Weathering The Run

It is hard to find someone that is as positive and smiles as much as Justin Boggs. He is a very active running in the Columbus community, but just a few years ago he weighed 420 pounds. With diet and lifestyle changes he weighs less than 180 now. Crazy weather seems to follow the races he signs up to run, but he continues to persevere.

I have had the pleasure of running with Rick Hohman a few times while visiting family in Northeast Ohio over the last few years. He is always very inviting when I pop into town. He is not a very outspoken person, but he has some amazing stories to share. He also runs quite a few tough 100 mile races each year and has yet to drop out of a race. And these are some very challenging races, like Hellgate, Potawatomi 200 miler, Grindstone, Hellbender, Bear, IMTUF, Ouray, Ute, and so many others. So he does not back down from tough races and grinds it out. He also has completed Eastern States 100 and was just selected to run Western States 100 in 2024. He is pretty minimalist when it comes to gear, but he does have a few essential items that he will carry for these long training runs and events. Buckle up for a great episode!

I have followed Brad Lindeberg for several years and only interacted on social media until we chatted for this episode. He has run races across the country and is full of stories. He considers himself a non-practicing meteorologist because his career now is helping people with their taxes. But don't let that fool you because he still gets out there and storm chases.

Joe Fitzwater is a Chief Meteorologist at WVNS 59 News in Beckley, WV. He reached a point in his life where he felt he needed to make a change, so he started by trying to run one mile and kept trying to challenge himself to push farther. He gives us an inside look at how running and weather are related and connected.

One of the nicest and fastest people you will ever meet: Arlen Glick. He is a self-proclaimed 100 miles specialist & joins us with his recent big adventures at Western States and Hardrock. We also chat about his future plans like UTMB and what 2024 may look like for him. He represents Ohio well and all of his followers like to call themselves Arlen's darlins.

This year he ran Western States 100 and finished 14th place, after finishing 3rd place in 2022. This was also his first year running Hardrock 100 and he finished 5th place and first place for American males.

This episode is jam packed! I sit down with Harvey Lewis, just days after his finish at Badwater 135. And his Badwater run across Death Valley was less than 2 weeks after his 375 miles that he ran at Dead Cow Gully backyard ultra in Australia. We also talk about his documentary that just game out: Like Harvey Like Son, where he attempted the fastest known time, FKT, to run the entirety of the Appalachian Trail. I also found out that he ran the Arrowhead 135, which is a race across the frozen landscape of International Falls, Minnesota where temps have dipped to -45°F during the race. Harvey has also ran in the last two runnings of the Barkley Marathons, which is an invite-only 100-ish mile orienteering race at Frozen Head State Park that has only been completed 21 times by 17 runners. Again, so much to get to and I hope you enjoy this episode. I feel like there is a lot more to uncover with Harvey and more stories to share, but we try to uncover more of his adventures and the worst weather he has had to endure.

Chikage Windler is the Chief Meteorologist at the CBS Austin TV station. She has been running for years, as she has traveled around the country forecasting the weather. She is a great example for the community and helps share information to the public about exercise responsibly. Texas has recently been going through a prolonged heatwave with temperatures 100°F and hotter, for more than a couple weeks.

Dave Parsons will tell you that it pays to run. He has a special skill at finding money while he runs and he shares his secrets to getting paid to run. He is also an ambassador for NOXGEAR, a company that I personally love as well, and if you are interested in getting some new gear to light up yourself at night for safety then feel free to use his code DPONTHEGO2, for the best discount you can find online. There isn't much to keep Dave from getting his miles done and I am excited to catch up with him to talk about recent races and his upcoming races... Spoiler alert, he had a race following this recording and he did manage to get his PR goal for the 50k.

This is a little different style of episode. I recently ran The Buck Fifty, a 150 mile relay race around Southern Ohio. There are 5 person and 10 person teams and all the money raised for the event helps the a local chapter of Drug Free Club of America. The local area has been featured in documentaries on the opioid epidemic. So local youth and race organizers wanted to stop the problem before it started. The local community buy-in and involvement in this race is phenomenal and the volunteers are top-notch. What is also unique is that the relay race inspires the team to dig deep for their 4-7 miles legs for the race that runs around Ross County including three state parks: Great Seal, Tar Hollow, and Scioto Trails. And it would not be an episode of Weathering The Run without weather getting involved and this race delivered some very wet weather for all of the 87 teams.

So I sat down with the race director to talk about this year's event, that I took part in. The race had a lightning delay because of very strong storms that went through the area along with some hail and rain that lasted for hours. After talking with Dave Huggins, the race director I catch up with the B-TEAM. This was the 5 person relay team that I was on and it was a great experience.

Honored to chat with John Kelly in this episode. He has completed the Barkley Marathons TWICE and has a list of multi-day FKT (Fastest Known Time) records. We chat about how weather plays a big part in his endeavors and the gear planning for events when the forecast becomes less certain for multi-day mountainous challenges.