The Dailey Edge Podcast
Join hosts Trent, TJ, and Todd Dailey as they explore the intersections of technology, culture, fitness, and personal growth. Through engaging discussions and personal anecdotes, the trio dives into topics ranging from childhood gaming nostalgia and cutting-edge fitness tech to the pursuit of happiness and lifestyle choices. Whether reminiscing about epic gaming marathons, sharing tips for staying on the forefront of fitness trends, or unraveling the complexities of modern life, The Dailey Edge delivers thoughtful insights, lively debates, and relatable stories for listeners of all walks of life.
The Dailey Edge Podcast
Episode 27: One More Yard: The Recap of Indiana's Epic Backyard Ultra "Prairie On Fire"
What happens when ordinary people push themselves to extraordinary limits? In this captivating Prairie on Fire recap episode, the Daily Edge team unpacks the raw, inspiring stories from Indiana's premier backyard ultra event where runners complete a 4.16-mile loop every hour until only one remains standing.
The conversation takes you behind the curtain of race preparation – from last-minute shirt orders and course marking to the meticulous placement of LED lights for night running. You'll discover the incredible attention to detail that transforms Prairie on Fire from a simple race into a life-changing experience, complete with on-site food prepared by John throughout the entire event.
This year's race shattered expectations with unprecedented performances. Two-thirds of participants reached the 50-mile mark, while 24 runners broke the 100-mile barrier – more than double last year's number. Perhaps most remarkably, four women made history as the first females to break 100 miles at this event. We explore how community support, strategic pacing, and sheer determination carried them through "The Reckoning" – the night loop that tests even the most seasoned ultrarunners.
The most heartwarming story might be 11-year-old Kay, who completed 54 miles (13 yards) with wisdom beyond her years. Her journey demonstrates how immersing yourself in an environment where extraordinary achievements become normalized can completely transform what young people believe is possible.
Whether you're a seasoned ultrarunner or someone who's never run a mile, these stories of ordinary people accomplishing extraordinary feats will leave you questioning your own self-imposed limitations. What could you achieve if you had the courage to go "one more yard" beyond what you thought possible?
Welcome to the Daily Edge, where we bring you the latest insights, opinions, and thought-provoking conversations to give you that competitive edge in life, business, and beyond. Let's go. Welcome back to the Daily Edge. I'm here with my brothers, TJ and Todd, and uh today is going to be a lot of fun. Uh, typical to our running and adventures, we are going to do a full recap for Prairie on Fire. Wow, what an event. Um, my first event. I've shown up a couple of times, my first time running, uh, an incredible turnout. I've heard nothing but awesome things, but today we're gonna dive into it. We're gonna talk about everything that happened, and uh, I'm I'm I'm excited. T, why don't we start with you? So I know there's an unbelievable amount of effort that goes into creating the experience for this race. Uh, overall coming out of it, how do you feel about how it went? Obviously, nothing ever goes perfect, but maybe talk us a little through the nights leading up to it, and then maybe just overarchingly how you felt the experience uh was, you know, for the standard and expectation you set. And then we'll dive into the details.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, so a little bit of behind the scenes, which we don't type typically like to give out prior to the race because we have surprises, things we want to kind of bring forward for people. Um, Prairie has gotten to be quite the task, you know, looking at it, uh kind of looking at it objectively without having any knowledge. It would look like something fairly easy to set up because a lot of these races that are point-to-point, more like the full mo, you're you're having to set you know, signs up along the route to make sure people know where they're going. So you're you're marking routes, you have eight stations at different areas, um, you have a start line you have to set up and a finish line you have to set up. Prairies all condensed into one place. But that said, you're also there for potentially three days. Um, this year we were there from uh I start normally course checking about a week in advance. So I'll go out to see what the course conditions are like, make sure there's not too much water. You know, we do, and this is something that has come up in other conversations, we do have an alternate course if it does get too rainy, but I'm always out there checking that. This year uh I went out on Thursday, uh race begins Saturday morning and began marking the course. It's touch and go because the course has to be marked on the ground because it's also shared with horses. And so what we've found is the most effective for that is paint. Well, if it rains or if the course is too heavily traversed, leading up over those next two days, that paint could get wiped away. Um, and as much as you would think it isn't necessary for runners because it is a loop, they run a lot, it is that first couple of times out because people can get a little bit confused. So we get out there Thursday, we're doing that. One of the other big things we do is we stake out the canopy locations. We are getting to a point with Prairie on Fire where we're we have so many people that are attending that we have to measure out and stake out canopy locations because in the past, what we've done is we've allowed people to just kind of pick their favorite spot. Unfortunately, if we did that, um, people just aren't naturally meticulous enough to utilize that space in a way that's optimal for us to fit everybody in there. So um most of the day, Thursday, we spent marking the course and getting that ready. And then we really we get out there first thing Friday morning. Um, so some fun things happened this year that I guess we can reveal. Uh, one of our one of our fantastic sponsors, Mount to Coast, um, we had a miscommunication leading up to this race. Mount to Coast has been our presenting sponsor uh for the last two years of Prairie on Fire and for a full mo. And they thought the race was in October. So uh that meant that we placed the shirt order like nine days before the event. Luckily, my wife Tara 317 Pressco um does that for a living. So uh, but she's normally she's more of a boutique style operation. So we spent the week prior uh getting shirts ready and getting prints ready. Um this year, as you guys saw, we had uh we went a little bit different and we did boxes for your packets instead of your traditional drawstring bags or traditional just bag in general. So we had boxes that we had designed and printed. Um so there's a lot of box folding, so a lot of packet stuffing stuff going on, but there was a major scramble um getting the coins that we ended up giving out. We'll talk about those later, laser engraved and making sure those were there. And then it's just your typical scramble to make sure you have everything. And we light the course at night, we light the out and back. That's a four-hour process to put those LED lights in, which luckily, you know, Ricardo was in charge this year from lighting the course. So he did all of the stuff you saw from a tiki torch perspective, from an LED light perspective with Rob D, Christy's husband, uh, who was has helped out with a lot of our races. So I mean, it was a ton, but you know, come uh come. I I think Friday, I think Friday or Thursday, we we brought the 700-pound smoker out. John brought his smoker out, which was quite treacherous bringing that thing up from Irvington. Um, we got that there, but we had to be ready to go by six o'clock Friday night. That's when we started uh the pizza, um, another kind of fun behind-the-scenes thing to talk about with the pizza. Uh, we had planned on doing pizza when John transitioned over to King Doe months and months and months ago, and then the reality quickly hit us that we ordered 47 pizzas from King Doe on their busiest night of the week. Um, and that just wasn't gonna work. So we got a portable pizza oven out there. Uh John was cooking that on site. Um, but we had all that up and ready to go. People started showing up Friday night at six o'clock and started putting canopies up. Um, and then, you know, we got a couple hours of sleep, I think three hours of sleep, and then we woke up at probably four in the morning and the show hit the road. And then we we began rolling for prairie.
SPEAKER_02:So let's talk about the food for a second. You just hit on that. John, year over year has done an insane job on the food, and the idea that any of it is complimentary or complimentary to me is a little bit uh wild. Uh, because I mean, so he had pizzas uh Friday night.
SPEAKER_00:And and and not only pizzas, but like, you know, you go somewhere to get pizza, it's been sitting in a box for an hour. These were cooked on site, like these were crispy hot, like yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So good. And then uh Saturday morning, I believe there was a breakfast provided bacon, sausage, pancakes, coffee. And then was it dinner?
SPEAKER_00:Well, no, we did because last year we saw last year we saw that a lot of the crews and family members were having to leave to go get food in the middle of the day. Um, so this year, and man, they were hungry. We we got quite a bit of food, and I think we burned through all of it in two hours. But hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, um things like that. You know, John and then Teresa came later on and helped. And all the while he's cooking 60 pounds worth of pork in the smoker. Um, but up and until and that was dinner.
SPEAKER_02:That was Saturday night's dinner, which the pulled the pork was un insane. Off the charts. It all smelled amazing, by the way. Not eaten by a lot of runners, obviously, just because of the heaviness of it. But there was there was pork and then there were sides too. It wasn't just like um trying to think of what all was there. There was salad, I think maybe a Caesar salad, uh maybe uh carrots. There was a ton of stuff.
SPEAKER_00:We haven't, John and I haven't downloaded on it yet. I mean, it was very stressful for him because there were a lot of things we were scrambling with last minute, like to get the point of sale online for the on-site merch that Tara was doing. And John, like it was a lot of scrambling things we weren't necessarily used to that we'll have dialed in a little bit better next time.
SPEAKER_02:I guess I think what was really cool about it, just a shout out to John Faust for an unbelievable job there. But I think what's really cool about that is you guys have have expanded your focus from the runners to all the people that were there with the runners, which obviously again need food and the shuttles and things. So to be able to provide that on site, I thought was a uh a really nice touch.
SPEAKER_00:You know, we we you know you asked earlier about kind of how we felt about the the overall runner experience, and I think fairly good. You know, we were glad that we added some of the last minute things we did. Um, I did not talk about it, but Corey uh had some flight issues getting in here, and Corey normally comes on Monday or Tuesday, and Corey got here Friday morning or yeah, Friday morning at like five, no? Yeah, I think so. Like Friday morning at 5 a.m. I had to pick him up from the airport, like right before we had to stay up for two days. Um but having him come in and and and help with the logistics like he does, and it's his vision a lot and the way things are structured at the finish line. So getting that done and in, you know, that helps a lot. But but when it comes to the runner experiences, one of the things that we want to work on is being able to accommodate not only more runners, and and I think we we've talked about that being slightly more, but not too many more, but also more spectators. You know, come three o'clock on Saturday, there was no parking left at all. And, you know, thank God again for Angie and Ricardo and Wendy and everybody that was was um shuttling runners from the runners parking lot, which is a couple miles away, you know, that helped us accommodate more, but we're gonna have to accommodate even more than that. And and uh so you know, those are some of the things we'll continue to work on. Angie Frazier having her there. Uh, you know, she's run it almost every year. She didn't run it this year. So, you know, having her there full time for the for the day leading up to end then it was a blessing in disguise because she was everywhere.
SPEAKER_02:I may regret this because we're gonna forget some people, I'm sure. But as we continue to talk about the experience, just your comments there about that takes an unbelievable village. I mean, you mentioned Ricardo, Rob D, uh Angie. I mean, and this is set up, this is throughout. Uh, you mentioned um Tara was there actually, not only Tara. Crystal was helping, Jenna helped a little bit.
SPEAKER_00:Uh, you had, I mean, you had Eden and and Kennedy doing the awards. You had Dakota who ran and then showed up the next morning and stayed there all day on Sunday. You were running the the the data, which people are really loving the BI, like being able to see the scoreboard. And of course, we've talked back and forth of some of the things that we we will change next year to eliminate some of the confusion. Um, but like that was you need to get that on online.
SPEAKER_02:I think people want to be able to see that that aren't there.
SPEAKER_00:It was it was it was really, yeah. It was. Yeah, people were tuning in from from but when he left and then Scotty left, Scotty helped out a ton too, Scotty Banks. Scotty was um nobody knew how to update the the uh online side of it, so we just had it updating locally. Jacob Rich showed up, Chambers was out there, yeah. Like there were probably 20 people um that at some point in time lent a hand, and of course, as this race continues to manifest and grow, we're going to have to stay up for more days, and they're gonna have to be more people that that make it work. But everybody stepped up this year.
SPEAKER_02:Um I know Christy, I think I don't know that we mentioned her name, but she ran it this year, and she does a ton of stuff leading up to it, big on organize organizing.
SPEAKER_00:And well, then of course John Kuhn, right? Oh, yeah, John and Tyler and Colin. Um, John is you know making the film for this year. He was also doing our social media. Tyler was working with him, um, capturing footage early in the morning, and then Colin Howard, and of course Eric Farney, all the drone footage you guys saw on social media, most of that's him. Um guys were everywhere.
SPEAKER_02:It was like you'd be running and they'd be like a dude in a in a bush, or like, you know, they had some shots where you like you turn a corner and you wouldn't see him until the very right on top of them. They're everywhere. So to your point, it's like, oh, this is race, this will be simple. There's just kind of one home base, and then you know, they're kind of out and and back to that same point, and everyone kind of has their own tents or whatever. There's 20 people that probably collectively put in uh 500 hours, you know, in just during the race itself. I mean, people were there for for 20, 30 hours, some of the ones doing, you know, obviously the race going 38, but anyways, wanted to touch on that for a second, um, you know, before diving back into the video.
SPEAKER_00:No, I think I think it went really well this year. I think we have some things we can work on. I think we have some other additions we want to make to the experience. But um, yeah, all of those people made a huge impact. And and it's tough too, because a lot of people ask, you know, what can I do to volunteer? What can I do to help? And I think um just show up and just stay there for as long as you can. There will be things that pop up, especially if you have knowledge about, you know, as it relates to running and dealing with things. That's why it was so good to have Angie there because we'll talk about them later. But there were some people that ran into very specific uh types of injuries or types of situations that they didn't know how to deal with. Um, and she was, you know, there to give suggestions on okay, this is happening. What should I do? Now I have a blister. Should I pop it or not? And and so these types, and the ones you do, all right, how do you dress it and how do you approach those types of things? And next year we're gonna have some other people there that also have that similar knowledge, but um physical therapy guy there too. We did have both, yeah. So shout out to Mike and Tyler. Um, both phenomenal. It was huge to have them there, and and we're working on improving that experience because Mike showed up at eight and was there between eight and noon. Well, nobody really needed him then. Um, but you know, we will have it set up next year where we can let's go back to the kind of pre-race.
SPEAKER_02:Uh you guys have, I mean, the the runner experience is so important to you. Uh, most uh places will, you know, you'll get a bib and they'll throw it in a bag and there will be like 30 advertisements in there that you generally throw away. You guys have been very intentional about that. I mean, a couple of things that come to mind immediately are you guys spent, I know, a decent amount of money on these boxes, very kind of innovative, unique approach. And then if I don't remember, you wrote everyone a letter. Uh, I mean, talk about the time and energy and the resources that go into some of these like really fine touches and why that's so important to you, because very few races do it.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I've talked about like that's my passion is providing these platforms for people to do these types of things. And I want to make sure that we do what we can to let them know that we are putting our best foot forward in every sense of that word, and that we want, you know, like you never know what's going to push somebody to that next level. And we'll talk about that as we talk about the race and getting pulled through and things like that. And so getting to that start line, I want you to know that like this wasn't a company who's trying to make money, you know, that meaning like we're not this big organization that bought or sponsored a particular marathon to make hundreds of thousands of dollars. We're that's not our main focus. Our main focus is wow, they really, you know, TJ spent. I mean, I I thought about that letter for a week and what things I wanted to make sure we touched on, and you know, make sure that when you when you're going in, you're aware of this bigger picture. Because, you know, I I give a lot of props to people who have a lot of time to think about very specific topics, and I think about this a lot. So I want you to know like, look, there are all these elements to this. Keep all of these elements in mind when you get on that on that start line. Like, this is what this could mean to someone in your family or somebody watching um from afar. You know, keep that in mind as well as challenging yourself. And this is going to get hard. And then, you know, here is uh a shirt, not with the same design on it every year with just a different year, but like a little bit of a different design for the shirt. And here's the rad Dana, like this is something you can actually use effectively during the race itself, not something that you can wear six months from now. So the other little things, you know, here's a box that if you want to take everything that you get from the race because you're going to get things during the race on top of the award and take them home and set them in there and kind of create a little thing for it, like that's what that's for. So, you know, that was that was why we did that. And we want to make sure that everybody knows that we're coming here with all guns blazing on our side. If you're gonna lay it out there like that, like we saw some people do, best believe we're gonna do the same thing.
SPEAKER_02:So while we're talking about that, and then I think this will dive us into the race a little bit. Let's talk about the coins. So the coins is another thing that was really cool. Um, and why don't you share where that Yeah?
SPEAKER_00:So, I mean, when it really hit me, uh so Brittany Cother and Matt Cantrell have run Grind on the Grid, which is the other Backyard Ultra in Indiana. We actually both kind of came up with these concepts in similar time frames. Theirs actually happened first. I think they did theirs in April, and we did uh ours in October of the same year. Um and theirs is out in Vetersburg, I think it's out east or out west in Indiana, excuse me. And I went out like this last year to watch it. They're good friends, they're awesome people, super knowledgeable in the ultra world. Brittany was with Chaos Crewing, who I didn't call out. We actually did that pre-uh crew in A with her and with Jessica Nowak and that team, where we covered a lot of uh things that people may encounter in the race. But, anyways, they gave out wristbands at certain distances. And I'm like, well, that's really cool. That's a good idea. Um, and I was just looking for another way to commemorate that because we try to do things that are a little out outside the box. Like, you know, we were one of the first um like, you know, the the awards we have, there's a bigger story behind that, but there wouldn't we engrave them on site. So we try to do do things a little differently. But I'm like, you know, for certain people, um, you talk about things that motivate them. There is some extrinsic motivation, especially for kids. And we can talk about okay when the time comes, but like those coins are something that's like, oh wow, I have something to focus on. Um, and and we have some ideas for next year around those to again help people connect the dots because you do hear about times in the broader scope of this race where there is no goal until you get to this, like, you know, normally it's like goal, goal, goal, goal. And then there comes a point where it's goal and trying to help people break that up. So so that was uh behind the coins, but that's where that idea came from.
SPEAKER_02:So there's a handful of individual stories here, but first I want to talk about the broader uh collective performance at this. I was blown away. Of course, I was sitting there refreshing the data and watching the charts and guessing at, you know, we were a lot of hypotheses. Oh, how long will people last? We had gone 16 miles and I think had lost one person out of a hundred and sixty, somewhere between 150, 175 people, 160 some people. We had lost one person through uh, you know, at the completion of four yards. Uh then as we went further, I want to say, well, this goes right directly back to the coins, yeah, right? So you had ordered a hundred coins, um, I think maybe of each.
SPEAKER_00:200 of the first one, and then a hundred of the what was the first one? That was the ultra marathon, 50k.
SPEAKER_02:50k. So that was 31 miles.
SPEAKER_00:That was seven, it was seven yards, so 29 miles, whatever.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so we had and obviously with only 167 runners, we had plenty. You had a hundred coins, and so again, 160 runners, we'll call it.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, 152 started. I think you guys narrowed it down to something like that.
SPEAKER_02:You're right. Uh and going into so the second one was 50 miles. 50 miles. 50 miles, making it to the night, right? You had to run the 12th, yeah. It was into the into the dark, into the dark, into the dark. So you had to finish your 12th yard, and we almost ran out of 100 points. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:So I didn't see that coming.
SPEAKER_02:Two-thirds of the entire field ran 50 miles. Like that is incredible. Like, just as a holistic performance. Comments on that, thoughts on that.
SPEAKER_00:The comments on it is, you know, after so after the fact, one of the things we do, we are part of the backyard ultra community as a large at a large scale, right? So there's a bracket, and there's the world championships are actually coming up soon down at last's place. But, anyways, they track all of the backyard ultras and all the statistics for the backyards. Um, last year, as is documented in the film, we had 11 people break 100 miles. Um typically, on average, about 7% of a backyard ultra field will make it 100 miles. Um, so you know, we so we had right around there last year. You know, we had 120. So right around 8, 9% last year. This year we had 16%. 24 people breaking a hundred miles, um, which was pretty ridiculous. So our starting field this year put us as the third largest um ever, and and having double and then sum the amount of hundred mile furniture is pretty spectacular.
SPEAKER_02:You know what's funny is we had a couple people come in and it was it was awesome. And to some people, it was a little demoralizing because to be above average, you had to run over 100k. We didn't get to half of the field out until 100k, right? Which is three yards past 50, so 15 yards in. And so to think about that, I had one girl come up and kind of say, you know, I really wanted to be, you know, at a certain threshold. I think she was maybe trying to be in the top 25%. Uh, but that that insane to have over half of the people make it 100k, 62.5 miles, just speaks to the quality of the field that are coming out and the camaraderie and the community. I just thought it was spectacular. Any other kind of comments overall on the milestones that were well, let's just talk about the race in general. Went how many yards last year?
SPEAKER_00:29.
SPEAKER_02:And this year, 38. 38. So, like it's also psychologically, as other people see other people doing this, it there's a level of inspiration that it inspires and new heights that it set, right? 11 people broke 100 last year, now 24. I think it becomes more of a possibility. It's like the four-minute mile, right? Someone does it, then it's like, oh, I can do that, right? Someone that you can relate to potentially accomplishes that feat, and then all of a sudden you mention the goal, that becomes the goal, and 24 people do it, and then you go nine more yards.
SPEAKER_00:We we are seeing these people, it's happening in real time. One that comes to mind uh I'll just tell this quick individual story before we get back into it. But you talk about that larger thing, no, you know, no women had ever broken 100 miles in this race, and we had four do it this year, right? With Sarah, Angela, uh, Tammy, and Gracie. Um, and you know, Kristen Howard's a good friend of mine. She ran the full mo is this past year. That was the farthest she'd ever run. 50K. She ran either I I can't remember, is it 100K or 66 this year? And I saw her a couple weeks after prayer, and she's like, I think I'm going for the hundred K. Right. And you see those ladies do it. And you want to talk. That's that's a jump from a marathon to a hundred miles in 18 months, but like seeing other people do it, and I think we're gonna see uh those four females are gonna inspire so many.
SPEAKER_02:It's gonna be wild to see that. So let's get into the individual stories. We'll start with you. You ran a hundred K. Uh go for it. Talk us through it. Well, um I'll probably sprinkle stories in throughout. I think chronologically makes a t a ton of sense. So I'll just kind of jumping out. Um I probably said this, I don't know if I said it on the podcast yet, but I had not trained, I don't know what the training regimen's like for something like this. Probably not a mile a day. Yeah, yeah. So coming up to the full MO, I was all in 50, 60 mile weeks, fully trained, 12-week program, performed very well to my standards, really enjoyed that. Summers are hard for me, my commitment um to putting in a ton of miles and what that even looked like just didn't happen. I just didn't have a full-on training plan. But the one thing I do have, I think, is grit, and I'm gonna go until I can't go anymore. And so I showed up that day realizing and just talking to you guys. I mean, we did the pre-podcast and stuff. I figured, you know, one of the things that was gonna take me out is either gonna be chafing, uh, food, um, or fatigue, obviously, or injury. I mean, those are probably the big four for everybody out there. Uh, so I went out, it was a perfect day. We haven't talked about that yet, but like God could not have given us a better day. I mean, it started out and it was like 60 in the morning, peaked at like 74, and then like maybe 55 at night. Like it was like, I mean, and it was one of those things where blue skies, but even during the peak of the day, you got a little bit of cloud cover, and then when you went out for the night loop, you were like running and watching the sunset, and then you turn around and there was a full stinking moon. I mean, it was like every feature that God could put out on uh for us that night was there. Um, so the weather was just phenomenal. Uh, and I set out with an interesting goal. I said, I'm gonna talk to a new person every loop that I don't know. Um, and so I went out my first loop, and gosh, I it's funny, I wrote the names down at the time because I wanted to remember, but I met a guy from Alabama that was part of the uh tribal team on my first loop. And so it to me, it was like I want to meet new people, I want to I want to learn about what's going on in uh other people's lives and just try to, you know, kind of get the train going. And I felt I didn't have really hardly any issues in the first like six yards. It was fun. Um, I got to talk to people that I didn't know, I got to hear their stories, um, a lot of good conversation, a lot of good encouragement. Didn't really have the headphones on, really just kind of enjoying the journey for the first six yards or so. Um, and I think that you know played out for like most people. You said we had one person drop. Uh, so it was a really, really good experience. And um, you know, you kind of just keep running that loop, and the first couple miles are it, it I think the cycle for me is it was like once I got to like two and a half miles, and it was kind of like it kind of cycled in. It was that trying to get all the way out, and then once I made the turn to come back, there's a little bit of psychological uh damage that I was playing in my brain. I wanted to be done at 48 to 50 minutes every time. I wanted that that buffer. And so I was always, especially when we got to the night loop, the out and back, like I had to be at a certain point at a certain time, and so I'd always try to push myself. Um, it was fun to see how everyone else had different strategies. Like the girls, they clearly had a strategy, and you know, sometimes you're in front or behind, but they had they're running this point and they were walking this point. I don't know how their strategy or what it was, but they they all kind of did the same thing and stuck together. It was incredible. Um, you know, Cam got to spend some time with him, and he he was running a lot slower, you know. That was kind of his strategy. So people were coming in at 56 to 58 minutes, and people were coming in at, you know, 38 minutes, right? There's people that were really fast. So it was interesting to see how everyone kind of approached it. Uh I probably got around seven or eight yards. I got my first kind of kick in the teeth. Um, my legs were just like, I'm done. I don't want to go anymore. You know, it you're 28 to 32 miles in, right? And I haven't been running more than you know, 20 miles a week, I think at best. So I'm I'm that far in, and my legs are like, you're done. And I run another lap, and they're like, no, you're done. And then I remember you came by and I'm like, dude, my legs are just freaking trash. Um, and you're like, well, here's the deal they're not gonna, it's not gonna get any worse. And there was something when you said that that it was like, oh, that's right. And so at some point, I don't know when it was, I just mentally kept going. And at some point, your body normalizes to that pain, and it actually took it from an eight to a four, right? It wasn't like my legs hurt, but it's like I mentally was like, Yeah, they're gonna hurt. This is what they should feel like, and I'm gonna keep going. One of the key things I did for me that was angel made actual food for me. I don't do well-eaten crustables and you know, pretzels and all those things. So I actually had two full meals rice with um like a taco thing on it, and then I had a chicken curry. Uh, and so I would go back and forth, and I would almost eat a there's a few times I went out there with like a full stomach, you know, just making sure I stayed on my food and I had good food in my body, so that was helpful. Um, I went through five pairs of shorts and more lube all over. I mean, anyone in our tent got more than what they would ever want to see from me putting on stuff, uh trying to keep that area dry. Because as you guys know, chafing happens when you stop sweating and it dries out, and then you sweat again, that's when it hits if you don't change or clean. So a lot of uh hey dude wipes and a lot of different things to try to maintain that. Um, but I was in a pretty good place through probably so I get through seven or eight, and um, I'm feeling decent again. Uh and then um my daughter shows up, and um so Eden was there, she was helping out, doing a bunch of different things, but Hadley had a soccer game and couldn't come, so she gets there about four o'clock, and she's also running a mile every day. Uh, shout out to Hadley, she'll she'll be at a hundred days on September 30th.
SPEAKER_03:Let's go.
SPEAKER_02:So um she's fighting through knee pains and other things, but she's still doing it every day, which is I'm really, really proud of her for sticking with it. Um, and she does a mile on top. Of whether she has a sport or not, and she just shows up, which is really cool. Um, so we uh she shows up and she's like, Dad, can I can I run a loop? I'm like, sure. So she grabs her sister's shoes because she didn't have any, and she put on a pair of my shorts. She runs a loop. And um, so that was kind of like helping me change the pace, and then she gets back and we run a couple more loops, and I'm like, you know, I'm feeling it a little bit, but I'm still kind of in my groove, and she's like, Can I run another one? I'm like, Yeah, yeah, you can run another one. And about this time, I think it was maybe lap 10 when I locked on with Kay for a couple laps. Kay was in a tough spot, and I was like, We're gonna well, let's let's just run the next two together. I think uh TJ fueled the fire of like go out and beat Uncle Trent. He he said his goal is to beat you, so Kay had this little vendetta. Anytime she saw me, she'd like take off sprinting, um, which what she did was just phenomenal. Uh, she's just incredible. The the grit and just her mentality, like it was just unbelievable. She just she doesn't, you know. I I have a lot of kids, and at some point in time, you know, how you have a kid and they get mad or upset and they start whining and they get crying fussy, like this just doesn't happen with Kay. She just anyway, so me and Kay lock in until we get to I think the night loop.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:So Hadley does eight miles with me, and I had not really set a goal. Everyone's like, What's your goal? I'm like I didn't set a goal, but I'm like, I saw the shirts and I was like, the last one was into the dark. I'm like, I want into the dark shirt. So I was finding ways to um get into the dark, and so that was lap 13. Yeah, and so I get back from 12 and I'm like, I'm chafed pretty good. Uh, and I'm like, all right, I'm gonna, and Hadley said, Dad, I'll go back out with you. Now, mind you, my daughter only runs a mile. This is gonna be her 12th. She's about to run a half marathon, yeah. And um, she's like, I got you. And then Chambers, Caleb was right there, and he goes, and so I'm thinking, okay, I'm gonna do that 13, that last loop, and I'm done into the night. This is Chambers looks at me, he goes, dude, when you get back, I'm going out on the next one. And so come to find out, those two had been talking of like, how are they gonna keep keep me going? And so Hadley goes out on 13 and there's points in times where I think she was really struggling, but she caught back up to us because I had to kind of and me and Kay kind of parted because I was like, I was just trying to hold on for dear life myself, and and so I think Noah came out, maybe was running with Kay, but Kay's still going at 13, which is incredible. Um, I get back and I'm like toast and Caleb's like, let's go and community. I didn't read your letter until after the race, and it was so spot on with everything I experienced. Like as you went through and just painted that picture I'm reading, and I'm like, wow, this is like literally what I just when I was done, when everything that I had put out there was done, my community said no, there's more. Because at 50 54, she goes out, and then she goes out, maybe it was 50 to 54, 13th loop, and then you go out 54 to 58, and she but then you were you were gonna stop there just to short of uh 100k. Yeah, so you were like, I'm done. Yeah, so Hadley ended up going out again. She went out for four more with me and Caleb. So she went out for 16, and she's like, Dad, I got you. I'm just like, I can't quit. My daughter's here, Caleb's here, and like my community was like, Dad, go. And I'm like, I'm in no man's land at this point in time. My stomach's starting to lock up, I'm super tired, I can barely pick my legs up. I haven't again, I haven't been training for this. And um, I get done with lap 14, and you walked by and said, There's no way you're stopping one lap short of 100k. Like, you like you like, dude, never feel like there's you will never like you cannot stop. And so then I got in my mind, I was like, Okay, Caleb's like, I'll go back out. And uh, so Caleb went back out with me, and I was like, I was teeter-tottering, like vomiting, like from my stomach was kind of messed up, and so I said Caleb, I was like, we're gonna go as hard as we can in case I throw up so I can walk in. We hit the turnaround point at like 23 minutes, and I got back at like 48 and I didn't throw up. I mean, I was like, but by that time, I was mentally just like I was done. Now, sitting here today, I never got it. I was so like I said, I was so in my head about being back by 50 minutes. If I would have hit the turnaround at 27, I would have been freaking out. I'm wondering if I would have just gone out and started walking and walk jog if I could have clipped a couple more. But once I hit the 100k, it was like my my why kind of dissipated. I didn't think I had a chance in hell at 24 to do 100. I just didn't that I couldn't fathom that. And so the difference between me and 15 and 17, there just wasn't the why wasn't enough. Um, and so I did give it everything I had, and I went to the ends, and my community took me two to three yards further than I thought I could go. Um but just the experience as a whole, like the community aspect of it, the the brotherhood, the people pushing you. Um, I just never experienced anything like it. Like you said, like you're gonna like this better in full mo. They both are are they both were fun in in their own minds, but there is something about Prairie where it's just like you give every part of you and then you give more, and you do things that you just never thought were possible. The mile to 100K is almost a couch to 100k from your summer. Uh it's pretty unbelievable. Well, it it was I I think the coolest thing for me, um, and we'll probably talk about contextual. Actually, I'll I'll I'll save that for later, but there was a me and Hadley had a really unique conversation on the way home that was really special. Um, but the the race itself was just incredible.
SPEAKER_00:You you mean you mentioned something that has come to the forefront of my mind, post-prairie. Um I was listening to Jordan Goldstein, he's another one of the tri, he's one of the tribal training guys, uh, doctor, um and a brilliant individual who again spends a lot of time thinking about this, and he he talks similarly to you. He did 80 something, I think, last year, and then this year came out and ended up I feel like maybe 100k or a little more. Um, so didn't do as well. Definitely experienced the same thing, but you know, I think one of the things that's unique, it's like this razor's edge with prairie is if you're going in there with a huge goal, you're gonna have to guard against losing your heart. And he talks about it. He had brought so his wife and kids had never watched him run. They're from Canada, they live in Illinois now, and they'd never watched him run a race. Well, he did what a lot of people do. He got the RV down there, they stood, they stayed with him, and when he hit 50, the kids were there with these shirts they made with dad, and they gave him these hugs, and it was over. Like, you know, he did a couple more, but they that was the moment.
SPEAKER_02:That was the crowning moment. Let's do it talk about that one more yard concept. Go one more, go one more is so spot on. It's just like one more yard. I just kept saying to myself when my kid and when Hadley and Kayla's like, one more yard, it it like it just resonates. Like you can do one more yard. What I found watching the data, uh, another observation is that those milestones are a blessing and a curse. And if you look at the data, you'll see a very small thing on 50k, a little small bump. Then you see 50 miles. The and I'm I'm talking about the number of people dropped. So we have a graph that shows the number of people that dropped each yard, right? And like clockwork, you can see it 50k, a small bump, 50 miles, 100k, even 75 miles. And there's a different, I mean, some people are going for PRs or things, a hundred miles, like it's it's it's crazy. And then, yeah, and then they drop off hugely after those milestones. So the beautiful thing is I think people push themselves, many people push themselves way further than they think they go for that goal. But then also on the other side, those goals are also a nice out for people to have a clean cut. I mean, it's clear that if we if everyone was truly going to their limit, there would be no there would be no pattern identifiable. But the reality is I would say between 50k, uh 50 miles, 100k, and 100 miles, you probably had three quarters of the field drop on one of those four milestones.
SPEAKER_00:What I did notice though is you would like if 12 and 13. Maybe half. You would see like the it was either that or the one after. So they oh, I hit 50 miles, I'll do one more. Yes. Or I'll hit 100k, I'll do 66. That's true.
SPEAKER_01:You would see. I think to clarify my statement, it was probably more like half dropped on one of those four to six yards.
SPEAKER_02:I I think not having a goal did did help me. Like if I would have set one of those, it just was like, but on the flip side, I I didn't have anything carrying me either once I got to a certain point. But um I just wanted to soak it all in. I wanted to, I was just blown away with when you came around and you saw those tents, and I remember when I came to help during setup for a little bit and just seeing how empty it was, and all the people, and everyone just so cool. So there's just this unbelievable community of people you know and don't know, and you get to know that just and just having the different people show up to support. Tim Moorhead came out with his girls, and I mean, just people there to encourage you and help you. And Angel and my my whole family was there for a period of time. Um, there's really nothing like it, and and it's putting yourself through that, again, doing hard things, um, is and having that community that cares enough to help you dig into that last bit out of you to where because there is there's a sense of you don't do it for pride, but there's a sense of accomplishment. Um so a few people asked me this question. Uh, I don't know that we've ever asked you what part of Kay still going at 50 miles helped you continue to go. Were you going to get beat by your niece? Is what everybody wants to know. How big of a factor was that for you to keep going? Well, um, yeah, so that was maybe the only thing I said that I was I I there was a point in time I I wanted to run with Kay, and when she got to 10 and was struggling, like I wanted to see her get as far as she could. Like, yeah, we're joking around, like it'd be nice to be able to beat her, but let's all be honest, like the the times of us outbeating Kay and running are short and far between. Like she's going into places that we're never gonna. And I told her that. I was like, listen, this might be the one and only time that I'm gonna ever be able to compete with you ever again. So let me have this year, Kay. But no, I I was encouraged when she started struggling. I wanted to help. I I wasn't like I want to beat her.
SPEAKER_00:And tell me about that real quick, because I didn't I I I I saw some of the more acute things when she would come in, like daddy my calves, or or we we have issues with blisters, but like I didn't hear much about those moments on the trail.
SPEAKER_02:Um her friend started dropping and and she was she was on the pain train uh out there and kind of similar to how you know Hadley and um Caleb picked me up. It was like, hey, would it help you do you want to run together? Right. Like I just I wanted to keep her mind going and and um I think a couple of I think she had a friend that had run some and taken some off and was kind of back out there and so forth, but I just noticed that she was starting to kind of get further and further back there because she was she was running the first several laps up there pretty pretty quick. Um so when I just saw that and I was like, hey, let's let's do this together because I know she wanted to get to 10 was her goal. Um, and then she kept going and I'm like, all right, and then she kept going and I'm like, wow. Um but once we got to lap 13, I was in so much of a pain cave, like selfishly or not, I was like just trying to keep myself like going at that point. My ability to stop and start when someone else was, I was completely focused on myself. So my apologies, Kay, on lap 13. I I think I did my own thing, and that was purely out of survival.
SPEAKER_00:I think Noah got her out on 13 too. Like, he was like, Can I go do one?
SPEAKER_02:And oh, did he go out on what he was out?
SPEAKER_00:She wasn't planning on it. She was gonna do what they did last year and not sit in the chair. And but Corey, like to make the whole theater of it, put her in the headlamp and everything else, and then she just didn't turn around. And she went, yeah, she went out.
SPEAKER_02:She she finished 13, right? Yeah, but she didn't go back out after that.
SPEAKER_00:No, she comes in and she goes, Dad, I'm never running more than 54 miles. That is the worst out and back ever.
SPEAKER_02:So let's talk about this. So great transition. So Kay, who had run how much last year? Seven, twenty nine. Seven, and she probably runs she's 11. She's 11 years old. And she maybe runs what, 15 to 20 miles a week. Not even 12 to 15 miles a week. She ran seven yards last year, and she runs 11 to 13, excuse me, 13 yards, almost doubles it, 54 miles into the dark. I think arguably, I mean, there was obviously a few other storylines, but might have been the storyline of the race. Like, talk that, talk that through. You're you're trying to, I'd be interested from your perspective, before we get into what you've talked with her about and how that went for her. You just kind of you're you're trying to put on this race, and your daughter is putting on a complete show. Uh like talk about managing your emotions there. That had to be difficult.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, I mean, it was just relying on the the team we have. That's what I I think goes on, I mean, goes unnoticed with her. Um, is that you know, you we we've we're gonna say the community word a hundred times. This is, I mean, we we are her you know blood family, but that this is her expanded family. And so there's a picture that Angie sent. So at one point, dad, I have blisters. And I'm like, okay, we got to pop and whatever, whatever. Because I have to think at this point, I have to think tactically. I can't, you know, I know, um, talking about guarding against your heart. I know that if I start to be dad and caring and whatever, knowing her personality, there's a potential she'll latch on to that and and not go where she wants to go, right? Because she put the 10 out there herself. Um, so it's like, okay, and well, Angie, you have a lot of experience here. Angie, can you crew Kay? And there's there is this picture where Angie's on the ground and Kennedy and Bella have food ready for her. And Grant's like, so she's got five people around, like, and she's sitting in the chair and they're crewing her, you know. And then I sent her over to Mike on the PT table and he put KT tape on her calves because her calves were hurting. Um, but you know, uh, I had a friend reach out to me and tell me that his daughter wanted to go, you know, as far as Kay's gonna further next year, and I and I and I welcome it. That'd be awesome.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:But one thing that Kay has that nobody else has is she has an endless amount of friends. Like you said, when her friends were dropping. One of the things that's interesting with this particular race versus the the backyard ultra as a is a bigger you're not allowed to have pacers. Well, that's easier said than done. When your Laz and your your loop is in the backyard of your house, nobody else can run on the course. Fortunately or unfortunately, I think it's fortunately, this is a public trail. They will not close it ever.
SPEAKER_02:I mean There were horses out there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, and we're 98% of the traffic, 99% of the traffic that day, and they still won't let us park in certain parking lots because they don't want us to overwhelm the parking lots for the regular visitors. So our people are gonna be able to run on that trail, and it's turned out to be a really cool thing. You know, Kay had a friend run seven yards, but not at once. He'd run one and then take two, two off, and then run another one, et cetera, et cetera. Um, so that's nice knowing that her sister, her sister's friends, her, you know, Ricardo's daughters, obviously, Fernanda and Bella are there, they're helping out. I I am able to feel fairly confident that they will be able to handle 85%. And if it gets really serious and she needs some advice or we need to talk about something, then she'll come to me. But she knows, like she was, she she is definitely not the kid. And you kind of alluded to this. It's like, dad, I need this, dad, I need this, dad, I need this. Help me. She's gonna try to solve what she can. Um, but for her and the superpower she has out there is that like, you know, just imagine you were going out there and you had your 15 best friends lined up to run with you one in a row. Um, you know.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, we talk about the four that went to 100 and we'll get there, but like just like you said, with the one reaching out and saying his daughter wants to go. I mean, the number of kids that she's gonna inspire already who just threw word of mouth, but then once the documentary comes out, so there was a documentary, let's talk about that for a second. Kuhn was out filming, and and what's your guys' timeline to release?
SPEAKER_00:We're probably gonna be saying like January-ish, he's doing the uh kudos, thank you, IMG. He's doing the interviews there it on the 29th. Um at the indie office. Yeah. So I think the 29th and 30th he's interviewing. Uh so it'll probably be beginning of the year um that he gets that out. So we'll probably do a screening again. We might need somewhere bigger because obviously annex was standing room and then some only last time. Um, but we'll do it like early January, and then that of course is the first opportunity to sign up for the race when we when we launch that.
SPEAKER_02:But um how many kids participated, I'll say, under under age 18.
SPEAKER_00:Well, and I was gonna talk to you, you know, this all started with Kaelin and Hazel um two years ago. And then Hazel's dad out there. What's that?
SPEAKER_02:Hazel's dad. I got to know him. Hey, Joel.
SPEAKER_00:Shout out to Joel. I mean, he's the one that uh not only does our website, but then also made the graphic that was sent out to a lot of you um that showcased how the uh race was structured in terms of the logistical organization of home base. Um but yeah, it was it was Hazel and Kay that first year, and then the next year they came out and did it again. Well, then Hazel sisters decided that she has twin sisters, um, that they did and a younger brother, but the girls decided they wanted to run. Well, then Joel's brother John, who's got a daughter, Leighton. Well, she decided she wanted to run. So officially we had five kids sign up this year. Um but on top of that, we had probably at least another half dozen, if not ten, do at least a yard or more. And and I think like you said at miles.
SPEAKER_02:Just randomly, not really.
SPEAKER_00:Um, but like you said that when you saw Kay on Lap 10, I think she takes a lot of pride in, she's got friends out there that have never run more than three miles, you know. Uh, or and so she's like, oh, I'm gonna take you know, Wyatt to 16 and Graham to 29, and Noelle to four, and Fernanda to eight, or whatever. And so like there's purpose in that too. So I think next year, I would assume we've been talking about how to formalize this, but we'll probably have at least a dozen kids like actually sign up next year. Limit, age limit will probably be um we'll take it case by case. Like if you know, if it's I'm not gonna let a random 10-year-old kid whose parent isn't in the race as well. Like, there's there's some, you know, there's some liability on it.
SPEAKER_02:You don't want half this field to be kids coming out running three and four laps, I would assume. That's not the goal of the so a couple things, but just for a second. There are some parents out there that are like who would let their daughter run 54 miles. Like, you know, speak to that a little bit. Obviously, you this is a very controlled thing. You know Kate's limitations, her capabilities. What did were was there any point where you were concerned about the distance that she was running and and talk that through?
SPEAKER_00:I would have gotten concerned later. So, like with her and her alone, right? Because one of the big things that was talked about, you know, some of the neighbors that lived on 234th Street were setting things out for the runners. Like they're all in, like two of the people that live right there, um, they're not gonna listen to this podcast, so I can say it. You remember the house we started, mom's 50? Yeah. And I wrote like start, yeah, it's that house. Yeah. And they actually picked up all of our LED lights for us. They took their gator out and, like, as a favor, picked them up for us. And I went and talked to them. She's running it next year.
SPEAKER_04:Wow.
SPEAKER_00:Um, which is crazy full circle moment. But um most of the people wouldn't take those drinks because they thought that was unassisted aid. And I was very, you know, straightforward about do not take anything that is not from your camp. Well, when Kay went out on lap 13, you knew that. I mean, you may have been more prepared, but it got it was windy out there and kind of a cutting wind on that out and back if you weren't warm. Um, Kay weighs 67 pounds. And so, like, I went out and brought her a jacket. I run, rode my one-wheel out out there. And of course, I'm self-conscious because, you know, whenever I'm running by the field, I just got to think in their heads, they're like, What is he TJ doing? Stop being a jackass. Uh, because I had to do it one other time on the day loop because one of the kids actually got lost out on the loop and his mom, it was Crystal Son Wyatt. Um, it wasn't a huge deal, but like I wanted to go out and find him and walk him in. Uh, and and so I'd done that with Kay. So, in terms of being concerned about her, had she done more along the night, I would have wanted to ensure that somebody like an Angie was paying attention to the fact that she was um wearing layers um appropriately, but she is again grown up around this. So, like she had her fueling dialed and it was hers. Like she was getting honey sticks from like we'll talk about a great clean fuel. She was eating gummy nerds, she was drinking, you know, water, she was staying on top of that stuff. Um and the crazy thing was, man, you ran with her. Every time somebody was around her on that trail, go K, you're you're amazing. Are you kidding me? I can't believe this. Um, so the people out there, there didn't seem to be any judgment. I'm sure there were a couple people that were keeping it to themselves, but there are enough people that know and there are enough people that have seen her run enough to be able to let me know if it looks like something is serious. And and by the way, I think I I often wonder, and this is a much broader conversation, so I don't want to get too far off topic. I often wonder why there is that perspective. You know, you you when we were growing up, you would hear about all the things that could stunt your growth. Oh, if you start lifting weights too early, you'll start or whatever. If you do this too early, um, and who knows? I don't know. Uh, you know, um but I will tell you this this is what kind of changed, this is what sat in my mind. She runs cross-country right now and she's good, she's competitive. Um and she had two cross-country meets the following week. So she this would have been on a Saturday, she had cross-country on Tuesday and Thursday. And, you know, I like any parent, you want your kid to do good. She's got a team that's somewhat reliant on her. And I just stopped myself and I said, When she's 35, is she gonna look back on having a bad sixth grade cross-country meet? Or is she gonna look back on all of the fun she gotta have with her friends and running 54 miles of prairie? And for me, that was more important than like, and oh, for all of you concerned parents, by the way, a a week and a half after prairie, she broke her in-race PR by 30 seconds in a 3K.
SPEAKER_02:I think the important thing about Kay is it's all self-propelled. You aren't saying keep going. This wasn't one of those, you know, parents, a lot of us, I mean one of them at times, like you're always pushing your kid. Like, this girl was pulling people with her. They like you said, she had self-motivation to take others with her. We're gonna be traveling around the country when in 15, 20 years, watching her do some crazy stuff because she just she has that desire and she's got that pull. And this wasn't a push, this was uh definitely a pull from Kay, and I saw it firsthand, especially the last three or four laps. Yeah, she's obviously very experienced. I mean, she has a 700-day plus run streak. She is uh she knows her own limitations. And so we're going to the night loop. Let's talk about the night loop a little bit. That loop, I don't know what it is, but the way back feels like four times longer than the way there. The two miles out, and then you hit the turnaround, and it's like it's eternity to get back to camp. I don't know why that is psychologically. You know what else I would add to that? And this has obviously been 12 months since I ran it. I felt like the undulation on the way back was like double. Like when you came out, it felt like it was uphill both ways. Like you you came out, you uphill. Oh yeah, this is still outhill, you know, and then you come back and you're like, this is still uphill going back until the dive into the thing. Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:One of the unique thing that happened, one of the unique things that happened this year, and we're gonna embrace it. You know, we we were getting, and we'll do this next year. We're doing merchandise on site for people to kind of commemorate their accomplishments. And um, two of the designs were the course. One is the just one more uh just one more loop, and that's the day day course. And and then Corey had come up with the uh this isn't a race, it's a reckoning saying. And I'm like, well, I want to make sure we commemorate the night loop somewhere. So I'm like, oh, let's just put it as a line through the middle. Well, then people started calling the night loop the reckoning, like it wasn't intentional, but I heard Sarah Farney say it, and it's like, yeah, it is, right? Like it is the reckoning for sure.
SPEAKER_02:Speaking of Sarah Farney, let's go from Kaylin to the other females in the race. Sarah Farney, Angie Kumar, uh Gracie Bell, and Tammy. Yeah. Okay. So they all hit 100 miles. They did. And let's talk for a second just about all the hundred runners, but I want to hit on them.
SPEAKER_00:So previously, Gracie had set the uh was it no last yes, Gracie and Tammy, Gracie and Angela had both been in the 80s in different years. Yeah, I I think I think it's either it was either Cam did 83 and Gracie did 78, but I know Angela's been in the 80s for sure. So it was close. It was something like that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so so they're doing this, and let's talk just in general for a night loop, because up to about the hundred K mark, it's pretty popping.
SPEAKER_04:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:At the right, people are there. Every time the loop goes off, people are cheering. About about 1 a.m., it starts to really thin out. Yeah, right. And like you're starting to be out there and you're asking yourself, why am I out here? The extrinsic motivation goes off a cliff, I think, around 1 a.m. And so, and I'm gonna talk about this more for the guys that went into the the and the the the females that went into the day, but they go this is throughout the night, and I know many of them were in excruciating pain. I mean, I you could see people finishing and like could barely walk, like you know, wobbling. And so the mental toughness, but let's just talk a little bit about the storyline of those four ladies that that made it to 100 miles.
SPEAKER_00:Well, yeah, so last year Sarah and Tammy stopped, I think, at 66. And I talked to Tammy a little bit about the story. I think they were gonna go 50, like that was kind of their plan was to get to 50. And then um I can't remember what pushed them a little bit further, but they they ended up again going and getting to 66 and Angela last year had to stop um uh in the 80s, but she looked fantastic. And I know when she did have to stop, uh, she wasn't she wasn't happy about it, but like she um, you know, needed to needed to approach it in a under under a different guise this year. Gracie um really, you know, like when she showed up two years ago, she came really became part of the family kind of instantly. And I'd run into her a couple other places. Corey talked to her quite a bit, and so she felt like part of the crew and she had a baby. Um, but she had bit started to do really hard things, she'd started to do straight hundreds and and know that she had said that prairie is her favorite race, and that's her favorite time of year, and knowing that she wanted to come back here and do something special. Well, um, I think she knew that uh it was going to have to be a big number and watching those other three, so those other three ladies are all part of Fisher's Run Club, they're all all in close proximity, and they spent all year planning this. Like you said, they had a real strategy with runwalk. They had been out there multiple times, and like we walk from this post to this post, and we walk from this part of the parking lot, so that was like uh dialed, and they have very um it was interesting to listen to the dynamics in their tents with uh their crews and her husband. So uh, you know, they they have they all very different personalities, um at least outwardly, and they kind of compliment each other in different ways, but they've been around each other so often that they know when they have to cut bait if somebody's dragging them down too much. And so they've had they've gone to dinners and discussed it. They've been on the they've been out to I mean, they've really put a lot of time and effort in. I think um I don't think there was any. Way in hell with that kind of like tight-knit scenario. Tammy probably faced the most adversity early because she got some bad blisters and she's never gotten blisters. Um, she had done the 66 and she'd gone out to grind.
SPEAKER_02:Bleeding through her shoe, if I recall. Like, like we're not talking about like, ouch, this hurts. We're talking about blood blisters, some of which had popped, and like it was well, that was kind of that was interesting because she had done 66 at prairie, then she went to grind and she wanted to do 100, and she she had problems with her ankles, and she couldn't, which I think she got to the 80s herself there and grind.
SPEAKER_00:And so she went out to the prairie to run on uneven terrain so that her ankles were strong, and she ran on a prairie for like three months um or two months or whatever. She'd go out there every day and she had some setbacks with some other injuries and and whatever. Um meanwhile, you know, I'm watching Angela and Sarah put in these huge days, 20 milers. Angela's like known for breaking hers up and doing 20 miles in three different sessions in a single day. And then Sarah's got all of the people she coaches on soulmates, plus she's doing her own stuff. Um but so Tammy comes out and she's figured she's like, I got it figured out. I've got all my injuries figured out, my ankles are strong, and she gets that blood blister. And that's when Angie comes up to her. You know, somebody somebody's like, I think it was her husband came up and he's like, Hey, she's got blood. What do I do? I'm like, talk to Angie. Um and Angie's like Frazier. Yeah, Angie's like, you have to pop it. And she's like, No, I don't want to, I don't, and she was asking people too out on the course what she should do and got 50-50. So she ended up popping it. And if you popped a blister, like that next four miles is gonna hurt like hell. Um, and she came back and was just furious, and then eventually it subsided, and it was the right thing to do for her to finish that. Um, but they all Angela, as you both know, especially you, she's the most positive person in the world. Every time she comes in on a lube, she's smiling high-fiving. Well, I think she said it was 20 after 22, something happened to her Achilles, and for the first time in two years, she was like, This hurts. Like, I'm done. I don't want to be out like this, I feel like it's gonna tear off. And uh she got it done.
SPEAKER_02:I just want to comment, real comment, fun fact. I feel like these random data fun facts, but one of the things that uh one of the audience members had asked for at one point during the race is like, hey, could we tell like males versus females? And so I added this statistic in there, uh, had a little fun with that, the percentage of males and females that were still left, right? Because we were tracking overall, like how many are left or whatever. Up until that hundred-mile point, the female, the number of females remaining from a proportion to males was right in the ballpark, which to me is incredible. I mean, you talk about all this, like, right? Uh you know, males and female sports and different levels or whatever. The females, the grit that was showed by the females to proportionately hang in there with the males was unbelievable. It was something a lot of people were talking about um up to that hundred mile point.
SPEAKER_00:There was some that really pushed themselves to Christy pushed herself as far as she could go. She could barely stand up when she came in. Yeah. I mean, there there, and she'll be featured in the documentary as well. So you'll get to hear more about the stories of those ladies. Um there were some really I think next year we're gonna have some really ridiculous performances.
SPEAKER_02:So you mentioned Christy, uh, who had an unbelievable performance as well. I think some of the time things that get overlooked in this sort of a thing and even in this kind of dialogue is people are out there setting PRs, you know, which is like huge. They may not have been, you know, this you know, hitting the hundred miles or winning the race or whatever, but Christy goes out and uh she'd run 15 yards, I think was her, was that right? 15, 100k previously, and then goes out, runs eight, eighteen yards. Um and again went completely to the well, which I think for me, as I kind of mentioned, you've got these milestones that are a blessing and a curse. The ultimate, the ultimate goal for this race, if you're really, is how much can you get out of yourself? Yeah, how far can you go? Can you go to the well to where you go out and you're literally giving everything you possibly can and not you just can't get back in time? Physically, you are uh you have all the motivation in the world and you physically can't, and that's what Christy did. Oh, yeah. I mean, Christy, as I understand it, could not just like physically, she still went and just couldn't. Lindsay uh Dodick did the same thing. Yeah, like she got she got trapped out on the course after like 13 or 14. It's kind of that same mentality as like she didn't she tried to finish the loop, she just couldn't physically get back in time. Yeah, there was another one that absolutely did that. She uh I think she came in like 30 minutes past the the cutoff time, which to me just shows you how much I mean she left zero, her and Christy left zero out in the course. So yeah, I just want to give a shout-out there. Incredible.
SPEAKER_00:I had a friend Farah Chowdhury that came in and she had one of those. It was the best. She was the fastest exchange at the line ever. She got in with like three seconds left, grabbed the water bottle, and then went back out. And she didn't make it back in time, but she ended up um just going out off the clock and doing another yard because she she just didn't have the speed to get back in time, and that was really cool to see.
SPEAKER_02:In a way, those are the heroes of the race, honestly. Um, but let's talk about Gracie for a second. She won the female, and she had it, she was interesting just because she came in at like 38 minutes.
SPEAKER_00:38 to 43 almost every time.
SPEAKER_02:Clockwork. I mean, she was running what is that, eight and a half to nine minute miles, just uh her and there was someone else that was with her for quite a while.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, she dropped right around 100k. I can't remember her name. Yeah, um, but they both Gracie is a and that's what's great about this is that everybody thinks they have the answer. And that speaks to the uniqueness of the human body. Everybody is like, oh, you shouldn't run fast because these people don't, or this person doesn't. And frankly, for Gracie, it works. And you know, after the fact, she commented she's like, I had something left, I think, but my goal was to win. And I know that, like, and she struggled, she had a brilliant move. I talked earlier, and I've mentioned I think to both of you. Um we talked about the functionality of the rad danna, and normally those are ice bandanas. Well, Gracie struggles with her body temperature, and that's why she ended up dropping a couple years ago because she couldn't stay warm, and she put hot hands in her radanna and tucked it in. It was like a heater. Wow, and that's what kept her warm this year.
SPEAKER_01:That's brilliant.
SPEAKER_00:Um oh, she was the best. At the starting line, she was coming up with all these ideas because she's kind of delirious. She goes, at night, whenever anybody drops, we need to put like Harry Potter or something. We need to put a giant thing in the sky with their picture. Like that'd be so rap.
SPEAKER_02:We were talking about that, that they should shoot off like in um uh when the people die when they're that was what it was. Yeah, um we were talking about that. Oh, the mocking bird killed what's that called? What's that show? Yes, I know the mocking uh games. Hunger Games. Hunger Games. Yes, that's what she was saying. When somebody dies in Hunger Games, they literally shoot a cannon off. We we were laughing about that earlier in the day. We're like, because we were like, who's gone out? We haven't is anyone ever dropping? Hunger Games. Speaking of, is anyone ever dropping? So you get to this next level. Um, congratulations to everybody, you know, that on the female side. It was just an and Tammy even pushed herself like a few more yards to where we were like, I mean, this is unbelievable. Um, she continued to go a few more, but but I want to fast forward a little bit into the race because we're at about 120 miles, we're into the second day, it's like 10 a.m. There's nobody really there, there's no milestones in sight. It's not like someone's about to hit 150 or something else, and there's 10 guys, give or take, that are still going out. And I'm just sitting there thinking, if I was them, what would my why be? No one's here cheering you on. You've already hit the big milestones. You may you likely aren't gonna win it because Jeff, you know, Walker can go, has proven he can go a very, very long way, and they were still going out, and that just the inspiration uh of those guys, and maybe we can hit on a couple of them that gave Jeff, you know, uh an opportunity to go really deep. I was just blown away by the uh the will, the motivation, and the grit to go out for almost no reason other than to push your limits.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, there were there are a couple people to call out in regards to like the big stuff. I mean, you're right, a lot of these other like PRs and things get overshadowed. There were plenty of people that went from like low double digits to 60 or 50 miles. Um, Euriah's the one that sticks out. He went from 10K to 100 miles. Um, he was a big one. And he had he had and he said, you know, community was his big thing. Um and there were a lot of people when he hit that mile, so there was a lot of tears because he had run into some different guys out there on the uh out there on the trail when he wanted to quit that wouldn't let him quit. Jeff was one of them, Cam was one of them. Um it was crazy to see an accomplishment like that. That speaks to you know how community uh is gonna take you further than anything else. If you can find the right people to pull you on. Jake Hostett, there's another one. Um Jake is he and I tell them this, I tell him this all the time. Watching him do 50 miles last year and stop, I just railed him for railed on him for him here. Like, dude, and he's I'm like, you quit, you knew you had it, and he's like, 100 it is next year, and this year, same thing. He did a hundred and it was like cool, no problem. Um I think one of the things that helps him though, from a that community perspective, is he's a very vocal person. And he said he ran into the ladies at one point on the out and back, and they were like, you know, nobody would care if we stopped at 75. Like, that's a great number. It's it's a PR. And Jake was like, we didn't come here to do that. Like, let's go. So he he vocalizes and gets to help uplift people, and and I think he's one that next year could go a very, very long way and could be really, really good at this long term. I know he battles with wanting to go faster and do some of those shorter things, but he's really, really good at uh at that. And then when it comes to the other guys left out there, uh I know Matt Sandlin pushed pretty far. Um Robert Oderbush wanted to hit a PR, so that's why he stayed out there. I think he got 137 miles, give or take. Uh the two that got Jeff to the end that assists was Abe Rickenberg and Angel and DeSoto and Angel. He I mean, they both like I think I think Abe's PR prior to that was 120 miles in that realm, and he ended up going 154. And then talking with him, he's a very experienced ultra runner, he's done Leadville, he's done a lot of those big races. Um, but you know, he said for him, he's like, man, this kind of speaks to your point. He's like, it got to a point with me where I couldn't win the mental battle anymore because I had gone so far over where I thought, and that's the blessing and the curse of the the goals. He's like, I got I just didn't have, I couldn't tell myself anymore. You know, when you're 34 miles past your PR, it's just like there's only so many times, there's only so many mental tricks you can use to keep yourself going. Um I don't know what level of hell Angel went to because he was he'd come back and he'd be in just tears and he had multiple nosebleeds, and I mean he went all the way down. Um, I remember him coming back at 150 and hugging me like the world was gonna end. Like I thought like this is 100% the bow on the box, like he's done. And then he goes out for the next yard. And Abe at this point in time, Abe and Jeff are hanging out, and it's about 55 minutes. Abe is crewing himself because he was with Bob under the tent. Jeff is in his tent, like he always does, right? Get to business, go whatever. And Abe's like, hey man, we're talking because nobody again, nobody's with him. He's like, hey, I don't think Angel's making it back. He's like, you know, Jeff and I were together, we hit the turnaround, we came back, and we saw him at like 31 minutes, but like he still had three tenths to go to get there. And so, like, he might, but like, I doubt it. And John had gone out on the one wheel. John got 16 hours of footage, by the way, if that tells you how hard he was working. John went out on the one wheel to film all the guys on that yard. And all of a sudden, with like two minutes left, we see the two headlamps up on 234th, and we're like, I'm like, dude, I think it's them. And Abe's like, no way. And he goes, Jeff, get out of your tent. You have to see this. And at this time, there's like 25 of us that are still there. Um, and he is hammering down 234th and down the turn, and he finished with 27 seconds left. Wow. Um, and then got on the line and went again. And of course, he and Abe ended up turning around and coming back, and then Jeff finished it um to finish it at 38 yards.
SPEAKER_02:It was cool to see some of the camaraderie. I know a couple of times when I was there, Jeff, uh, you know, I think Abe and uh Angel were walking, and then Jeff came up to him and was like, Let's go. You know, he would get him running. Uh, just some really, really cool stories. You mentioned Uriah, he came in, man. I could feel his emotion. It was the exact same thing I went through last year. Like, you just are so emotionally exhausted, the rawness and the vulnerability of him hitting that hundred miles. You could tell how meaningful that was to him. Like, I just get chills thinking about it. That was such a cool story. And then I I can't not mention the guy uh who we thought was done after two yards. Um, I'm trying to think of the name. And was it John Waggle? Yes, yeah, I think it was. So I had an individual approach me after the second yard and said, Hey, I'm done. And I said, Okay, and I went and marked him as done. And I was like, it was kind of weird because he looked like he was in really good shape and could go a long way, but like he said he was done. TJ had announced, hey, if you're when you're done, go talk to Todd and let him know. Um, and he'll update, you know, the the data. And he did that. And then TJ, you came to me after three yards and were like, What something's wrong? He went out again. I was like, Well, maybe he was just running for a buddy, maybe he's injured, whatever. And I so I went over to him again and I said, Hey, are you done? He's like, Yeah, I'm done. You weren't there when I was, you know, I got done. I thought maybe you're walking around, but yeah, I'm done. So I went and told TJ, yeah, dude, I just went and talked to him. He said he's done. And then he went out for like two or three more yards, and we were like, Hold on. Well, long story short, he thought that he needed every time he finished. I had this guy on the spreadsheet marked as done after two yards, and like he was the one guy that had dropped. He ended up going 120 miles, maybe 120. And so finally, after 26 yards, he told me officially he came in or 27. I don't know what exactly what it was. Hopefully, I'm getting right that he was done. But that was uh that was a funny story as well. Well, one one thing I and I we want to wrap this up, but uh talk a little bit on the toll that this takes on you physically to put this on. So we've talked about your intentionality of the race, uh trying to prepare for it, but you are up most of Thursday night going into Friday, uh a lot of it. Certainly uh Friday night going into Saturday morning. Maybe you're getting a few hours of sleep. You're up all Saturday night, obviously. Maybe I think you got a little bit of rest Saturday morning, but talk about that. And I know the aftermath was really rough to recover from.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, hopefully we can figure this out. Uh, there's some things I'm looking at next year, but it's it is tough. Um, I think I got four hours of sleep between um Friday morning and 10 p.m. Sunday night. And then of course, you know, the most daunting thing of prairie is um when everybody leaves, we can't leave the campsite set up. So we've got to break down after being up for 38 hours plus the time before that, and that that gets overwhelming. Luckily, we have the trailer on site, we could throw some of that stuff in, and then we'll come back in the morning and get the remainder of it. But um, yeah, for me, and I and I and I'm finding this out um for people that stand a lot in one spot. Like I was doing a lot of standing. I I was in really bad shape for like three or four days afterwards. Um, but hopefully, like way worse shape than I've been in after running 50 milers and 75 miles for whatever reason, that much standing and and that little bit of sleep with my conditions and stuff destroys me. So I think we'll figure something out going forward in the in the years coming. Um, of course, I couldn't, I didn't want to be public about that with everything everybody else put themselves through, um, seeing like some of those epic performances. But again, like I'm gonna do the same thing, you know, even if even if it's um, you know, even if it requires Corey having to clean up most of the campground on Monday while I sat inside the RV and rolled up sleeping bags and air mattresses because I couldn't stand. Um it's worth it. So, you know, we'll figure it out.
SPEAKER_02:Well, speaking of the years to come, uh, I know we've talked about you, uh Trent and I both try and talk you into feeling like you should be making more than you are, but you and Corey obviously are obsessed with the runner experience and struggle to make this any sort of uh to reward yourself, I guess, at all for all the effort that you put in from a monetary perspective. But uh see, it sounds like the conversations have already started about how you're going to level up next year. Any uh hints or teasers you want to drop on what may be coming in future years?
SPEAKER_00:Next year, I think, you know, we will be doing some runner engagement stuff uh on site that is going to be unique that you've probably never seen before in a race, um, just as it relates to tracking and things like that. I think the other thing we're gonna do next year is we're gonna try to solve for the problem of the 100K to 100 mile gap. Like what can we do in there to give you something to go for um to get you closer to that goal, if in fact uh because because we do see such a struggle for people to get there. So those things we're gonna continue to you know get better with our merchandise. We've got some new partners there, you know, in terms of making sure we're always improving the quality and the designs and things like that. You know, we want uh to put to bring those things forward that will last you forever and can commemorate what you've done. So all of those things are always in the works, trying to make sure we've got the right sponsors. Um, we have a couple potential trail series we'll be part of next year. Um, you know, and then the uh the other goal is to level up the race to a silver ticket race in the in the grander scope of of Big's backyard for 2027. So um, you know, and and to have number one the largest field next year again, but but not putting it just to have the largest field, like we don't want to just be the biggest.
SPEAKER_02:What does that mean? We had 150 start. I know you had 200 start, 200, yeah.
SPEAKER_00:You know, maybe something like that, maybe 190, 200 start.
SPEAKER_02:Um, but and then I've it's not crowded out there. I mean, I know the campsite's crowded, but it's not it's really the parking, right?
SPEAKER_00:Like the trail can handle it. Yeah, the only part of it is that like at three o'clock on Saturday, again, like you know think about what we just did.
SPEAKER_02:I mean, you know, when we did Ragnar, it it the trail, the parking. I mean, they took us three miles down the road and parked us in a field. Like, it's gotta be some way to do that.
SPEAKER_00:We'll definitely figure it out. We'll definitely figure it out, you know. Um, we have a lot more spectators than a Ragnar does, but but like uh yeah, so so those are some of the things, and I want to continue to um grow the number, the percentage of hundred-mile finishers instead of some uh, you know, uh Jeff and I communicated afterwards, and he's like, hey, let's take this three or four days next year.
SPEAKER_02:So well, it's uh unbelievable race. It's it's in just a sh a short period of time, it's it's become a staple, I think, in Hamilton County. I know I was at Orange Theory the day before, and people were talking about it. You going out to prairie, I mean you hear about it everywhere. So unbelievable um race that you guys have architected there, and then all of the help and then all the performances, all the runners. It was it was pretty insane.
SPEAKER_00:Well, I will say this to close it out. Uh why don't you close it out with the uh, you know, after you finish the racing your story on the ride home?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, so I was gonna say from uh doing it for yourself is one thing, but I don't think you ever realize maybe the impact you could have on those around you of doing something like that. So I'm driving home, it's 12.30 in the morning, and my daughter prior to today, the furthest she's ever run was 3.3 miles, a little fourth of July thing, had just run six, she did four four yards, and she was like, You could just the sense of accomplishment and the lens that she now saw the world through completely shifted. It was like, oh my gosh, she's like, Dad, I want to do this next year. Like her, she's like, I did 16 miles, and and just to have that conversation about putting herself in a different environment and going through life and putting yourselves in different environments will completely allow you to blow through things that you never thought you could do before. And we talk about this a lot. Before we became runners, we would look at someone and be like, they ran a 5k, like that's ridiculous, and you keep taking yourself. And so for her to get shifted into an environment to where 16 miles was kind of like part of the team, it was it was worth every single ounce of energy and pain and recovery to be able to take my my kids and for them to actually see that. Isaiah played there for 18 hours. I'm pretty sure he stole a bike, although he returned it. I come through one of the loops and he was like, Hey dad, I found this bike just right here, and I started riding it. I'm like, please take it back. Um, but our kids were there, your kids get to see it, and I think we miss we get so comfortable in our own environments and the people around us, and we normalize the things. And being able to take yourself out of that and then also take your family with you, it was an unbelievable conversation and uh in a ride home, which has still impacted her to today and what she thinks is now possible.
SPEAKER_00:Like Zach Homel always says, said in the film, imagine what it's like as a kid getting to see your parent run 50 miles, run a hundred miles, like and that that sums it all up right there.
SPEAKER_02:So I will tell you guys, um, as I was reluctant to do both of these races, if you live in Indiana, if you are in the Indianapolis area, even if you're not, I would highly recommend them. They're incredible experiences. It's not just because TJ's my brother. Um, we've done a lot of races, and uh you will be really excited, uh, and it'll be an incredible experience. So thank you all for tuning in, and we look forward to seeing you next time.