Running Divine Podcast

The Human Potential Running Series is Colorado’s largest series of ultramarathons and the 2nd largest trail series in the state. It has also solidified itself as one of the top 5 ultra series in the United States. HPRS offers races of 13.1 to 100 miles in distance, and we’re excited to add our first 200-mile option in 2020. We’re also expanding in 2019 to include a new race in the Boston Mountains of the Arkansas Ozarks, making HPRS one of the few national ultra series brands. You can learn more about HPRS ion our website at http://www.HumanPotentialRunning.comOur founder, owner, and race director is “Sherpa” John Lacroix. Since his first ultra in 2005, he has completed over 60 official, and countless Fat Ass, ultra-distance events throughout the United States. He ran his first 100-Miler in 2007, and has since run 100-miles or more 23 different times. In 2008, he became the first person in history to run 125-miles non-stop from the western-most to eastern-most points of New Hampshire. He then repeated the journey in 2009 and remains the only individual to have done so. In 2017 he became the first person to attempt to run from the lowest point in Colorado to its’ highest. He ultimately ran 202 Miles, before summiting Mount Elbert at 14,439′, in 4 1/2 days.He is a pioneer in endurance sports as the former race director and founder of The New England Ultras 200-Mile Endurance Run, the first 200-Mile Ultra in the World (2008). Sherpa also played a pivotal role in the establishment of Obstacle Racing in North America as one of the original founders of the Peak.com Death Race, which later spawned Spartan Races. He has helped design a number of obstacle racing courses in both Vermont and Colorado starting as far back as 2007. He served as a race director apprentice for Vermont’s Peak Races from 2006-2010, and as their expert in course marking of remote and navigationally challenging areas. Sherpa is also a thought leader within the ultrarunning community as an advocate for crafting a more inclusive sport that celebrates the everyman and everywoman over the elite. His message has long focused on inclusivity, diversity, equality, accessibility, and the need to abolish elitism. His “speak truth to bull shit” approach has caused many to label him as a controversial and polarizing figure within the sport, while others consider him to be revolutionizing. Sherpa’s work at HPRS focuses on using the tenets of experiential education as a way to promote positive social change, and as a vehicle for personal growth, through athletic endeavors. Sherpa is also the producer and host of the Ultra Stories podcast. Ultra Stories is listened to in all 50 United States, and 85 countries around the world. His near weekly show focuses on highlighting the mid and back of the pack, rather than contributing to the constant barrage of focusing on the elite as subjects of conversation within the sport. Sherpa John has completed a number of popular and iconic ultra marathons including; The Western States 100 (2x), Leadville Trail 100, Vermont 100 (6x), Massanutten Mountain Trails 100 (2x), Grand Teton 100, Bighorn 100, Cascade Crest Classic 100 (2x), The Miwok 100K (2x), San Juan Solstice, Zane Grey 50, Grand Canyon R2R2R (3x), Trans-Zion, Trans-Bryce, 1 Successful loop at The Barkley Marathons, and countless other races along the way. He brings his 14 years of experiences in trail and ultrarunning to The Human Potential Running Series.

Jaybie Pargarigan is a mother, domestic worker and ultra runner. Originally from the Philippines Jaybie has worked abroad for over 15 years in Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Singapore and now Hong Kong. Although she works six days a week and up to 72 hours a week as a domestic worker she discovered trail and ultra running. Since then she races when she can and has completed multiple races including a 50 km ultramarathon. Jaybie has inspired other domestic runners to start trail running and embraces the equalizing nature of the trails. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dreveleeboy.demeseNew York Times Article https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/25/world/asia/hong-kong-maids-running.html

Trish Benoit is on the show to share her recent adventure completing the 106 Cruel Jewel in Georgia and finishing 6th female. This was Trish's fourth 100 miler, she won her first 100 miler at Sulphur Springs in 2017, finished Mohichan 100 miler in 26 hours in 2018 and ran her first sub 24 hours at Yeti 100 miler, finishing under 22 hours. Trish seems to excel in tough and adverse conditions. She finished Boston Marathon during the coldest year in the past 30 years, and has run Yankee Springs 50 miler in two feet of snow where she earned her trail nickname, Snow Leopard. In her spare time Trish gives back to the running community whenever possible and is an active member of the charitable running community known as the Running Rarebits based out of the Waterloo Region in Ontario, Canada Follow her on instagram @Ultra_snowleopard

Noel ThomsonNoel Thomson shares his incredible transformation. A few short years ago Noel was struggling with anxiety, depression and addiction. He was able to find the help he needed and change his life or "flip the switch" and turn his energy and attention to getting healthier and pursuing endurance sports.  In the past few years he has excelled at endurance sports including triathlon, duathlon and ultra running. He has qualified for the world championships in Spain for the duathlon. Now he is training hard, giving back to the community through volunteering at races and helping other athletes train. Every weekend in the month of May Noel runs a workout in Kelso park. kettle bells, medicine balls, weights, ski hill repeats, and coaching people wanting and needing  to get into a healthy active lifestyle.Follow Noel on instagram: burlingtonnightrunner Teams Noel is a part of: Triathlon club of Burlington Team I WILL CanadaEL LEV O SPORTS

Jen is a Canadian adventure athlete and long time ultra distance competitor. Jen got started in the world of endurance sports at the young age of 20 and has been actively competing and exploring ever since. As a globally sought after endurance coach, Jen gets to spread her passion for challenge and self discovery to athletes around the world. Jen is fortunate to call Squamish, BC her home but adventures take her everywhere. Now as a Mom, Jen strives to find the important balance between time with her family and showing her son a life without parameters and still making space for personal goals and development through adventure. Jen has competed as an elite adventure racer, ultra runner and mountain biker. She continues her passion for adventure on expeditions all over the world.  She is also the founder of RunBC adventures where she leads runners on multi day trail and fastpack expeditions around BC and internationally.  More can be found on Jen at www.jensegger.com

Latoya Shauntay Snell aka as the Running Fat Chef candidly shares her journey from chronic pain, degenerating discs, depression, weighing 265 lbs and being tired of being the "funny fat friend". In 2013 she signed up for a half marathon. Since then she has run multiple marathon around North America and will be doing the Berlin Marathon this year. Latoya also has run several ultra marathons and completed the Javelina 100 km last year. Latoya shares her experience online and including a viral post sharing her experience being heckled at the New York City Marathon for being overweight. Along the way she has become an activist, fitness and food blogger and social media influencer. We dive into topics such as female friendships, toxic diet culture, women's health, grief, and dealing with online trolls.   

Marianne Heading is a ultra runner from Derbyshire England. In 2007 she had a big change in her life. She took a chance and volunteered at the Yukon Arctic Ultra. After seeing the ultra runners competing in the Yukon Arctic Ultra, Marianne was inspired. She went from barely running around the block to competing in long distance events around the world. She was the first European Women to complete the 300 mile event at the Yukon Arctic Ultra. This year she won the 300 mile event outright. Marianne is beyond humble, but her story of pivoting when life throws you the unexpected, and pursuing big dreams through hard work and perseverance is incredibly inspiring. Follow Marianne's adventures on her blog at http://www.headingnorth.co.uk 

Matt Sorenson currently hails from Austin, TX and he's a father, husband, scientist, podcaster, runner, and a recent author. After enjoying soccer and track and field throughout school, Matt turned to distance running after his new wife introduced him to it in 2008. Since then, Matt has run the Boston Marathon three times, as well as Chicago and New York City. Matt started the Runified Podcast to help share extraordinary stories from everyday runners and has produced over 100 episodes. He's currently in the process of launching his first children's book, My Mommy Runs, which enables adults to share the transformative power of running through unique lines and engaging comic book style illustrations.Links:25% discount off one copy of My Mommy Runs: http://bit.ly/MyMommyRuns25  Email: matt@runified.co IG: https://www.instagram.com/g5active/Twitter: https://twitter.com/g5activeFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/mymommyrunsbook/ or https://www.facebook.com/g5active/

Jim’s been delivering the message of healthy living since he became a personal trainer in 1997, and has helped hundreds of people reach their health and fitness goals.In 2010, however, life delivered a message to him. He was diagnosed with colon cancer at just 36 years old, and underwent major surgery and a six-month chemotherapy treatment plan. Despite that, his values around lifestyle and helping others have remained strong. In fact, they’ve taken on a much, much greater meaning. He’s now determined to impact as many lives as possible.He sees running as the ultimate teacher for those who have unanswered questions about their limitations – and as a microcosm of all other facets of life.“The longer and farther I run the more I discover about myself. Truths about the person I am and the one I want to become. This journey is far from over.”We talk about the amazing adventures Jim has had including completing multi day desert races, previously holding a FKT on the Bruce Trail, and his new adventure running from Hamilton to Boston to raise money for the homeless

Verna Volker is of the Navajo Nation, she is a mom of four children and now resides in Minneapolis Minnesota. She started running to lose weight, and has now lost 50 lbs. She has run half marathons, marathons and 50 km. This spring she will be doing her first 50 miler at Zumbro. Verna noticed she did not see native women represented in the running community and in the media. She decided to do something about it and started an instagram page Native Women Running. Sharing other native women runners in the hopes of increasing representation and inspiring both native runners and non native runners. Verna hopes that one day her daughter will see people that look like her represented in the media and running community. Follow @native_women_running on Instagram and @hozhorunner4 on Instagram 

Hilary Spires is 32 years old and from Vancouver, British Columbia. She is the host of Trail Running Women Podcast and owner of Ruggesd Conditioning https://ruggedconditioning.com/podcast Before Hilary discovered trail running, she was a NCAA and NWHL hockey player, fought MMA in the UFC and completed the Ironman.  After too many concussions from fighting she started to focus more on trail running and since then it has become a huge part of her life. She podium and run several 50 k races, placed 5th at 90 k race in the Swiss Alps and now uses her athletic knowledge to help other aspiring trail runners through her coaching business "https://ruggedconditioning.com" .   "Trail running seemed to bring everything I needed in a sport. It wasn’t just being fast, it was a full body struggle for hours on end. It didn’t matter that I wasn’t a waif like runner, the strength and agility from fighting and hockey was valuable. My favourite part is the mental side so to be totally alone in the forest struggling was everything I dreamed of! "

Amy Puzey is the national race director for 5Peaks Trail Running and oversees over 30 trail races across Canada.  She is the mother of six children, past winner of the Canadian mountain running championships and TransRockies 3day run, has run multiple marathons and ultras.  She and her husband, Jacob, live with their kids in Canmore, Alberta. This January she traveled to Houston, Texas to race in the marathon with a goal for breaking the 3 hour barrier. Things didn't go as planned.... We learn about what happened, also Amy is generous in sharing how she manages young children, her race directing business, and training to run.  

Meghan M Hicks is the managing editor of irunfar.com, contributor to Trail runner and marathon and beyond. She is the co author with Bryon Powell of "Where the road ends: a guide to trail running".  Meghan has been trail running since 2005, is the 2013 Marathon de Sable champion, has completed the Nolans 14 route, Bob Graham round, and two time Hardrock finisher. She is a fabulous writer and story teller and she shares with us her passion for the sport and lessons she has learned traveling the globe both as an athlete and member of the media. 

Steven is 52 years old and has been running for 28 years, completing 51 marathons and 113 ultra-marathons to date.  Always active in various different sports growing up just outside of Barrie Ontario, Steven started running after completing University in order to not gain weight when he quit smoking. He completed his first marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, in 1993, and his first ultra-marathon, the Conquer The Canuck 50K, in 2004. His proudest running moments are finally finishing his first 100 miler after DNFing his first 7 attempts, winning his first race, The Beast of Burden winter 100 miler, at the age of 47,  his personal best time of 16:16:31 for 100 miles, and his personal best distance of 205K for 24 hours. Simply put, Steven just loves to run!

April has been a runner for 25 years.  She ran in grade school but then gave it up after quitting smoking while in University.  She ran road races for many years and was sponsored by Saucony for 4 years in the 2000s.  In 2010 she made the switch to trail ultra marathons and has run 50km up to 100 miles.  After undergoing 3 knee surgeries in 2014, and taking a year to recover, she came back to ultra marathons and discovered the 24hr event. She was the 2016 24hr Canadian Champion and ran as part of Team Canada at the World 24hr Championships in Belfast, Northern Ireland and then was invited to a race in Foshan, China, When April is not running, she works as a Registered Massage Therapist and Dog Walker.  Her Instagram tends to be more doggie pictures than running pictures as a result (who doesn’t love #Baileytheberner? :-) ) Endurance Tap Discount Code for Today's episode "april" for 20% off 

2017 Comrades Champion, World 50 k and 100 k Champion and 50 mile, 100 mile, 12 and 24 hour world record holder. Her accomplishments are impressive, but Camille's joy and passion for the sport of ultra running are relatable and inspiring. She shares her recent experience at Desert Solstice where she set the new 24 hour world record running an incredible 162.919, and how a midnight snack of Taco Bell and beer helped fuel her to the finish! Camille also works as a research assistant and shares some of the research she has learned regarding nutrition and exercise physiology and how it informs her training and has allowed her to run 100 mile weeks on average for over a decade and race at an elite level multiple times a year. Webpage: www.camilleherron.comSponser: Nike, Nathan Sports, Coros Globalruncamille on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Jocelyn was introduced to the running community in 2001. Jocelyn has four children, a personal training and run coaching business and has completed several 100 mile races. She shares her passion for running and the lessons she has learned through ultra running. 

Maryka Hladki has completed the 'screwed' version of Last Annual Vol State in 2017 and this year completed the self supported Tar Heel Ultra 378 miles. She has also competed for Canada as part of the 24 hour world team.

Thao Ben is a wife, mother, teacher, and runner from Hanoi Vietnam. She speaks 4 languages and is always striving to learn and grow. A year and half ago she taught herself to run from watching a You-Tube video. Since then she runs almost daily and won her first ever marathon. She shares what is like to live and train in Vietnam and her joy and passion for her new sport. Her story and experience with running shares some universal truths about running and the community we love. I met Thão when she was volunteering at the Ultra Asia Race in Vietnam in 2017. I hope you enjoy hearing the story of a new runner from a different part of the world. 

Though Mintz has been running his entire life, he didn't start racing until 2012 and even then his first appearance was as mustachio'd menace, Vince Bertolucci, a tacky dressed alter ego created to raise money for charity. He later founded the Running Rarebits after a successful charity campaign with some fellow community minded runners raised $30,000 for a 5k race called The Mudpuppy Chase in support of KidsAbility and brought a Guinness World Record to Kitchener Waterloo. Mintz later became the Race Director for Waterloo Regions largest, accessible race, The Mudpuppy Chase. In 2017, Mintz tried his first 50k trail race at Sulphur Springs, and in Jan 2018, he tackled the Yankee Springs Winter Challenge 50 mile, a race that saw a 75% DNF due to the -26 degree C temperatures and deep snow. Looking towards ever increasingly challenging races, Mintz recently completed his first 100 mile race running The Devil Dog Ultras in Virginia. High rains and deep mud caused a 60% DNF rate but Mintz was one of the 51 runners to finish. Watch for Mintz and the Running Rarebits run community sporting their red team colour at an event near you! Follow Mintz. TW @DieselRuns, IG: @SkyMachineCreativeFollow The Running Rarebits, TW: @RunningRarebits IG: @RunningRarebits