Trail Talk

This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and James Poole get into the KOLON Trail Run Bhutan and racing up to 4,000 metres in the rain, James's new 100k race in China, why runners across Asia want UTMB, KOLON SPORT's first trail shoe and pack, the Tiger's Nest hike and what it costs to get into Bhutan. Then Jason Schlarb talks racing the Bhutanese on their own trails, Hardrock, Norda and what he wants to race next year.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into the Denis Rankin Round winter attempt on Friday 13 November, Rebecca Hormann's Ethels 275 first round attempt in the Peak District, Aaron's KOLON Trail Run Bhutan, the GPT100 50k, two free Granite Peaks Ultra entries and why Aaron has unfollowed the meme accounts. Then Nina Sun, brand director at Kailas FUGA, talks trail culture, the DU Monster and the Tor des Géants partnership.

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This week on Trail Talk, Sage Canaday joins the show, recorded in Chamonix during UTMB week. He gets into how the sport has changed since his first UTMB in 2015, the year he wore bib number one, fell before the Pyramides and ended up taking a helicopter off the mountain from Bertone. Four UTMB starts and one finish. Leaving the Brooks track programme in 2012 with no sponsor and moving to Boulder with everything in his car. How pro trail runners actually make a living, why the salary and the bonuses matter more than the prize money, and what that does to who turns up and who drops. Eighteen years of YouTube and what he learned making videos nobody watched. Getting older, strength work and mobility, and why he is looking at Cocodona and a backyard next.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into life after Vietnam and China, the Denis Rankin Round on 13 November, Aaron's Sydney Trail Series 24k with a sore throat, the Bhutan 40k run entirely above 3,000 metres, the UTMB major qualifying system and how deep the fields at Kodiak and UTA really are, two free entries to the Granite Peaks Ultra in the Mourne Mountains, and the weather at Moab 240. Then Mika Thewes joins to talk about two and a half months training in the Aosta Valley, the salt and cramping problems that ended her Tor des Géants, going from Tor to the Mammoth 200 on two weeks' notice, finishing as first woman and second overall in around 54 hours, and why she is going back to Tor next year.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron Kubala joins the show, recorded in Chamonix during UTMB week. He set the course record at Tahoe 200 in June, won Bigfoot 200, and has Moab 240 still to come this year. He gets into where the time actually goes in a 200, why he slept nine minutes at Tahoe and planned for none at Bigfoot, the one to five in the morning crux and getting to sunrise, back to back to back long runs, the shift to liquid calories, why power hiking is the most undertrained thing in the sport, and running 150 miles step for step with a Serbian runner he had never met at the Gobi. Plus Cocodona in 2027 and the Tor after that.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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This week on Trail Talk, Max King joins Aaron and Ricki, recorded in Moxi, Sichuan the day before the Gongga 100. It is not a race preview. He gets into the Salomon TV era and why the stories mattered more than the results, where the adventure has gone in a product led sport, and how he moved from steeplechase to Mount Marathon, obstacle racing and the 100k road worlds. Why he never had a good hundred miler, the move to Kailas FUGA nine months ago, the youth camps, and the bucket list races he is chasing now, including a glacier descent in a helmet. Then trail culture: public lands, respect, fell running, big expos against grassroots races, and what we don't yet know about trail running's history in China.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into it from Hanoi, the day after the Vietnam Mountain Marathon. Ricki's 50k in a World Trail Majors field, eighth overall with an age group win, over 3,000m of gain on clay mud in 95% humidity, and learning from how Wicklow went wrong. Kailas FUGA athletes taking the 100k, the crowds in Sapa, cows that would not move, and why the whole weekend felt so genuine. Then back to the Tor: eight days fastpacking the route with over 18,000m of vert, the pre and post race interviews, and Katharina Hartmuth's run.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Jake Catterall get into the Mont Blanc Super Loop, all eight UTMB week courses run back to back in one continuous effort, and how the whole thing only exists because another project got called off three days in. Recorded in Chamonix four days after he finished. They get into the Amsterdam advertising job he burned himself out in, the Ironman that taught him the finish line was the worst part of it, cutting eighty percent of his mates out of his life to get there, cycling 700km to Berlin on a borrowed bike with no plan, running Norway to Spain to impress his girlfriend, the Via Alpina that his mum suggested by accident, soloing the Matterhorn to check whether the community was right about conditions, calling off the Alpine Connections after three days of rockfall and rotten glaciers, the order he ran the eight courses in and which ones actually hurt, sausages on one side of the vest and gummies on the other, crying his way down a descent on the TDS and deciding that was a good thing, whether he considers himself a trail runner at all, and what he makes of brand camps and clique culture in the valley.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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The UTMB reaction show and the last in the series, recorded in the Kailas FUGA store in Chamonix. Aaron and Pippa are joined by Robbie Britton to break down the race: Ben Dhiman taking the lead at 41k and running 18:16:29 for the fastest time ever at UTMB, three men under 19 hours and the whole top ten under 20, Caleb Olson chasing down Baptiste Chassagne off La Flégère, Blandine L'Hirondel becoming the first woman under 22 hours, Rachel Entrekin second in her Alps debut, Courtney Dauwalter out, and the stomach bug that went through the athlete camps before a runner had taken a step. Then Joaquin Lopez joins the show to talk through his fifth place.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

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The CCC reaction show from The Refuge, recorded in the Kailas FUGA store in Chamonix. Aaron and Pippa are joined by Robbie Britton to break down the race: Yngvild Kaspersen winning it off a DNF at mile 98 of Western States, the level crossing at Trient that stopped Toni McCann in the lead, Jennifer Lichter fourth with States still in her legs, Cristian Minoggio breaking the elastic on the climb at 50k, Miguel Arsenio coming through late on the technical ground, and over 100 DNFs at Trient as the hail came in. Then the champion Cristian Minoggio and Miguel Arsenio join the show to talk through their own races.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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The OCC reaction show from The Refuge, recorded in the Kailas FUGA store beside the arch in Chamonix. Aaron and Pippa break down the race: Lauren Gregory timing the catch on Naomi Lang in the final narrow section, Naomi second in her first ever ultra, Tove Alexandersson missing the start line, Ida Robsahm fifth again, Fred controlling the men's from the front, Rémi Bonnet out early, and the time penalties nobody saw coming. Then OCC champion Fred Tranchand and Hau Ha join the show to talk through their own races.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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Episode three of The Refuge. Aaron and Pippa are joined by Katharina Hartmuth and Robbie Britton, live from the Kailas FUGA store beside the arch in Chamonix. Katharina has been on the UTMB podium twice, second in 2023 and third in 2025, so she takes us through the course and where it actually gets won and lost. Robbie on coaching elites to perform at this race and what separates the ones who deliver from the ones who do not. Plus the Bob Graham Round record Katharina took a few weeks ago, and her return to the Tor des Géants as course record holder and 2024 champion.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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Episode two of The Refuge. Aaron and Pippa are joined by Holly Page and Dave Ryan, live from the Kailas FUGA store beside the UTMB arch in Chamonix. Holly has run the CCC twice and takes us through the course: the fast start out of Courmayeur, the zigzags, Grand Col Ferret and the long descent into Champex-Lac, and why there is no crewed aid station at Trient this year. Dave talks through his UTMB build and a full recce at race pace. They get into the poles debate, what the weather does to a course that has been bone dry, the women's field with Jennifer Lichter coming off Western States, and a men's race with 18 athletes over 900.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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The first episode of The Refuge. Aaron and Pippa are joined by Stephanie Case to preview the OCC. They get into the new upper section and what the course change does to race strategy, the women's and men's fields, the athletes coming in with form and the ones nobody is talking about, descending skills and where the race gets decided, weather on the day, and their predictions for who wins.

The Refuge - powered by Kailas FUGA

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron, Ricki and Pippa preview UTMB week. They get into Ricki's back to back training weekend, tapering strategies going into a big race, and then straight into the fields: the contenders at OCC and CCC, who wins the UTMB, the Chinese runners coming through, the dark horses, and what the index scores are actually telling us. Predictions, athlete form, and where the races get decided.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.

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This week on Trail Talk, Aaron and Ricki get into recent training and race plans, including Ricki's build towards the Wicklow Way Race. They cover the training tools and metrics they're leaning on, adventures in the mountains, and preparation for the UTMB week of shows. They also get into the culture of shortcuts in endurance sport, performance enhancement, gear, and where the lines sit.

Photo: Marco Gulberti via Luna Sports Media

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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This week on Trail Talk, Ida Robsahm joins the show. The Norwegian gets into her background in alpine skiing and the switch to trail running, a training philosophy built on high volume and variation, her recent races from the Valencia Marathon to the Marathon du Mont-Blanc, the mental side of racing and where confidence comes from, her course strategy for OCC, training out of Chamonix and the value of a team around her, fuelling and nutrition, and balancing it all with work as a teacher.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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This week on Trail Talk, Robin Vieira Brower and Mathias Eichler join the show to get into the return of skyrunning. They cover the resurgence of the sport, the Skyrunner World Series bringing a round to the US, the launch of a new national series, the challenges of race organisation and course certification, the role of media and live streaming in growing the sport, and why storytelling and community sit at the heart of it all.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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This week on Trail Talk, Scotty Hawker joins the show alongside Aaron and Ricki. He gets into managing injury and recovery as an elite athlete, staying motivated without a race on the calendar, the role of community and training camps in his development, mental resilience after setbacks and DNFs, how tactics at UTMB and the major trail races have shifted, and why enjoying the process still matters most.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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We're back with another Trail Talk Live. Aaron and Ricki get into a training update post UTMB recce and the new block with @runmotioncoach, the Western States hangover, Kilian vs Jim at UTMB, Ouray 100 cancelled, Hardrock 100 potentially affected by the wildfires, and a large slice of banter.

RunMotion - The official training partner for Trail Talk. Click the link for 30 day free trial.
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