Rob Berry is extremely passionate about all things running, and that fact soared to the surface on this podcast. Once he discovered that ultra-running existed, he wanted to soak in all he could about the sport. Rob's journey is all about discovering, adapting, learning, changing...just to be better. Rob Berry and I first met at the Cruel Jewel 100, back in 2023, when we were both running the race. Since then, he and I have kept in touch through Facing Vert's Instagram. When he sent me the live t...
Jun 26, 2025•2 hr 35 min
Shannon Howell...what can I say to explain the level of athleticism, grit, dedication and talent this woman possesses? I first heard of Shannon when I ran the Heartbreaker 50 mile (which she won), and so I decided to look her up on Ultrasignup. Whoa...79 races recorded, and she finished on the podium more than half of these. Mind blowing. Absolutely amazing. So many iconic races she has been able to participate in, and I must say I am a wee bit jealous of her experiences! I could not wait to tal...
Jun 06, 2025•1 hr 52 min
I have learned to expect the unexpected with the amazing people I get to know during these podcasts, and Raven Johnson was no different. Raven had just finished the Hellbender 100 the weekend before we recorded, and not only did she finish, but she finished 3rd female overall! Of course, I wanted to hear every detail of this journey, as I also knew that this was also her first time running the 100 mile distance. When you run ultras, it is extremely helpful to have a 'why' while you are out there...
May 25, 2025•1 hr 42 min
Miriam Salloum is the owner of The Runner's Mechanic-a unique running analysis and physical therapy clinic in Asheville, NC. I was looking forward to sitting down with her as our paths have crossed so many times, but we have never had a chance to have a true conversation. I wanted to get to know the person that she is, how she found her love for running, and what inspired her to choose physical therapy as her career path-specifically runners being her main focus. I knew Miriam was smart, but man...
May 02, 2025•1 hr 39 min
It's finally out! Brandon Thrower and Carrie Baris (co-race directors) sat down with me to go through all of the details of the new course for the Hellbender 100 coming up on May 9-10, 2025. After Hurricane Helene, so many of our beautiful trails were destroyed by falling trees and landslides. Through the hard work of so many, trails have been opening up, but it is going be quite a while before we can access Mt. Mitchell and many parts of the Blue Ridge Parkway. BUT, thankfully Hellbender can st...
Apr 10, 2025•1 hr 42 min
I really don't like talking...that is why I ask the questions! BUT, on this episode it is just me rambling about my experience at the Mt. Mitchell Heartbreaker 50M this past Saturday, March 22nd. First of all, the weather was absolutely perfect...chilly in the morning and rising to around 68 or so in the afternoon. Clear, sunny and beautiful. I know Brandon (race director) was so happy to finally get a forecast like this for a race! I tried to go into this race with zero expectations and simply ...
Mar 29, 2025•48 min
Now this was a fun interview...two friends that met through running, now crew one another, race together and train together when they can. Both Tim Nooney and Miller Groome decided to run the Black Canyon 100k this past February, and I wanted to hear from both of them about their journey through this race. It was so great to hear that they were able to share several of the miles together on the trails of Arizona, while also entertaining all around them with their banter. :) But, as the day unfol...
Mar 15, 2025•1 hr 41 min
It is here! Brandon Thrower, of Tanawha Adventures, discusses the NEW course for the Mount Mitchell Heartbreaker 50M & 55k with me on this episode. Listen as Brandon walks us through the turns, the terrain, aid stations, crew and more for this upcoming race. Although the race will not be able to go to Mt. Mitchell this year due to damage from Helene, that doesn't mean this course is not going to be epic. If you know Brandon and his races, you know he will make sure you have an incredible exp...
Feb 27, 2025•1 hr 20 min
"If you don't have the confidence, you have to have the courage"--Teresa Bowser I absolutely loved when Teresa said this as we discussed why she signed up for the Fierce Dragon Firestarter 100. Already an extremely difficult race (that very few want to even attempt), the crazy weather took the difficultly to another level. This race started in snow, turned into slush, back to ice and THEN came the pouring rain. It takes a special person to even start this race in ideal conditions, but if you kno...
Feb 01, 2025•1 hr 16 min
Andrew Hall signed up for the Old Fort Strong Endurance Festival's 24-hour race with a short window to train and only a 50K under his belt. Andrew's own hometown of Burnsville was hit hard by Hurricane Helene, and he saw first hand the generosity of others to offer their resources to help. So when he saw the opportunity to also help Old Fort, he jumped in head first. Andrew and his friend, Jake, signed up together, and the training began. Hear about his adventure, the lessons learned, how he bat...
Jan 18, 2025•1 hr 51 min
First of all, HAPPY NEW YEAR! I truly hope that you had a wonderful Christmas season and are getting off to an amazing start in 2025. To kick off this new year, we have a new race to talk about with Brandon Thrower, race director and owner of Tanawha Adventures. The Hanging Rock Challenge 50K & Half will be taking place on January 11, 2025, and this race course sounds stunning. Hanging Rock State Park holds a special place in Brandon's heart, and you will hear why. Here is a snippet from the...
Jan 05, 2025•1 hr 31 min
I met Katti Jackson at The Naturalist, where she took 2nd female overall. Since then, I have seen her dominate in the ultras she has faced since that time. Katti didn't even start running ultras until 2022 with Table Rock, and in 2023 she won the Heartbreaker 55k, then won the Heartbreaker 50 miler the next year. So, like anyone else would do (ha!), she wanted to try her hand at the 100 mile distance. She chose Grindstone 100 for her first attempt, and not only did she finish, but she finished f...
Dec 14, 2024•1 hr 32 min
First of all, I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving with their friends and family. I am so so grateful to each and everyone of you that listen and share this podcast! On this episode, I sat down with Brandon Thrower, with Tanawha Adventures, to get all the details for you on the Old Fort Strong Endurance Festival coming up on December 6-8th. The Old Fort Strong Endurance Festival is going to be amazing...full of runners and mountain bikers looping trails for 6, 12, or 24 hours for one goal...
Nov 30, 2024•1 hr 45 min
Natalie Narburgh does not shy away from adventure or challenges...actually she gravitates towards it. Natalie not only wears many hats as the Executive Director of Pisgah Area SORBA, but also many hats in life. She is a trail runner, cyclist, rock climber, a white water kayaker, a wife, a mom and more. I was thrilled to sit down with her to talk about her adventures and the trail races she has been a part of, but I also wanted to learn as much as I could about Pisgah Area SORBA. The timing of ou...
Nov 15, 2024•1 hr 9 min
Resilience -"the capacity to withstand or to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness" Anne George is, to me, is the definition of resilience. I feel as if she may disagree, but I could see it and hear it when we spoke. First of all, she is a phenomenal runner. If you take a glance at her UltraSignup, it is documented that she has participated and completed 46 truly tough races, and she has been on the podium for 36 of these. Not to mention, she was standing on the very top for 20 of these. ...
Nov 01, 2024•1 hr 55 min
I have had Brandon Thrower on the podcast many times to talk about the details of the races he directs, but this time was different. As everyone is well aware, Hurricane Helene tore through Western North Carolina destroying lives, homes, businesses, roads and the forests we love. Through spotty cell service, I was able to see the efforts that Brandon and Camp Grier were doing to help those around the Old Fort area which was so badly hit. I wanted to have him on to talk about all he experienced, ...
Oct 19, 2024•1 hr 24 min
The Leadville Trail 100 Mountain Bike Race took place on August 10, 2024, and my good friend, Steve Bennett was up for the challenge. Steve has loved his mountain bike since he was young, and throughout the years has dabbled in different disciplines of the sport. Steve loves to race, and has had quite the success, even though he is so humble about how skilled he is on a bike. On a whim, he put in for the lottery for Leadville, and to his surprise found out he was in. He and his friend, Adam Fish...
Sep 20, 2024•1 hr 27 min
The Table Rock Ultras are quickly approaching, so I sat down with race director, Brandon Thrower, to find out all the details. The Table Rock 50k & 30k will take place on September 21st and here is a little teaser from the website... Roots and rocks; hills and creeks; views and memories... We offer them all and more at Table Rock Ultras. Your goal is the finish line, but lying between you and that goal is a lot of climbing, creek crossing, rock-hopping, gel-taking, and limit-pushing. The pan...
Sep 06, 2024•1 hr 5 min
I had the pleasure of once again sitting down with the Mountain Monster, Marisa Romeo. (Yes, I made that name up, but just look at her Strava!) The last time we spoke she had just crushed the field at the Looking Glass 100K in November of 2023. I wanted to have her back on to hear all about her latest race, the Lavaredo 120K, that takes place in Italy. To say that I am jealous that she as able to travel to this part of the world and run in these mountains is an understatement, but I loved living...
Aug 18, 2024•1 hr 45 min
In this episode, I sit down with race director, Brandon Thrower, to talk through every detail of the upcoming Grand-Further Mountain Run. See what Tanawha Adventure's website has to say about this race... The Grand-Further Mountain Run is the premiere mountain race in North Carolina. The 25 kilometer course will climb Grandfather Mountain a total of two times from both sides of the mountain. The terrain is unforgiving, extremely technical, but most of all, astounding! Fixed ropes and ladders are...
Aug 02, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Tory Grieves, along with Sara Molskness, were on the podcast over a year ago to talk about their battle with injuries and the difficulty of simply not being able to do what the love. Tory had torn her plantar fascia, and it had taken her around a year to really start trying to run again. Then, right before we were going to record, she had re-torn her plantar fascia and was devastated. Now, a year after that podcast, she is back on again to talk about all the steps she took to tackle her injury, ...
Jul 19, 2024•1 hr 24 min
Nathan Frantz has such an adventurous spirit, who loves to push the limits and seek the extreme. As a young boy Nathan found a love of the outdoors and this never grew dim...whether it was by BMX, cliff jumping, whitewater rafting, Spartan races or ultra running. Nathan is so easy to talk to, so humble, and he loves fiercely. We discuss his recent experience at Hellbender 100, his Palmetto trail FKT, his incredible pacing skills for Aaron Saft's Grand Slam last summer, and so so much more. I so ...
Jun 21, 2024•2 hr 6 min
When Marcus sat down with me, I did not know a thing about him except that he was really fast and super strong. I first saw his name come up when he won the Looking Glass 100k this past fall, and then he showed up so strong at the Hellbender 100...taking 3rd overall with a sub-24 hour finish. He had me curious for sure, and I was very excited to meet him and hear his story. I was BLOWN away! Marcus has had a whirlwind of adventure, so much accomplished, in such a short time. This guy has complet...
Jun 07, 2024•1 hr 49 min
Bonus Episode! Ridge to Rails 50k, Half Marathon and 10k are THIS weekend, so Brandon Thrower (with Tanawha Adventures) and I sat down to talk about each race. If you are running this race this Saturday, or thinking about participating in the future, you will want to listen. Brandon walks through every turn, terrain and views found on each course, plus giving other valuable information about the races for the participants crew and spectactors. I hope you enjoy! The races all take place in the ar...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 17 min
So much to say about Carrie Baris, the co-race director of the Hellbender 100. Yes, she is an ultra runner, but she is also very successful in the equestrian sports of endurance riding and ride & tie. I was absolutely fascinated to dig into both of these equestrian sports to find out how they operate and how they correlate to endurance running. One thing I learned is that I HAVE to try ride & tie...combining both running and riding a horse. Sounds like an absolute dream to me! Carrie is ...
May 23, 2024•1 hr 46 min
Teresa Bowser is an incredible trail runner, ultra runner, crew, pacer and friend to all. Teresa began her trail running journey around 2019 and has now conquered some of the most difficult ultras around...the Hellbender 100, Cloudsplitter 100, Stillwater Ultras, and recently the Georgia Death Race to name a few. Teresa is also a beautiful, young lady with the biggest and brightest smile. You can't help but feel joy when you are in her presence, and she doesn't even seem to realize it. But hidin...
May 10, 2024•1 hr 39 min
Bonus Episode! For this episode I sat down with co-race director and course developer, Brandon Thrower (Tanawha Adventures), to talk all things Hellbender! According the the Hellbender 100 website: The Hellbender One Hundred is one of the most scenic hundred milers on the East Coast. This course will take you through a grueling tour of the massive Black Mountains, deep into the valleys below and to the summit of Mt. Mitchell, the highest mountain East of the Mississippi. With an elevation change...
May 04, 2024•1 hr 37 min
**Warning: sensitive material is discussed in this podcast** Ally Carlton was recently on the podcast after she grabbed the FKT both North and Southbound on the Art Loeb Trail within three weeks of each other. Pretty astounding to say the least. And then, in March, Ally crossed the finish line of the MST 100 as the female winner and third overall, despite the horrible weather conditions. But, this episode contains so much more than a race recap of her grind through this race. This episode is raw...
Apr 26, 2024•1 hr 23 min
We are putting this episode out early because 7 Sisters is right around the corner! On this episode I sat down with Brandon Thrower, of Tanawha Adventures, to get all the details on his upcoming 7 Sisters 25K. According to the Tanawha Adventures website, "The Seven Sisters 25k is a monstrous mountain of a run around the East and West ridges of the Montreat Wilderness! The route passes over multiple peaks and overlooks including; Lookout Rocks, Rocky Head, Graybeard, Rattlesnake Rocks, and of cou...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 6 min
On this episode, you will hear about my experience running the Mt. Mitchell Heartbreaker 55K that took place on Saturday, March 23, 2024. Somehow I came in first lady and 11th overall with a time of 6:59:59...right under that 7 hours! Turned out to be a beautiful day of running with unexpected views, new friends, and lots of grumbling about gravel roads. :) Needless to say, it was an amazing day to be out on the trails. Thank you to Brandon Thrower, with Tanawha Adventures, for putting on this e...
Mar 29, 2024•41 min
