interview | Random Forest Runner

2020 Podcasts and Interviews

2020-12-292021-01-19John Kelly

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.

Totally FKT – Breaking the Pennine Way Record

2020-11-222021-01-19John Kelly

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.

Full film on Vimeo

Trailer:

BBC Breakfast segment on The Pennine Way

2020-07-282021-01-19John Kelly

I’ve gotta admit, I had no idea BBC Breakfast was such a big thing. Before the interview I thought it was going to be on the radio with one of the many regional BBC stations, not a nationally televised morning news show. I’m glad I managed to wake up in time for it after they moved it earlier at the last minute.

The No Barkley Barkley

2020-03-232021-01-19John Kelly

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.

2019 Podcast Round-up

2019-12-292021-01-19John Kelly

I got a bit behind this year on posting podcasts and other interviews I did, so then I stopped trying entirely. I decided I’d try to pull together the ones I could find or remember and give a full run-down here. All of them hit a number of topics but the main focuses are Barkley and The Grand Round.

2018 Podcasts and Interviews

2018-12-172021-01-19John Kelly

Recap of some of the podcasts and other interviews from the year, with a bit of Barkley, a bit of triathlon, and some conversations on training and life.

La Barkley sans pitie

2018-03-212021-01-19John Kelly

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)

Venturi’s Voice – Understanding Data

2018-02-232021-01-17John Kelly

In something that’s seemingly incredibly rare for this blog, here’s an actual post on data science. This is a podcast I did that has absolutely nothing to do with running or triathlon. So for most people who visit my blog, sorry this probably isn’t of much interest. But this is what I do at QxBranch for most of that 90% of time that I’m not running around mountains.

Understanding Data Sets: Describing the advantages of data

In this episode Andy Davis talks to John Kelly, Director of Analytics at QxBranch. On the show they discuss the excitement around Quantum Computing. Andy asks about the skills a person’s needs for a career in Data Analytics. They also chat about the projects John is working on.

2017 Podcasts and Interviews

2017-12-192021-01-19John Kelly

As might be expected, these are mostly on Barkley. But there are a few on Kona thrown in too.

SportsCenter Segment on the 2017 Barkley Marathons

2017-04-152021-01-19John Kelly

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.