DeadSkout, or Skout, ran across America in the fall of 2023 from Los Angeles to New York City. It was a solo effort with no crew, so he was very minimalistic with his gear that he carried in his backpack. Skout is an artist and his avatar, for the character he is representing, is a sad panda. So he is running across the country as a character and wearing a motorcycle helmet with a decal of a panda to represent the hardship that the panda character deals with. So the run was dedicated towards mental health and suicide prevention awareness. Skout wants to attempt the run again this coming fall and hopes to have a crew this time to help. He is selling some gear on his website to help raise funds: https://deadskout.com/

Anytime I visit Northeast Ohio to visit family I always love running with a group called Trail Enthusiasts for Burning River. They have a Facebook group and post weekend trail runs so I leading up to my visit I can see where the Saturday and Sunday trail runs will be to see what fits into my schedule while visiting family. Bob Smaltz is 62 and always a pleasure to chat with while running on the trails and has a wealth of knowledge to share on the sport. Hope you enjoy this episdode!

Brian Papay ran 5125 miles in 2023, but didn't get serious into running until 2020 when COVID shut down the gyms. He pushes hard with minimal attention or gear. You will often see him running a hundred mile race in shoes, shorts, and a handheld water bottle. He has big goals on the horizon to push himself more.

Excited to chat with Jonathan Levitt, the host of For The Long Run podcast. We talk about his experiences growing up in the Boston area and how the weather is so much different than what he experiences living in Boulder, Colorado now. He also travels a lot with his work, so he gives us some other areas to put on a bucket list for amazing runs. You can find him on social media at: @jwlevitt.

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. Connect with Justin on Instagram: jj_boggs

You may have heard about the “CHIPOTLE SEGMENT CHALLENGE SERIES” contest that just occurred in January. The two companies teamed up and made Strava segments a little less than a quarter of a mile long that ended at Chipotle restaurants in LA, NYC, DC, Chicago, Denver, and Columbus. Each city had their own unique story of how the competition went to see who could run those segments the most during the month of January. I sat down to talk about it all with the winner of the Columbus segments. A modest runner that goes by the name of "Fern". Fern doesn't want a lot of spotlight, but he ran the 0.2 mile segment 1,000 times over the month of January to win a year of free Chipotle (52 free entrees). Columbus had some rollercoaster winter weather and the segment also was unique since it runs along the edge of Ohio State's main campus. Great chat for someone willing to lay down some serious miles just to get bragging rights along with some free burritos. Really enjoyed this chat. For more on the rules: https://www.chipotle.com/strava-segment-challenge

Aneta co-founded Empower Ultra with Jennifer Russo, who was a guest on Episode 4 of Weathering The Run. Aneta and Jennifer set up their races with generous cut-offs and other parameters to ensure a high finishing rate. Two of my 100+ mile races occurred at their races. Aneta signs up to run some very difficult races and has an extensive list of race finishes over the last decade, including Badwater 135. She was also featured in a recent documentary running Western States, called "Nettie From Ohio". Aneta is also very active on Instagram and Strava, if you would like to follow her journey.

Most of the world has 24 hours in a day, but Scott Kummer somehow seems to get 36 hours of work done 1 day. You may know him from his podcast Ten Junk Miles or from one of the races that he race directs with Ten Junk Miles Racing. His podcasts have helped me get through some long solo runs. He dives deeper than most podcasts with questions that his guests typically do not get asked. Scotty is a lawyer for a living and he said that helps with thinking of questions to dive below the surface with some of the guests. Sometimes they don't even get around to talking about running or their latest accomplishments. It was a pleasure getting the chance to pick his brain about his career in running. He has run some of the toughest winter endurance races around. He also is a big volunteer helping others in their quests to challenge themselves. He shared some expert tips on running in extreme cold weather and I tested out some of his methods just this last week and man was it a game changer! Hope you enjoy this episode!

Elizabeth Long says in the episode that her sister, Bridgett Shoemaker, is the runner. But Elizabeth is running every race across the state of Ohio with her sister. It is a way for them to see all of Ohio and meet some awesome people. They always try to find a local hidden restaurant to eat at, after the race. So far they have completed 77 of the 88 counties. The rules they made: minimum distance is a 5k (3.1 miles) and it must be a sanctioned event. Some counties only have a race or two every year, so they have to lace up and run the event. It was great hearing about their favorite races and most memorable locations. Great bonding for the two of them and it inspires me to do more memorable things with my family.

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! Rick Hohman's Strava

Jeff Henderson is hard to miss at local races or running events. He is 6' 11" tall and he owns the Columbus area Fleet Feet stores, so he is always out and about helping other runners and coaching as well. We talk about his running experience and how he helped develop and cut local trails at a nearby state park. He also is instrumental in getting free shoes on the feet of the youth, with Girls On The Run. He also goes over some great gear ideas for any running acquaintances you have in your life, if you are looking for a gift for someone.

It is a real treat to sit down and chat with Ryan Ploeckelman, the host of The Adventure Jogger podcast. Ryan has a long history of running and pacing ultra races. So we turn the mics around for me to ask him some questions. The Adventure Jogger website.

It would be hard to find someone as passionate about severe weather and understanding it like Dr. Ariel Cohen. When I knew him at Ohio State he was not a runner, but he picked it up and he has great advice on trails to run across the country since his career in meteorology has taken him to all corners of the United States. He has some great advice and we talk about the public's understanding of weather and how we can better communicate the weather forecast.

Two teachers really stick out in my memory through grade school and college. One of them is Dr. Jay Hobgood from when I was at Ohio State. I am excited to talk with Dr. Hobgood about his knowledge of hurricanes and his history with running. He has a tropical blog, where he writes about the current active storms in the tropics: jayhobgood.com. You can also find him on Facebook as Jay Hobgood along with X (Twitter): @JayHobgood.

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. Strava: https://www.strava.com/athletes/18429735 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bradrunsfar/ X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/BradRunsFar

Dr. Jana Houser is a runner & a leading research scientists on tornadogenesis. This episode gets into the science of tornado formation. She will continue her research, thanks to a $1.7 million grant she just landed, through Ohio State, to build a mobile radar system. Her research has already sampled more than a dozen tornadoes with most rotating at the ground first. Really honored to chat with her and about the robust meteorology program Ohio State has to offer young minds. Here is a link to her most recent research article titled: "Additional Evaluation of the Spatiotemporal Evolution of Rotation during Tornadogenesis Using Rapid-Scan Mobile Radar Observations": https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/mwre/150/7/MWR-D-21-0227.1.xml

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. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meteojoe Twitter: https://twitter.com/meteojoe

You will have a hard time trying to find someone more positive than Erin Arnett. She is a mother of 4 and a great role model in the community. She shares some stories with us about how she got into running and some of the most challenging running elements she has had to endure. She also has lost a few of her best friends that were also runners, but she dedicates runs to them in remembrance and to celebrate that every run is a gift. She also records all of her runs to help raise money with the Linda W Daniel Foundation. For every mile walked/run or 15 minutes of working out then it counts as 1 beat. You record your beats each Monday on their website and LWDF raises $1 to support select cancer organizations on a one-for-one basis to match your beats. IG: @momrunmomrepeat

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. Arlen does not have social media for personal reasons, so some sponsors passed him up. However Craft Sports signed him as a sponsored athlete and they are getting more attention than normal athletes because it funnels the curiosity through their channels.

Honored to chat with Rob Steger and Marianne Hogan. I have followed Rob's work with Training for Ultra with his podcast and book for several years. He also just released a documentary on Marianne, called Marianne Runs, that followed her 2022 Western States and UTMB double. We got to chat about the opposites of weather that they have endured and about Marianne's return to running after overcoming injury. A few sponsors they would like to shoutout would be Naak, Ciele, Salomon, Hammer, XOSKIN, Tanri Outdoors.