It’s crew access time again! Yes, that’s right, I am joined once again by Erik and Mario for Crew Access Vol 8. Can you believe we are at volume 8 already?! It was like 2 years ago on a run with Mario and Erik that I had this crazy idea to do a podcast, and look at us now, almost 50 episodes in and volume 8 of the Crew Access ones. And boy do we have a special one today. This episode is dedicated nearly entirely to Erik’s attempt at the Wild Duluth 50K race up near Duluth MN. The first part of the episode was recorded during our pre-race meeting three days before the race. The second half is the post race, deep dive unpacking of just what the heck happened that day, including some audio clips recorded during the race. And no spoilers, but it was a long day and lots happened…including some sticky shorts. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Grab your hydration, gels, and maybe some chicken noodle soup just in case, it’s time to hit the trail.

Wild Duluth 50K: https://www.wildduluthraces.com/

Erik's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mr_spiegs/

Mario's Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/runmariorun91/

Joey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Run_Joey_Run

Running Behind on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/running.behind_pod

Joey's Strava Profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/111237895

GRACE To The Finish website: https://www.gracetothefinish.org/

Artwork by Ed Linder

I figured it was time to do another FREE solo pod. That’s right, Alex Honnold style. No safety ropes, no rules and no guests. We can call it an annual QBR, State of the Pod or a Year In Review (even though it’s only Oct), but I just thought it would be a good time to just talk through my year. All of the adventures and issues, the happenings with the pod, and give a bit more insight into some specific recent adventures like the Mammoth Trailfest and surprising Joe Hardin at his Hustle In The Heartland event. As always, if you do not enjoy listening to just ME, you are free to skip this one, or use that wonderful “mark as played’ feature found on most pod playing apps like Spotify and Apple. But if you want to catch up on me, my year, the pod happenings, my trainings and some of my recent adventures, then this is that pod. So go lace up those shoes for your run, and don’t forget your knee braces so your kneecaps don’t explode, but it’s time to hit the trail.

VOTE FOR STORM SPORTING EVENTS: https://woobox.com/d8z4ve

Mammoth Trailfest: https://www.mammothtrailfest.com/

Joe Hardin's Hustle In The Heartland race: https://runsignup.com/Race/IN/Lebanon/HustleInTheHeartlandHrRunWalk

Reddit article on how long to produce a pod episode: https://www.reddit.com/r/podcasting/comments/o8c2oy/how_long_to_create_your_podcast_start_to_finish/

Joey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Run_Joey_Run

Running Behind on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/running.behind_pod

Joey's Strava Profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/111237895

Chasing Cutoffs w/Ben Mead (Go listen! It's awesome!):

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/chasingcutoffs

Artwork by Ed Linder

Did you ever have your car break down in the middle of nowhere and you had to walk down the highway to get help? And did you have to do that in the middle of a hot, summer day? Now did you also have to end up walking for 314 miles and you didn’t even have a car that broke down…you just walked on the side of a lonely, hot, humid and stormy highway. You know, a vacation WITHOUT a car, as the website says? Yeah, me neither! But my guests today did exactly that. Wes Plate and Joe Hardin each went 314 miles across the state of TN in the hottest part of summer, as part of the Last Annual Vol State 500K Road Race. Today I get to find out just what the heck they were thinking, and what kind of crazy adventures, catastrophes and life lessons they learned on that road. And be sure to stay tuned after the conversation for a new edition of Running Out Loud, where I feature a piece by none other than Joe Hardin. So, grab that Desitin for your feet, a credit card to buy some Gatorade and Twinkies and lets’ get ready to hit the road with Wes and & Joe.

Wes on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/midpackelite/

Joe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trail_tortoise_running/

Wes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@wplate

Wes' film on his 2026 Vol State Road Race: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqQsWqLEivE

Joe's "Beyond The Finish Line" podcast on the Everyday Athlete network: https://open.spotify.com/show/1wf56FRHeEdbrl8QIxtXuV

Wes' Copper Kings 100 race: https://www.onwardendurance.com/

Joe's Odd Duck Running Co on IG: https://www.instagram.com/odd_duck_running_co/

Joe's RTB Awards: https://rtbawards.com/

The Last Annual Vol State Road Race site: https://vacationwithoutacar.com/races/vol-state/

Joe’s writings and poetry on Substack: https://sobrietysweatandsawdust.substack.com/

Joey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Run_Joey_Run

Running Behind on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/running.behind_pod

Joey's Strava Profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/111237895

Chasing Cutoffs w/Ben Mead (Go listen! It's awesome!):

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/chasingcutoffs

Artwork by Ed Linder