This week on The Trailhead, Zoë Rom and Brendan Leonard sit down with one of ultrarunning’s most quietly legendary figures: Junko Kazukawa. A two-time Leadwoman, breast cancer survivor, and one of the few athletes to complete both the Grand Slam of Ultrarunning and the Leadwoman series in a single year, Junko’s story is a masterclass in resilience and joy.

Born in Sapporo, Japan, and now based in Denver, Junko shares how she started running in the U.S. after coming over as a student, how she trained through cancer treatments, and why she still lines up for 100- and 200-mile races at age 62. She talks about the identity and community she’s built through the sport, how her view of fitness has evolved over decades, and why she believes “glutes are everything.”

We also hear about her favorite races around the world, from the Tour de Géants to Mount Fuji, and what keeps her motivated to take on new challenges even as recovery gets harder with age. Whether you’re chasing your first ultra or your 26th, Junko’s joy and perspective will make you want to lace up and keep going.

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This week on The Trailhead, Zoë and Brendan sit down with writer, runner, and trail storyteller Sarah Lavender Smith. Sarah has been chronicling the culture of trail and ultrarunning for more than 15 years, from writing for early trail mags to her popular Substack newsletter Mountain Running and Living. She joins us to talk about how she went from journalism to the trails, and how running became not just a sport but a second career.

Sarah opens up about what it means to write honestly about midlife and aging, how she’s rethinking her relationship with alcohol, and why acceptance is sometimes the hardest training block of all. She also shares the story of finishing Hardrock at 56 and why stage racing like the Grand to Grand Ultra has become her true test of endurance. Along the way, we get into parenting at aid stations, practicing maximum enthusiasm, and how she’s turning all of this into her next big project: a memoir.

It’s a conversation about resilience, storytelling, and the strange joy of chasing meaning in the mountains, sometimes through suffering, sometimes through laughter, but always through a love of the trail.

Thanks to Running Warehouse for sponsoring The Trailhead!

This week's featured race, Go Wild! Marin Challenge.

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This week on The Trailhead, Zoë and Brendan sit down with writer and ultrarunner Nick Triolo, author of The Way Around: A Field Guide to Going Nowhere. From circumnavigating mountains to ditching Strava and racing for a year, Nick shares what it means to move through landscapes differently, choosing circles over summits, presence over performance, and curiosity over metrics.

We talk about why loops feel so satisfying, how creative practice overlaps with running, and what happens when you stop measuring progress and start running just to run. Plus, the crew debates their favorite loops and why “there’s nowhere else to go” might be the ultimate running mantra

🏃‍♀️ Featured Race: Cowboy Yeti in Bastrop, Texas—20K loops, mild winter weather, and maybe even Brendan’s birthday bash.

👟 Sponsor: Thanks to Sidas for supporting this episode. Keep your feet happy on every loop with high-performance socks, insoles, and blister protection—UltraSignup listeners get 20% off at sidas.us.