Let Your Inner Beast Run Wild! All-New 2025 Ultra Adventures from Beast Trail Racing

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 getting something of value , leave a review and let others know . My name's Richard Gleave . I've been running ultras since , I think , 2017 .

I have taken on and finished numerous ultras , now 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 , we are diving back into the world of race directing with two incredible guests , kelly Means and Jeremy Nicolosi , the powerhouse team behind the all-new Beast Trail Racing .

Kelly and Jeremy just launched their new race company with the inaugural Père Malfé race . This was held at the stunning Bussey Break Wildlife Management Area in northern Louisiana , and they have already set the bar pretty high for creating inclusive and challenging race experiences . But that , folks , is just the beginning .

Over the next year , they'll be hosting events in both Louisiana and Nebraska , tackling the unique challenges of organizing races across two pretty different regions . We'll explore their motivations for starting Beast Trail Racing , what it's like working together as an engaged couple , and how their experiences as ultra runners shape the events that they have created .

Plus , they'll share behind-the-scenes stories from the Père Malfé race itself , insights into what makes their races special , specifically for back-of-the-pack runners , and the trials and triumphs of building a race company from the ground up .

So if you've ever wondered what goes into bringing a trail race to life or you're looking for your next epic adventure , this is going to be an episode for you . Stay tuned . It's going to be an inspiring ride and we'll be right back after this .

Was there a specific moment or experience that pushed you to take the leap into organizing your own races ? How did Beast Trail Racing come about initially ?

I called it the penthouse in Slidell , louisiana , that I used to pretty much live there , outside of my apartment , so we'd be drinking bourbon a lot at nighttime after work and we're shooting ideas out and it's always about running .

And he knows that I go all over the place , all over the States running , and he's's like we need to somehow incorporate cardio bullies with you running . Do we need to promote more on clothing line ? Do we need to go with this ? And then just one one night it was hey , how about we start ?

How about you start up a race company and then kind of bring cardio bully in as like , somewhat like an entertainment deal where they do some of the aid stations on either , of course , drinking or having a party aid station or just taking care of any of the runners . And then , once he threw that in my head , I couldn't stop thinking about it .

So I was like , all right , well , here we go . So I was like we'll start a race company and of course , the only way to do it is beast trail racing . So our motto is let your inner beast run wild . So that was the first idea .

And then , of course , me and Kelly had our relationship that we were doing long distance , and I turned to her and I was like I start this . We started together , so that was a little bit of how that worked . And then the goal was 2025 was supposed to be our first races .

And then we threw a race together in July for my sister and Chris Klug Foundation for organ , blood and tissue donation . So that was our first race that we did . And then Pear was pushed a little bit up .

We wanted to do it in March but with a lot of fishing out there , the park manager was like , hey , november or October is going to be your best months , and so October was pushing a little too much . So we went with November , even though it was only we had seven months to put it on , and I don't like that , I'd rather have over a year .

So that's where that kind of went and this idea wouldn't start unless Ryan , with a nice glass of bourbon . That's where Beast Trail pretty much was created in the penthouse dining room with maybe a glass or two of bourbon , probably two .

Spanky likes Coors . I don't know why .

And then you know , that's how the group was started and they brought me in because I ran with them in Mississippi and from there it's just . It's been a brotherhood since then .

So that name came first and then beast came a little bit after , because I was doing all these hundreds month after month , doing three races a month , just putting in some miles . That probably was stupid , but in my mind Definitely stupid miles yeah yeah , but in my mind I thought it was awesome and then so it just became you've been beasting it .

You're a beast out there , and I don't consider myself as a beast , but I was like well if we're going to put a name as a company . We got to grab you . So what other way to grab it is ? Hey , go be a beast out there for the day and then , guess what ? Go , put your work clothes on and go back to work .

Now , a lot of folks out there would start with one race if they were starting a race company . Now you guys , I think , have what ? Maybe six races or so , if I'm not mistaken . Tell us about your races and what you currently have on the slate and what makes them kind of cool and different .

He was running with a friend of his and I was volunteering at an aid station Well , a few aid stations and then we sat down and had some time to talk at the finish line as we were waiting for everybody else to come in , and then we kept talking .

He moved up here in August and in July , a couple months or about a month before he moved up , he proposed so there's been I don't know . I want to say like almost half of the times that we were talking through the winter or for this past year , about half the time it's been related to a race .

It's definitely been a big piece of it , but I we'd be talking and all of a sudden , oh yeah , I had a new idea for a race and there's , I don't know . You probably have like four in the back of your mind that we just don't have an actual day ticked out for .

Of course you got to go big or go home , right ?

So the first one in 2025 is going to be March 8th and it's Go Wild Ultra . Of course it's spelled just like Louisiana G-E-A-U-X , and then that option is a 50K and a 50 miler . That's going to be in Dolan , louisiana , at Lake I'll probably say the park wrong . Of course I'm from New Orleans up north .

We do a little bit of different on how we pronounce Lake Disney State Park out there . So that'll be in March , and then we changed the Blue Ducky 5K waddle to May , right around my sister's anniversary . So just a little quick background on that .

In May 2022 , I lost my sister at 33 years young I always call it not old to a heart attack , and she was fully handicapped . We donated her organs and so the foundation I'm with is Chris Klug Foundation with the organ , blood and tissue . Every race we always throw those in there so , people , we can get more awareness .

So the whole thing about that race is to bring awareness . One person can save eight lives . Well , stephanie that's her name saved eight lives .

We donated all her organs , everything we could , that they offered we did , and so it's a big part that she's my warrior , she's my hero , and as much as I can get that name out there , and as much as I can get CKF out there as well , I'm going to do it every which way . Now this race is completely a 5k .

We take all the proceeds that we can , minus whatever the medals , shirts and whatever food . We got to kind of put up a little bit , and then all of it goes as donation . So nothing is made for Beast Trail .

We probably take a big loss on this , but at the end of the day , it is what I want and this is how we're going to go a little bit further , and so that'll be in May . So we moved that was originally July , we moved it back to May to get it around . Her anniversary and then and that's May 17th is when it's going to be in 2025 .

And that's in honor and memory of Stephanie , the company he was talking about before CKF , the Chris Gluck Foundation he runs . He's , I guess , sponsored by CKF for Leadville 100 , but he's run that for the past two years . Hasn't quite made it to the finish yet , but that's a pretty tough race year .

You , he had elevation sickness but he also was coming from new orleans , so negative elevation about as flat as here in houston , I would say well you're .

Any of the swag that we have in our bag , we'll always have something with Chris Klug in there . It's just a thank you for bringing more awareness to other people . And what else can I do to help you out in more awareness to other people ?

And what else can I do to help you out , because a lot of people don't understand how being a donor is such a big , big , big big deal to help a lot of people . Yeah , it's a struggle to get people like on the waiting list for any of the donors , so that's just a little little side note on that .

We have more information with our Facebook page and our websites .

And then we fast forward to October and we have El Diablo Hundo , the Big Devil , that's going to be in Dolan , louisiana , also at Lake Bisney , and that's going to be 100K and 100 miler . And then back in November we'll be back for our second year for a pair , and of course that one's the 50K , 16 miler and 8 miler .

The other Nebraska race that we have is June 14th it's no Shame , shindig , and that's going to be at Willow Creek State Recreation Area , and that's just a little . It's a half marathon , 50k , and then we're going to do a 50 miler out there Because there's not like in Nebraska , there's not really a lot of actual ultra distance . There's the Hitchcock experience .

There's some Hitchcock runs up there which are awful . They're just , they're really rough . It's a lot of elevation . It's in December , I think . Rough it's a lot of elevation . It's in December , I think . Usually it's like not .

There's not really anything around here and so we decided to kind of bring that to Nebraska and that's why we decided to do that distance Like I said , it's roughly an eight mile loop . Do that distance Like I said , it's roughly an eight mile loop , and so it's going to be pretty easy as that first experience with it .

We've got a pretty generous time limit 14 hours I think and then we're going to have a main aid station and then like a water station about halfway through .

Louisiana has a couple of fairly well-known races , but I'd love that you're putting more races in Louisiana and kicking some off in Nebraska . And even I mean I think I'm on one of the cowboy pages too and it's really cool to see more and more Nebraska people signing up for like the 100 mile and the 200 mile , just for a cowboy , nevermind anything else .

So I really love that you guys are trying some races in places that mean something to you to encourage other people to get out and and take a chance and do a short distance or just kind of get the experience going . I think it's . I think it's fantastic . Now you guys mentioned being engaged , so congratulations on the engagement . First off , thank you .

I kind of wondered this , but being engaged , does that influence how you guys work together in organizing races ? Do you find your personal relationship brings different strengths to the business , as it were the business , as it were .

I don't know , this is like my third job , like it's just we're both very busy people and then trying to get training in on top of it , it makes it , I think , doable that we live together . We can work on some of these things together and then , like our strengths , I think , are really opposite of each other , which works really well .

I'm not a marketer at all and that's very much what he does .

He worked in sales for a really long time and I have my English degree and so anything that has to do with writing like I write the runner's manuals and things like that and getting the aid station set up is one of the things that I did at Paramount Faye and kind of getting everything organized because I feel like that's something that I do well , having kind

of started in the ultra area and volunteering , and he's the chef . He cooks probably like 99% of the things in our house , and so he did all of the cooking , I think , at Pear .

So put a pin in that one because I do want to chat about that sane and in a good way , so put a pin in that one because I do want to chat about that . But I imagine you guys kind of sitting at home kicking around an idea and waking up one morning and be like , hey , you know what ? I just thought , what about a race here ?

What if we did this here ? And I just feel like maybe that's a better experience because you are both right there . You can sort of bounce off each other somewhat where business partners may or may not have that opportunity . Perhaps I don't know .

At these places , all of Louisiana ones are him , and we would just get on the phone or FaceTime to do our call , because we talked like every day on FaceTime for at least a half hour to an hour before he moved up here and he would just get on . hey , I have a new idea for a race .

Oh yeah , he would send me a link to someplace hey , I want to do a race out here . Send me a link to to someplace hey , I want to do a race out here .

So a lot , a lot of the early planning we had kind of already done , but it's a little bit easier now to do it , and doing a lot of the planning and like prepping for it , packing for it is a lot easier when we're both here and can do that .

And then he's got , you know , like he said , he's got a few other ideas that we're hoping to planning to learn from our 2025 races and see what works , what doesn't work .

It's in the bank , it's all saved , and then she just says , hey , I can't deal with no more races right now , let's hold on . You got racing , hold on . You got racing through 2025 . We I got racing through 2025 . Let's just hold on , and then we'll talk about it for 2026 .

You need to do research with it , you need to plan it out . Does it get aggravating that we talk about it 100 times ? Yes , it will be .

But then at the end of the day , somebody will realize how much planning we went through the race and how much that we cared for it , and understand that , hey , this is not just us for one year , and then we're done , and then we're going to go set sail somewhere else . Now this is going to be a very long process .

That it takes time , frustration , patience that I do not have . That's where she is amazing at , because my patience is .

I know how to market , I know how to throw in stuff , I know the courses , what needs to be done , and then she'll come in and throw in , sprinkle her little knowledge of stuff , or her English major , because I am horrible at English . I'm told that I got to use chat box all the time because nobody can understand anything I say .

So that's where our strengths are and we understand not to step on each other , but we also do understand that your opinion matters and we'll talk about it and if it's going to work , it's going to work . If it doesn't , then we won't do it .

We kind of show up , we run the race , you know , and we go home and we may chat a bit , but I really don't think a lot of people out there understand all the behind the scenes , everything it takes to put a race on . So , Père Malfé , that was your first race . Let's talk about that for

a minute . How did you go about choosing the location for that race ? Was that something that you guys were looking in that area and saw that park and went to them ? Or I mean , how did you come up with I think it's Busy Break as a location for any race ? Really ?

I'm not taking away any of your deals or anything like that .

By December , I started sending out emails to a whole bunch of locations hey , can we do a race here ? What can we do ? And so maybe 10 people sent emails back to me . The other ones never did . So , of course , does your feelings get hurt ? No , it's just hey , let's go to the next one .

So , daniel , over at Boosie Break break , it's a wildlife and fishery location , so it's not so much of a like a louisiana park , but it's more like wildlife . He was the first to reach out to me . He told me that there was another park that probably would suit us better , but it was already . It was already stated that they never had a race out there .

So let's do something new , if we're going to be new , and let's bring something up there that people don't know anything about and let's give them some knowledge on the place . So he was the first to go back to me . That's when I said let's do March in 2025 .

And he said , no , march doesn't work with the fishing because it's a big reservoir that the old paper mill company used to use to dump a whole bunch of debris in . And then , of course , that got shut down , I believe in 2011 . I believe it was . I probably am wrong on that .

Just , we'll go with that day , I mean that year , and then from all that time they got donated and then it took them all the way to 2020 to get the reservoir up . They did so . It's technically a trail levy and it goes eight miles around the the reservoir and I was like that's perfect , it's great scenery , it's never , gets used , where .

That'll be one of the lessons that we learned that we'll talk about . So that that was the biggest thing . Right there on the location is what's new ? What's where races are not , and am I stepping on anybody or are we stepping on anybody's toes ? So that's where that location came from . Location came from Then .

The other big thing was we looked at each other and we're like , hey , are we really trying to really make money for us to never work again , or are we doing this for passion ? And it was completely . I'm doing it for passion and Kelly's doing it for passion . Look , we still need to make money to keep the business going .

We know this , everybody knows it , but we're not going to come out there and hurt you on your pockets .

We want you to go to a location , either spend some money on a hotel or the park , or dinner out on the restaurant or go shopping at the local places , because the more money we can put into those local places , that means that town can boom a little bit bigger and then be a little bit nicer .

So , of course , me as a salesman let's go get some sponsors . So the sponsors are easy , right , I can pitch you an idea of this . So I have multiple details on how getting a sponsor is . You'll either get a name on the shirt , you'll get a special swag where you get to put items . Whatever item you want , you can get your logo on it . We also do .

The certain aid stations will be called their name . They also have a banner . There's multiple deals on that . So when they donate money for us , it goes straight into the pot . So for that race , we take some of that money out and then that's how we get the nice swag , that's how we get the nice shirts , that's how we get the nice food .

Yeah , we put up a good bit of money for that , but they also help us in the back and hey , this race is going to be nice , you're paying for a good race . We're also getting your name out there .

And then the other thing that we're going to start in 2025 is each month , whoever is our sponsor for our local races so we keep it separate Nebraska does local , or we'll do local with Nebraska and then local with Louisiana , and then we'll do a shout out so that month , wherever it is , my top sponsor will get the first deal and then we'll go down from there

. If you're a top sponsor , you get on top of the shirt , you also get top of the aid station or whatever you do Like you get . The more money you put in as a sponsor , the more benefit you get .

And then even the lower ones that do a sponsorship so just say , 50 bucks , a hundred bucks for the year Well , they'll still get their name on the shirt , but they won't get as much notarizery as our big sponsors because of course , they paid for what they're doing .

So all that kind of works in , and that's where a lot of the small details that people don't understand that , yeah , I don't go around telling you about it , but with the podcast to understand how to do it , as a race director , I'm going to tell you exactly how this works and it did . Now we know year one we're going to take a loss .

There's always going to be a loss on year one . Year two , we build on it because then we're going to have inventory with shirts , medals . Yes , we'll change up the logos every so often , we'll change colors of shirts , but year one is going to be a loss and we already know that . That's what we is .

A benefit of understanding and starting a new company is you can take a loss up to five years and then go from there .

I think maybe behind Beast Trail Racing is trying to get more people involved in and interested in trail running and ultra distances . You know , you've kind of talked about being a back of the pack runner . I'm a back of the pack runner . I have narrowly missed being DFL , I don't even know how many times . Many , many , many times .

And I joke that I DNF'd on pacing at Red Dirt . I had an injury when I was pacing someone .

So , coming into this race first year , I think we both expected that 25 to 50 would be over the moon of what we expected , but we were figuring about 25 to 30 and we had 39 .

That was lesson to learn Understanding that if it's an easy course for me , it might not be easy course for everybody else .

It might not be the gold mileage you want it , but you still finished a race and you still still got out there . So we want to , we want to tell you thank you and we appreciate everything . Are you upset that you didn't finish your time or your your distance ?

Yes , but we're there for you and support and that was the biggest thing , like our last two that were 10 , 10 plus hours for the 50k it was just over 10 hours and they were like we were still out there and they were like thanking us and I'm like we're here for another four

hours . It did not matter and we were going to get y'all through and make sure everything was finished and had a cooked meal for them at the end and , of course , them thanking us a hundred times was probably the highlight of it because , look , we're out here for you . Yeah , are ? We Are we enjoying it ? Yes , we are .

So part of the essence of Beast is , you know , we're going to make it a great race for everyone and we're going to wait for everyone because they deserve as much attention coming in as the first people coming through Arguably maybe more . I mean , they've been out there a hell of a lot longer running around and trying to push themselves .

So , especially if we were going for the group of people that are relatively new to trail running or ultra running , you've got to give them a chance right to get around . There are few people are great out of the gate . There are a lucky few , but most of us are not out of the gate .

There are a lucky few , but most of us are not , and so I think it's really cool that you can go to a beast trail race and know that you get more than enough time to get around and get through any of the weirdness that happens throughout the day and still have a finish line to get to that isn't going to be broken down by the time you get there .

We had some big divots in there , some ruts that you want to call them little ankle breakers . So that was a . That was a big deal . And what the survey worked out perfect was .

I sent that to the park manager and of course , he responds back to me and saying that they're going to work on the trail and they're going to redo it all and get it all flattened and get it better , cause they want more races out there . Cool , for if it's not us more races , but somebody out there for races or even just more people around that trail .

The problem was everybody kept staring at the trail on the ground to make sure that they didn't break their ankle , and so that was a big lesson learned that yeah , I thought it was fast and easy and didn't realize that my technical trail should be just put on side for racing , not as a race director . So I have now Kelly to go back on .

And then , of course , you were talking about Scott and Kurt . Those are our two team members for Beast Trail Racing as well . They also get thrown ideas hey , tell me what this worked , tell me what didn't work , tell me how I need to reword this .

They also get thrown ideas hey , tell me what this worked , tell me what didn't work , tell me how I need to reward this . And we go from there . So it's more of hey , let's back up the reins a little bit on , hey , I want to describe everything . Let other people talk about it and then put it in a nice description .

So that was one of the one of the issues was the trail . And then I clearly misunderstood the cooking . The pizza on the griddle that was a horrible idea . Pizza was great , it just took too long to cook . So now if we're going to offer pizza , we have to order it . There's no way I can cook it .

Everything else worked perfect , but I missed a couple of runners coming in to not be able to take pictures , because of course Kelly's doing the time . She's also taking care of the volunteers . She's volunteering at the aid station getting people food , drinks and stuff like that While I'm on the grill trying to cook .

That was clearly way too much long that I was on the grill , so that's going to be eliminated . And then also I'm going to prep a little bit different and then we'll have more warming plates .

So , hey , I can cook a whole bunch while you're on the on that one loop , and then I can focus more on helping Kelly at the main aid station and then also taking more pictures .

And then the other thing that was a boo-boo mistake that turned out to be a great idea now is when we did the trail cam , somebody decided to not put pictures , but let's do a camera of a video . So that turned into a great idea Now let's be honest here it was .

We're going to introduce a second trail cam for just pictures and one for video only , because how many times you're out on the trail and you're like I wonder what I'm , what I'm doing while I'm running , and stuff like that . So now you'll get pictures and you get videos .

And a mistake turned into somewhat gold , because we had some very comical deals out there of some arm flexing , some almost mooning and then getting tongued and all kinds of good stuff , all good stuff , but now we'll put a second trail cam to get pictures . And then , of course , the facilities . Sometimes it's going to be hit and miss .

I mean the bathrooms were . I mean you're at a Louisiana park , wildlife and fishery . It's going to be difficult Unless we go in there and redo it all ourselves . I can promise you as much as I can . But with bathrooms and facilities we're out in the trail . So I understand some people are a little frustrated that it was a little disgusting .

But I've been to places where they haven't even had bathrooms and you had to go in the woods .

But there's always that experience , I think , of any runner afterwards you kind of chat with the other runners about hey , what did you think about this , and this was really great and I didn't really care for this part of it . But not a lot of that information necessarily gets back to the RDs .

It's kind of just everybody processing their own race and we wanted to give people the chance to do that and learn from what everybody thought and a lot of it I think we weren't necessarily surprised by . There was a lot of really good feedback on it . A lot of people liked most of it .

The trail was one of the things that a lot of people talked about , which we knew kind of after that first loop and people kind of talking about and I think you had said somebody said there was pigs that had gone through .

He was trying to grab some of y'all but it didn't work .

But we had water there , ice , and then we had electrolytes and then we had a couple of snacks and everybody said it was key , like it worked perfect .

Because , yeah , you're an eight mile loop but it got hot during the day , like we , we were cold in the morning and then and then that heat picked up and people just started getting hot and everybody was like it was just , it was perfect .

Because once you got to that four mile , you're like I just need something , I need something salty , I need something fruity , I need something just to get in my system . And then it worked out great , even for the eight milers . They loved it . And then the 50 K's that they said it was it was the

best thing . So , like , even though we got small loop races , we're still going to put a second unmanned location and look if , if we waste some water , we waste some water . It's just that's where we're going to go with it and we want to give you an option that you have another spot to refuel .

Stop for a minute , get onto the shaded canopy , anything like that , just to kind of kind of help you out a little bit .

So the second half always seemed a little less than the first half getting getting up there . So it was really . It was a nice little because it was you're right . So it was a nice little mental break too .

, so that I can just grab out of there what I need . And so when I was setting up the aid station , I had one pan that was Ziploc baggies of all salty stuff and one that was all sweet stuff .

So if you knew because when you're running you don't always know I need M&Ms right now , or I need pretzels right now , I need something salty , and you can kind of go there instead of having to look at all of the things .

So we tried to balance that too at the unmanned station , with having a little bit of salts there was electrolytes that we're going to be helping with that and then having some sweet as well , because one time you might need salt , one time you might need sweet .

I think every time I came around you were cooking something , and just the folks , the food options out at that race , were incredible . I don't know if that's is that . I mean there was so much of it , it was all I say it was all .

There was a lot of savory foods coming out , a lot of vegan style food , you know , just loads of stuff to eat , grab and go on your loop , which I thought was absolutely incredible . So thank you for that . Is that something that you guys feel like ?

You know we were doing it sort of to get a feel for what this is going to be like and maybe that'll change . Is that something you plan on keeping to some degree at that level for for other races ?

I mean , I think I don't know for me I would come to one of your races just because I know the food options are out of this world and I can count on that as a runner to where it's not just and I've been to some big races where you get a handful of gels and some fruit snacks and an oreo or two and some what do you call pr Pringles , you know , and

that's just not enough for me . I want real food .

They're going to be in and out in a few hours and they don't necessarily need a lot of extra food .

When you're out there twice as long as the first place runner , you need twice as much food because you're there that much longer , and so having something hot when it's starting to cool down at the end of the day , or having a meal when you finish , instead of just getting a banana and a Gatorade to go , and that's what it is .

But at the end of the day we had multiple fast runners finish and then they picked out , and not in a bad way or anything like that but hey , they didn't eat during the race , but then they ate a whole bunch after .

So I've been to a lot of races . There's some good races and then there's some really races like how do you run out of Coke ? How do you run out of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches ?

I'll take 30 hours to finish a hundred mile race just so I can eat the whole time .

You're going to have some potato soup . You know a little bit of warmer food than that , but other than that it's going to be every every race is we're going to have a ton of food . We did learn that we do need to put a little bit of a small keto little side for a couple of races . Okay , runners did not realize that .

I thought the vegan was a little bit more geared . But a little bit of extra learning on that , but it works out great .

Even there's a lot of runners that even they might not live or eat vegan most of the time , but during races they eat vegan because it's easier on their stomachs or because it's that's what they've trained their bodies to . Whatever it is like , I don't really care . There's some vegan options that I really like , that are really great .

The vegan ramen , I think , is better than regular ramen , and you can fight me on that one . I think it's true , though , but we didn't realize we did have one or two runners that were keto , and they had kind of talked about .

There weren't a lot of options for them , because when you think of longer races , you typically think of things that are carb heavy well , that's awesome .

Let us know what you want , we'll cook you a burger or whatever it is after the race . So this is your post-race . You finished and you get to sit down and chill with a burger or whatever it is , and I thought that was kind of cool too and very different . So kudos to you for that .

It can't have been cheap , but at the same time , I think that created a pretty unique experience and encourage people to stand around and talk after the race that you were referencing earlier just sort of build some of that community aspect by having people sit down .

And you know there was a bunch of us milling around by the start , finish , watching other runners come through and and just kind of chit-chatting afterwards . So I think that's a great way to start building a community , even though it might've cost you a little bit extra on the on the food side .

Now , tell me and we talked about the trail cam too , and I'm fascinated by this because I must've missed that at the beginning of the race . So I missed that totally .

So I didn't even know there was a trail cam out there , even though every loop I saw the sign that said , like smile , you're on camera and I thought , oh , that's nice , maybe the park has a camera out here . So I didn , even if it was a kind of boo-boo , so to speak . I think that was super cool and really unique and interesting .

Where did that idea come from ?

So the problem is it's two of us right , I can get as many volunteers I want , but none of us are photographers . And why should we spend , or make you spend more money on a photographer when we can get pretty much the same concept a lot cheaper and then have it right then .

And there the trail cam kind of came from from Styx with Lisa and then have it right then . And there the trail cam kind of came from from sticks with Lisa and Renee , where they pulled it out . There we were thinking of some kind of way to get a camera out there . We just never thought about the trail cam .

And then they had it out at the sticks and we're like that's a great idea , because now it's going to be pictures after pictures , and then it will give unlimited on the trail , like I can take pitchers at the finish line , but some people want that during the race , in the middle , wherever , how tired you are .

They want to see what they look like , and it's . It might be a horrible picture or it might be a great picture , and so that's where that idea came from .

Was pretty I mean , lisa and renee were key for that on the trail deal but I I knew I wanted to have pictures out on the trail yeah , and I was glad you put it out there because you know it's it's .

But also I got to see , because most of the time I saw Scott Weidenbacher sat in a chair , but I got to see actual evidence that he was on the course at some point , even though it was maybe only one loop , so I'm glad it was there .

He's going to go do 100 miles just to beat everybody , right , right , probably so , just to be that person . And then , look , I told him you can just send the 30 bucks to the foundation . Chris Klug , you don't need to give me no money , I'm good with it .

Any tips for listeners out there who might be interested in volunteering either at one of your races or at some other races , especially if they're a little bit hesitant , maybe haven't volunteered before , if they're new into the sport , because I think that's a great way to see the sport get up close to it without necessarily having to jump in and run kind of any

big distance . Any tips for you guys Are you looking for volunteers for some of these races and , if so , who would somebody contact if they were interested ?

Coming from a background of road running and doing a lot of half marathons and one full marathon , you know things like oh , my feet are going to swell quite a bit , so I need to get a half size or a full size bigger shoes If I'm going to be running something longer .

You know how to take care of blisters and things like that as you go through learning how to fuel differently those kinds of things . And then you meet probably some of the best people you're ever going to know on the trails .

I like road running , but I think once you get into trails and to ultra distances the competition goes down Like not necessarily that people aren't competitive , but it's very much a feeling of everybody wants you to succeed .

You know , at the sticks this past summer , partway through one of the loops , my light went out . Jeremy was he calls it party pacing me , so he was running with me at my pace , trying to help me get to my hundred miles , and my light went out . He had his and we ran across . Gosh , who was it ? One of the buckleheads guys ?

The really tall one , jonathan , jonathan Prosser ? Yes , we ran across gosh , who was it ?

But there was , there's that instant back , but there was there's that instant . I'm going to help you however I can . That I don't think you get in other types of running and I think there's a lot of intimidation with that , but for my experience it's very welcoming . Most people are very welcoming .

If you're there to volunteer , the RDs are going to be extremely thankful for you . And , yeah , we're going to be looking for volunteers and you can contact either one of us beasttrailracing at gmailcom . As far as like other suggestions , I'm a night owl and I think that helped me quite a bit . I volunteered at a lot of overnights .

Overnights are hard to fill , so you're and I feel like it's a little bit less hectic because most people do end up taking a nap at some point and it's most people's circadian rhythm You're going to take a nap or you're going to rest at night . More often you get to spend more time talking with people , I think .

I can be around you and understand , hey , you might be a little hurt , you might be a little sore , take 10 minutes , you got plenty of time and that's what it was it was . It was after Luke too , and he had , they had plenty of time to finish . You could walk it and be done with it .

And so that's where , like , being the whole thing with the party piece and volunteer deal is , hey , I'm around you , this whole race , let's not just call it quits yet , take a little bit , understand where you're at , process it a little bit and then come up to me .

And then that's where , like , if you volunteer , you can understand that a lot more , with runners coming in each race . So Kelly deals with that part on her and I deal with it a little bit more .

On the inside , the racing deal where , hey , you're in your head , let's back out , let's go do something , go grab a drink and look your head , let's , let's , let's back out , let's go do something , go grab a drink , and look , sometimes you got to tell somebody , go grab a beer , drink a beer real quick and then figure it out from there and and then that's

how it works a lot of times .

So , with volunteering it , it probably would be better to volunteer first and then kind of understand where , like hey , where multiple racing racers come from , and then then take it from there okay , very , very cool , very cool , and I got two kind of final-ish fun questions for you and then we'll kind of let you get back to the rest of your evening here .

Either you had a race in mind , they sold out , you got hurt and then all of a sudden your doctor cleared you , or you just said you know what , I'm gonna go race , so we don't want you to think that we will make you pay for more . So whatever the fee is , it's going to be the fee all the way from open to close registration .

You shouldn't have to pay more money for that , like that's that's our biggest thing . I'm not knocking anybody any of the other race directors that do it .

I understand why they do it , but that's just where we're at and we understand that we'll get a whole bunch of late minute signups and that's fine and that's what we like about it and we'll make sure that you're taking care of that point .

And then the other thing too , with the pricing is we give you 25% on military , retired or active , and then 25% on first responders and then , of course , like Kelly touched , the 10% on donors and that's just a thank you for all y'all do . And then this helps you out where you save a few bucks . Does it hurt us ? No , because we already had our prices .

What needs to take care of ? And we're not looking to get rich from y'all we want to include y'all in all our races and we would love for everybody to come a year after year and do multiple races with us where you just can't just have to save up for one race and then go from there . You know that's the .

That's one of our biggest things on on the price . And then of course , we're going to give you a ton of time to finish . And look , if you come in at 14 hours and 10 minutes . We'll call it 14 hours and you , just you click your your watch later . We're not going to kick you off the course . We want you to finish . We , we , we , you paid for this .

You put all this training in either for you paying it for money , wise , or training wise , or whatever deal is we , we want you to finish .

I think that's a pretty well-known one and that's part of what we're doing , is we're putting out there , especially for people who are new runners . It takes a lot of courage . It takes more courage to do the thing that you're not sure that you can finish or that you're not sure you can complete , compared to the person who knows that they can complete it .

It takes a lot more courage for that and that reminder that you can do those hard things .

And then a Steinbeck quote now that you don't have to be perfect , you can be good , and I think that's really true in running and in racing , because your race is never going to go perfect , it's never going to be the perfect race and just kind of knowing that it can still be a good race even if it's not perfect , it's never going to be the perfect race ,

and just kind of knowing that it can still be a good race even if it's not perfect .

So you have to go in and earn it every time and and wind your way through the myriad of things that can go wrong and problem solve and figure it out on your feet as you're going , whatever challenge you're having , and that's why it's part of the reason why I love ultra running .

I'm you know I'm never going to win anything , but I love the challenge of , of , and you could go run the same race three times and have three completely different experiences and have to problem solve along the way on every one , and so I think that's really unique and a really cool thing for ultras .

As opposed to a marathon , Most marathons are relatively flat road races , built to go fast . Relatively flat road races built to go fast . You could go to a marathon in a multitude of different places and they all look relatively similar , probably with the exception of maybe Boston with its incline , but most other stuff is fairly similar .

They make it similar right . Same with triathlons , but ultras . You can have a really tough 50-mile mountain ultra flat , 100-milers mountainous 200 . I mean , it's all over the place . Beach running .

You don't always think about things like that and for me , as somebody who's had heat exhaustion three or four times , that's not a race that I think I'll ever probably be able to do , just because of the exposure element . There's not really a lot of races that are easy with no elements of difficulty .

I'm sure .

And I only say that because I just happened to be scanning the Cocodona site a couple of days ago , just trying to get my bearings for what on earth I'm going to have to do to go run that race . And I noticed Jamil Khoury is running Cocodona this year , who obviously is head of Aravaipa Race Company . He puts on Cocodona but he's actually out there .

I think this may be his second time actually running the race that he is putting out there , so you know , kudos to him . But I thought what a cool thing for a race director . I feel like you all should run your race to have that experience of what it feels like to be out there and to be able to relate then to everybody else that's trying to do it .

But again , it's not always an option , but I think that would be kind of cool . But again , it's not always an option , but I think that would be kind of cool . Well , so now , kelly jeremy , one of the things we encourage guests to do every episode here on the show is to choose a song to add to the free spotify choose to enjoy playlist .

Typically it's something kind of family friendly . Maybe it'll lift you up , motivate you or just sort of keep you moving while you're out on the trail . Do you guys want to tell us what song you chose and why , if at all , did it resonate with you ?

It's all like female empowerment songs and things like that , and so the song that we ended up choosing came from that playlist and it is Champion by Carrie Underwood , and I can't remember who else is on it .

I really hope this chat has given you guys out there listening an insight into the beast trail racing journey that we are really just at the start of . Before we wrap it up , do you guys want to let listeners know where they can go to find out a little bit more about Beast Trail Racing if they're interested , and the races that we talked about earlier on ?

Check out the Facebook page , check out the social media , explore what's on the calendar , go out to Ultra , sign up and see if there's something that tickles your fancy , something that challenges you , something that gets you out on the trails . It's a fantastic way to support the ultra community and experience what Beast Trail Racing has to offer .

And , of course , I'll put all those links in the show notes if you have interest in doing any of that .

While you're off browsing the internet , please don't forget to also subscribe to this show . That way , you get notified every time a new episode drops and if you're enjoying what you hear , if you're liking the content , please follow , share and leave a review . That means the world to me and the support helps grow .

The podcast connects more runners to the community and helps share information that amazing guests like Jeremy and Kelly give up their time to come on and talk to us about . You can find this show also on Instagram and Facebook at Choose to Endure , or visit us anytime at choosetoendurecom .

I'd love to hear from you whether it's just to say hello , suggest a topic or share your story . You can also email me directly at info at choosetoeenjoycom . Interacting with listeners , just like you , is really one of my favorite parts of doing the show , so I really look forward to hearing from you .

Until next time , run long , run strong like a beast and keep choosing to endure .