2023 Podcasts

2023 Podcasts

I didn’t do many podcasts in 2021 or 2022, but with the continued increasing coverage of Barkley and an exciting year there, it was inevitable that there would be many more this year. Given the general inaccessibility of the race, with very few able to participate, crew, spectate, or cover the race each year, I always feel a bit of a responsibility to be as open and accessible as possible regarding my experience there. I hope that some of these discussions can help people feel they’ve experienced a bit of the race themselves.

I also had a few great chats on my other big events this year, the Long Trail FKT and Tor Des Geants.

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2020 Podcasts and Interviews

2020 Podcasts and Interviews

I did a lot of podcasts in 2020. I guess without many races there weren’t as many people to talk to or things to talk about. In the future, I won’t be doing as many. I enjoyed these, and greatly appreciate the opportunity to do them and the time the hosts put into them, but too much time doing podcasts = not enough time to properly prepare for doing the things the podcasts are about. My main 2021 goal is to cut back a bit to focus on the priorities and have time to enjoy life’s day to day moments.

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Totally FKT – Breaking the Pennine Way Record

Matt and Ellie Green with Summit Fever Media were out chasing both me and Damian around the Pennine Way, and did an incredible job putting together this documentary. It was a pleasure to work with them and see the passion and work they put into capturing the story.

The film is available on Vimeo (linked below) or Amazon video. The free trailer is on Youtube (also linked below). My full written report can be found here: A New Pennine Way Record.

Unfortunately there was no sequel covering my 2021 return to the Pennine Way. 😉

Full film on Vimeo

Trailer:

The Grand Round Documentary

When I was first approached about making a film on my 2nd attempt at my Grand Round project, I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it. What if I failed again? Or got injured and had to stop on the very first round? This was a personal project, something I was passionate about doing for the adventure and individual challenge. As Covid emerged and escalated, it wasn’t clear that I would be able to do it at all much less whether there would be any available support for a film. In the end, I’m incredibly glad we moved forward with it and that Phil and Jon from PH Balance Photography came out to capture and share the experience. They did a wonderful job and this is something I will always cherish looking back on.

My full report on the adventure can be found here: The Grand Round 2.0.

The No Barkley Barkley

When Covid first really started escalating, with lockdowns, race cancellations, and other restrictions rapidly coming into place, I was at my family’s farm back in Tennessee just a few miles from Frozen Head. With Barkley canceled, I went out to Frozen Head for a “No Barkley Barkley” – 5 loops around the park, all on trail within daylight hours, completed within 60 hours. I wore flags on my pack for each of the countries that would have been represented at the race. Jim Matheny from WBIR came out to cover my finish and do a socially distanced interview afterwards for the segment below.

FastRunnning: Exploring Human Potential Through Sport

FastRunnning: Exploring Human Potential Through Sport

Shortly after Kipchoge achieved his remarkable sub 2 run I shared a thought on Twitter that was not planned, fully formed, and I thought innocent enough (just the kind of things I thought Twitter should be good for).

John Kelly on Twitter

Don’t get me wrong, what @EliudKipchoge did was incredible and historic, but why draw the line where it was w/ external aids? Why not downhill with a tailwind? Or on a treadmill with a harness that gives extra recoil to each stride (oh, right, the Vaporflys already do that).

It turns out that was a mistake, and most things said in only 280 characters can pretty much be taken whatever direction anyone wants.

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The Tennessean: Op-ed on the Land & Water Conservation Fund

The Tennessean: Op-ed on the Land & Water Conservation Fund

When a group contacted me to write a piece for my home state’s biggest newspaper to support the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which expired on September 30, I was thrilled with the opportunity to be able to use my voice for an important cause.

Update: The fund was permanently reauthorized on March 12, 2018!

https://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/2018/12/12/land-and-water-conservation-fund-needs-congress-renew-now-opinion/2207625002/

Barkley 2018 race footage

Some on-course footage, pictures, and commentary from my time crewing and acting as a random course checkpoint at the 2018 Barkley Marathons. The video and audio quality are pretty horrible, but this is what I got so it’s this or nothing. And maybe grainy, noisy footage is appropriate for “on-course” Barkley coverage. 😉 Thank you to James DeFilippi for loaning me his camera for the weekend.

La Barkley sans pitie

La Barkley sans pitie

This one was nearly a year in the making, starting with the incredible photos that Alexis Berg & Aurélien Delfosse took at the 2017 Barkley Marathons and then adding interviews with me, Gary, and laz. The editing and production here is incredible, and the result is a 20 minute film with portions that get me to relive the experience more than anything else I’ve seen to this point. (English with French subtitles)

https://www.lequipe.fr/explore-video/020-la-barkley-sans-pitie/

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SportsCenter Segment on the 2017 Barkley Marathons

I gave up dreams of being on SportsCenter about 20 years ago, and those dreams had me as a pitcher for the Texas Rangers. It was an awesome, fun experience getting to do this, and even the rundown they had on the side was perfect. LeBron’s birthday is shortly after mine so I get an annual reminder that I’m older than him. But here, he had to wait. 🙂

This was also the first time in my life I’d ever worn makeup. I figured I should make the best of it so Jessi and I went out on a date after it was recorded. I certainly looked better than a few days earlier at least.

The flag they showed next to my name during the clip was MD, but if you look closely that’s a TN flag t-shirt I have on.

Watch on Vimeo