Dispatch Radio

Last week, we had a heartfelt conversation with Travis and Mark Macy about their inspiring father-son journey of perseverance in the face of immense hardship. Both lifelong athletes, they refused to let Mark's Alzheimer's diagnosis hinder their passion for endurance competitions. In 2019, they made the courageous decision to participate in the World's Toughest Race—a grueling seven-day, 400-mile marathon involving trekking, climbing, biking, and paddling through the jungle—for one final race together. Get the book here: https://a.co/d/aHMVdZx Follow Travis on Instagram @travismacy Follow Mark on Instagram @mmacy146 Follow us on Instagram @dispatchradio  Dispatch Radio is proudly sponsored by Genesee Nutrition, the most tasty, healthy, and nutritious adventure bar on the market: https://www.geneseenutrition.com/ We will be doing monthly live shows at Boone Mountain Sports/Evergreen Brewery so stay tuned!

In this episode, we chat with adventure coach Michele Dillon and one of her clients, Clair Jones Wilson, about how runners get through loss of motivation, finding joy in running, and their favorite tunes from their running playlists!

Running with donkeys, what a concept! Today we're talking with two of the best to do it, Bob Sweeney and George Zack. With their help, we get into the how and why of this wild sport. 

In today's special bonus episode, Will Carr discusses Russ Rizzo's newfound passion for burro racing, which involves running alongside a donkey for many miles in the Colorado mountains. On Tuesday we will be dropping an interview with Burro racing legends Bob Sweeney and George Zack, so if you need a crash course for the sport, this episode is for you! 

Mickey Wilson is a 4-time world champion pro slackliner who used his skills to save a life on a chairlift at Colorado's Arapahoe Basin Ski Area. Will Carr makes his hosting debut alongside co-host Russ Rizzo to discuss slacklining/trick-lining/high-lining and hear his harrowing tale of heroism.

Two legends of the Boulder rock climbing community—Greg German and Steve “Crusher” Bartlett—join c0-hosts Russ Rizzo and Will Carr to discuss their love of climbing and what they're doing to preserve some of America's best rock climbing areas for generations to come.

In this very special bonus episode of Dispatch Radio, we're sharing a recording of a virtual variety show hosted on the Fireside app. You’ll hear some comedy, spoken word, and some freestyle rap at the end.

David is a super nerd/expert on all things sports science and a fellow podcaster to boot; all this to say David knows his stuff. In this episode, we discuss covid's impact on athletes, mindfulness, the importance of inclusivity and community in the outdoor community, and much more.

Dispatch Radio is back, in a new, virtual, and LIVE format! In this episode, Zoe Rome, ultrarunning, backcountry skiing, rock scrambling, FKT-setting journalist, and podcast host, talks about the interplay of outdoor pursuit, failure(how fun!), and creativity. She's joined by special guests Peter Downing, Quinn Brett, Joshua Stevens, and more!

We headed down to Manic Training in Highlands Ranch with a world champion Tough Mudder - Kris Mendoza - for a community workout and discussion with Kris and a crowd of inspiring athletes. You’ll get to know gym owner Pete Beuth and several of the regulars at Manic Training, as we discuss everything from training for a Spartan Race to bowhunting and long-distance paddle-boarding.

Live from Boulder Running Company, host Russ Rizzo geeks out on science and nutrition with six world-class endurance athletes in running, ultrarunning, Spartan Race / O.C.R. and other sports. Guests include (in order of appearance): Sage Canaday, Megan Roche, Rea Kolbl, Joshua Stevens, David Roche and Trevor Townsend.  

Host Russ Rizzo interviews four inspiring Golden-area couples who crush it in life and in the mountains together. The episode was recorded live from the American Mountaineering Museum, in partnership with Golden Mountain Runners and Colorado Mountain Club. Featured guests: Jon and Ashley Clinthorne; Caleb Efta and Kelsey Banasynski; Quinn and Sarah Carrasco; and Kevin Kaucher and Whitney Barrett. 

For our special Valentine's Day show, we gathered at Upslope Brewing in Boulder with three couples who crush it in the mountains and life. Host Kelly McConnell interviews Lesley and Dany Page, co-founder of Upslope Brewing; pro mountain bikers Myles and Willow Rockwell; and pro ultrarunners Sabrina Stanley and Avery Collins.

We had a blast with pro ultrarunner Hillary “Hillygoat” Allen and obstacle course racing (O.C.R.) world champs Rea Kolbl and Kris Mendoza at Upslope Brewing last week getting into all sorts of fun topics -- from Hillary’s love for bugs, to Rea’s obsession with Strava records, to Kris’s new gameplan for becoming a stronger ultrarunner. But most of all, science!

Take a run with world champion Tough Mudder and obstacle course racing (O.C.R.) competitor Kris Mendoza on his local trails on North Table Mountain in Golden, Colo. Mendoza discusses balancing outdoor pursuits with his job as a dental anesthesiologist; takes us through his weekly training; and opens up about the tragedy in 2014 that sparked his O.C.R. obsession.

We recorded a live show with endurance coaches and authors of "The Happy Runner" Megan and David Roche with a whole bunch of friends at Boulder Running Co. This episode is a collaboration with our friends with Trails in Motion Film Festival -- get your tickets for the January 23 Boulder world premiere. Enter the promo code "dispatch" at checkout for 30 percent off your next order of Bobo's Bars.

Host Kelly McConnell interviews professional ultrarunner and 3-time Hard Rock winner Darcy Piceu with the Boulder Hiker Chicks live from Go Far Shop in Boulder. They discuss how the Boulder resident still wins races in her 40s while raising a young daughter and maintaining a psychotherapy practice. Also featuring (in order of appearance) Go Far Shop owner Kate King; Open Door Real Estate's Sara Groem; Boulder Hiker Chicks founders Alli Fronzaglia and Kari Armstrong; and Marina Fleming with nonprofit Women's Wilderness.  NOTE: Dispatch Radio listeners get 30 percent off online orders with promo code "dispatch" at checkout. 

The latest in our Front Range LIVE series - a live recording with three incredible athletes from Golden, Colo., who adventure together.  From the American Mountaineering Center in Golden, co-host Kelly McConnell talks with Jason Antin, Wade Morris and Erik Sanders.

Featuring bonus coverage from our Dirty 30 Kickoff Party at the Runners High store in Morrison, Colo. Race director Megan Finnesy shares why she started the Dirty 30 and announces exciting updates to the race, taking place June 1, 2019 in Colorado's Golden Gate Canyon State Park.

Special guest host Zoe Rom from Aspen Public Radio interviews professional ultra-runner Cat Bradley and endurance coach David Roche with a live audience at the new Runners High store in Morrison, Colorado as part of the Dirty 30 Kickoff Party. Featuring host Russ Rizzo and many #fots! Topics: Embracing the suck; CBDs; the Dirty 30 race course; the value of a coach; audience Q&A.

We hit the Enchanted Forest Trail outside of Golden, Colo., with adventure racer and endurance coach Travis Macy. Macy is a longtime endurance adventure racer who has participated in more than 120 events across the globe. In 2013, he set a new course record for the Leadman race series. In 2015, he published his first book, The Ultra Mindset.

We hit the trails with Laurie Nakauchi and her running friends for the latest in our Profiles In Motion series. Laurie is a 12-time Leadville 100 ultra-marathon finisher, mother and schoolteacher in Denver. She organized a Candy Crush fun run up one of her favorite local mountains on her birthday right before Halloween. We get to know Laurie and what drives her. She talks about the importance her dad has played in her life, and about running angry following her mother’s passing years ago. For 2019, she’s got her sights set on even bigger goals.  We also get to know a couple of her run buddies on the trail, including her husband Kurt.

Host Russ Rizzo takes you inside the action at the 6th Annual Great Turkey Chase 5k in downtown Golden, Colo. The community run draws more than 700 people, including more than 100 children under 10 years old who chased down a turkey, running along the icy path lining Clear Creek.

We take you to Eldora Mountain Resort outside of Boulder, Colorado, for opening week of the ski season. The snow is flying early in Colorado, and Eldora President Brent Tregaskis predicts this will be the best ski season in decades. We hang out with marketing director Sam Bass and coaches with the 20-time national champion University of Colorado ski team and youth development squad. We get to know local ripper Joey Teahan and his dog Cuervo. 

We bring you our latest Front Range LIVE - we gathered with a live audience at New Terrain Brewing in Golden to run, drink beers and record this live podcast episode with the GOLDEN GIRL, Courtney #Deweytoit Dauwalter. And the woman who is enabling her, Candice Burt - herself an accomplished ultrarunner and race director of three 200+ miles races and counting. Courtney told us she loves a particular genre of jokes, and our #FOTS friends of the show delivered! Sound engineering for this episode by Christopher Wright with Work It Bird Studios. Theme music by Cory Feign.

Host Russ Rizzo interviews Gina Lucrezi and three of her Trail Sisters and takes questions from a very fun audience at Berkeley Park Running Company in Denver. Joining the panel are Heidi Kumm, Sarah Pizzo and Sandi Nypaver. In a couple of short years, Lucrezi has amassed a following of tens of thousands of tank-top-and-trucker-hat-wearing women who feed off each others’ energy and encouragement and take to the trails all across the country - and increasingly the world. The panel discusses everything from running on menstruation cramps to safety on the trails and tips for running hills.

In this edition of our DISPATCH series, we take you for a run and meditation with professional ultrarunner Timothy Olson and his run family in Boulder. Featuring pro mountain runners Abigail Mitchell and Gavin Coombs and a host of Tinman Elite road and track teammates.

We bring you a fresh edition of our regular series Front Range LIVE, recording live from the heart of outdoor adventure on Colorado's Front Range. Host Russ Rizzo hosts a live show with Upslope Brewing founders and owners Matt Cutter, Dany Pages and Henry Wood at the Boulder brewery with a crowd of enthusiastic fans and employees.

NOTE: We're excited to debut a new regular series here at Dispatch Radio ... Profiles In Motion. Every month, we'll bring you short profiles of interesting people along Colorado's Front Range, interviewed in their element. And often panting. This week, we take a run up North Table Mountain in Golden, Colo., with La Sportiva Athlete Manager Quinn Carrasco, who previews Golden Hell Week and gives advice on finding a job in the outdoors industry.

Reporting from the Behind the Rocks Ultra in Moab, Utah, with La Sportiva. Host Russ Rizzo runs the "baby" race (30k) to give listeners a true insider's look at beloved ultra-running event, meeting runners along the way. We talk with women's 50-mile race winner Courtney Dauwalter. We sit down for a chat La Sportiva mountain athlete Andrew Fast and La Sportiva climber Joe Mills as well as employees Hailey Moore and Christopher Patino. And we meet the family behind Mad Moose Events - Justin and Denise Ricks and their teenage children. 

A sneak peek at a new series we're working on about runner's high ... stay tuned!

Elyse Rylander and Sonya Pevzner take the Rare Air Talks stage at The Studio (Boulder) to share their personal connection to LGBTQ issues in the outdoors community.

Jamie Logan, the pioneering rock climber known for decades as Jim Logan, takes the Rare Air Talks stage at The Studio (Boulder) to share her story with journalist Chris Weidner. 

Luis Benitez, director of the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, takes the Rare Air Talks stage at The Studio (Boulder) to talk diversity and inclusion in the outdoors. 

The first of our Rare Air Talks series ... Kriste Peoples with Black Women's Alliance of Denver fired up the live audience at The Studio (Boulder) with her personal story navigating the outdoors as a black woman in Colorado. 

We preview tonight's (May 17) Rare Air Talks debut at The Studio (Boulder) with featured speakers Luis Benitez and Jamie Logan along with special guests Elyse Rylander, founder of OUT THere Adventures, and journalist Chris Weidner. More at DispatchRadio.com

A special Dispatch Radio Hour featuring best-selling author and Outside Magazine contributing editor Florence Williams and an Airtstream full of talented environmental journalists and adrenaline junkies. Recorded at The Studio (Boulder) with current and former fellows of Boulder’s Center for Environmental Journalism: Florence Williams, Michael Kodas, Zoe Rom and Nick Mott. More at DispatchRadio.com

We gathered semi-rad.com creator Brendan Leonard, adventure guide Rob Harsh and Climbing Magazine editor Matt Samet in the Airstream at The Studio Boulder for a discussion about resilience. Each guest read their personal writings and shared their story of coming through difficult periods in their life and coming through it with a deeper appreciation for climbing mountains.

We packed The Studio (Boulder) Airstream with a grip-load of talent to dive into the topic of fastest known times (FKTs). We talk with four athletes who set new records in 2017: Cat Bradley, Darcy Piceu, “The Long Ranger” Justin Simoni and Bryan Williams. Buzz Burrell of Ultimate Direction and Peter Pakwin guide us through a 101 on FKTs with hosts Russ Rizzo and Kelly McConnel. More at dispatchradio.com

We recorded from Berkeley Park Running Company in NW Denver with an inspiring panel of athletes who experienced significant setbacks in pursuing their love for movement in the outdoors: Dave Mackey, Hillary Allen and Amelia Dickerson. Peter Downing, co-founder of Boulder nonprofit Suffer Better and former Leadman competitor, moderates a discussion about resilience and the search for acceptance and gratitude in the face of tragedy. More at DispatchRadio.com

We caught up with pro runner Clare Gallagher at the annual Outdoor Retailer show in Denver in January to discuss her favorite podcasts, what the "Clare Gallagher Show" would sound like and what a pro runner does at an OR show. Daniel Bedell with The Just Curious Show out of Golden, Colo., joins for the discussion, 

Luis Benitez talks with hosts Russ Rizzo and Daniel Bedell - and intern Jake! - from the 2018 Outdoor Retailer Show and Snow Show during its return to Denver. Benitez is a veteran of OR shows, having attended many as a mountain guide before his current role as Gov. John Hickenlooper's point man for the outdoor industry. He gives us the crash-course on OR, from dress strategy to time management, and discusses how the OR show is changing with its new Denver home. For more, visit DispatchRadio.com.     

When #fots Josh Stevens - who recently moved to Boulder from Asheville, NC - suggested we check out the "Boulder of the East," we were intrigued. He helped put together an all-star cast to learn all about this funky little city surrounded by mountain trails. This episode - the second of our two-part series - features three runners who are shaping the local mountain running scene: Aaron Saft, finalist for the 2016 Runner's World cover search and owner of Foot Rx; Adam Hill, founder of the "Pitchell" (a 100k underground event / fatass / fun run that takes runners from the peak of Mount Pisgah to the summit of Mount Mitchell); and Anne Wheatly, an up-and-comer in search of the "perfect run." Topics discussed: Pitchell, #runcations, Canadian Death Race, Georgia Death Race, rock climbing cuture, Rim to Rim to Rim, U.S. Trail Running Conference 

Some call it the "Boulder of the East," where a mountain adventure sits just steps away from liberal city life. In today's show - the first of our two-part series - we talk with Aaron Saft and Mark Driscoll to get beta on the trail running scene of Asheville, NC. And we take you running through creeks in the Pisgah National Forest at the inaugural Rooster's Revenge 30k, put on by Saft and his local running store, Foot RX. Driscoll gives us a full report on the 13th running of the Blue Ridge Relay a day after his local running group Asheville Running Collective (akin to Boulder's Rocky Mountain Runners)  set a new course record in the race.  Topics discussed: Asheville Running Collective, Blue Ridge Relay, Rooster's Revenge 30k, Trail Sisters, creek crossings, bears, magic mushrooms  

We sit down with three globe-trotting, running, skiing SUPing badass adventure journalists in the Airstream at The Studio Boulder. Hosts: Kelly McConnell, Russ Rizzo, Cory Feign A big thanks to our sponsors at Upslope Brewing Company for keeping us refreshed! And to our hosts at The Studio Boulder.

One is a legendary rock climber who has graced the cover of magazines and travels the globe learning and teaching about mindfulness. The other is an up-and-comer on the trail running scene. They both have roots in Boulder, where we introduced them and engaged in an hourlong fun-trip of a conversation, in The Studio Boulder Airstream packed with #fots (one of them won icing!). 

Dispatch Radio co-founder Russ Rizzo takes us inside the Dirty 30, an iconic ultra-marathon held each year outside of Golden, Colo. Russ hobbles along on a broken toe to take us inside the action of a particularly exciting race in 2016. We follow along as Chris Vargo attempts to break the course record and fellow Dispatcher Nick Brogna attempts to become a "sisu," the name given to anyone who attempts the difficult race as their first ultra. Along the way we meet course director Megan Finnesy and a cast of characters who help put on the race.   http://dirty30.org/    

They travel the world in search of riveting outdoor adventure stories. And sometimes they get paid! In this installment of the Dispatch Radio Hour, we go behind the scenes with three Colorado-based journalists to talk about their craft. 

If you're a fan of ultrarunning and use the Internet, you're probably aware of the latest social media dust up over performance enhancing drugs, in this case cannabis. Dave and Avery got together with us in person to continue the conversation. From Dispatch's perspective, the responses and judgements being thrown at both Avery and Dave over social media in the past couple days have created separation in our ultra running community. Our hope is that in sitting down to talk together we can help reconnect in our differences and see that both of these guys ultimately come from a loving place for the sport who share many of the same passions.  Jeremy Hendricks also stopped by to sketch up some artistic interpretations of the conversation. And of course a shoutout to Upslope Brewing!   We happened to recently do a #KitchenSesh show with Avery just before this, so check out more of Avery's backstory here: http://www.dispatchradio.com/kitchensesh-avery-collins-devon-olson/

***Please note before listening that cannabis is thoroughly discussed in this episode.  If that doesn't strike your fancy, please skip this one***   We’re joined in the kitchen by ultra runners Avery Collins and Devon Olson. Kelly P hangs out to drop some knowledge, and why not add Ryan Lassen and Eric Edgerton in for some fun too! Mad props to Avery for winning the Georgia Death Race last week! This is a gnarly “68-ish” mile race put on by Run Bum, and by winning Avery scored a chance to toe the line at the big one, Western States 100. You can probably guess what we spend a lot of time talking about… And like any #KitchenSesh this is more about hanging out, chatting, and having fun than it is a scripted show. Shout out to Avery’s sponsor’s: While Mary's Medicinals and The Farm Co. were talked about the most, in addition to cannibas sponsors Avery also has… an underwear sponsor!? Saxxunderwear. And of course actual running biz sponsors too inov-8 All Terrain RunningHoney Stinger and Farm To Feet. Also props to Devon for a top 10 finish at Behind The Rocks! How’d it go against those Salomon Runners

We partnered with Mountain Project to cover the second annual Women's Climbing Festival, an event where 300 women gather in Bishop, California, to take clinics, participate in open panel discussions, and climb together. From an interview with Shelma Jun, the event's founder, to clips from the media clinic, led by Julie Ellison, former editor-in-chief of Climbing magazine and current contributing editor at Mountain Project, and Natalie Siddique, co-founder and COO of Moja Outdoors, here's an inside look at the in-demand festival that sold out in a single minute.   Women and brands highlighted: Shelma Jun, founder of Flash Foxy and the Women's Climbing Festival: https://flashfoxy.com/wcf Never Not Collective, new all-female media crew that Shelma talks about: http://nevernotcollective.com/ Moja Gear, one of the clinics led by co-founder: http://mojagear.com/ Climbing mag, one of the clinics led by EIC who just left: http://www.climbing.com/ Lindsey Hamm, guide for Kling Mountain Guides, interviewed: http://www.klingmountainguides.com/guides/ Nina Williams—not featured, but was there on the panel and hosted a clinic: https://www.instagram.com/sheneenagins ^ Same with Kate Rutherford: http://www.katerutherford.com/ Mountain Rambler Brewery hosted much of the festival: http://www.mountainramblerbrewery.com/