Shownotes
This week, Kelly and Sara don't just watch sports; they do sports.
Kelly was at the massive 7,000-person Chicago Triathlon and Supertri pro event over the weekend — her first race postpartum — and she has a mini-rant about how we talk about women's health and sports. And, Sara tries to identify with the mountain bikers at the world championships, but fails.
Then, it's all about the two big championship events this week: First, UTMB week, and then a chat with U.S. national champion Hannah Otto ahead of the two-week-long Mountain Bike World Championships.
- UTMB: Confused by the acronyms and qualification process? Kelly and Sara break it down. And who could win the 108-mile circumnavigation of Mont Blanc, with 32,000ft of elevation.
- Then, Hannah Otto breaks down the acronyms in mountain biking and the different race formats — she's done them all. Plus, she'll be tackling the marathon mountain bike world championship race with its own 15,000ft of elevation!
Plus, a listener voicemail about her powerlifting coach’s take on the idea of a women’s decathlon. (Spoiler: Is it sexism?)
Resources:
Have thoughts about today's show or your own Feisty pick of the week? Send a voice memo to [email protected]
Highlights:
- 02:52 - Navigating postpartum racing and a mini-rant
- 19:04 - The ins-and-outs of UTMB and qualifying
- 29:10 - Female participation in trail running
- 40:09 - The many multiple mountain biking disciplines
- 55:10 - Exploring the FKT phenomenon in mountain biking
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Transcripts
Welcome to the Feist.
Speaker B:Everything you want to know about your favorite women's sports in one feisty hour.
Speaker A:With your feistiest friends, Kelly o' Meara and Sarah Gross.
Speaker B:And today, we've got two big sports things coming up.
Speaker B:It is UTMB week.
Speaker B:You know, is that the biggest week in trail riding?
Speaker B:Sarah, discuss debate.
Speaker B:And Hannah Otto, the US national champion in marathon mountain biking.
Speaker B:It joined me to talk about the mountain bike World Championships, which are also starting this weekend.
Speaker B:I feel like we went from no sports to.
Speaker A:Yeah, a massive.
Speaker A:A massive week for endurance sports.
Speaker B:Yeah, but we actually were, like, doing sports.
Speaker A:Yeah, you and I did endurance sports.
Speaker A:We did sports, yes.
Speaker A:And what did you.
Speaker A:What did you do, Kelly?
Speaker B:Yeah, so I went to Chicago for 30 hours, quick trip for the Chicago Triathlon, and they put on a super tri pro race there.
Speaker B:So I was, like, watching the pro race and.
Speaker B:And then I did my first triathlon back postpartum.
Speaker A:Yay.
Speaker B:Which was.
Speaker B:It was actually really fun.
Speaker B:So if anyone.
Speaker B:I never, like, know how much in the weeds we should go on triathlon.
Speaker B:Like, in our audience here, pretend I.
Speaker A:Don'T know anything about triathlon and tell me how your first postpartum short triathlon went.
Speaker B:I grew up in Chicago.
Speaker B:The Chicago triathlon, historically was one of the biggest races in the world.
Speaker B:It had, like, eight to 10,000 people and a lot of races.
Speaker B:Massive participation took a hit in the pandemic.
Speaker B:Um, so it's back up.
Speaker B:It had to, like, 6,000.
Speaker B:And they have, like, a big kids race.
Speaker B:They have this super sprint race.
Speaker B:You can do this super sprint race on a city bike.
Speaker B:Like a.
Speaker B:Rent a city bike.
Speaker B:I love that.
Speaker A:I love races that allow for, like, you know, you to just rock up and, like, rent a bike right on the spot.
Speaker A:I think that's so amazing and accessible.
Speaker B:I did do a rental bike because I was only going for 30 hours because this was my first race back, and I, like, very much understand where my fitness is.
Speaker B:I rented a bike.
Speaker B:I think you saw my.
Speaker B:I put a picture of it on Instagram.
Speaker B:It had a little, like, burrito bag.
Speaker B:I had, like, a visor on my helmet.
Speaker B:I had little, like, reflectors.
Speaker B:It was amazing on my wheels.
Speaker B:My bike stopped shifting after I, like, picked it up, and the rental person just, like, sprayed some lube in it and was like, you'll be good to go.
Speaker B:So she was like, it's pretty flat.
Speaker A:That's how you.
Speaker A:That's how you fix shifters.
Speaker A:Amazing.
Speaker B:But it was really fun.
Speaker B:I do think there's really.
Speaker B:If anyone's Ever seen these super tri events?
Speaker B:They're kind of like the NASCAR of triathlon.
Speaker B:They're super, super short and, like, loops.
Speaker B:And I will say, my husband and Katie Zafaris, who is a former Olympian who does our tri podcast, asked if I was in doing the super tri race, and I was like, no, they did not put me in with the.
Speaker A:Olympians and Kelly to do.
Speaker A:Just.
Speaker A:Just tagging in there for Team usa.
Speaker A:Let's go.
Speaker B:I have one.
Speaker B:I do have a. I have a mini rant, though, Sarah.
Speaker A:Oh, okay.
Speaker B:It is.
Speaker B:Here's my mini rant.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:I am six months postpartum, and it has not been super smooth, given my, like, fitness I came in with.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And partially because of C section.
Speaker B:So a lot of people have said things to me like, oh, but you can't judge.
Speaker B:You can't compare.
Speaker B:You have to listen to your body.
Speaker B:And those are perfectly nice things to say.
Speaker B:Like, you do whatever you want.
Speaker B:That's a.
Speaker B:That's a nice thing to embroider on a pillow.
Speaker B:It is not.
Speaker A:You're a real embroidery pillow kind of gal, too.
Speaker A:Yeah, sorry, go ahead.
Speaker B:I was saying it is not useful medical advice.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And so I find this notion very bizarre.
Speaker B:And so a lot of people are saying to this meet this.
Speaker B:To me, going into this race, which I had, like, I was on a rental bike.
Speaker B:Like, I was like, whatever, I'm just going to go out there and, like, go hard.
Speaker B:Like, I didn't.
Speaker B:I wasn't, like, judging myself, but a lot of people kept being like, oh, you can't compare.
Speaker B:And then afterwards, when I was like, yeah, it felt really good, it was nice.
Speaker B:But, you know, I look down, I'm running like, a minute slower per mile.
Speaker B:Like, oh, you can't compare.
Speaker B:Like, one, sports are comparison.
Speaker B:That's like sports's thing.
Speaker B:Like, that's what sports are.
Speaker C:Sports are.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what sports are.
Speaker B:2.
Speaker B:You can compare without judging.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, I think so many of these women's health and women's sports things, we have so much judgment tied up in weight or postpartum or pregnancy or.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And so the reaction has been to just completely not even look at those things.
Speaker B:Like, but in reality, if more of the doctors had listened to me over the last six months and been like, oh, you're not recovering at a rate that would be normal for someone of your fitness level, then maybe we would have realized something was, like, wrong from the C section and we could have done something right.
Speaker B:But instead, because everyone's like, oh, just listen it can be slow.
Speaker B:We're not like, treating or if.
Speaker B:Or weight.
Speaker B:For example, like, when I had that concussion, one of the signs that something was messed up was I, like, gained like, 10 pounds suddenly.
Speaker B:And the doctor's sitting there being like, well, but you're still skinny.
Speaker B:And you're like, this isn't a moral judgment.
Speaker B:This is a medical fact.
Speaker B:Yeah, let's treat it.
Speaker B:And so.
Speaker B:And so I think there's this thing that's happened where women's reaction to the medical system or the sports system or like, these.
Speaker B:These systems are very tied together.
Speaker B:Judging them and putting, like, a moral value is that we're now like, oh, well, don't look at that at all.
Speaker B:But that could be like, that actually.
Speaker B:It actually is like a youth.
Speaker B:Like, I don't see my resting heart rate in the morning go up and think, like, I'm a bad person.
Speaker B:I think, oh, I might be getting sick.
Speaker B:And so, like, I feel like we need to do that more, right?
Speaker B:Like, I don't think right.
Speaker B:So I ran my.
Speaker B:My triathlon and I felt good about it.
Speaker B:And I go, oh, I'm still like.
Speaker B:Like, that was good.
Speaker B:But, like, yeah, I'm like, I'm still, like, slower than I was.
Speaker B:I don't, like, feel bad about myself.
Speaker B:I'm just like, oh, okay.
Speaker B:So anyway, that is my little mini.
Speaker B:I found it.
Speaker B:I find it kind of not great.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:I'm so with you on this.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker A:A couple things, like, came to my mind immediately, like, where I was like, oh, yeah, even.
Speaker A:Okay, even last week I went to CrossFit class with a friend of mine.
Speaker A:And, like, before we started, it was like we were keeping track of our scores on a piece of paper.
Speaker B:Oh, yeah.
Speaker B:Like they do in CrossFit.
Speaker A:And I was like, I'm going to try to beat you.
Speaker A:I was like, I'm writing my script and I don't actually, like, at the end of the day, care if I beat him.
Speaker A:But I'm like, I'm going to try to beat you.
Speaker A:I'm going to write my scores here.
Speaker A:And then we were, like, kind of going, like, around three stations.
Speaker A:So we were like, we, like, he started ahead of me and then I started.
Speaker A:So, like, I would see his score when I came and he would see my previous score.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:As we went around and, like.
Speaker A:Because we got a minute off after every round, so I was like, then I can see.
Speaker A:Then I have, like, something to aim for, right?
Speaker A:Like, and then I was like.
Speaker A:And then we had that conversation after he's like, I love how you were just like, I'm going to try to beat you.
Speaker A:I'm like, I need a goal.
Speaker A:And then I was like, if I'd been easily beating you by like five points, like five reps per round, I would have then tried to beat you by five reps every round.
Speaker A:Or if you'd been beating me by, by five, I would have been like, I'll stay within five for every round.
Speaker A:Like I'm just like using it as some way to like get the best out of myself.
Speaker A:And then it's over.
Speaker A:And it's over.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Like, and so you're right, like comparison is like an inherent part of sport, of sports.
Speaker A:And then when I was coming back postpartum, I can remember being very excited about the fact that like I started out with a very slow, average swim pace when so for me, average swim pace when I like for hundreds, you know.
Speaker A:And then every time it was like this short window of time where like every time I went to the pool I would basically get faster.
Speaker B:Oh really?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And I freaking love that.
Speaker A:Like, and I can see how like I would have been super annoyed if people had been like, oh well, don't compare yourself to pre.
Speaker A:Whatever.
Speaker A:I'm like, right.
Speaker C:I'm not.
Speaker A:I just started at a thing.
Speaker A:I know what I used to be able to do and I'm like slowly like incrementally getting better and it's very fun and encouraging for me.
Speaker A:So right.
Speaker B:My, like the graph is going up on my chart, on all my charts.
Speaker B:That's the direction.
Speaker B:But yeah, so I find it very weird because I will say in my super scientific survey of my start corral, they had the men and the women all mixed in where I was starting because it was by self projected finish time.
Speaker A:That's all.
Speaker A:Yeah, that's always great.
Speaker B:And the men around me, like the amount of confidence they had.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Which I also have, it's fine.
Speaker B:But then all the women were like, oh, I don't know.
Speaker B:Like, oh, I shouldn't be.
Speaker B:Do you want to go in front of me?
Speaker B:Yes, so I do.
Speaker B:There's like clearly we need like clearly when people are saying like, don't compare yourself or don't judge yourself or like one, it's obviously like a little bit about that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But two, like what?
Speaker B:They're, they're reacting to this like larger, these larger.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:They're reacting to the like magazine covers that are like, oh, did she lose the baby weight?
Speaker B:Like, like that's what they're reacting to.
Speaker B:But you can.
Speaker B:You can, you know, separate those.
Speaker B:We.
Speaker B:We should try to separate those things.
Speaker A:Yeah, so, yeah, totally.
Speaker B:So anyway, it was fun.
Speaker B:It was good.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:It's also wildly satisfying to be on like, a super beater rental bike and like, passing men on their, like, really fancy, super expensive triathlon bikes.
Speaker A:That's what I used to love racing in.
Speaker A:I'm sure I've told this story many, many times, but racing in the uae, like in Abu Dhabi or Dubai, where everybody had like, a lot of money but no time to train.
Speaker A:And so the.
Speaker A:The transition area would be filled with like, 5, 10, $20,000 bikes.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:And then I had, especially when I was new, and I just had my, like, you know, used TT bike that I traveled and then like, literally was waiting people for people to come by me, and they just didn't.
Speaker A:Um.
Speaker A:So I used to love that.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it was super fun.
Speaker B:Super.
Speaker B:It is also really.
Speaker B:I do think it's cool when, like, you kind of mix the pros with like, thousands of beginners and they kind of like, get to see all the different things.
Speaker B:I think that's like a good way to do events.
Speaker A:Kelly, were you on the podium in your age group?
Speaker B:I was fourth.
Speaker B:And so you just missed it.
Speaker A:Well, congratulations.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker B:Thank you.
Speaker A:Very good.
Speaker B:It was very exciting.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And what did you do?
Speaker B:You did your sportsing?
Speaker A:I did some sportsing.
Speaker A:So always.
Speaker A:So one of my best friends had her.
Speaker A:Her 46th birthday, and so she had this whole weekend of like, endurance sports planned, which, like.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And so you just never really know what's gonna come or whether I'll be able to keep up or whether I'll be able to get out of bed the next morning.
Speaker A:It's just a whole thing.
Speaker A:Anyway, so we decided she actually had a bit of an Achilles injury, which saved me because she wanted to run like 40k in the mountains at Whistler.
Speaker A:And that was something I would be wildly unprepared for and potentially would die.
Speaker A:So we didn't do that, but we went up.
Speaker A:We went up to the top.
Speaker A:We kind of fast hiked about 8k straight up.
Speaker A:And then we get to the top and she's like, let's.
Speaker A:Let's run down.
Speaker A:Which running down 8k doesn't sound like a lot, but if you've like run down the side of a mountain before, straight for 8k without any run preparation.
Speaker A:Like, it's not like your quads are just like, not ready for that.
Speaker A:So we.
Speaker A:She decided we were doing like 15 minutes on two minutes off five times on the descent.
Speaker A:It's like rocks and roots and like this, this, like it wasn't too, too steep, but it's still like a mountain in Whistler, like, you know.
Speaker B:Right, right.
Speaker A:And so it was great.
Speaker A:Like it was really fun.
Speaker A:We came down, but that was two days ago.
Speaker A:And by yesterday afternoon I was like, oh, my quads are not feeling good.
Speaker A:And then this morning I could barely like I had lunch, I had like a lunch meeting around the corner here from her place and I was walking like peg legged.
Speaker A:Like I was like just like straight, like I could not use my quads.
Speaker A:So it's been a long time since I had that feeling and I have a new appreciation for like we're going to talk about UTMB Trail running.
Speaker A:Like that people like the, how well trained folks are to like go out and run up and up and down the mountains.
Speaker A:Like if anyone's ever done a marathon where there's even like a slight downhill at the end, it makes it like 10 times harder.
Speaker A:So this was like, anyway, I'm, I'm making my way.
Speaker A:I, I, there was no way I could run this morning again, but it was fun.
Speaker B:So you're really trying to like live our sports this week.
Speaker A:Yeah, we lived our sports.
Speaker B:We lived our sports.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We are gonna talk about utmb.
Speaker B:UTMB is a massive, massive week.
Speaker B:We had originally thought about going there, but we went to France so many times last year for the Olympics and the Ironman world champs.
Speaker B:So we are not there.
Speaker B:But I feel like I have a bunch of friends and we're going to preview it.
Speaker B:But first we did get another voicemail.
Speaker B:Not from my mom this time.
Speaker A:Not from your mom.
Speaker B:An actual voicemail from a listener.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Let's hear that.
Speaker D:So I listened to the episode about the decathlon and then the episode about his effects is a after each other and I am a powerlifter, but I also do triathlons and I was powerlifting training yesterday morning and I mentioned to my coach that I had listened to this interview about decathlon and it was super interesting that they were going to replace heptathlon or they're hoping to replace heptathlon women in the Olympics with the decathlon and my coach, Paladin coach in Swedish and he flew into a rage that I just couldn't quite believe.
Speaker D:I was a little bit shocked.
Speaker D:He was like, why?
Speaker D:I am one of the biggest heptathlon fans in the world.
Speaker D:I'm a huge fan of Karenina Clift and what is the point of This I don't understand.
Speaker D:This stuff makes me so angry.
Speaker D:Why do people think that they need a women's decathlon?
Speaker D:What is the point?
Speaker D:Women don't need this.
Speaker D:And he was super angry.
Speaker D:I was actually kind of shocked that he was angry.
Speaker D:And I was like a bit defensive.
Speaker D:And I wanted to send him the episode and be like, here, listen to this one.
Speaker D:I thought, like, I'm not going to send him this because if he's so angry about women wanting to have a decathlon in the Olympics, then he's going to be super angry.
Speaker D:Listening to the feist, which is so pro women.
Speaker D:And then this morning I was listening to the episode about is it sexism?
Speaker D:And it was funny because after he'd had this explosion, I thought, like, is that sexist?
Speaker D:Like, is that sexist behavior that some men don't want, you know, women to have a Tour de France or don't want women to be in the NBA or don't want women to have a decathlon in the Olympics?
Speaker D:And I was kind of thinking like, yeah, it is.
Speaker D: ing with the same coach since: Speaker D: mpeting in powerlifting since: Speaker D:And it's a, was for a long time a very male dominated sports.
Speaker D:But, you know, women's powerlifting has really come up a lot in the last few years and you know, the women's performances at the World Games and was really phenomenal in powerlifting.
Speaker D:And he's always supported that, like women in powerlifting, women coming up in powerlifting.
Speaker D:But then to not see that there's also a need for women to have a decathlon in the Olympics instead of a heptathlon to me is kind of sexist really.
Speaker D:And it raised some very interesting questions for me.
Speaker D:Like listening to those episodes in reverse order about, you know, how do you men view women's sports?
Speaker B:So I want to say, so I appreciate that she's like that she was trying to explain this to her coach.
Speaker B:And I have the same thing.
Speaker B:Sometimes I try to explain something to like one of my, my husband's friends or and how has no context.
Speaker B:And they're like, what the are you talking about?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But I will say when I first heard about the women, you know, should have Their own decathlon a year ago.
Speaker B:I also was like, the.
Speaker B:Why do they need a decathlon?
Speaker B:They had, like, not because, like, they know she don't deserve it, but because I was like, we don't have to do everything the men do the hept.
Speaker B:Like, we could have our own thing that tap on doing.
Speaker B:And I have come around because I've, like, thought about it and listened to, like, okay, well, not people aren't necessarily.
Speaker B:Like, some people are choosing the Tathlon, but a lot of people, they don't have a choice.
Speaker B:Like, this is the only option.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So I, like, I've gotten there.
Speaker B:But my point is, I can see why someone's initial reaction to something you said and I made fun of you, like, a week ago.
Speaker B:It doesn't have to be sexist.
Speaker B:Like, you don't have to outright, like, blatantly, like, mean to discriminate against women for something to be sexist.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It could just be, like, in, like, internalized.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:You made fun of me for being like, do I know what institutionalized sexism is, Sarah?
Speaker A:Yes, I do.
Speaker B:But, like, so my point is his.
Speaker B:The coach here, it could just be that his gut reaction is like.
Speaker B:Like, they have their own thing.
Speaker B:It's really cool.
Speaker B:Like, why do they.
Speaker B:You know, and that's just like, your gut.
Speaker B:Because it's, you know, system.
Speaker B:Systematized, structural.
Speaker A:Yeah, I. I do love that she was, like, going back and forth in her own mind and, like, and then just finally landed on, like, is my coach sexist?
Speaker A:Like, yes, my coach is sexist.
Speaker B:I'm just saying.
Speaker B:I don't know if it's his fault, is all I'm trying to say.
Speaker A:But to our point, like, it doesn't have to be, you know, being inadvertently sexist is also possible.
Speaker A:I also, like, when she was like, I don't really know what to do with the feelings I have.
Speaker A:I'd, like, really felt like we were providing an outlet for that.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Oh, good.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I think her name's.
Speaker C:I just saw it written.
Speaker A:So I think it's Aisha.
Speaker A:So sorry if I got that wrong.
Speaker A:Or Aisha, but she.
Speaker A:I feel like she's our people.
Speaker A:These are feisty.
Speaker A:Like, the people who are.
Speaker A:Who are like, oh, yeah, that's.
Speaker A:Who are thinking along with us, you know?
Speaker B:I appreciate you don't know what to do with your feelings.
Speaker B:I have read a lot lately.
Speaker B:There's been a lot out there, and this is not applied to Sarah, because she's in Canada and we live in alternative, alternate timelines.
Speaker B:These Days.
Speaker B:But a lot of people are telling me like, oh, like you people want something positive.
Speaker B:They want like self care.
Speaker B:They want somewhere to direct their negative feelings.
Speaker B:No, I don't.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:There is not.
Speaker B:I want, like, I am pissed and I'm angry and I think more people need to be pissed and angry and I don't want to be like, oh, let's just like think about happy things.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So that's where.
Speaker B:So I, I get.
Speaker A:Yeah, I, I understand.
Speaker A:With you.
Speaker A:I think, like.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, continuing.
Speaker A:Somebody has to bang the drum.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, and it's going to be us and it's going to be Aisha, apparently.
Speaker B:So there you go.
Speaker A:Yeah, kudos.
Speaker B:If you want to send in more feisty, send in more voicemails, let's try and keep them to like 60 seconds to 90 seconds.
Speaker B:Because somebody else also sent us another multiple minute voicemail.
Speaker B:And I'm saying, and we don't have time for all of these, so send us your thoughts.
Speaker B:Keep it tight.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:UTMB week.
Speaker B:I have to say this is like actually one of my favorites.
Speaker B:I'm getting really into utmb, which stands.
Speaker A:For Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc.
Speaker A:Is that what it is?
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:Because they run around Mont Blanc.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:In Chamonix.
Speaker B:Well, so it starts in Chamonix.
Speaker B:They run around Mont Blanc, they go through four countries.
Speaker B:I always forget the fourth one because it's France, Switzerland, Italy, and I always forget the fourth one and they go over like four 12, 000 foot mountain passes in the.
Speaker B:So this all started with that one big like 100ish mile.
Speaker B:It's like 108 miles race around the mountain.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And it was like, can this even be done?
Speaker B:You know, 30 years ago or whatever it was.
Speaker B:And now it's a whole week.
Speaker B:And UTMB, which is the, like the pinnacle, like the 100 mile race at the end of the week is still.
Speaker A:Like, okay, I was wondering which one is the pinnacle?
Speaker A:So many.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:So I.
Speaker B:The pin, that's.
Speaker B:Now it's like the other ones are big too.
Speaker B:They're like their own thing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:I clicked through the link that you shared with all of like the acronyms and the races that were going on during the week.
Speaker A:And it does sound like this amazing selection of trail runs that you can do during the week.
Speaker A:And they all come.
Speaker A:They're all like different distances and.
Speaker A:But the ac.
Speaker A:The acronyms are insane.
Speaker A:Like, what's wrong with calling it like the hundred mile?
Speaker B:A hundred K. Right?
Speaker B:Why can't you be like, this is the 50k.
Speaker B:This is the 100k.
Speaker B:So the problem, what Sarah is saying is like, so at the end of the week is the race that's called UTMB.
Speaker B:That is the like 108 miles.
Speaker B:And that's like, that's kind of still like the pinnacle one.
Speaker B:But now that UTMB is also a series of races that you, you can, you qualify to this rate to the finals.
Speaker B:Now UTMB means like other things too.
Speaker B:And then there's all these races in the week leading up.
Speaker B:Like right now, as you're listening to this and those have grown, there's like a race every single day now.
Speaker B:And the big ones at the end of the week, which are the OCC and the ccc.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:Okay, you.
Speaker A:You guys see what I'm saying already, Right?
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So the, the CCC is the 100k and the OCC is like the 57k, but those are also championship races now for those distances.
Speaker B:And then so those three at the end of the week are like the big ones.
Speaker B:The occ, the CCC, and the utmb.
Speaker B:And then earlier in the week is like the mcc, the etl, the ptl.
Speaker B:Like, are you just making these efforts?
Speaker B:The actual acronyms?
Speaker A:No, no, no.
Speaker B:PTL and MCC are actual acronyms.
Speaker B:Then there's TDS and etc.
Speaker B:Yeah, so it's.
Speaker A:And here's so simple and easy to follow.
Speaker B:So simple and awesome.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:I like read a book about this.
Speaker B:Cause I was like, I'm so confused.
Speaker B:So they all stand what they.
Speaker B:The different acronyms besides utmb.
Speaker B:The rest of them stand for the city, the towns that they go to and like come from.
Speaker B:So what they're really saying is like this town to this town and back to this town.
Speaker B:And it's just like short for that, but it also is all like French and very confusing.
Speaker B:The point is though, there's a whole week now of races.
Speaker B:And they range like the one that starts very early in the week is this like two or three persons, 300k.
Speaker B:Like takes like four days to do type thing.
Speaker B:And then in the middle of the week you have like the slightly shorter ones, but they're still like, you know, 20 miles or whatever for the volunteers and the locals.
Speaker B:You have a youth series now.
Speaker B:And then at the end of the week you have kind of this like world championship, even though it's, you know, a private company and it's not like an official, but you have like this Pinnacle championship race in like a 50k distance, 100k distance, and then this like massive hundred miler and those Two shorter ones have actually gotten really, really competitive in the last few years, which I think is also really interesting.
Speaker A:I mean, it's.
Speaker A:What's wild is like how fast ultra running has grown, which is just exemplified here.
Speaker A:You have this whole week of racing and then additionally have like qualifying races for the races.
Speaker A:Like it's just like it used to be.
Speaker A:When I was first doing endurance sport, ultra running just used to be like just a handful of people it seemed like anyway, you know what I mean?
Speaker B:That was like 2,500 people or whatever.
Speaker B:Do the hundred mile one, you just.
Speaker A:Like mass amounts of people out on a mountainside.
Speaker B:It's incredible, which is why I want to do it.
Speaker B:So for anyone who's curious about like, the qualifying is super complicated now too.
Speaker B:But I have.
Speaker B:Okay, so you have to earn lottery tickets.
Speaker B:But they call them stones just to make it confusing.
Speaker B:And I have six stones, which is a lot of stones, and I'm gonna put them in for next year.
Speaker A:And how many stones.
Speaker A:Wait, is it 6 the amount you need or is it like the more the better?
Speaker B:Any one stone could get pulled.
Speaker A:So six gives you six chances in the lottery, right?
Speaker A:Yes, got it.
Speaker B:And I earned my stones like a year.
Speaker B:But you.
Speaker B:They're only good for two years.
Speaker A:Okay, wait, how did you earn six?
Speaker A:Like, is that six races?
Speaker A:Is that like you did really well.
Speaker B:And got six, you get.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Neither of those, the whole.
Speaker B:Neither of those things.
Speaker B:So you get stones at any race that is part of like the UTMB World Series.
Speaker B:In order to get stones for the those ch.
Speaker B:Like that 100k or that 100 mile distance, you have to do like 100k or longer.
Speaker B:They don't let you count short races towards that.
Speaker B:The short races can count towards the shorter.
Speaker A:Okay, so you could have some stones for a long distance and some stones for a shorter one.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:But your stone for the shorter distance only count to get you into the 50k championship.
Speaker A:Okay, okay.
Speaker B:See, it's very complicated.
Speaker B:Yes, but you have to, you have to do a qualifying race and then if you do in the whole World series, UTMB has bought all these races or partnered with all these races around the world and you earn qualifiers.
Speaker B:There's also set like regional championships.
Speaker B:And so those have double the stones.
Speaker A:Oh, double stone events.
Speaker A:But you just finish them.
Speaker A:Like if you finish a double stone event, you get two, basically.
Speaker B:And I only did a, I only did double stone event because it happened to be like two hours from my house.
Speaker B:But all these Europeans had come in for the double stones.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker A:Okay, so.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker A:I have follow up questions.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Last time we talked about ultra running, it was all about buckles, belt buckles and like.
Speaker A:Right, so how do this.
Speaker A:Can you get like a stone and a buckle at the same race?
Speaker B:Or like you can.
Speaker A:And the buckles are when you finish at certain times.
Speaker A:Oh my God, Sarah.
Speaker B:Okay, so there are buckles that are race dependent.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Any race just has their own.
Speaker A:Arbitrarily handing out buckles.
Speaker B:Arbitrarily handing out buckles.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And that's just like up to that race.
Speaker B:And then there are tickets for western states if you want to get a lottery ticket.
Speaker B:And we've talked about how those are like a whole other system that like every year you enter, you like double your chances.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:So only some races are on the western states list.
Speaker B:It's most, it's most races, but it's like it has to be on their list.
Speaker B:And then UTMB series, which is so western states doesn't own any races.
Speaker B:They just like have verified that certain ones like, count.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:UTMB owns races.
Speaker B:So UTMB buys races and runs their races.
Speaker B:And you have to do one of those to get stones.
Speaker B:So the one I did got me tickets and stones.
Speaker B:What?
Speaker A:Whoa, wait.
Speaker A:And a buckle.
Speaker A:Did you get a buckle?
Speaker B:No, because I didn't go fast enough, remember?
Speaker A:Oh, yeah, okay.
Speaker B:I just got a.
Speaker A:But you could have, you could have got tickets, stones and buckles all at the same.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:I don't know whether this is like on one, but there's part of me that wants to say I have some advice for them to make these races more accessible to people.
Speaker A:Like with.
Speaker A:Between the acronyms and the stones and the tickets.
Speaker A:But then the flip side is that like, I have to credit them for making it like, you know, you could spend a hundred kilometers of running just trying to decide your plan for getting stones and tickets and stuff.
Speaker A:Like, it's very complicated.
Speaker B:It's a whole thing and people.
Speaker B:And the other thing is.
Speaker B:Okay, so UTMB has grown.
Speaker B:UTMB now referencing like the organization and the event.
Speaker A:Okay, not this specific event, but not.
Speaker B:The specific, like the.
Speaker B:We, the.
Speaker B:The.
Speaker B:It's actually just owned by like a couple, like a husband wife team who live in Chamonix.
Speaker B:And during the pandemic, they sold a minority share to Ironman.
Speaker B:Cause they like, they actually like have no cash flow.
Speaker B:Like, they put on this huge event.
Speaker B:It's like 2,500 people.
Speaker B:And they like, there actually isn't like a lot of money coming in because it just like goes out to events.
Speaker A:Events.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Events are not actually like moneymakers.
Speaker B:Side point.
Speaker B:So they sold a minority share to Ironman and Trail Runners.
Speaker B:This is also part of their effort to like, grow.
Speaker B:And Ironman runs like a lot of their North American races now because, like, just on the ground, like operationally, because they're based in France.
Speaker B:And trail runners, Sarah, they are just like corporate bullshit.
Speaker B:So while I was getting my stones and my tickets on that 100k.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:I talked to a bunch of people and they all had thoughts.
Speaker A:Of course they did.
Speaker B:They were like, they were all very upset.
Speaker B:They were gonna ruin trail running.
Speaker A:Oh, man.
Speaker B:I think that's died out a little bit.
Speaker B:But it's still just like, it's still.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker A:It's right.
Speaker A:I think trail running's just grown enough that like, it's gonna get corporate.
Speaker A:You can't slow that down.
Speaker B:You know, they still don't give prize money.
Speaker A:Well, that's interesting.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And there was some survey I was just looking at about trail runners because it's the big.
Speaker B:It's like the, the booming sport right now in terms of growth and stuff.
Speaker B:So they were doing a survey and people are still like runners themselves are still split on whether or not there should be trail prize money in trail running.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker B:Hey, it's Kelly.
Speaker B:I need to jump in here with one quick correction before we get back to the rest of the show.
Speaker B: ery small prize purse back in: Speaker B:So this year on Friday, the winner of the 108 mile UTMB race will get €2,000.
Speaker B:And the athletes of the other shorter races will take home, you know, less.
Speaker B:But it is still very much a topic of contention and debate in trail running.
Speaker B:Okay, now back to the rest of the show.
Speaker A:So the first.
Speaker A:The first race that just like offers prize money, people will come.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:You know, I also.
Speaker B:The other thing though, particularly because, like, we went to western states and western states is very like the pinnacle of North American trail running.
Speaker B:And UTMB is very European centered and like, it is global, obviously, but it's very, very French.
Speaker B:And their rates of female participation are much, much, much lower in Europe than here.
Speaker B:And so you do at that like 100 mile pinnacle distance.
Speaker B:It's still like 10% women or something.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So it's still like super low.
Speaker B:I think, like some efforts.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, there was a point where they didn't even Award as many women as men on the podium.
Speaker B:Because the women's field was, you know, the argument that, like, the women's field smaller so it doesn't.
Speaker B:It's like, doesn't deserve as deep.
Speaker B:So they.
Speaker B:They now do that, right?
Speaker B:They now give out equal prizes.
Speaker B:Not money.
Speaker B:Not money.
Speaker A:Equal prizes like buckles and stones and points.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Oh, there's an index.
Speaker B:There's an index of points.
Speaker B:Absolutely.
Speaker A:I love it.
Speaker A:You could host a race.
Speaker A:You don't have to provide any prize money.
Speaker A:Just give away arbitrary points.
Speaker A:You couldn't give away shruit bucks.
Speaker A:And everybody would come.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:So there are some things where you're like, a little bit like, okay, guys, like, we've gone through this in, like, every sport.
Speaker B:Like, we kind of know how this works.
Speaker B:You could just.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:And there are a lot of runners, a lot of women runners who have, like, you know, really been trying to work with them.
Speaker B:And.
Speaker B:But there's also something to, like, when it is just like a husband, wife, duo, they just kind of make decisions.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:You see, for some reason.
Speaker A:So when I was.
Speaker A:When I was training for triathlon, I was on a altitude camp in Davos in Switzerland.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Oh, I've been there.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:And my.
Speaker A:I went there for two different summers and I.
Speaker A:One day I was out for my long run and I met this, like, group of women.
Speaker A:Like, we were basically, like, running back down the side of a mountain, although I was prepared for it this time together.
Speaker A:And we were kind of running the same pace, and I started chatting with them, whatever.
Speaker A:And the one woman had, like, won the Swiss Mountain Marathon the year before.
Speaker A:Like, they were all like, ultra runners.
Speaker A:And I remember I had.
Speaker A:This was my kind of.
Speaker A:Like, I didn't.
Speaker A:I knew ultra running existed, but I didn't know who these people were.
Speaker A:I didn't know anything about it.
Speaker A:And so I was asking them all, and they were like, oh, we just came from.
Speaker A:Then, like, we're in the Alps.
Speaker A:And they're like, we came from that peak to this and this peak.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:And I ran the last, like, hour and a half of their run with them.
Speaker A:And I just thought, like, who were those people?
Speaker B:They're amazing.
Speaker A:So, like, my impression is that, like, there's these amazing groups of women who run together in the Swiss Alps.
Speaker A:But, like, that was probably them.
Speaker A:Like, that was all of them.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:No, I think it's.
Speaker B:Obviously, there are probably women out there, and they're just, you know, they're not figuring out this system I just described.
Speaker B:They're not like, right, like.
Speaker B:And like, obviously it requires a lot of support to do one of these races.
Speaker B:Like somebody, especially with the one that like circles a mountain.
Speaker B:Like somebody has to be like driving and meeting you at every aid station.
Speaker B:And like, and it's very, very real.
Speaker B:There was like a study whatever recently about like the motherhood.
Speaker B:Like, like childcare is a huge issue both in like, so we like, I, I think there are women who can do these things.
Speaker B:They're just.
Speaker A:Oh, gosh, of course.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:There's just like all the usual barriers, which is why I'm always sort of like, guys, we already know the answer to this.
Speaker B:You could fix this.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:But there are also actual pros.
Speaker B:Even though there's not prize money.
Speaker B:It is the biggest race.
Speaker B:There are the biggest.
Speaker B:Courtney Dowalter is back.
Speaker A:Did she win last year?
Speaker A:Is that right?
Speaker B:No, Katie shied won last year.
Speaker B:And so for everybody who has been waiting, we've all been waiting.
Speaker B:Everyone who is deeply into everyone who.
Speaker A:Understands the acronyms and all of the.
Speaker B:Pieces has been waiting for a Katie versus Courtney.
Speaker A:Hey.
Speaker B: Because Courtney won in: Speaker B:When she did like Western States.
Speaker B:UTMB of heart.
Speaker B:And then last year Katie shied broke Courtney's record at UTMB and she won Western States.
Speaker B:So we were like hoping this year they would go up against each other, but Katie has opted instead to do the World Trail Championships at the end of September.
Speaker A:Oh.
Speaker A:So we're not getting our head to head matchup that we were all hoping that we were all that I've been hoping for for the last two minutes.
Speaker B:And there's like an interesting.
Speaker B: rtney Doalter after that like: Speaker B:She's definitely had like a lower key last two years.
Speaker B:She'd been like DNF to race and that's not like normal for her.
Speaker B:So people are like, can she be beat?
Speaker B:Wow.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:So anyway, there are and.
Speaker B:Oh, I know.
Speaker B:I was gonna say there are people who can could beat her this year, including.
Speaker B:Is this where Abby, who won Western States has decided to jump into utmb?
Speaker A:Oh, nice.
Speaker B:Uh huh.
Speaker B:So she'll be raising Heather.
Speaker A:Oh, Heather, she's.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:So Abby hall, she was kind of like, well, I'm, I'm feeling good.
Speaker B:Might as well see what happens.
Speaker B:Heather Jackson, she did the whichever acronym is the 100k last year and she's doing the full one this year.
Speaker B:And I think a lot of Our, she, we all, we both know her from triathlon, but now she's like a trail running gravel.
Speaker A:Cycling.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So that'll be, you know, that'll be something.
Speaker B:Fujiao, our.
Speaker A:Yes, our favorite.
Speaker B:Our favorite who got second at Western States is running the 100K.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:I just want to see her eat noodles again at the aid station.
Speaker A:She was just for those who didn't hear that episode, we were like, I was like standing right there trying to record it as she was.
Speaker A:She's like putting like eating noodles quickly from a bowl, right.
Speaker A:With chopsticks.
Speaker A:And her team is like fixing everything from like her blisters, shoes off, da, da, da.
Speaker A:Fixing her hair, making her cool.
Speaker A:Like this was like a well oiled machine just happening.
Speaker A:And she just like was very focused on the noodles and like just imagine eating when people are like fussing with like every party and there was like.
Speaker B:30 people surrounding her.
Speaker B:Filming it was like kind of crazy.
Speaker A:Yeah, it was wild.
Speaker B:So she's doing the 100k, so I think she's hoping to win it this year.
Speaker A:Okay, well, I'm a Fujiao super fan, so.
Speaker B:And you can watch it.
Speaker B:It actually you can watch it.
Speaker B:It's all like UTMB live all up on there.
Speaker B:I don't like.
Speaker B:Corinne, who's been on our podcast before, used to do the commentary and I don't think she is anymore, which is a shame.
Speaker A:And is it on YouTube?
Speaker A:Kelly?
Speaker B:It's on YouTube.
Speaker B:It's on UTMB.
Speaker B:Like live UTMB YouTube.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:And then there's like all other things, like you know, in Europe.
Speaker B:It's on whatever.
Speaker B:Be one of those things.
Speaker B:One of those things.
Speaker B:BN sports, whatever they are.
Speaker A:And he an acronym with sports after it.
Speaker B:An acronym.
Speaker A:It'll be fine.
Speaker A:You'll find it.
Speaker B:You'll find it.
Speaker B:I think it's HBO Max here, something like that.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:So you can watch it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Great.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker B:Well, we'll recap next year and next year we will be there.
Speaker B:Sarah.
Speaker A:Okay, this is your prediction.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:We've not.
Speaker A:Just for those listening, we have not previously talked about this, but.
Speaker B:Okay, well I will because I'm putting in my stones.
Speaker A:Oh yeah, we're gonna be there because I'm gonna be on Kelly's video crew.
Speaker A:I'm gonna be holding my iPhone to Kelly, watching her eat noodles.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:Cool.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:I'm here for it.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:So that's the big thing this week.
Speaker B:And then the other.
Speaker B:And then I was like.
Speaker B:Because I have this massive list of all the big sports things and the mountain bike World championships also start on Friday.
Speaker B:And it is interesting this year, Sarah, because it is.
Speaker B:They have brought like all the disciplines together in Switzerland for like two weeks.
Speaker B:I mean, they're in like different locations because obviously, like downhill has to be in a different space than cross country.
Speaker B:But they're doing like enduro, downhill, cross country, marathon, cross country, even.
Speaker B:There's even like an E bike category.
Speaker B:There's like an E bike category.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:So it's all happening.
Speaker B:And then I think this is one of the first times they've done like.
Speaker A:All, everything all together in one big mountain bike World championships.
Speaker A:That also sounds very fun.
Speaker B:Yeah, but that also has a lot of acronyms, I'm sure.
Speaker C:What is an acronym?
Speaker A:Why can't we just call it like the cross country race and the downhill?
Speaker A:I don't understand.
Speaker B:So I did.
Speaker B:We talked to Hannah Otto, who has been on our cycling podcast before.
Speaker B:I think feisty listeners probably like, have know her, and she explained, she explained all the acronyms, all the different kinds of mountain biking for us.
Speaker B:All right, with Hannah Otto, the national champion in cross country marathon mountain biking, right?
Speaker B:Jaga.
Speaker B:Xcm.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker C:Lots of different acronyms.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:Well, congratulations.
Speaker B:It was your first national championship, right?
Speaker C:Yes, my first elite national championship.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:We were joking about.
Speaker B:There's so many acronyms and different kinds of mountain biking.
Speaker B:Can you tell our listeners, like, what is marathon mountain biking versus maybe Red Bull jumping off cliffs that they see on Instagram?
Speaker C:There's so many different types of mountain biking.
Speaker C:Um, so there's something for everybody.
Speaker C:Uh, but in all, I mean, there's so in the acronyms, you'll hear XCC, Cross Country Short Circuit.
Speaker C:So it's like 20 minute loops, 20 minute of many loops.
Speaker C:So like a three minute loop.
Speaker C:You'll hear XCO, which is a little bit bigger loop, which is a 90 minute race, about 10 to 15 minute loops.
Speaker C:You'll hear XCM, which is typically not a loop.
Speaker C:That's the more of what I do.
Speaker C:Cross country marathon, which is the long form.
Speaker C:And so those races have to be a minimum of 60km, but can be much, much longer.
Speaker C:So like Worlds will be 125km.
Speaker C:Then you get into other forms of mountain biking, like free ride, which would be tricks, going downhill, getting scored.
Speaker C:Then you have downhill mountain biking, which is not scored, but downhill for speed.
Speaker C:You have enduro, where you're doing time to segments, but a very long day because you have to ride between all the segments.
Speaker C:And we could just keep going, keep going.
Speaker C:But those I would say, are like the biggest main mountain bike disciplines.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker B:And when you're, you're leaving for the World Championships.
Speaker B:Well, when we're talking next week when this airs, it'll be coming up.
Speaker B:And at the Mountain Bike World Championships are, do all those disciplines come together or like a bunch of them come together?
Speaker C:It's different every year.
Speaker C:Um, so sometimes the, sometimes they'll all be in different places.
Speaker C:This year, actually, it's a special year because all of the mountain bike disciplines are taking place in this.
Speaker C:I think it's a 12 day span in Switzerland, so a lot of the athletes will, will get to crossover, see each other, maybe watch each other's disciplines.
Speaker C:Some people will compete in multiple disciplines.
Speaker C:But yeah, it's a really exciting opportunity to have them all in one place.
Speaker B:And you?
Speaker B:I are doing the marathon, the 125k race.
Speaker C:Correct.
Speaker C:So the marathon will be, it's actually a point to point race this year.
Speaker C:It's 125 kilometers, so, so that's 77 miles.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker C:With 5,000 meters of climbing.
Speaker C:So that's almost 17,000ft of climbing.
Speaker B:That's a lot of climbing.
Speaker C:Yes, in the Swiss Alps.
Speaker C:So you can imagine how steep and.
Speaker B:Rugged it will be.
Speaker B:How like.
Speaker B:Yeah, I'm, I'm literally starting to think about this now and thinking about like, I can't even go up my fire road without like having to walk sometimes.
Speaker B:But how do you get into that?
Speaker B:Like, how did you decide, like, this is the one for me.
Speaker B:I want to do the like six, seven hour races.
Speaker C:Yeah, I think it's been a long, I mean I've been competing in Endurance Sports for 20 years.
Speaker C:I'm 29 years old, so like, that's a large percentage of my life.
Speaker C:And I feel like I've, I've kind of gone through a lot of the different types of mountain biking or endurance sports in general.
Speaker C:You know, I started in triathlon, I did exterra racing, I transitioned to the mountain bike where I did race the xco, the shorter races, and then I again transitioned to these longer events.
Speaker C:And for me it's just been following my heart with what I love to do.
Speaker C:And for me, these longer races, at least right now in my career have offered me so much.
Speaker C:Like it's, for me it really expands off the bike, I think is what it is.
Speaker C:Because in these long races, and not to say you can't get these, that this in the short races, but for me in these long races, you experience so much, you take yourself to such depths, you go through first Second, third wins.
Speaker C:And you start to discover that when you just don't give up, that's when the magic happens.
Speaker C:It doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker C:It doesn't even have to feel good.
Speaker C:You just have to keep going.
Speaker C:And I feel like I have gained so much in life learning how to do these hard things.
Speaker C:And I feel like that's what mountain bike has given me.
Speaker B:Have you.
Speaker B:What is the longest race you've done that now I'm curious.
Speaker C:Um, the.
Speaker C:Well, the longest race.
Speaker C:Yeah, the longest race I've done in miles is unbound, so 200 miles.
Speaker C:Um, but the longest duration I've done was the Cocopelli FKT, which the first time I attempted it was over 13 hours.
Speaker B:FKTs are a whole nother like acronym here.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Yes, yes.
Speaker B:So outside of organized races, you also, I mean these are growing in popularity, these fastest known times where you kind of go out there and go after a record for yourself and you've started doing a bunch of these.
Speaker B:You just finished your most recent one right?
Speaker B:In.
Speaker B:In the.
Speaker B:The Triad in Moab.
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker C:Yeah, I just, I.
Speaker C:We recently released.
Speaker C:It's on the competitive cyclist YouTube.
Speaker C:Um, I recently released the White rim F K T video which was a completion of our series, the Moab Triple Crown.
Speaker B:How did you pick?
Speaker B:So my understanding is, yeah, that you can pretty much fkt anything, but there are like famous ones.
Speaker B:So how did you pick that?
Speaker B:Those three to go after?
Speaker C:Yeah, I think.
Speaker C:Well, it's multifaceted.
Speaker C:Like you said, you can kind of try and get an fkt on anything.
Speaker C:But in mountain biking, since we don't have world records like you have in track or swimming, the only way we can have records is if we pick a specific trail.
Speaker C:Because every trail is so different.
Speaker C:And so the most robust trails, the most heavily trafficked trails are usually the ones that get the attention and the attention.
Speaker C:And the more people do it, the more interest there is to try and be the fastest.
Speaker C:So for me, this series in Moab was a little bit of seeking out the most well known while also highlighting a place that's been really instrumental in my life.
Speaker C:MUB is a place that I feel like I've fallen in love with the mountain bike.
Speaker C:And I love the terrain out there.
Speaker C:It's just absolutely breathtaking.
Speaker C:And so when we started this project and selecting these three trails, I really sat back and I looked for trails that I felt like showed the best of what mountain biking had to offer.
Speaker C:The speed, the views, the endurance, the technicality.
Speaker C:And I narrowed it down to These three that I felt like if somebody went and did these three trails, they would see the best that Moab and mountain biking has for them.
Speaker B:Okay, and you are like you just said, you released this video, you haven't.
Speaker B:Does that mean that you had to bring a film crew with you on your fkt?
Speaker C:Yes.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:How does the, what are the logistics of that?
Speaker B:Like, how does that work?
Speaker C:It's quite complicated.
Speaker C:And this is a, this is a delicate topic because depending on who you talk to, so when you do an fkt, it you can do it either supported, where you're receiving help, anything you want, really, mechanical support, water, food, et cetera, that would be supported.
Speaker C:Then there's the unsupported FKT, which I think is the purity of FKTs.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Is you just go out and you from start to finish are fully on your own.
Speaker C:So I carry all of my food, all of my water.
Speaker C:If I have a mechanical, I have to fix it.
Speaker C:But at the same time I want to share these efforts.
Speaker C:And the only way I can do that is by filming it.
Speaker C:And it's, for me, it's not about getting the credit.
Speaker C:I could go get it and post it up and have the fkt.
Speaker C:But what the film does is I hope it's inspiring and motivational.
Speaker C:And that's the piece that I want to bring to it is I want people to see how hard this is, is I want people to see my struggles so that they can understand that even us pros are out there hurting and struggling too.
Speaker C:So I've opted to bring a film crew on these FKTs.
Speaker C:And some people say that that is.
Speaker B:Support.
Speaker C:Which is fine.
Speaker C:I'm not, I don't need to argue this, but the logistics that we follow are they cannot speak to me, I cannot speak to them.
Speaker C:We don't interact in any way.
Speaker C:Not even a good job, not even a, oh, this is hard.
Speaker C:We completely pretend like each other, aren't there?
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker C:And that creates its own difficulty.
Speaker C:And yeah, then on top of it, the logistics, like on the white rim, for example, you cannot, since it's in a national park, you cannot drive a side by side.
Speaker C:So you can either only drive a four wheel drive vehicle or a moto.
Speaker C:And a four wheel drive vehicle through these types of rock.
Speaker C:Crawley train is very slow.
Speaker C:So they would never be able, they would not be able to get more than one shot.
Speaker B:Okay.
Speaker C:So the film crew actually had to ride motos and most of the crew had never ridden a moto before.
Speaker B:Interesting.
Speaker C:So these, these cinematographers, videographers, Went, learned how to ride motos, got their permits, licenses, whatever.
Speaker C:Went, practiced this route multiple times.
Speaker C:And then on the day of, we're out there ready to get the shots and basically they'll just.
Speaker C:They don't ride with me.
Speaker C:They leapfrog each other from one place to the next to get the shots as I go by.
Speaker B:Man.
Speaker B:Yeah, that sounds.
Speaker B:I mean, obviously there's an amount where mountain biking so much.
Speaker B:Mountain biking is about like the shot and the beauty and the.
Speaker B:I mean, what people have think about.
Speaker B:They think about like amazing video.
Speaker B:But that sounds complicated.
Speaker A:It is, yeah.
Speaker C:It is very complicated.
Speaker C:And each of these FKTs definitely, I feel like huge kudos to the film crew.
Speaker C:The same one did all three of them.
Speaker C:And I mean, between the holon of the cogopelli and the white rim, they're just all major logistical puzzles for me too.
Speaker C:I mean, we.
Speaker C:This is.
Speaker C:Each one definitely takes its full year of planning.
Speaker B:What is your.
Speaker B:I mean, you've also.
Speaker B:You've done like the big kind of long distance, like Leadville, right?
Speaker B:You won that.
Speaker B:You've done gravel racing, which is obviously getting hot now.
Speaker B:You.
Speaker B:Now we're also talking about like the UCI World type series and these FKTs, which is like other.
Speaker B:What's your favorite out of all these kinds of mountain biking events?
Speaker C:Probably whatever I've done most recently, it's the reason I do all of them is because they all sort of scratch their own itch, you know, for me, I think on the competitive side, I think that competing against the best in the world is what allows you to continue to elevate yourself.
Speaker C:And so I feel like if I ever get to a start line and look around and think, oh, I've got this in the bag, I am on the wrong start line because that is not stretching me.
Speaker C:So I love competing at the highest level.
Speaker C:And I think there's something to be said for the UCI for the World Championships, because it.
Speaker C:That is what that means.
Speaker C:Um, but we're also lucky enough to have the lifetime Grand Prix right now, which is also certainly taking things to a whole new level as well.
Speaker C:And that is an opportunity in the US and then the fkts give me this sort of different outlet that allows me to stretch on my own, which I think is really special because in the races there's so much strategy, you know, and there's so many things that are out of your control.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:If someone attacks or if someone crashes into you or this, that or the other.
Speaker C:The fkts, it's just me and the bike and the trail.
Speaker C:And there's no reason that every pedal stroke can't be as fast as possible.
Speaker C:And in so many ways, that takes me back to my younger self, who at 9 years old, at 10 years old, I wasn't strategizing out the competition.
Speaker C:I was just sprinting off the start line, seeing what I could do.
Speaker B:There are a lot of things that have changed, right, in recent years that have made this possible have occurred.
Speaker B:Like the boom and gravel racing, these kind of YouTube videos, social media, has it all come together to kind of help you shape this, this career that's, you know, what you want it to be?
Speaker C:I think so.
Speaker C:I think, yeah.
Speaker C:It would be silly to not acknowledge how the, you know, I'm, I'm living in a great time for this.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Like all of us in the US here who are in the off road space, we're going through a great time in the US where the lifetime grand Prix is booming, where social media is allowing us to reach more people.
Speaker C:And I'm also really grateful for the things that I had growing up.
Speaker C:Like, it's funny because I look at things in school and it's like, man, even though I'm not an English major, I'm constantly writing sponsor reports, blogs.
Speaker C:You know, like, I loved writing in school and so I have to pause sometimes and be like.
Speaker C:And I still do get to do that.
Speaker C:And in school I loved giving presentations.
Speaker C:I love standing up in front of the class.
Speaker C:I loved acting.
Speaker C:And again, not, not my career, but certainly a part of it.
Speaker C:Here we are in a podcast.
Speaker C:I'm getting to blab.
Speaker C:And so it's just also fun to look at how all the things that I've loved in life that maybe felt like in some ways went on the back burner.
Speaker C:Like I didn't pursue that as my major or something.
Speaker C:I've still gotten to incorporate into this.
Speaker A:Career that I love.
Speaker B:Oh yeah.
Speaker B:I feel like being a professional athlete in cycling, in one of these non team sports, it's.
Speaker B:You have to have so many different skills now.
Speaker C:Yeah, you wear like eight hats.
Speaker B:All right, to wrap up, mountain bike world champs coming up.
Speaker B:Tell us like, how people can watch, what they should watch for, you know, all the details.
Speaker C:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:That's a good question.
Speaker C:I don't know how you can actually watch, which is maybe one of the biggest plights of our sport right now and of marathon racing in general.
Speaker C:But I don't know what to say.
Speaker B:Stay, figure it out.
Speaker B:Because I'm sure there will be a way we'll figure it Out.
Speaker B:And you said you're racing on the 6th of September.
Speaker C:6Th of September.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:And it sounds like there'll be lots of different events and hopefully.
Speaker B:I mean, I also like this idea that hopefully you all.
Speaker B:All the different writers and all the different disciplines, hopefully you guys, like, go out and have an after party and have a good time, too.
Speaker C:Exactly.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it's fun to learn from each other as well, because we all carry different specialties and personalities as well.
Speaker C:It takes a different personality to be exceptional at each of these disciplines.
Speaker C:So it's fun to kind of learn from and rub off on each other as well.
Speaker B:Definitely.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:Well, good luck.
Speaker B:Good luck in the 15, 17,000ft of climbing, so thank you so much.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:Kelly, I did not know that FKTs are a thing in mountain biking.
Speaker A:Like, that's probably just me, like, living under a rock a little bit.
Speaker A:But, like, I. I was obviously aware of, like, fkts, like, on foot, like, the hiking, running kind.
Speaker A:But that was.
Speaker A:And I thought it was like, do you think that a film crew counts as support?
Speaker A:Ooh, that was kind of an interesting point you made.
Speaker B:I don't think so.
Speaker B:But then obviously it becomes like, it because, like, you could see how, like, you, like, a line could be crossed somewhere.
Speaker B:Who knows?
Speaker B:And then I think it's also one of the things self supportive or supported.
Speaker B:Fkts and hiking and running are, like, much more dramatic.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Because, like, it means you have to, like, carry all this stuff.
Speaker B:I think in mountain biking that different.
Speaker B:Like, there are fewer.
Speaker B:Like, it's not as big a thing, Right.
Speaker B:To, like, have to meet up and get all your aid because you can carry bottles and food and you can carry more stuff on a bike.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:So I think it's not at, like, I think that matters more.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Like, people take that more seriously.
Speaker A:I thought it was interesting because I can see how, like, unsupported, how so much of the support of an FKT is like moral support.
Speaker A:Right, Right.
Speaker A:Like having someone else alongside you even with a camera.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Can be.
Speaker A:So I understand why people would be like, okay, that's not.
Speaker A:But then, like, if you're not allowed any film crew or anything, like, the.
Speaker A:All of the footage you had would come from your own bike, mounted camera or helmet mount.
Speaker B:It would be like, it would not.
Speaker B:Not.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Like, bring us this.
Speaker A:I want.
Speaker A:I want to see this.
Speaker A:Like, I want to see the one hour recap of someone doing this FKTF doing this really hard thing.
Speaker A:Like, and I want a proper camera crew out the.
Speaker A:Out there to catch it.
Speaker A:I Don't want.
Speaker B:I also will say this is.
Speaker B:Yeah, I want to pop her camera crew.
Speaker B:Because the other thing, you know.
Speaker B:Okay, I'm judgy.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker B:Established.
Speaker B:I know.
Speaker B:I think it's fine.
Speaker B:More women out there can be judgy.
Speaker B:But I always have like, a slightly weird reaction to like, the Instagram reels where someone clearly like, set up and is filming themselves, have like a breakdown or like trouble with dehydration or be like.
Speaker B:Like, they clearly like, are having a problem.
Speaker B:That happens in sports, right?
Speaker B:Like, you know, a shitty, rough, dark hole time in like marathon.
Speaker B:But they've like set a care, like their phone up to film it so that they.
Speaker B:They can then make a reel.
Speaker B:And I'm always sort of like, what the are you doing?
Speaker B:Like, it couldn't have been that bad a hole if you were that, like, focused on things.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker B:Like, yeah, so I do.
Speaker B:So if there was an actual film crew just like filming that, you would be like, I would.
Speaker B:I would be less judgmental because I'd be like, okay, that.
Speaker B:That's what they're there for.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:That's their job.
Speaker A:Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Speaker A:So we're saving her from Kelly's.
Speaker A:Saving FKT winners from Kelly's.
Speaker A:Kelly's judgment.
Speaker B:Right, Right.
Speaker B:I do appreciate that Hannah's kind of gone through all the different kinds of mountain biking, I think, like, when people think mountain biking, at least around here, I'm sure it's like you just kind of think like, oh, I just like, ride.
Speaker B:Like, you think like, probably more like the style.
Speaker B:She does like what she would call marathon, where you're like, oh, I just go out on a trail and I go from a point to another point for like a couple hours.
Speaker B:That's like, most people don't do like downhill or enduro or short track.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:Like randomly in their neighborhood.
Speaker B:It's not like really a thing.
Speaker B:I will.
Speaker B:I do have to say though, the world championships this weekend, the.
Speaker B:I'm forget to forget the acronym.
Speaker B:The XCO or the xcc, whichever one's.
Speaker C:I mean, it doesn't matter at this point.
Speaker B:The one that's like the cross country mountain biking but in loops, which is kind of the like UCI World cup, you know, like people.
Speaker A:It has an X in it for sure.
Speaker B:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker B:Like the kind that you think of when you think of like the Olympics.
Speaker B:Like the kind that's in the Olympics and people, like, race very fast and crash.
Speaker B:Like, half the US Team is from my tiny ass county.
Speaker A:Oh, really?
Speaker B:Yes, because we are very, very good.
Speaker D:At mountain Biking here.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Is that because you have good trails?
Speaker B:It's because we have a very, very, very good.
Speaker B:And Hannah and I talked about this kind of after I stopped.
Speaker B:Well, she mentioned it briefly, but we talked about it more kind of later.
Speaker B:We have a very good youth development program here.
Speaker B:And because of that, like, huge numbers of girls start mountain biking in high school.
Speaker B:And so, like, all of these girls, like, a huge number of the US Women, like Kate Courtney, who won the world championship, like, start.
Speaker B:And it just.
Speaker B:It really, like, it's.
Speaker B:It's fascinating because you developed this youth program.
Speaker B:You get all these girls out there, and then it turns out they're really good.
Speaker A:Yeah, it works out.
Speaker A:Yeah, I. I can appreciate that from the opposite side, which is that, like, I have zero mountain biking experience.
Speaker A:And this weekend, during my, like, huge endurance weekend, putting.
Speaker A:Being put through my paces, yesterday morning, actually, we were on the way to the lake to go for a swimming, and so we were all just, like, riding random mountain bikes that just, like, as a mode of transport.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:And then my friend's sister's like, let's just go down this little trail.
Speaker A:It'll be more fun to get there.
Speaker B:And you were like, oh, yeah.
Speaker A:And, like, I've had this a few times in my life where people assume that because I know my way around a bike, because of triathlon, that, like, somehow that's going to transfer into, like, rolling over rocks and roots and, like, not being scared of falling off a cliff, but it does not.
Speaker C:And so.
Speaker A:So it turned into, like, a lot of walking, my bike, a lot of, like.
Speaker A:And you know how, like, I had this.
Speaker A:I had, like, a really new.
Speaker A:I don't know, advanced.
Speaker A:A good mountain bike, like, new bike, a good $15,000 mountain bike.
Speaker A:You know what I mean?
Speaker A:That was, like, that I just happened to be on and not my bike, obviously.
Speaker A:And then.
Speaker A:And then, like, if you press the wrong thing with your thumb, your saddle goes, like, way down or way up.
Speaker A:And so I'm like, I can't even get back on the saddle's way up.
Speaker A:I can't get it down.
Speaker A:Like, I don't know how to change gears.
Speaker A:Just, like, my sunglasses fog up.
Speaker A:I'm not ready for this.
Speaker A:I just have, like, my swim bag on my back.
Speaker A:Like, anyway, I do have, like, mountain biking, something I've really never been able to take to.
Speaker A:And I, like, have a lot of deep respect for the people who, like, are really, really good at it because it's, like, it's very difficult.
Speaker B:Yeah, I've had the similar Thing where people think, because I know how to bike, like, I can.
Speaker B:And I am definitely worse than most of the, like, weekend mountain bikers around here because again, like, a lot of people mountain bike here.
Speaker B:And I think it takes a lot of comp.
Speaker B:Because there's a lot of things where, like, you need speed to get over that and you need to just have confidence that you will not crash.
Speaker B:Because hesitation will cost you to crash.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:And so you're like, ah, don't.
Speaker B:Don't think too hard.
Speaker A:My favorite thing.
Speaker A:And I have been told this multiple times and out when people are like, trying to teach me mountain biking.
Speaker A:Like, you can do it, Sarah.
Speaker A:You know, just roll over it.
Speaker A:Like, how many times have people just.
Speaker A:I'm like, this is not good advice.
Speaker B:Like, it actually is with speed, you actually do just roll over.
Speaker A:Well, sure, I conceptually understand, but, like, that's not what gets me.
Speaker A:That's not the advice that gets me from.
Speaker A:I'm scared.
Speaker A:I don't know how to change gears and I don't like.
Speaker A:And that bridge is too narrow, you know, like, or whatever.
Speaker A:That route looks too big to roll over.
Speaker A:Doesn't get me there.
Speaker A:So I need.
Speaker A:I need some more diverse mountain biking advice.
Speaker B:You needed, Nika, the youth high school program here to, like, take you out.
Speaker B:And I see them out all the time practicing.
Speaker B:And we used to take just because randomly, like, a friend of mine taught like a CrossFit style strength class to the high school girls mountain bike team.
Speaker B:And it was at the time I could go, so me and my husband would go and trade with the high school.
Speaker B:And I think, like, half of them are the world championships now.
Speaker B:And it's.
Speaker A:So.
Speaker B:Yeah, that's what you need, Sarah.
Speaker B:You just need.
Speaker A:Yeah, I just.
Speaker A:I just need to rewind, like 35 years.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker A:And be a child and start mountain biking.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:You know, it should be good racing, though.
Speaker B:Obviously rooting for Hannah in the marathon mountain bike, which sounds ridiculous in terms of the elevation gain.
Speaker B: t week and I think I had like: Speaker D:So awesome.
Speaker B:And then the ones that people.
Speaker B:Well, there's some of the downhill, which is always like, scary.
Speaker B:And then the ones that people think are like, that we were just talking about that are like the Olympic style ones.
Speaker B:Kate Courtney will be there coming back.
Speaker B:And then you have Puck Peters who won last year, who's like the young who won the white jersey then last year in the Tour de France.
Speaker B:Like, she was so versatile last year.
Speaker B:She Was like, Olympic mountain biking and then Tour de France femmes.
Speaker B:And she's back.
Speaker B:So that'll be super, I think.
Speaker B:I think she's probably the favorite, but.
Speaker B:And you can watch it.
Speaker B:I know Hannah was like.
Speaker B:Like, I don't know how.
Speaker B:This is how to watch this.
Speaker B:It is available again, you have to, like, find your region.
Speaker B:They don't make these things easy.
Speaker B:Well, I'll put the link in the show notes so you can find out how to watch it.
Speaker B:I.
Speaker B:Here is HBO, Max.
Speaker A:So here, as in California or the.
Speaker B:U.S. california doesn't get its own TV broadcasters as much as, you know, we think of ourselves as our own country, generally speaking.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:In the U.S. the U.S. yeah.
Speaker B:So you can watch it.
Speaker B:Or, you know, a lot of it.
Speaker B:It's.
Speaker B:It is funny because you watch stuff like that.
Speaker B:And then we've been doing this, like, beginner learn to mountain bike thing that Sarah needs, and you have to tell people, like, no, no, it doesn't look like that.
Speaker B:No, no, it looked very different.
Speaker A:Oh, like, because they're not as good.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:Like, people watch, like, Red Bull Rampage, which they just announced the start list.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:Dive, like, jumping off cliffs.
Speaker B:Or they watch Hannah's, you know, YouTube video of her FKT.
Speaker B:Or they watch, like, the world championships here, and they're like, I can't do that.
Speaker B:And you're like, no, no, no, no.
Speaker B:That is not where you were going to start.
Speaker A:I have the opposite reaction.
Speaker A:Like, I was in Whistler and, like, under the chairlift, all set, like in Blackcomb, set up, like, all of the, like, the downhill ramps.
Speaker A:Like, you can see the downhill course, like, on the side of the mountain.
Speaker A:And I don't think.
Speaker A:The only thing I think is, how the hell does anybody do that?
Speaker A:And then I can't understand, like, the massive amount of people who actually can.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:And like, wow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That's amazing.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker B:You just go back 30 years, start young.
Speaker B:The kids, they have no fear.
Speaker B:They, like, jump off all kinds of crazy shit above my house.
Speaker B:I'm always like, oh, no one.
Speaker B:Are you?
Speaker B:I'm going to have to rescue one of you someday.
Speaker B:It's going to be terrible.
Speaker B:All right, so those are the sports this week.
Speaker B:Any other sports, Sports thing you're doing?
Speaker B:Watching?
Speaker B:I'm going to another WNBA game this weekend.
Speaker A:You are Valkyries.
Speaker A:How are the Valkyries doing?
Speaker B:I think they're gonna make the playoffs.
Speaker B:Fingers crossed.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, that's exciting.
Speaker A:Can I come to the playoffs with you?
Speaker B:No.
Speaker B:Maybe?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker B:No.
Speaker D:Sarah.
Speaker A:That was very quick.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker B:Are you watching other sports this weekend?
Speaker B:Coming up, unclear sports on your probably.
Speaker B:And our feisty picks of the week.
Speaker B:I want to give a shout out to all of the records.
Speaker B:There were so many attendance records.
Speaker B:So my feisty pick is going to be the fans.
Speaker B:I know there were a bunch of attendance records that this past week, the opening game of the rugby World cup set a attendance record for rugby.
Speaker B:The WNBA sent an all time season.
Speaker B:Like there's more people have gone this season, like 2.5 million than ever.
Speaker B:And then there was this soccer game.
Speaker B:They held it at the baseball stadium here in San Francisco and set a attendance record for NWSL and for any like pro women's sports event in the.
Speaker A:U.S. for any pro women's sports events in the U.S. oh, wow.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker A:That's big.
Speaker B:Yeah, it's cuz like, it's cuz like, like World cup isn't pro.
Speaker A:Ham.
Speaker A:Yeah, I understand.
Speaker B:Like, yes, because I went, I went down a hole.
Speaker B:I was like, right, pro league.
Speaker A:Yeah, because we had bigger numbers of the Olympics and stuff like that.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:And like famously the World cup held to pasadena had like 80,000 people.
Speaker B:Women.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:But it was a pro.
Speaker B:Biggest pro game ever, any sport.
Speaker B:And my parents went and they said it was very well, that my mom was very upset because we lost, but they had a good time.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Good for them making up the numbers over there.
Speaker A:Yeah, amazing.
Speaker B:They were two of the 40,000.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:Okay, my, my pick of the week is a Canadian golfer, Brooke Henderson.
Speaker A:She won her 14th LPGA Tour event over the weekend.
Speaker A:And she's from Ontario, which is where I'm from.
Speaker A:And she won in Mississauga, which is like a suburb of Toronto.
Speaker A:So this is a homegrown choice for me.
Speaker A:But Kelly, okay, it's not a major.
Speaker A:It's just an LPGA tour event.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:How much do you think that she made for her win?
Speaker B:A million?
Speaker A:Okay, well, they're just like 412,000.
Speaker B:Oh, okay.
Speaker A:You went too high.
Speaker A:You went too high.
Speaker B:Well, I just like, the LBGA is very good about paying and that's the only.
Speaker B:And they have had record payouts this past year.
Speaker A:And that's why I just, I was a little.
Speaker A:I was quite blown away by that because that's just for like a tour event, like not for a major.
Speaker A:You know, I was like, oh, this is.
Speaker A:These people.
Speaker A:These women are being paid?
Speaker A:Well, they are.
Speaker B:It's also interesting, my understanding is it's been like a different winner every LPGA event this season.
Speaker B:I would have to double, triple check that but I don't think Brooks won otherwise, so.
Speaker A:I know she hasn't.
Speaker B:Yeah, right.
Speaker B:So there's been, like, 17 or 19, like, a different winner every.
Speaker A:Which, like, doesn't vary.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:It speaks to the depth.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker A:Like, there's a lot of women coming through.
Speaker A:I guess.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker A:Love that.
Speaker A:So if I can go back, I'm not actually taking a mountain biking.
Speaker C:I'm taking up golf.
Speaker A:To be clear.
Speaker B:To be clear.
Speaker B:Probably would still help you in certain corporate arenas.
Speaker A:That's exactly.
Speaker A:There you go.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:Next week, we'll be back.
Speaker B:I forget who we're talking to.
Speaker B:Next week, I think maybe it's flag football and then, you know, more sports.
Speaker B:All sports.
Speaker A:All the sports.
Speaker A:All the time.
Speaker B:All the sports.
