John Kelly | Ideal Barkley Athlete, Ultrarunning’s Public Appeal, Appalachian Trail FKT
03/21/23 • 71 min
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John Kelly is a professional endurance athlete and now 2-time finisher of the Barkley Marathons.
In this conversation, we get his thoughts about the media attention and public perception surrounding Barkley, what draws the general public to our sport, his views on using intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation for high performance, creating the ideal Barkley athlete, and why he’s interested in going after the Appalachian Trail FKT in the future.
Timestamps:
- (1:02) - why you have to be intrinsically motivated to finish Barkley
- (6:42) - what John wrote in his application essay for Barkley
- (9:23) - automated Twitter race narrations
- (12:06) - changing ideas about how to prepare for Barkley
- (19:26) - goldilocks zone of difficulty
- (24:36) - why he returns to Barkley
- (28:50) - mildly fulfilling successes versus stretch efforts
- (32:16) - ideal Barkley athlete
- (37:51) - why Barkley gets so much fanfare, why it appeals to the general public
- (49:10) - addressing Barkley criticisms
- (58:53) - Appalachian Trail FKT interest
Discounts:
- Rabbit - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://www.runinrabbit.com/discount/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- HVMN - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://hvmn.com/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- Trails and Tarmac - get $120 off your first 3 months of coaching (https://trailsandtarmac.com/get-in-touch/)
Links:
Text us your thoughts about this episode or ideas for future episodes!
John Kelly is a professional endurance athlete and now 2-time finisher of the Barkley Marathons.
In this conversation, we get his thoughts about the media attention and public perception surrounding Barkley, what draws the general public to our sport, his views on using intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation for high performance, creating the ideal Barkley athlete, and why he’s interested in going after the Appalachian Trail FKT in the future.
Timestamps:
- (1:02) - why you have to be intrinsically motivated to finish Barkley
- (6:42) - what John wrote in his application essay for Barkley
- (9:23) - automated Twitter race narrations
- (12:06) - changing ideas about how to prepare for Barkley
- (19:26) - goldilocks zone of difficulty
- (24:36) - why he returns to Barkley
- (28:50) - mildly fulfilling successes versus stretch efforts
- (32:16) - ideal Barkley athlete
- (37:51) - why Barkley gets so much fanfare, why it appeals to the general public
- (49:10) - addressing Barkley criticisms
- (58:53) - Appalachian Trail FKT interest
Discounts:
- Rabbit - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://www.runinrabbit.com/discount/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- HVMN - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://hvmn.com/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- Trails and Tarmac - get $120 off your first 3 months of coaching (https://trailsandtarmac.com/get-in-touch/)
Links:
Previous Episode
Trail Tea #1 | Boring Running Media, Exclusive Trail Races, Hard Training Philosophy
Text us your thoughts about this episode or ideas for future episodes!
This is the first episode of a new series we are calling "Trail Tea". These episodes take the candor of group chats and pull them into the audio realm.
In this edition, I am joined by Jack Kuenzle, Dan Curts, and Abby Levene. We discuss pro runner social media, boring trail running media, exclusive trail races, faith in the gear review industry, pro runners on Strava, and whether we should be elevating people who focus 100% of the sport.
Buckle up because this is a fun episode.
Discounts:
- Rabbit - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://www.runinrabbit.com/discount/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- HVMN - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://hvmn.com/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- Trails and Tarmac - get $120 off your first 3 months of coaching (https://trailsandtarmac.com/get-in-touch/)
Timestamps:
- (2:11) - pro runner social media
- (25:40) - boring trail running media
- (48:00) - exclusive trail races
- (56:48) - gear review industry
- (67:25) - Strava discussion
- (79:31) - elevating "all-in" athletes
Links:
Next Episode
Brian Metzler | Trail Running Journalism, Sports Marketing Changes, UTMB Evolution
Text us your thoughts about this episode or ideas for future episodes!
Brian Metzler is an award-winning sports journalist, writer, and photographer from Boulder, Colorado, who has produced storytelling content for publications like Outside, Trail Runner, Runner’s World, Competitor, and Sports Illustrated, as well as several books, including “Kicksology: The Hype, Science, Culture and Cool of Running Shoes” and “Trail Running Illustrated”.
We discuss the value of endurance sports journalism, how sports marketing is changing, creating trail running fans, and the evolution of UTMB.
Timestamps:
- (1:06) - the content preferences of trail running fans
- (12:39) - marketing trail running to a broader audience
- (29:19) - “trail running is the future” for some shoe companies
- (37:11) - concerns about the growth of the sport
- (44:32) - shakeups in the trail running event landscape
- (56:00) - it is better for a few athletes to dominate or have more mystery in the results
- (62:16) - doping in trail and ultra running
- (82:08) - if and when we’ll see a media outlet dedicated to pro trail running
- (88:54) - the value of trail running journalism
Discounts:
- Rabbit - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://www.runinrabbit.com/discount/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- HVMN - use code Singletrack20 at checkout on their website (https://hvmn.com/SINGLETRACK20) to get 20% off your next order
- Trails and Tarmac - get $120 off your first 3 months of coaching (https://trailsandtarmac.com/get-in-touch/)
Links:
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