit a plateau for a couple of years after the stroke , but I feel like I'm getting better and stronger , but I do have significant disabilities . So I by the time this happened the stroke happened about 4 pm , I'm guessing on this , I'd say probably by 10 pm I'd lost my ability to swallow , to see . Of course I couldn't stand .
I lost a lot of movement abilities . To this day I have almost no feeling in my right side . I actually have no feeling on the outer surface , but if something's deep enough pain I can feel a little bit . I also have brain connection problems with mainly two muscles , hamstring on my right side and my glute , which are pretty important running muscles .
So my right side was my strong side , but now my left side is my strong side because my left side functions 100% normal . So I went into this hospital with the stroke . They sent me off to rehab . I was still unable to stand or walk . They were trying to train me to live life in a wheelchair , had absolutely no visitors allowed because of COVID .
Not even my wife could come see me and I didn't know this .
But they were making plans to put wheelchair ramps up at my house and I got upset during my rehabilitation because they were like hey , we're just trying to decide whether or not you're going to need a care worker with you or we're trying to teach you how to basically do hygiene and get along in the wheelchair . And I said , well , I want to walk again .
And they said , well , it may or may not happen , but I think I was in there about seven days and I stood for eight seconds without falling over . I got really excited . I just kept working at it , working at it , and , I kid you not , they kept trying to tell me it's time for you to . You know , go lay down , You've overdone yourself , You've done enough .
But the ultra runner in me came out by 8 PMm that night . I was taking my first steps without anybody on a gate belt , or I did . Basically , I went from one day from getting confidence to stand . I wasn't walking very good and I was really staggering all over , but it got better and better and better . I still have balance issues . In fact .
I just ran 100 mile last weekend and this guy came up behind me . He goes man , you're just weaving all over and staggering . I said , hey , it's all right , it's normal for me . I do this at night . I've got vertigo and I got balance issues . I said I'm fine , but thank you , and I hear comments all the time . People come up behind me .
I probably run a lot of extra miles because I stagger from side to side of the trail , but it's kind of a lot of times . When I first started out , I never did this . Before my stroke I'd have to lay down in the trail and take a little nap and then get up .
One race I got up and ran the wrong way and I ended up timing out because I ran 92 miles but I ran about , I think about four or five miles the wrong way before . Oh no , I was going the wrong direction . So now if I take a nap , I put some type of marking as to which direction I'm going . Yeah , I take a nap .
I put some type of marking as to which direction I'm going . So , yeah , I started walking and then the insurance said like , okay , you've exceeded way more than expectations , so they weren't going to pay for me in rehab , no more . So I had to go to outpatient . They'd pay for outpatient .
When I went to outpatient , which was closer to home , I told them they knew me personally . I said , look , I said I don't want to waste my time with anything but learning how to run again . And they listened to me . They set like obstacles up and I tried to maneuver over obstacles and we just kind of geared it towards me get back to running .
We went outside , I ran in the grass because numerous times I would fall over and lose my balance , and that way it wasn't that bad in the grass , yeah . So I worked hard at it , but eventually I got back to well . It took me . So I had my stroke in November 2020 , and I made my first attempt at a horribly brutal race .
I don't even know what I was thinking . I went to Outlaw 100 , which it's got a 48-hour cutoff and it's not as tough as Cruel Jewel , but it's a similar type of technical , difficult race . Yeah , and I made it . 50 miles , miles , and my brain just won't hold my body up anymore .
Then I went to Prairie Spirit , a race that I'd finished over 10 times , most of them sub 24s . My PR race was 22 hour and 37 minutes at this course . I thought , okay , I'd get to that . So I went out to beat the cutoffs and by mile 41 , I tried to run with a stroller .
I talked with Thomas Green who had had a stroke and he kind of gave me some advice and helped me out a lot . Unfortunately , he runs with a stroller for balance . We had similar disabilities , but I found out that when I lost my balance I'd just pull the stroller over and fall over with it . So , yeah , at that race I kind of ditched the stroller idea .
It worked well for him . So I DNF Prairie Spirit . Then I went out to Jackpot out in Las Vegas . Right , yeah , yeah Actually scratched that between Prairie Spirit and Outlaw . I went down to Louisiana and ran Red D dirt , a race that I was familiar with , and I made it to mile 75 there and I can't hold my balance anymore . I had some other issues there .
I got off course , got disoriented , added some bonus miles , so then I went to jackpot , made it to mile 75 , had plenty of time left with the cutoff , but I couldn't get my body to even stand up anymore , so I DNF'd there . And then I think it was the first week of June it might have been around June 6th and I ran a race down in Oklahoma .
It was called the Mother Road . Temperature was 100 degrees , heat index might have been 115 , 120 . It's pretty humid , oh my goodness , yeah , yeah , it's pretty humid down there , but I I pushed right through that race . It was a race on route 66 , oh , very cool .
Yeah , it was a road race and that would be my first hundred mile finish , seven months after my stroke , which I was told was a world record . But I don't know how you compare that .
Everybody's strokes are a different degree and you know I I mean that's what a lot of people told me , but yeah Well , whether it's a record or not , I would say that's incredibly impressive and well done , and all from it seems that eight second stand on your own that seemed to trigger in your mind okay , I this like it's doable .
Once you crack that , then you can get into all the rest of it , right , so I ?
I knew it was going to happen , but I had , though back in rehab they were like this is a miracle . We've never seen this happen . But you know I they didn't like me in a lot of ways , but they learned to love me by the time I left . But I told them it's because you guys are negative . Yeah , you don't , you know .
And they say , well , we don't like to get people excited about something that may not happen . That was the reason . Well , I had this one gal . It was kind of funny . Well , I was real serious about getting back to it , so I couldn't even walk . So I got off my bed and I was going to just do some pushups on my knee and they had me alarmed .
So they ran in . She gave me a lecture , so then I pulled up my bags and put them on the bed to hold the weight down so the alarm wouldn't go off . And it was like two o'clock in the morning and I was down there doing pushups and everything was all fine . But they come busting in the door and my heart , my heart rate had elevated .
So that's how they knew . Yeah , so after that they alarmed everything . They learned the wheelchair , they learned the nurse was just really nasty with me . I don't know if I interrupted her Facebook time or what happened . That was that .
That was that Wednesday and , like I said , the Thursday , by about 8 PM I was walking on my own and they had this red band on me that I , I wasn't allowed to do anything .
Well , by that night they'd given me the green band and she came back to work on Friday and right when she walked in I raised my arm up and showed her the green band and she was just crying . She goes . I've never seen anything like this . You know Wow , but you know a lot of it's my ultra random mentality .
I just don't take no for an answer and I , you can't . You can't do that . When you're at a hundred miles , you have to know that you're going to finish . If you get doubt , you've lost the race .
Yeah , and I was on a Facebook page the other day and one lady said what's the most important thing that I should work on to finish my first 100 ? And I think the answer well , my answer was something similar . It was belief . And you know there were people like , oh , make sure your nutrition is sorted and you've done the strength work .
Yeah , you need to do that stuff too . But , much like you're saying , my comment was along the lines of if you don't believe you can do that thing , it's really unlikely that you'll finish . End of story . You've got to believe in yourself , which is part of the reason . I mean , I have some challenges with anxiety and self-belief and that's part of my reason .
That's part of my why for running is that to sort of work on that whole self-belief thing to do 100 and 200 miles , you've really got to think about believing in yourself . So , yeah , I would agree it's that belief aspect . Much like you're walking , again , you've got to believe you can do it first , and then everything else .
Yeah , and you know you don't have anything to lose . You might as well try Right . I had a friend , an early influence . His name was Ken Arbel , great ultra runner . He he told me , if it hurts , keep on going , eventually it won't . Won't hurt as much or you'll go through phases , basically , of pain and not pain .
And and it's been true to the most point , I did have in 2014 , when I was doing my first grand slam , I turned my ankle at mile 20 in a race called the Hawk 100 and it hurt . And I just finished that race , the last 80 miles by not turning my left ankle . And then I had a hundred mile or two weeks later called Heartland 100 .
Oh yes , and I was cruising on that race and about mile 70 , I just had this shooting nerve pain just up my leg . I was on a sub 24 pace and I could not run at all . Every time I took a step I'd have this electrical shock nerve feeling shooting up my leg . But I was able to walk somewhat comfortably .
So I walked the last 30 miles , finished the slam , went to the hospital and got an MRI and they said well , when you turned your ankle about three weeks ago , you broke your fibula about four inches below your knee , so it was broken in half and you kept running on it and then you tore your soleus .
That was the most devastating part of it was the soleus tear , and actually in Heartland , in one step I felt the tear because I felt like a warmness tingling down inside my leg and that was the blood from it and then that triggered what's called the post-tibial nerve and that's what was causing the electrical-type shock .
Man , you've had some challenges going on .
Yeah , so to a point , if you run through pain it usually gets better , but that one never got better . Yeah , that one's not going away . There's no ibuprofen to fix that .
One is there when you're running .
Yeah , welcome yeah .
So Will . You talked about your Grand Slam there , but currently you're in the middle of , I think , what we're calling a double Grand Slam 800 milers in seven weeks yeah , it's a double slam . What was the inspiration behind taking this on ? So I ?
had done five previous Grand Slams and then I've also done . Another runner or another race director created something called a Super Slam , which was basically five 100-milers , and I did that twice . So I decided to try to up the Annie and let's do a double slam . But most of the slams , all the slams I did , weren't back to back 100 milers .
They would have a few weeks of rest between . So I decided I'd try to do eight 100 milers in 49 days . So I called the iron will double slam 849 . So it's eight 100 milers in 49 days
¶ Endurance Runner's Race Strategy and Challenges
. I had some people interested . I advertised it for a year but unfortunately I'm the only one that entered it . So I'm I'm just out to prove that it can be done . There's a lot of runners out there . They're capable of doing it , it's's just their schedules don't work out . Another thing I heard was the cost .
Well , I only race direct one of those eight races and that's the Iron Will 100 . And I chose eight races from eight different race directors , so nobody , you know , is benefiting twice from it . So , I did it that way for a reason .
Well , it's a terrific challenge and good for you for going after it . I am trying to figure out , though , how do you kind of manage the physical and mental fatigue that comes when you run 100 miles back to back like that ? Do you have a strategy , or how do you manage that ?
Yeah , I don't know how to explain it . So typically most hundred milers start about 6 am on a Saturday and I'll leave . Usually most hundred milers I run that are five to eight hours from driving distance from my home .
So I'll leave on friday after work , basically get to the hotel , get up , run the hundred miler , drive back and then I work at 5 am on monday and , like this morning , I went to work at 5 am after completing 100 miler and it's gotten to where my legs aren't too bad Now . I just ran Cowboy .
I just finished Ultra Palooza last weekend but the weekend before Cowboy was all exposed and it was about 94 degrees up in Nebraska and I didn't carry enough water , which a lot of . So over half the field , about half the 100 mile field , dnf that race and I think most of it was due to hydration issues .
Yeah , it's very exposed on that course .
Yeah , so I had to . Actually I'd ran that race before , in November , which was no problem because it was a lot cooler then . But I had to kind of ration my water out and slow down and take a lot more walk breaks . Even though I could physically run , I knew that if I ran I'd run into water issues . There's some long stretches there .
The first one is 33 miles until you see your crew , and then you see your crew about mile 50 , and then you don't see them again until mile 75 , and then you don't see them again until mile 75 , and then you don't see them again until mile 100 . But they did have some unmanned water stops , but it was still tough in that heat .
So I had to just slow down and I was able to finish it in 30 hours and 51 minutes , which the cutoff is 32 . So when I'm running back-to-back hundreds I'm not trying to go for any PRs or anything .
I mainly look at the cutoff and try to give myself a little insurance , like at least an hour underneath it , and just complete that , save what I got for the next race . So Monday I'm active at work and Tuesday I just try to stay active , keep my body moving , and usually by Wednesday or Thursday my legs are pretty much back to normal .
But I will say in the heat with the cowboy one my legs were still pretty trash going into ultra palooza but I I was able to run about . I think it was 29 hours and 34 , 29 , 35 , and the cutoff was 30 hours . So my legs feel a lot better this week than they did after Cowboy already .
Do you find that that developed over time ? So the more you did the races back-to-back , your legs got better and better after each one .
Yes , I do , and I do a lot of other weird stuff . When I marathon ran , I used to do ice baths and all that . Well , I found out from experience . Now I do hot tubs or saunas Okay , get the blood flowing a bit . Yeah , what cold does is it constricts your blood flow and your blood vessels and it makes you feel better .
But blood flow is the key to healing and heat promotes blood flow . So I've learned instead of doing ice baths , I do like hot tub or sauna , and that heals you faster than ice bath . Ice baths , like I said , that heals you faster than ice bath .
Ice baths , like I said , they make you feel better pain-wise , yeah , but heat promotes blood flow and blood flow is the key to healing because it's whisking away dead cells and trash and bringing in new to rebuild your cells Brilliant , yeah , I've swore by that . I'm not a medical guy nor a scientist . I've just learned by trial and error . You know tricks .
Well , there's a lot to be learned from experience when you're doing these things , and you're doing them to the nth degree . We'll definitely take on some of that learned knowledge for sure . Now , this past race was number three , I think you said , or was it number four of your eight ? It's number three , number three .
I think you said , or was it number four of your eight ? It's number three , number three . What do you got coming up ? What are four through eight ? I got .
Tulsa Urban , which I've ran numerous times , and usually it's around 100 degrees and it's humid in Tulsa and sometimes the heat index can be 115 , 120 . Fortunately for this week the forecast high . Right now it's 80 degrees . I've never ran at that court , so that's going to be a relief .
So I'll go to tulsa urban and then I'll head over to illinois and run henny pin , which I've ran that race before that's a canal race , isn't it ? yeah , canals , it's somewhat point to point . There's twopoint , there's two small out-and-backs , but other than that it's point-to-point .
And then after that I'll go do Heartland , which is pretty hilly I've ran that a lot and weather can be an issue there and then I'll run Pumpkin Holler , which is similar to Heartland , it's very hilly .
And then I'll go back to the Fall Prairie Spirit race for number eight and it's got a 30-hour cutoff which , since I've had to stroke 30-hour cutoffs , they're pretty challenging to me . That's why all four of my races that I race direct now have at least a 36-hour cutoff .
One of them is a timed race , a 48-hour , but the other three all have 36 cutoffs , because I want to give people an opportunity to finish . You know it , I I didn't think before I had my stroke . I thought 30 hours isn't that tough , that's easy , you know . Yeah , I never really considered till I became disabled .
It's like well , you know , I want other people to have the opportunity to do a hundred mile race .
Even doing a hundred mile or within 36 hours is a great feat in my opinion yeah , it can be for sure , depending on the on you and the terrain and the weather , and there's all sorts going to play , I think .
It's actually harder I mean it was easier for me when I ran them under 24 hours to you get done and you start recovering and then you run another . Well , because you're out on your feet another six or 10 hours or whatever , your body's more trashed than it was when you . I know it sounds crazy , but from experience I found that's true .
Absolutely . Well , let's talk a little bit about that . That's a nice lead into our Iron Will 100 conversation . So tell us a little bit about that race and what inspired you to create the Iron Will 100 . And how did you go about designing it to be adaptive , friendly , if that's a term ?
Yes , so I chose a race . Adaptive , friendly , if that's a term yes , so I chose a race . It's I , it's a nice course and mostly trees along the river . It's it's a rail trail format , but it's not actually a rail trail , but it looked .
It's identical type surface , yeah , and I wanted it to be to where , if somebody wanted to use a stroller for balance , you could use it on that type of surface . So the very first inaugural year I had a good friend . He's an ultra runner I've ran a lot of miles with .
His name is Dennis Wilson , from Lincoln , nebraska , and I ran Henny Pin with him after my stroke and we hung side by side side and we both finished and unfortunately , after that race he suffered a stroke . Oh no . So he came to my Iron Will and he was there again last year . But he completed a 50K and it was , I mean , amazing .
And he's still getting better and better . He finished 100K at my Iron Will this year and you know , I know he's going to get back to the 100-mile thing again too .
But that's the kind of thing I was kind of looking for is to , you know , give people with all abilities , even if they don't have a disability , even if they just want to run a hundred mile but they can't quite beat the cutoffs .
I mean , I've ran and I'm not bashing these races , but I've ran like Leadville and Pinotti , where they got you running like 10 , 12 minute miles to get to the first aid station in three miles and they just eliminate the field . And I'm more of a . Numerous times I've negative split hundreds .
So I run the second half faster than the first half and I'm more of a patient runner where , like right now , if it's a 30 mile cutoff , I'm all right with running all 30 miles at an 18 mile pace , 18 mile pace which comes out to 30 hours , and with early cutoffs you can't .
You can't run that kind of race and I know numerous other ultra runners that are like that . So with all of my races we don't have any intermediate cutoffs , it's you can . If you can do it at the end , that's good enough . And actually I'm kind of flexible , flexible .
If they go a little over , I'm gonna , I'm , I'll give them credit , I'm not , I'm not that hard on it so fantastic and and have you had ?
I know you talked about your one friend there , but do you find that a lot of adaptive runners have come through the race ? I mean , is the is the word getting out ? How has the community response been ? Yes , we've .
We've had mostly um a lot of 70year-old plus runners come there that used to be able to run 100-milers that can't beat the cutoffs . That's mostly what we've had . I've had Brandon Walker who you said referred me . I've seen him actually and ran with him a little bit at Cowboy .
Yes , yeah , that's what he was saying . Yeah , he had a .
he was saying yeah , yeah , he had a stroke as well , or something similar . I've talked to a lot of people who have , but yeah , I was kind of hoping to have more of a turnout , but I feel like I've given a lot of people buckles that wouldn't have that opportunity with a 30-hour cutoff , and you know , that's kind of what I'm after .
Yeah , and I think it's still relatively new . I think it's only at least this race anyway , the Iron Will . I think it's only a couple of years old , is it ?
Yeah , this was my third year . Yeah , so plenty of time . And another race that's really reasonable is Scott Coomer's Badger . He does a 36-hour cutoff . I've ran that I think , around three times . You know , that's kind of the type of race directing or whatever I'm kind of after . I'm not going to try to eliminate the field .
You know , in the first 10 or 20 miles it's too hard of work to just give somebody a DNF because they time out like that .
I love it . I love those races . I specifically look for races where there is more thought given to the mid to back of the pack folks , where there is more time to accomplish something Because we're all trying to get to a goal , we're all trying to meet a challenge and , yeah , the elites are great and all .
But I love races where they kind of go out of their way to make you feel like even if you're you know , you're quote , unquote , slow , there's still plenty of opportunity for you to get , to get to the finish and to feel that kind of benefit .
I think that's great , and you know even if you're not slow , 100 miles is a long ways for everything to go right . In fact I've almost had never it all go right . You have . You always have some type of hiccup . So let's say you know you're , you're starting out .
Then you got a tough cutoff and unfortunately you get something like diarrhea that you got to go take care of or just anything early , like you have a shoe problem and you stop to take care of or just anything early , like you have a shoe problem and you stop to take care of it and you can't beat the cutoff .
Now , later in the race , a lot of people have digestive issues where they got to stop take care of it or just go to water because they can't hold anything down . So that gives you a chance , you know , and you run into one bad area and then you miss the cutoff or you get lost .
You know I've had that happen early in the race and you want to , even though you've got bonus miles . It's kind of nice to be able to recover and finish the race , but with early and intermediate cutoffs you know that ends your race .
Yeah , you're out at that point . That ends your race . Yeah , you're out at that point . So now Will you've done ? I think we said 109 , was it actual 100-mile races and you're three down and the rest to go on your double slam here . Do you have a most memorable 100-mile race of those 109 ?
Well , one that stands out for good or for bad , bad either way , but one that stands out .
I've got a few that I'll have to mention . So I have the 2013 Prairie Spirit run , which there was a chance of snow in the forecast
¶ Lessons From Ultra Racing Veteran
. I ran down . It's a 50 mile out back . I ran south with the wind on my back , turned around , north wind was 50 mile an hour and the snow started dumping by the end , close to the end of the race . Well , shortly we were running in the foot of snow in the north wind . It was like blanking out our headlights .
You had to wipe it off like every 10 seconds because it just blacked out and you couldn't see . Couldn't see . The trail was running side to side . Long story short , somebody went off the trail , called 911 , search and rescue came out . So the rangers came in and shut the race down and I was at an aid station called Richmond .
I was at mile 88 and I had seven hours to the cutoff and I was still moving at 16 to 17 minute miles in the deep snow . I was dressed adequately . I came prepared . I made a wardrobe change it to turn around . I was in cortex . I mean , I was fine .
I could have finished that race , but the park ranger pulled me off so I got a dnf on that , but I finished about 90 miles . And so another memorable one would have been um cajun coyote . One of the hurricane years it just was trenchal downpour and a cold front came in and turned it into freezing rain . But I ran through swampy , technical trail conditions .
It's the same course as Lugaroo exact same course , and I just ran in trenchal downpours and by the end of that race a lot of places were waist high in water that we were running through . It was cold rain and it was freezing rain , but my car was just a solid ice cube by the time I got done with that race . So I was able to finish that race .
And then another memorable one is Cruel Jewel . I love that race . It's so tough and technical . I was able to finish it . I ran through two nights without sleep but it was 47 hours 11 minutes for me . But I don't forget that race because it was so tough and it's probably one of my favorite races because of the challenge .
But I've ran a lot of other challenging races , like Levitt's . Beautiful but tough . Black Hills is deceivingly tough , mostly because of the heat . I think it kind of creeps up Every time I've ran Black Hills . It's kind of a heat issue there and I would say mainly probably the Prairie Spirit Blizzard race of 2013 .
And then I think Lugaroo might have been 2013 as well .
That was a rough year .
Cade and Kayo yeah for the crazy . It was a rough year . Cade and Coyote yeah for the crazy . A lot of people . That was the year that Texas got iced up and Paris Texas got shut down . It was in December . That was the ice storm that hit there . Oh yes , I don't know if anybody remembers , but it was pretty bad out there .
Yeah , now Will . Given just the sheer volume of races you've completed , are there any lessons out there that you might have noticed for completing ultra runner or ultra races that others might not ?
I mean , you've done so many races , like what are some things that stand out to you that would say , hey , if I see somebody doing these things or talking this way'm , that indicates a pretty good chance of finishing or not finishing . You know what do you look for in either yourself or somebody else , and you say , okay , I've seen that before .
That's gonna end well or not well so one thing I see is a lot of runners go out way too fast . For a hundred mile race you have to be patient and you you got . I draw up a plan , even to this day and I kind of stick to a pace even though it seems slow . But I'm trying to just I'm going for finishes .
I'm not trying to podium and the strategy may be different if you're trying to win the race . But one thing I noticed this last race this weekend there's a lot of drops . It was 94 degrees in human . Cowboy was about 94 degrees and hot . It had a lot of drops
¶ Running Strategy and Ultra Motivation
. So what I do is I'll run a little faster earlier when it's cool and if the afternoon's going to be hot , sometimes I won't even run at all .
I'll just walk it and try to make it up at night , cause if you get your body temperature up in the afternoon you're going to struggle at night trying to get , trying to recover and you're going to miss out on some valuable speed miles . And I even did that a lot at Rocky Raccoon . You know Rocky Raccoon can be pretty hot .
Most of the years I ran I've finished it seven times and a lot of times it's hot and muggy in the afternoon . I'll slow down in the afternoon and then speed up through the night .
Night running is some of my favorite , because I'll kind of save my body for that , and then everybody else is dying at night because they've forced themselves through the heat , and then , when you start passing people , it kind of gives you a little adrenaline .
But my advice would be just to be patient , know what your time pace is and know what you can allow within reason . Slow down in the heat I've ran a lot . And reason slow down in the heat I've ran a lot . I've finished Honey Badger 10 times , and it's a race on asphalt with no shade , and usually the asphalt's 160 , 170 .
It was designed to mimic bad water . I've finished bad water . Salton Sea I've crewed at bad water . I've paced at bad water . A lot of that , though , is prep , prep .
You got to prep yourself for heat training , but , yeah , other than that , you need to know when to slow down and not be a hero , because if you try to go too fast , your race is going to be over . I , in fact I there was a guy at this last race yesterday that I finished . He overdid it in heat and he left in an ambulance .
Unfortunately , the ranger had to haul him from a trail to a road and then , as I was running across the trail , I seen the ambulance loading him up . But you know , you just don't want to push your body too hard within reason . But prep and training is a key too as well .
Yeah , now is there ? Is there anything will that kind of keeps you like what keeps you coming back to these what ? What is it that keeps you motivated to go on to the next 100 and the next 100 ?
oh man , I tell you what I I don't know what it is . I I actually hate training anymore . I hate running . But I mean , during the week I'll do it because I have to , yeah . But when I show up at that starting line I I'm just in my own world and I just I love it . I don't know if it's the I I fit .
I found like I reach a pain level with the hundred miler and and then if you push through it it kind of goes away and it kind of sounds weird , but it's more like a pleasure or I don't know . It's a weird thing . If you push through the pain it gets better . But you know , I just enjoy the whole atmosphere . The ultra running community is awesome .
They're like family and just being out there in the wilderness and running . I mean I just look forward to it . If I could afford it , I would run every weekend .
It's an expensive hobby , that it is expensive . Yeah , yes , hobby that it is expensive . Yeah , yes , now , so well , one of the things we try to encourage guests to do each episode is potentially choose a song to add to the free spot . If I choose to enjoy a playlist , this typically ends up being something family friendly .
Maybe it lifts you up or it motivates you , or it's just something you like to throw on while you're out , moving on a trail or wherever you guys are moving . Do you have a song ? Do you have anything ? Do you listen to music , and is there a song that sticks out to you that , oh , that's the one that gets me going when I need to pick me up .
Yeah , I listen to all types of music . I listen to everything from heavy metal , hard rock to country , usually just classic type country , older country oh yeah , I'll . I even listen to a little bit of classical music and some pop music . I got playlists I kind of mix up , but I don't really have a particular song . I mean it's I'd like about everything .
That's fine .
Yeah , that's fine too . Yeah , just a mix of stuff .
I mean you can probably throw about anything out there . I graduated in the 80s and I was kind of into the hair metal thing back then and . I still like that music . Little Scorpions out there , or oh , yeah , yeah so I yeah , I grew up in germany for my first 11 years , and they were actually the first live concert I'd ever seen over in germany .
Brilliant , yeah definitely .
Well , I might throw some scorpions on on the playlist then . Uh , just just for you will yeah , because I certainly enjoy some scorpions , so I don't mind putting them out there at all . We'll do that . We'll find a good scorps tune .
Yeah , that sounds good .
Well , so , as we start wrapping up this episode , I know I feel like I am pretty inspired by Iron Will's incredible journey from surviving a near-fatal motorcycle accident and a stroke to becoming a pretty formidable force in the ultra-running world . With over 100 100-mile races under his belt , Will has shown us really truly what it means to overcome adversity .
I love his commitment to pushing boundaries , taking on the double slam , the 800 mile races in seven weeks . That reminds us that endurance is not just about physical strength but also power of the human mind and spirit .
And I think this story , if anything , teaches us that , while the path may be tough and unpredictable , with the right mindset , with some grit and a bit of support , I think we can all rise above our challenges . And you don't have to be elite to be an absolutely incredible human being .
Will , if people are interested in following along with your journey , where would be best for them to go ? Are you on the socials ? Do you post anywhere ? Where can we follow along with you ?
Yeah , i'm'm not about . The only thing I'm on is , uh , facebook . Okay , cool , my wife , my wife will post as my name and she'll give updates to the race . And a lot of people think that I'm doing that during the race , but I don't . I shut my phone off during the race . Yeah , I save it for emergency .
So , if you see , while I'm running 100 race , she usually posts updates about every 10 miles . Okay , and she'll post on my Facebook page and if you're a runner , you're welcome to you know , friend me . I pretty much am on Facebook for just the ultra community .
I don't do any political posts or anything , so I just mainly am there to communicate with my ultra running community and , like every time I'm running a hundred , she'll post updates on what's going on and everything . So , yeah , it's Facebook would be the best way .
Well , folks , go out and check out will on Facebook so you can follow along with his adventures as he looks to complete his double slam of the 8100 mile races .
¶ Promoting the Endurance Running Podcast
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So until then , run long , run strong , be iron like Will and keep choosing to endure .