The History of Mount Marathon with Eric & Denali Strabel

Mount Marathon looks simple on paper: sprint from downtown Seward, climb hard, then hang on for dear life all the way back to the finish. But the people who live it know it’s something else entirely. We’re joined by Eric and Denali Strabel to tell the story of why this Fourth of July mountain running race carries so much history, emotion, and identity for Alaska, and why it still feels like the purest kind of “go there and throw down” competition.

We talk about growing up inside the race’s lore, from junior starts to volunteering and community pride, and how the mountain becomes personal over decades. Denali shares the women who shaped her view of toughness and resilience, including Nina Kemple and the era-to-era shift that took the women’s field from a handful of sub-hour performances to a deep group of contenders. We also dig into how champions like Christy Marvin keep raising the bar through longevity, fearlessness, and a love of racing that doesn’t fade.

Eric walks through his own evolution from years of frustration to consistent training, durability, and finally winning the race. He breaks down what makes Mount Marathon unique for trail running and mountain race preparation: it’s a climbing mountain, not a runnable one, and fitness only matters if your body can transmit it on steep terrain and an unforgiving downhill. From his 2013 course record battle with Ricky Gates to the turning point of 2015 when Killian Jornet arrived at full power, we map how the race went from a local proving ground to an event with international gravity.

If you love mountain running, downhill running, trail racing history, and the mindset it takes to go all-in for less than an hour, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share this with a friend who loves steep trails, and leave a review with your favorite Mount Marathon moment or question.

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Transcript

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Meet Eric And Denali Strabel

SPEAKER_03 0:56

Eric and Denali Strabel, welcome to the Steep Stuff Podcast. How are you guys doing?

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Yeah, we're doing great. Excited for the week.

SPEAKER_02 1:04

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:05

Yeah. I am, first of all, honored and appr it's it's an honor and a privilege to have both of you on the show. Denali, obviously, you've been a guest multiple times in the past, but Eric, yourself as a legend of the Great Mount Marathon race and just uh Alaskan mountain running in general, it's an honor and privilege to have both of you guys. And so I'm so excited to have this chat and uh kind of talk about some of the history of the race and talk about just how meaningful it is to both of yourselves and just the Alaskan mountain running community in general. So I'm gonna pass the baton uh to you guys, whoever wants to go first. I'm just curious like what this race means to you individually, and uh just what what do you what do you think makes it so special?

Why Mount Marathon Feels Sacred

SPEAKER_01 1:48

Um for me, I think it's the history. Uh it goes back generations. It's uh one of one of the oldest foot races in in America and one of my first sightings of any kind of a race. Um one of my own very first experiences racing. Um and there were oh there was stacks and stacks and stacks of results. Um my first race was 1993, and and even then as an 11-year-old boy, there was so much lore around the race, and they there was such a um it was already built up around, and no other race was was like that. You know, there were local 5Ks and and school stuff, but no other community race like that. And so it was it was deep in in the lore of Alaska, this this foot race in Seward. And um, yeah, my family, we had to take part in it down there and and it built from there.

unknown 2:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:48

Uh for me, yeah. Um growing up in Seward, uh, the mountain itself is the backdrop of your life. Uh, the junior race is because everybody else is doing it. It's a really um cool introduction to mountain running. Just having a fun blast time with all your classmates, your teammates. It's just a really for me, it's a very um personal relationship with the mountain. And maybe as my younger adult, like a frustration with like, how do I become a mountain racer? And this is such a VK effort with a downhill. This is this takes so much to like um just always being involved, always being involved in a volunteer position. Um, I've even sang the national anthem at one point, uh, just a lot of history and that lore that Eric was speaking about. But like I was like living in that lore, um being interviewed as like a young child, not understanding what was happening, but not realizing that like what my parents were to the race or what seward people are to the race, if that makes sense. Like just kind of this lore within the lore of like then like the sewardites, the people who grow up on this mountain. So yeah, for me, the mountain has always been a very personal relationship. Probably why I'm a little emotional right now, because it's race week and it's just a lot. But I I'm like Eric, had some of my first experiences with any of this high caliber stuff uh with Mount Marathon at a very young age. Uh, I would think I was 10 years old when I finally raced.

SPEAKER_03 4:27

Wow. This is a very generalized question uh for both of you. And uh this is more of like just like what it means in a way, because both of you guys are very your stories are very intertwined with this race. I mean, Eric, what, 20-time finisher? You're you're a first ballot hall of famer of the race, multiple-time champion, Denali, down descent, you know, record holder, 17-time champion, you've been on the podium, or 17-time finisher, you've been on the podium. No, it's all what is what it what does that mean to to have your stories so just like intertwined with this race's history and to be really a part of the history of this race? So when people look back and listen to this 10, 15 years from now, you know, and get to learn about who Eric and Denali were, like what what does that mean to you as far as being a piece uh of that history of this race?

SPEAKER_01 5:17

I don't know. Um it's it's so much a part of each of our lives. And we I guess we we met each other through the race.

SPEAKER_00 5:28

Um Yeah, but pause way like our foundation is that like no one's immortal. Like we understand that there is there are lists, there are records, and we we are into that because we have this kind of inner inner battle that we want, or maybe a riddle that we've wanted to solve. Like, how can I be a climber? How can I get the decent record? I think that we have a foundation of like understanding how both of us come towards racing the mountain. I mean, I don't know if you agree with that, like I'm wild and you're more straight, like forward with how you do it, but together we have a similarity of like we're not out here to try to be like always on a list for 10 years, people still think we're relevant. Like we're not chasing like this. Yeah. So I mean, I don't know if you agree with that.

unknown 6:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:19

So I don't know. For me, the relationship with um this whole Mount Marathon thing is that we can be part of history with like the amplification of the race, with where we went from in the women's race, only maybe the top two or top three women broke an hour to now maybe top 20 can break an hour. Um, and just being part of that history, but with like Eric, whereas we started together pretty much because of Mount Marathon introduced us, and we just kind of kept finding each other every fourth of July. And it was um just this kind of blossoming relationship, but also our blossoming like position in the race. Like you were winning, and I was not, but I was like, I want that downhill record, and you were like, Yeah, you can do it. And we just went after it together, I felt.

SPEAKER_03 7:09

Now, obviously, you guys are a little bit different

Coming Back After Life Changes

SPEAKER_03 7:12

in this. Eric, you've you've kind of stepped away from racing and denali, you continue to what keeps you coming back, Denali? And then to Eric, why why did you step away from from racing it?

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Oh, that's a good question. Um, I think I think that especially after I had a child, I realized um for a while like this kid is gonna take up our whole life. Um, and so what are the few things that I can stay connected to? And um, we agreed it was like if we want to be good parents, we have to get outside. Um, if Denali wants to be a good Denali, she's gotta get outside, she's gotta eat, and we gotta, you know, and so I I I felt like I got this second chance of um falling in love with the mountains all over again. Uh, not doing any track, any other, like kind of going, like, what could happen if I could like go all in, but all in with a toddler means a very different thing than like what a 26-year-old is saying, like, I go all in, like I can't quit my job. Um, but so like each year it's almost like I'm getting a little bit back of myself. Like our son is gonna go to kindergarten. And the first thing I thought was, oh man, I think I can now train to run a hundred mile race. Like, you know, so it's it's for me, I'm still excited, but in a totally, totally different way. And I think pregnancy transforms the soul of a woman. So I just, yeah, I feel like I get my second life racing. I'm inspired, which a lot of women who've been doing this as long as I have don't find that. So I know how privileged I am to get a second chance.

SPEAKER_01 8:57

I I guess for me, my my story um should start, you know, back when I was young, the race might made such a large impression on my life. Um and I remember being this little kid uh um hearing you know stories of of Bill Spencer and and others who were doing remarkable things on the mountain. And I see that the times, you know, at that time, you know, Bill Spencer, and he still has this record of the boys' course record, it's a remarkable time. It might be more impressive than his senior record that he held. Um the the boys' record, we we saw that, and that was in off-the-chart performance. That was so that was um uh something to think about. And then the men's record, of course, that was something, and and no one had challenged those times. And um, but every year, you know, we would you know do our best, and and um it was it was just what you know my peers were were interested in, and so I got you know pulled into it, and but I never felt like I was great at it, and it it kind of bothered me in the back of my mind. And so I was going through high school years, college years, even early senior years, and I just I never put things together, I never had prepared well for it, and that always bothered me a little bit. And then through my experience and practice and and building my expertise through through ski coaching and then getting to work with elite ski coaches and elite athletes, then I got to see how an elite um uh athlete could be created and and prepared. And I and I I took the same lessons to myself. And um I started on this little uh and then this was after my my ski coaching, sorry, my my ski uh racing career myself, cross-country skiing. Um, and I I thought, uh, I'm too old to continue ski racing. Um, so I became a ski coach, and long story short, but I still wanted to compete. And so I ended up just dabbling on my own time, running, I ran consistently, and I built that up and I suddenly realized, oh, I can actually, you know, do this on a small amount of time every day out from my front door. And I I was a recreational runner and a professional kid ski coach. And after a couple of years, I realized, oh, I'm I'm running better times than I was when I was a professional athlete. Um, and I just took it one step farther and farther and farther, and I realized, oh wow, I have I'm doing something that I never had before. I actually have an aerobic base, and I'm actually durable. And and I get one thing led to another. And suddenly I was able to to um to train on these mountains faster than I could race before. And um, I dab a little bit with uh having an inclined treadmill. I went steep that way, added that in a bit, maybe a little bit too much later on. Um but then it became such a um a good experience that um it it sucked me in for a few years. I I got a little um I don't know um obsessive over a little bit. And um, but for maybe for for for for better as well. So I got to I I got to realize my potential in it, and it was hugely rewarding. And I had some great years um for myself. I got to do some things that I thought were not possible, and and and then right at as I was reaching that point of like at that stage, then I was you know with with Donnelly there, and um and I wanted to you know spend some more time with with her. And then at the same time, these guys like David Norris, Scott Patterson, Killian, Max King were coming on scene, and and and a really neat thing was I didn't need to be there to make the race, and that was really neat. Um, I didn't I I felt like I was not important there. I didn't need to be there, I had no obligation to make the race happen like maybe years prior. Um, and that was really cool. Uh someone might thought that I was, you know, um miffed or didn't discouraged. No, I was so happy for the race, I was so happy for for every time um and who who can run very fast in the mountain. I'm super happy for them. I'm um and of course I have dabbled a little bit back in the race, and um each time I have I've realized I'm pretty happy being a spectator that day. I'm very happy for for the racers. Um but now I'm I'm real happy with with not not racing anymore, and I'm I'm very happy to let someone else race in that spot.

SPEAKER_03 13:38

That's so cool. Yeah, it's interesting too, because it you reach a point where I, you know, oh, I feel like you've reached a point becoming one of the greatest mountain runners in Alaskan history and lore and everything with this race where you could just be happy with what you've accomplished and kind of looked at, look you know back on it and you know, just enjoy the race from where you're at now. So that's a that's a really cool place to be in. Uh, you know, to not have to have to be there and be in the mix and stuff like that. Because we'll talk about it when we kind of get into the eras of the race. But you know, you've had some battles, man. Like I can't wait to talk to you about like with kid the races with, you know, race with Killian, races with Ricky Gates, and uh, you know, just kind of your era of the sport, which was really cool. Um, you talked about Bill Spencer, you know, being someone you looked up to as you kind of came up in the sport and learned

The Women Who Built The Standard

SPEAKER_03 14:26

more about the race. Denali, I gotta ask you a similar question. Who did you look to or look up to? Um, you know, who I I know I've obviously mom probably played a big role as well in family, um, but who were you looking up to as you kind of you know grew into the sport?

SPEAKER_00 14:43

Yeah, gosh, another great question. You're on fire today. Um, wow, this one will make me emotional because I had I had kind of one of those typical um maybe where someone says, Oh, I grew up in the back of a running shoe store, or oh, I was with, you know, wherever their environment was. My environment was not just Mount Marathon, but all the running, but like when it was the time to train for Mount Marathon, our life was in it. And I grew up with my mother and all the women who are kind of like my second moms. Everyone from Pam Skokestead, Nina Kemple, um, all these women of the sport, they were just, they were just my mom's friends. And I got to be this awestruck girl with my twin sister. Like it was always about the boys. And as these boys were just going crazy over splits, blah, blah, blah. But there wasn't uh what I would think we have now. Uh, just kind of these funny conversations I remember. And I just remember looking at all these women and just being like, like they just have to get after it. And that was my first example of like just not listening to the noise. Like they were into it. It was their identity for a moment, as like Eric touched on it. It's okay for it to be everything for a moment. Um, but they they were my first example of just getting after it, not letting people get to them, and like just this kind of resilience that I thought that was just so kick ass. So yeah, my mom's era of those, those late 80s, early 90s, and then those early 2000s of when I was kind of dabbling in like, gosh, one day am I gonna do that? Uh, then than to being in my first senior debut, and those girls are like the are still there because they're only 10 or 20 years older than me. So it's just it's it's insane to be like full circle with some of these women who are still in the race today, my mother included. Um, but just ah, yeah. So, anyways, again, it's very, it's a very personal relationship for me.

SPEAKER_03 16:51

I I actually I think this is a great place to start. So you mentioned Nina Kempel, or Nina Kemple, uh, nine-time champion. I believe she has the most wins out of any person on that mountain ever. Uh can can you speak to what Nina is like, what you know, her her era of the sport, kind of um just give us any history or any background on Nina. And obviously you said she played a major role in you, you know, kind of developing into the athlete you became. So maybe give us a little bit on Nina.

SPEAKER_00 17:18

Yeah. Oh, um Nina is so it's funny when you meet an Olympic athlete and they're in those first fresh years of being like out of the Olympics. And I would say it was fun to see her dabble into just kind of things outside of the, she was a skier, um, so really dabbling into trail running. And um for me, it was always stories of my mother and Carmen and Pam and all these gals who had been running the race. Nina was like their little sister who just followed them and knew how to win, like, like she knew that okay, Patty Faldeger knows all the trails. I'm gonna follow her. And my mom would be like, just past me. And she's like, nope. And like she knew how to race that mountain, and she was spunky at a time where they were kind of had been years into it. So, so Nina, Nina learned from the best. She learned from the, I mean, she was just smart, she was just so smart about like that was very tactical. And that that then I just, I mean, it was so cool to grow up at an impressionable age where I saw her blossom on that mountain. And I think she just, I don't know, she had no ego as far as I knew. Like, I have no memory of her being an ego and talking about those women with that noise that everyone's like, oh, I bet you're going for another one, or trying to make it like a cat fight, because it was the 90s and there wasn't that much of women empowerment. And but like it was empowering. Like Nina was super cool to be like, I felt like she started that kind of amplification of um, I don't know, just kind of going in more to the mountain, if that makes sense. Like women were already going in, but then here's an Olympic woman who's also making friends with the runners, and like we're getting to see this kind of inside scoop of what it takes to be an Olympic athlete. Um, but like all a very positive uh experience for me and my sister and my friends. It was so cool to be around Nina at that time. And then right after her was Cedar. So it was like you started with the women's race, you started getting used to there was always going to be one winner and like everybody else. And it's it's crazy to look back at the past winners and see so many of Nina's and so many of Cedar. And then after Cedar, that's when we're starting to get into the kind of like, you know, anybody could win, anybody could really win. And this is this, we've had so many different winners. Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:53

I love that. So Cedar, you're referring to for the audience, Cedar Burgess, seven-time champion from 2004 to 2010. This is just an honest question because I have no idea, but was it this like kind of passing of a torch moment from Nina to Cedar as as Cedar kind of came up to to you know become the dominant uh female athlete kind of on that mountain? How did that kind of work, like that time?

SPEAKER_00 20:18

I think uh just from my own experience of that time was more of a of a for with Cedar being from Seward, it wasn't this that we didn't want Nina to be the winner. It was so cool. But then like I I just remember when Cedar won the first time, like anytime a Sewardite, they'll even claim any Kenai Peninsula. So like when Ali Alstrender won, they're like, she's ours, you know? So it's like it's a theory. Cedar winning, I think, was like a me too, like yes, like I can too. And here's Cedar, a mother from Seward. But I never felt like it was this negative up against Nina. It was it it could have been passing of the torch.

SPEAKER_01 21:00

And it was a very seamless handing of the torch, if you want to call it that. I think around the time Nina was retiring from her own racing career, and so as she was kind of tapering off, Cedar came in very strong and immediately started running times better than Nina. So it wasn't like Nina went away and then here comes Cedar just to accept it. It was happened very closely around the same time when they kind of passed each other in their own direction. And um I I think it was very good because there was no time where the women's field was missing a major player.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

Yeah, yeah, fair. Yeah, a major player was always there and it was always one person, and now it's like there's 15 major players. Yes, and Cedar was sort of that amplification of like, look at how fast she's running.

SPEAKER_03 21:52

It's

Men’s Lore And The Speed Era

SPEAKER_03 21:53

so cool. All right, so I let's transition a little bit. Um, I know Eric, we had kind of talked about um His name escapes me. I think it was Bill. Yes, Bill Spencer. I'm sorry. Um, eight-time Mount Marathon champion from 74 on and off all the way through 1991. Obviously, he was a big impact on you. Is there anything you can share uh not just about impact, but you know, his impact on the race and just kind of his place in mountain running lore uh or Alaskan mountain running lore?

SPEAKER_01 22:24

Yeah, it was um you know it's kind of tricky, you know. Um we we often think of these inspiring performances. Um, but then if there's a gap in between those the time of those performances and the next time of uh of knowing about those, there's a separation. And then that kind of magnifies the lore, um, the the mystique around it. And um so we're kind of starting from scratch a bit um through the 90s and early 2000s when we you know someone runs this 43-minute performance when the winning times are usually 45, 47 minutes, you know, no one knows how that's done. They don't see it. Um but there was a there was actually a good crew of um of uh of guys, uh Brad Brykowski coming on very strong, um Barney Griffith and some others who were knocking on that door. And Brad, especially, I think he's a six-time winner, but he was he was coming very close, um, low 45s and winning uh in dominating fashion, and especially in the downhills, he was showing us how to descend very, very well. And he still might have some of the best descent times. Um, and the the uh this was the time when they were not recorded. Um but in any case, so momentum was building. Um, so knowledge is beginning to be passed down, and people were seeing how how this could be done. And every once in a while you had someone extremely fit, like uh uh Tobias Shara. Uh he was a college ski mate of mine, um, extremely fit. He suddenly he he pops this this impressive climb in 32 and a half minutes or so, and no one had had come up that that fast before. And suddenly we start to realize, wow, maybe this can be done again. And um, and then someone like Sam Hill as well, and and Brent Knight, and and these guys are knocking on this door, we're we're inching and clawing our way back in there. And then around 2010 time frame, there's a bunch of guys um kind of like building energy together, and then you put someone like Ricky Gates on top of the mix there, and suddenly we're into the early 201s, and we have this critical mass of of guys who who can push the pace the entire way, and I feel like that led or that kind of um paved the way for um for those times to come down, and it wasn't just the the top times, but it was the time that it would take to be top 10. And then that time was becoming very fast, you know, the times to be required to be top 10 used to be times good enough for winning. And um, so, anyways, I feel like there's been this now that there now there's connection between um performances from one year to the next within one long string. And it feels like now there's there's this this um comprehensive, I guess, uh knowledge base that that now people are up to speed with. Um so it's it's pretty exciting what what we have now.

SPEAKER_03 25:29

The evolution is crazy. Can you all right? So we'll we'll we'll jump into your story because I feel like you know, I I couldn't find any interviews with you. I I looked a lot before this before this one. So I feel like there's a lot of blank, slate conversation uh, you know, to be had for this. Take me back. Obviously, you're a three-time champion, former course record holder. Dude, take me back to your first win. Like what was that like to win Mount Marathon on the biggest stage? And then we'll kind of talk about some of your other performances, beating Ricky Gates, racing Killian and Ricky at the heights of their powers. Um, but yeah, talk take us back to your your first win.

Eric’s First Win And Mindset Shift

SPEAKER_01 26:06

Sure. Um, yeah, I guess that was a couple years into my um uh second or third time coming into like my third career, I'll say that, after actually training well and actually having consistency in my training. And um and so I had a lot of a lot of I don't know, built-up frustration in this race. Um, but finally things were clicking. And I think it's my 12th year racing, and things were actually going well. And I had a couple of guys, um, Brent Knight and Mark Iverson that that year. They were very fit. They were um they're skiers, and um they they kind of took the burden of pushing the pace that year, and um I stayed close enough at the top that I um was able to come by them at the bottom. And I was uh at that time I was I was becoming much more durable, and I felt great descending. And um those two guys, they were polite enough to let me right by in the downhill. And uh, but it it it changed my whole um, I guess, um perspective or or mindset around that race uh from being frustrated to suddenly getting that monkey off my back. Um and I I recall the next year feeling like there was such a relief. I I I could have never raced another race in my whole life and I would have been happy after after that one time. And um, and and and sure enough, yeah, the following year, um maybe I just wasn't as as sharp or didn't have that chip on my shoulder and came away with like an eighth place or something like that. And um, but uh yeah, it it it changed things quite a quite a lot after that. Yeah. Um but but then you know, after that disappointing year in 2012, I kind of refocused and I realized, okay, again, man, maybe maybe I can maybe I can do something more special with this. And um I recall it was uh July 4th, 2012. Yeah, totally you know caught off guard with that performance. And then I moped around for a couple days, and then July 6th, I went for a run in the mountains, realizing I gotta I gotta use my time. And I just I went hard, I ran hard up this mountain. And I I ran. It was a mountain that uh usually I thought of as a hiking mountain, and I got like one third of the way up, and I thought, you know, what if I just ran the whole way? I just ran. And um and and I did it, and it was fine. And I I was breathing harder, but it was exhilarating. And um and I felt like I had this this fire inside me. And I and I had the idea, what if what if I I trained as well as I do normally from you know in May and June for July 4th? What if I trained well from from July this year all the way through the next? And and and and and so there was suddenly this this new frontier ahead of me. Um and I I and I I went with it. I um I I traveled down to Seward that that summer and and fall. I I probably trained more in the mountain in that year after the race than than I normally did before the race, which was unheard of. Um, but I did that. And and later that um that year I also started to use an incline treadmill a bit more. And uh that helped a lot to increase, you know, especially in the wintertime up here. It's really hard to get a lot of steep climbing because just buried in mountains, not many of them packed in enough to climb in the winter. Um, so I supplement my training quite a bit with with that. Um, but I I devoted myself to that race, and it was such a large part of uh what I cared about in the previous, you know, so many years. So it wasn't that big of a move, but uh actually put actions behind those um those those those ideas. It was um it was such a joyous trip. Um, I actually enjoyed the process of of profoundly preparing myself to the best of my ability for the next couple of years. And um and it it was it was it was such a fun ride. Um and uh later that that went that winter after after climbing so much more and running so much more than ever had before, late winter I had heard that oh this guy who was run the Washington um Mount the Mountain Washington Road race was coming up. I thought, oh, oh, oh, really? Okay, cool. Interesting. And then um so Ricky Gates was there and um and and he was a gamer, and we had the usual um players as well. Um we had uh Wiley, uh Wiley Mengelsdorf. He was coming on real hot that season. Um he won the uh the last race before um that race in 2013 in a very fast time. And uh and um we had uh Matt Bokovich as well, and and it was leading up to um this um this this this day where something special was gonna happen. And um, but but Ricky, um, you know, I have to I have to really give more credit to Ricky than um than than people might because many, many people have come up, you know, from outside of Alaska, uh very talented runners. I remember my my first year running the in the senior men's race. There was this guy who had won the Pikespeak Marathon a few times, and uh and I beat him as an 18-year-old guy who had in like maybe six mountains that summer. Um, and and so it it just happens that so many great runners come up to do Mount Marathon thinking that they're gonna be you know a major player, that so many of them don't actually pan out because it is such a very different mountain. It was runnable mountains, and then there's climbing mountains. And this was a climbing mountain. It doesn't matter how fit the engine is if the drivetrain isn't strong enough to pass that energy through. Um so but but uh Ricky proved himself strong. Um, and and he he he pulled away from us on the way up, and um I thought for sure, okay, he's too far ahead. Um, and I was just gonna do the best I could climbing up the top of the mountain. And um I just was I had to pre-center my attention on myself, getting myself to um the best base um possible. And then I took note of what it looked like ahead of me coming down the mountain at the top, and then I looked ahead again and about one third of the way down, I realized, hey, things are coming closer back together. And so I got a little bit of spark of hope there. And uh so we I I kept um kept doing what I you know was was working, and then I noticed I was pulling up close to him right after halfway down. I thought, okay, and I had a little bit alternate descent route that I had in my kind of in my back pocket, but it went out of the way. And I thought, you know what? If I beat him, I don't want it because of that way. I'm gonna pull up right next to him and maybe bump shoulders a little bit, but I'm gonna go right next to him and um and we're gonna size each other up and we're gonna race to the finish line. And um and then we descended very quickly. And again, Ricky, who had been on the mountain maybe once or twice, um, he descended very, very well. And um he he got through the um the gully or the gut right behind me, coming off the mountain right behind me. And um, it wasn't for you know a stupid rock that um that that tripped him, which I've done before, that he went down and dislocated a shoulder. And um and so I and I didn't know this at the time, but um, I get to the road, I look, I glance back at me, about back behind me, and I I see that I have you know 15, 20 seconds. I thought, oh, okay, cool. A little bit of cushion. I look back again, right before the 90-degree corner, halfway to the finish, I look back and he's closer. He's close, he's closing on me. And so I realize I have to book it, I have to go max effort all the way to the finish line. And uh so if if it was not for him, I would not have been pushed nearly as as fast as that year. And it was only because if we had that critical mass of of guys who could go that quickly the entire way, that something special happened that day.

The 2013 Record Day With Ricky

SPEAKER_01 34:26

Um, and then uh it was yeah, it was something very special to be a part of that day. And um yeah, so stop me if uh no, but can I yeah?

SPEAKER_00 34:38

Well, uh so that race to me was not just this this fast time, it was also the beginning of because Ricky was being exposed, Max Romey, uh great friend of ours, but he was also exposed. Like this was the also, it wasn't just this, like I think it would have been huge with just Seward knowing about it, but then but then all of a sudden that race became like the actual racist crossroads of where now it's on the path it's on, of like the exposure of the world. And it just so happens that it was like for us Alaskans, like the most craziest day ever. Like you crossed that line and you were, it was just and then Chris or um Ricky crossed and he, yeah, both of you, it was nuts, and they filmed it all like more than that had ever been. You said you can't find records of Eric's interviews and stuff because, right? Like there was really not many people who cared. Or no, I mean yeah, very little.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Uh Max Romey was one of the first, you know, first to really get on it. But the um they they the kind of um the the the amount of exposure that's these races have have gotten had just exploded in the last 10 years or so. And um, but yeah, it was um yeah, I guess it was just a little bit too too early for for that stuff, which is okay.

SPEAKER_03 35:53

Yeah, great white level. And for the audience, that was the year you ran 4255, is that correct?

SPEAKER_01 35:59

Correct.

SPEAKER_03 36:00

That was was it 1314, 14, 13?

SPEAKER_01 36:05

Uh 2013.

SPEAKER_03 36:06

That was 13, okay. Because 15 is the year then Killian comes around. And this is where so and for the audience, so they understand, like I think Donali made a fantastic point there. That you you come and break the court's record, and Ricky's in the race, it starts to get a lot more national attention, like even across the world to the Euro audience, which gains the attention of Killian, and Killian comes to town, and then it starts to become a really, really big thing.

When The World Found Seward

SPEAKER_03 36:33

Um, can you can you talk about how that started to change things and and reshape the race almost in a lot of ways to where it's now garnered you know international attention?

SPEAKER_01 36:44

Sure. Yeah. Um yeah, so as like at the the time I was just speaking of, it was a a local race um with the occasional visitor. And maybe even seldom, more seldom, was someone who was a major player. It was exceptionally rare. Um, no one actually, it wasn't until Kelian came that that the men's winner was not Alaskan. That was the first time. Um and uh and so it was changing that then suddenly there was this this opening of the race where you had many major players coming in from anywhere. And and you don't know what the race is gonna look like. You know, before before this time, you could look at the local races and how results were stacking up. You kind of knew who the top three, top five, who was gonna be the likely winner. Um, pretty good bets you could you could you could make. Um but nowadays, you know, the half of the top five or half of top ten are gonna be outside of Alaska. Um and so it it's it's it's been this this grand opening of the race for people from outside. And um and it's it's always it's just changed in that regard. So um some some might call it bittersweet. Um it's but it's it's different. It's uh it's it's our way of sharing the race with with with everyone else. So you you could look at it either way. Um, but I I think it's great either way.

SPEAKER_03 38:11

I love

Christy Marvin And Women’s Rise

SPEAKER_03 38:12

that. Before we get into the Killian race of 2015, uh Denali, I want to pivot back to you because I want to ask you about 2013 Eric's year as well. Uh that was the year Christy Marvin won her first uh in 2013. And I find and I find Christy, Christy's so interesting because I think she's had so much longevity between wins. Um, you know, three-time champion, but like won her first in 2013 and then won her last one in 2023, which is bananas to think about. So maybe if you could uh talk a little bit about Christy and you know, her her background and and her just you know everything that she's done for the sport.

SPEAKER_00 38:49

Yeah, so to start with Christy's that win, that 2013, uh, that was also kind of at the transition of the women's race. Um with uh Cedar a few years back, had that was her last win. And then Holly Brooks and Keekan Randall were kind of the next gals after Cedar, and it was a definite Anchorage skier duo. And I say that in the coolest meaning, like not this like dogging them, like it was just a different, like um, it was just two Anchorage girls battling out for like two years, and then all of a sudden, Christy, who has Alaskan lore as Christy Virgin, and she is this amazing track cross-country. And where is she from, Glenn Allen?

SPEAKER_01 39:33

Glenn Allen, small town north of uh Anchorage.

SPEAKER_00 39:36

You wouldn't even know it. And and she just was this farm girl. I mean, just so, and then she comes in after years of being away from the sport as Christy Marvin and just commands it. Like she was terrifying to watch. It was just so cool the way she put herself out there. And um, and then uh just Christy, she is one of, she's like a big sister to me. And she just loves to race. She loves to race. Like the the worst thing you could do to Christy is like pull up next to her because she'll say, Yes, game on. Like you just need to pass her or stay far away. Like she is, she gets she gets her engines revved. We do intervals, and she's just so so the longevity makes sense because I see how this is her thing, how passionate. Like she she had a few, like, as all women and men could probably say of like, you were great in high school, college didn't pan out, and now you've found the love for mountain running. And so for her, it's very spiritual. It's where she gets her kicks. Um, mother of multiple boys, like she just she just rallies and her longevity, like when you're her friend, makes sense. Like after last year's race, because Claire and these younger gals have amplified it as they should, but Christy's like, excuse me, why not me? And she's just kind of had this ripple effect of on all of us of like, like we could easily throw in the towel, but why not? Who cares? Like, who cares? I don't care about my age, and just like all of a sudden, then she just stays with it. And then bam, she has that. Like, you said, what was it, the last 20, 23 was her last win. And that was probably the most treacherous weather we've ever witnessed on that mountain. And she just like, this is where I thrive. Like, she's terrifying when she runs, but she is like the best human in the world. And she just wants everyone to um, she takes all these women with her. Like, she's friends with Holly, who beat her, she's friends with me who got her on the downhill, she's friends with um everybody. Like, so it's like she was kind of the start that we all orbited around to be like kind of, you know, more women empowerment and more like we can train just like the guys. Like, like, yeah, like because you guys are really going after it. And that was so inspiring. So we were kind of like, we can do that too. You know, how do we make that happen?

SPEAKER_03 42:11

In your time, and this this is like where where have you seen like the biggest jump? Um, and just like metamorphosis of the race, and they could be in any way, whether it's uh just it coming onto the scene more or the competition increase. I mean, you guys have seen it for a long time, and to see where it's at now, now with like big Arcteryx as the sponsor, and this has got to be one of the deepest fields in in the in the history of the race this year, where have you seen it start to just like explode?

SPEAKER_00 42:42

Oof. It feels like everyone says that every year so far. Like this has to be the deepest field. This has to be the deepest field. I'm like, how long has that been happening now? Maybe 10 years?

SPEAKER_01 42:53

Yeah, in the last like five, I would say in the last five to ten years. Yeah. I think the the notoriety of the race has attracted much deeper talent. Um before it might have been a hand, small handful of very talented runners for the mountains, and now it's it's very deep. It's it's very deep a talent. Um yeah, like I said earlier, it used to be like a very local or regional elite race, casting a pretty small net for that kind of talent. And now it's it's it's national level, it's international level amount of talent coming in. Um where it's it's not quite the local 5K anymore.

SPEAKER_03 43:31

Yeah. And I'm gonna throw a quote out there. This is my own quote, but this is this is what the race from afar to me looks like.

Why Mount Marathon Feels Primal

SPEAKER_03 43:39

I feel like it represents the highest ideals of the sport, where it's just very go there, throw down. It is a very like uh there's no bullshit kind of sport. Like it, it's there's there's no um, I don't know. It's like it's just very pure and represents the highest ideals of what mountain running is. You go there and throw down, and that's what it is. Um, obviously I have not raced it yet. I hope to race it next year and maybe I can add to that. But what do you guys think as far as me saying that? Like, do you do would you agree? Because I I think that, you know, there's the broken arrows, there's the rut, there's uh Pikes Peak Marathon. There's a lot of races with a, you know, that's they're starting to have more history. But there's something very different about Mount Marathon. And that that's something I hope to capture in this episode and with any and all coverage I do to help tell the stories, not just of these amazing athletes, but of the race and what makes it so special to the world.

SPEAKER_01 44:34

I I I felt like um this race is always it's it's so in your face, it's it's so it's so contained that there's nothing but uh the the fiercest competition for the next uh you know less than an hour period in your life where it's it's it's it's it's fast and it's furious and it's it's intense. Um if it was a longer race, you have to pace yourself more, you have to think more strategically, you have to think about gear, you have to think about nutrition. For this race, you don't need feeds, you don't need any special gear, you just need a pair of shorts and shoes and and your bid and and you are there. It's it feels like you're kind of put into this octagon where you cannot ignore what's right there in front of you, the runners in front of you, they're gonna stay in front of you until you bust your butt to get in front of them soon, or they're gonna stay in front of you, and you're gonna be finding yourself at the finish line. What happened? It happens very quickly. We build up this race in your mind for you know, months ahead, years ahead, and you realize it can it can pass by in a blink of an eye.

SPEAKER_00 45:46

And um, but the octagon feeling is the whole mountain, too. You're starting with the crowd, it's heavy, it's it's like and you're like, what are we doing here? And then everyone's like, we're just gonna sprint as fast as we can to this mountain, and then in the mountain, it's suffocating too, because then all of a sudden there are people on the mountain. You're like, oh, that's right. Like, and there's um, there's been all sorts of ways that they've filmed. There's a lot of buzzing from helicopters, buzzing from drones. All of a sudden, someone has their GoPro in the rocks, and you just kind of look at it as you're just clawing your way. And then there's people having a party on the mountain, and you're like, this is all so confusing. And all of a sudden, my heart rate has been at 190. Am I gonna pass out? And someone's just slapping your butt, like, go, or I'm gonna pass you. I mean, it's not like we're mean, we just like we're so raw too to each other, to like the it's it's I mean, people have screamed in my face beautiful affirmations, but they're like, yeah, and you're just you're just on your hands and knees, and you're like, oh yeah, they're like, keep going. And you've never felt more like in this performance of gladiator, of just like ancient. It's something ancient.

SPEAKER_01 47:05

Primal.

SPEAKER_00 47:06

Yeah, it brings out the primal in all of it's just you have to be there.

SPEAKER_03 47:12

Primal sounds like the right word. I like that. That's uh that's that's the quote of the day. I like that. Um, so we're gonna switch gears a little bit. I do want to before, because we're we're already at 46 minutes, I feel like I could talk to you guys for hours. Um, I do want to go, Eric, I do want to talk 2015, the Killian race, and go through that one because I feel like that is a such important race in the history and in the lore. And then Denali, after that, I do want to talk about your 2018 speed record uh or descent record. Um, Eric, I'll let you take it away

2015: Racing Killian At Full Power

SPEAKER_03 47:41

first. Maybe you can kind of paint a picture of how what was that like getting to race with Killian and and Ricky and in that field? Because I feel like that was probably one of the I'd say top five, if not top three, best fields that we've had kind of over the years. What was your take on that?

SPEAKER_01 47:57

Yeah, so that was uh that was a really cool thing. Uh we were hearing rumors that Killian and Emily were kind of come that that year, and rumors turned to to plans that they were actually coming, and and that was that was great. I knew it was a great opportunity. You know, we can put the you know that the best that we had up against the world's best. At that time, Gillian, you know, definitely held the standard as the best in the world. And um, we we knew he well, we knew he could either easily win and be right in front of us, or he could, you know, he could beat the best of us, you know, by three minutes. But we didn't know. So we were going to just do the best we could on that day. And actually at that time, what we had um another local guy, Jim Shine, he was um a very fast ascender, running the best ascent times um at that point for us locally. Um we had a Ricky there again, um, and and Killian. So I was actually actually I was a minor, minor player that year. Um I I got into the treadmill the year before that. I made the uh, or maybe it was late summer, early fall that that prior year. I thought, huh, could I get a could I get a million vertical feet climbing? And so I kind of went off on this tangent on my incline treadmill. And um I had this little like what I thought was a goal leading to a better goal, going after these numbers. And I I climbed, I climbed a lot, and I I got I got my million vertical feet that year. Um and I and I had my my still, I had my best ascent time that year trying to chase that that crew of um Killian, Jim, and Ricky to the top there. But I was always hey, stayed about 30 seconds off. And I had learned an important lesson that year was I I neglected my running. And um truthfully, I was off, I was off off that pack on in the road, and then getting onto the mountain, I lost contact. I I was going as fast as I could, but it wasn't uh it didn't translate that my fitness that year didn't translate to to watching them. Um but so so Killian he he stayed with the front pack the entire way, and um you could say that he kind of toyed with them a little bit. Truthfully, he was gonna go, my perspective, he was gonna go as fast as he needed to to win. Um he he was in the front of the of the group uh with the front of the group um every step of the way. On the way down, he easily pulled away and uh did some 360s in the road coming down, doing lots of high fives and cruised to you know to a new new course record, uh, like we suspected he would. Um but he made it look pretty easy. And um, but uh well and it was good. It was you know, the race is ready for for that. We needed the international level to to come there. We were we were ready for it. Um and it was just the next step in the evolution. Um, but I will say it felt extra sweet, you know, just just one year later. Um maybe maybe my claim to fame was I I held this course record twice as long as Killian. Um because yeah, just the the next year after Killian's win, David Norris, local guy to Alaska, he took the record back for us.

SPEAKER_03 51:07

Yeah, Alaska Bride. That's right. Impressive, absolutely impressive. I've had David a bunch of times on the podcast, got to race against him before. Really interesting animal of a human. Like he's so good, it's disgusting. Um his era now. I mean, I'll start with the question, or actually, hold on one second. Before we get into David Norris, I just I just have to ask one question related to this, because this is the prime of Killian's powers, right? He's this is post or somewhere around like the the unbreakable time with Western states, all of these things like Killian had done uh or this mythos had been built up about him. Now, Alaska, you guys are some of the best athletes. You know, obviously you know your mountain very well. It's your home mountain in more ways than one. What was the attitude like? Like, obviously, you kind of painted it in a nice way, but like as a competitor, like of course you want to you guys want to beat this guy's ass, like for him coming over to try and, you know, uh trying to take the win or take the course record, especially for you as a course record holder. Like, what was the the take on that? Like, were you gonna go to the death trying to beat this guy, or was it, well, we're just excited to have him here? What was the mentality like for yourself and the other?

SPEAKER_01 52:19

It was it was both. Yeah, it was both. We we we could hold both um at the same time. We were very happy, very welcoming. Um, I immediately um went out of my way to introduce myself um the day before the race. I was super psyched to have him and Emily here. Um, we're happy to be host for him. Um, but of course, you know, when the gun goes off, I'm doing everything I can to beat him. And and that was why I was so motivated to do this the stupid million vertical feet thing was to have my best possible chance at you know sticking it to him a little bit. Um, but it maybe didn't turn out so well. But I can assure you that I was I I I I dug exceptionally hard in that climb to go after him. And and I could say I I ran three quarters of that mountain that year. And um and and it by choice, you know, wasn't because it felt good, right? Because I thought that's what was necessary, and I I still um that was my hardest effort ever in those years. Um so it was uh yeah, we were we were ready for it. We we wanted the best here, and and we got it.

SPEAKER_03 53:27

Yeah. So cool. What a what a race, what a time uh for the race, and just like I don't know, what an important like earmark for for the sport and for the race and in the history of everything. Um to your point, yeah. David Norris now. The question I was gonna ask you after this is do you do you think we're probably close to it? Do you think this is the year or soon someone will go under 40 minutes?

SPEAKER_01 53:51

Maybe. Maybe.

SPEAKER_02 53:53

Um yeah.

SPEAKER_01 53:56

I'm I I'm not gonna try to predict. Um you never really know. Yeah. But I think it is exceptional what David has done. Yep. Uh, incredible.

SPEAKER_03 54:08

Uh Denali, I want to switch back to you.

Denali’s 2018 Downhill Record Story

SPEAKER_03 54:10

Um, I gotta ask you before we only got a few minutes left, but 2018, take me to the descent, uh, the descent record and in your race on that. Because I feel like that's such an important part of your history and your your history with the race.

SPEAKER_00 54:22

Yeah. Well, it was wild. Um, my history with the race, it it started with I mean, our phenomenal day. It wasn't just Killian who came. Emily did something no woman had ever broken 50 minutes.

SPEAKER_01 54:37

And I will say that year Emily had a better performance than Killian, I'll say.

SPEAKER_00 54:41

Yeah, so it was just and so uh it's it's it started with that, and she did an 1131 downhill, and I was like, see, it can be done because the people thought I was crazy. I'm like, and I'm gonna do it. And I had no background at that time because I had never clicked my downhill together. It's takes so many parts, and so with Emily's start, then it got down to like Chrissy did a 5102, and she just, I was like, you see them coming down, so you just realize that these women are getting faster and faster. They're already down this way of the mountain, you're only climbing up here. And it was this kind of in real time for me, like, I'm not the only one who can go downhill fast. And um, and I'm not the only one who might be going through this. And then that year, I oh, me and the climb, we have a frustrating relationship. So I was banking on the down, and I was just sucking wind, and I round the rock, and I just like talked to a friend like this is pretty dumb. And she's like, Rag on. And then I just turned it on, and there was um snow that year, and I don't ever go in the luge, but I just rocked it into the luge and I just like body slammed down and I never missed a beat. And um, quite recently, Christy laughed that I am the only one who's ever beaten her on a downhill. And when I came up on her, um, she thought it was a spectator trying to run after them and take like their photo, or just like some someone getting in the way because she did not believe anybody could beat her on the down, like she just was so confident, fair. And she said, I just I passed her, and and it's true. I saw them and I was like, I'm gonna get them. And I'm not only gonna get them, but I'm gonna pass them so hard that they're gonna see my butt and just not be able to respond at all. And then my gator snapped off and it's flapping on my toe box, and I just like had just passed Christy Marvin, nipped GB Quinn. I'm going after Jessica Yeaton, Olympic skier. I mean, it's just like there is, and I have to rip it off. I have to squat down, rip it off. And Christy said in this conversation, like, she thought she had me and like I'm gonna now murder her. And so I knew that because that whole time I felt her energy. Like, and her boys scream at her, dig mama, dig. And I had not had a child at that time. So like I did not, like, I didn't know the dark places she could go. And I I was just like reminding myself that like this is your downhill. You've wanted this since you were like nine years old racing Brad Prokowski down the mountain. Like, you are so in this. And I just zoned out and I absolutely caught flow state and I jumped cliffs and I landed them, and I just um then got to the road and it it was the closest I had ever seen the cop car. And Jessica Eaton was not running like I was as a roadrunner, so I was very excited, but like I ran out of real estate and I tried so hard, like I tried so hard. Um, and Jessica, it was just such a great win for all of us women, and we were all so fast. And Christy, well, four seconds later, Christy crosses the line after me, and I'm like all over the place. And Christy is just so stealth, like I mean, she she said, if only it wasn't to um the Sea Life Center. Like, I mean, she would have it was such a great battle, but it was something that was primal inside of me that told me, you have every right to to believe that like you can do something this crazy. Um, and it's it's it's my favorite moment of that marathon, and I'm so satisfied. Yeah, so great.

SPEAKER_03 58:32

That was amazing. Thank you for walking us through that. Like that was so that was yeah, that is as cool as it gets to achieve that flow state and just get, you know, be so into it and so on it. Like, man. Um, would you say that was your of all the of all of the moments of the race, would you say that was your favorite?

SPEAKER_00 58:51

Yeah, yeah. Cause then it blossomed into Christy and I became this like training partner friendship, and that was the budding age of like just all of us women being like, let's go climb together. And so I was starting to get to know these women who are in all, like I said, all different age brackets. I think that's the coolest thing about Mount Marathon is you've got us, you have the scared 18-year-old, you have the six-year-old dad, you have the mom who's just like, not my first rodeo, and like everyone's together, and there's always an Olympian, and now a professional athlete. And I think to to have that moment in like the starting of the history of the lore of women, I think like the women are getting more lore now. Like men had a lot of lore with Bill Spencer, and that was so fun. And now I feel like we're starting to get lore, and I and and and I'm like this downhill lore and I love it. It's my favorite. Yeah, absolutely. But I hope, I hope that another girl goes after it. Like, I really want them to look at that and be like, yes, me too. And it might take you 16 times, but just keep doing it. Like, I worked so hard for that. Yeah, I never gave up.

SPEAKER_03 59:58

So crazy. Yeah, I it's amazing. It's amazing.

Modern Champions And Alaska’s Future

SPEAKER_03 1:00:03

The modern era, like, what would you guys have to say as far as like the modern era goes now? Like it now, Claire Claire Rhodes has won twice. She's been in search of her third this year, which is crazy. Like it's uh it's just interesting to me. I I always thought it would have been like more of an old school thing, uh, you know, where competition was less deep and things like that, where you'd see, you know, three, four, five, six-time champions. But we're in this era now with still with David Norris and now with Claire Rhodes, where Claire's chasing a third, David's chasing a seventh, sixth or seventh, somewhere in that range. Um, I think it's seventh. I I find that very interesting and fascinating, like a fascinating aspect of the race.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:46

Yeah, yeah. There there's potentially much more turnover now. And if if if only David wasn't as dominating as he is, there would have been much more turnover. Um I think it it goes to show, yeah, it goes to show just how dominant David is. But with the women's field, yeah, um it's uh it's it's it's such a thick crowd now. There's so many who are fast.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:10

But like the amplification of also like if you take David and Claire, both professional athletes now, and um what does that mean? That can mean a whole umbrella of things, but we know like with their category, they're kind of like doing more than say what I'm doing, right? But also like they have the best of both worlds. They're Alaskan and they're professional athletes. It's no longer is the professional athlete the out-of-towner, it's the Alaskans too. And I would argue that a lot of us would be sponsored, but we don't do anything that anyone cares about. I mean, they only care about Mount Maryland, so it's like who's who cares?

SPEAKER_03 1:01:43

But to see it's changing now, though. I mean, with this past weekend, it's getting there.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:48

Yeah, it is getting there. And it's just this fun, again, we're we're here in this ride. Um, but anyways, anyways, I'm getting, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

Well, would you uh what do you guys have to say about that scene? Like now, like what's the excitement level that Alaskan athletes are now finally like getting their day? Like Trayson Knopp this past weekend at Western States, Claire Rhodes, obviously, Ruby Lindquist. Uh the list goes on. And it's it's um, you know, Sophie Wright as well, just signed with La Sportiva. There's quite a few uh Alaskan athletes now that are really starting to kind of catch on to the mainstream and and you know spread their wings out throughout the lower 48 in the racing scene. But do you guys, what's your take on that?

SPEAKER_00 1:02:30

I mean you should take this one. I mean, we have their backs. Like all of us was what um were watching Tracen. And I like even wrote to Trayson long ago, Tracen and I coached together. We coached kids. So I saw his like very first ultra race. It was so fun. Um, but like to see where he is now, uh, I felt like we all were watching and we were all just like, just don't give up, you know, don't and and you know, he didn't have the day he wanted, but like it was the day he needed. That's what I feel like. Like a hundred miles, he's there. And he didn't give up. And like we were all just talking about it. Like I was with my girlfriends yesterday and we were just talking about like how gritty that was. So I think with with with them venturing out, we're like, yes, we're gonna live vicariously through you. We're gonna, we're gonna follow you, you know, because they're going to some big races that we can follow.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:20

Yeah, no, I love it. It's so cool. So cool to see everybody kind of doing their thing now. Um, anything I know we I bounced around a lot and did my best to kind of home this morning because there's a lot of history we missed, but I think for an hour episode, I think we

Final Thoughts And Good Luck

SPEAKER_03 1:03:34

got a lot. Is there anything you guys want to um throw out there before in closing?

SPEAKER_00 1:03:44

I think I'm satisfied.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:45

Yeah, yeah, I think that was fun.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:47

Awesome.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:48

Guys, I just want to say thank you so much for your time. Sorry of my my tardiness uh putting this one together, but this was uh I did a Pikes Peak one a couple years back, and I think this one outdoes it by a lot. Um, I love the history episodes. I feel like it matters so much to the community, so I like to put them together, and uh, you know, it's just so exciting to have two legends help me do it. So thank you guys. Donnelly, best of luck at your race this upcoming weekend. Um be cheering, Yan. It's gonna be so fun to follow. And Eric, so nice to finally meet you. And uh, like I said, it was an honor and a privilege, and just want to say thank you guys. Likewise.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:23

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 1:04:24

Thank you.