Monday, April 13, 2020

Episode 39: Quarantine Backyard Ultra, Founder Dave Proctor and Winner Mike Wardian!

Episode 39: "Quarantine Backyard Ultra"-This episode can be found on most podcast apps, including Apple, Google, Spotify and Anchor!

Dave Proctor and his organization put together the second largest Backyard Ultra in history with the help of the distance running community, to raise our hopes and spread the word for all of us in quarantine, and they did it in just two weeks! From his home in Okotoks, Alberta (Canada) He shares about how he started running and what brought him into the Ultra world, as well as setting multiple Canadian running records, and starting "Outrun Rare" to help spread awareness for and gain help for people with rare diseases- research and treatment of them. He gives a few examples of the attempts he has made and plans to cross Canada running in the summer of 2021 (originally slated for this year before the Covid19 Crisis, so we can wrap our minds around it better. By the way, Dave also holds several noteable records himself, including the Canadian 48 Hour running record and 72 hour record with 500K completed! He provides advice for those of us who are having to stay home and get creative, so as not to divert our attention in negative ways, but focus on the positive. Lastly, he explains why the Quarantine Backyard Ultra came about specifically and why it had such a huge impact. You can find him at outrunrare.com OR @daveoutrunsrare on Instagram.

Mike Wardian's Treadmill- Elevation view during podcast recording
Mike Wardian, winner of the Quarantine Backyard Ultra, also chimes in as to why this was important for him, and the rallying of his community and family around the cause. He talks about the virtual community and the Ultra community that pulled together to make it happen, and the democratizing aspects of such a venture that reached everywhere, with zero competition from other Pro sports due to the current situation. Coming off freshly setting several world records and wins around the globe in Ultra events during 2019-early 2020, he also touches on what it's like to have big events cancelled and how we can get in some great workouts from home, including ways to stay motivated (tip: treadmill climbing the elevation of the Empire State Building), and find our own passion within running. He shares a virtual 5K opportunity coming up too, Little Sesame Adventures Virtual race. Mike is always inspiring and draws upon wisdom of races across the globe in comparing this Backyard Ultra and virtual running, and the opportunities it provides for all of us!  Mike can be found at his website mikewardian.com  OR  @mikewardian on Instagram.

Instagram: @mikewardian
Twitter: @mikewardian

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