• Karel's early exposure to long trail hiking
• The original inspiration to pursue FKTs
• The psychological and spiritual space Karel discovers in long efforts
• Karel's two completions on the PCT
• Comparing and contrasting the AT and the PCT
• Tara Dower's new AT FKT and their different approaches
• Karel's brother-in-law and crew chief
• Lessons from his 2023 Barkley finish
• Announcing his next big project beginning early next year
• A lot more!

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

• Trail Runner Of The Year: Top-5 M/W
• Performance Of The Year: Top-3 M/F
• FKTs Of The Year
• Rookies Of The Year
• Overall Story of 2024
• Bill Dooper Spirit Award - Someone who made an impact outside of being a good athlete
• Predictions for 2025
• Personal highlights from 2024 and what we're excited about for 2025

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Lauren Gregory is a pro athlete for Nike Trail living in New England. This season, Lauren had a big breakthrough in her professional career, notching three top-10 performances in Golden Trail World Series races, including an amazing 2nd place finish at the World Final in October. She has a huge career ahead of her and we're excited to host her on the podcast.

Topics discussed:

• Lauren's background and history with sport
• Her bronze medal from the 2017 Junior Mountain Running World Championship
• Winning an NCAA Cross Country National Championship
• Signing with Nike and the realities of going pro
• The Trail Team and how it's onboarded new athletes to trail running
• The advantages and disadvantages of living on the East Coast
• Her coach Ben True, and he's influenced her training
• Her 2024 season and reasons for the success
• Goals for the future
• A lot more!

VOTE FOR TROY

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FOLLOW LAUREN ON IG

FOLLOW LAUREN ON STRAVA

Sponsors:

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

Aaron Lutze is a creator and sports marketing savant. He's also a dear friend and mentor who has had an enormous impact on my career as an athlete and content creator. Aaron recruited me to Red Bull and acted as my manager for many years. He's recognized as one of the best sports marketers in the industry. Now, Aaron and I co-host another podcast called Second Nature where we talk about the Outdoor Industry, endeavoring to help people build brands, businesses, and careers in the space.

In this conversation, we talk about the past and present of athlete partnerships, the reasons brands sponsor athletes, the value of creating longform content, audience vs. community, the future of athlete partnerships, and a lot more!

LISTEN TO SECOND NATURE

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FOLLOW SECOND NATURE ON LINKEDIN

SIGNUP FOR THE FREETRAIL NEWSLETTER

Sponsors:

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Use code freetrail15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Use code BFCM24 for 20% off a one time purchase or 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ at Ketone.com
• Get your next favorite pack at Osprey.com or at your favorite local retailer.

Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

Courtney Olsen is a pro runner for HOKA living in Bellingham, WA. She is also the brand new World Record holder for the 50-mile distance, something she was able to achieve last weekend at Tunnel Hill in Southern Illinois. Finishing in a time of 5:31:56, Courtney managed to lower the existing record held by Ann Trason for 33 years by nine minutes. This is her first appearance on the podcast.

Topics we discuss:

• Courtney’s background and history with sport
• Her struggles with depression and finding purpose in her 20s
• The Bellingham Distance Project, a training group she helped to found 10 years ago
• Her passion for art and writing
• Her experience at lululemon’s FURTHER event where she was there supporting Devon Yanko
• Her huge podium performance at Comrades
• A deep unpacking of her WR at tunnel hill
• Look ahead to the 100k World Championship next month
• And a lot more!

Follow Courtney on Strava

Follow Courtney on Instagram

If you enjoy listening to the Freetrail Podcast, please consider leaving us a review to help other like-minded listeners find our show.

Sponsors:

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

Kilian Jornet is one of the greatest athletes of all-time across all sports. His athletic accomplishments are staggering across trail running, alpinism, and ski mountaineering. This season he won Zegama for the 11th time, Sierre Zinal for the 10th time, and then completed a 1200km traverse of the Alps -- a personal project he called "Alpine Connections."

Some topics we discuss:

• Kilian and Emelie’s expanding family and lessons from parenthood
• The value of exposing kids to a life of adventure
• Zegama, a race that Kilan has now won 11 times over 17 years
• Kilian’s training, including a fascinating discussion around belief, circadian rhythm and stress management
• Sierre Zinal, exploring how we maintain high performance as we get older
• Alpine Connections, talking about the vision, the complexities, flow state experiences, and artistic influences inherent in the project.
• Kilian's future goals including some exciting potential races in 2025
• A lot more

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

Max Jolliffe is a pro runner for Satisfy living in Southern California. Max has only been in the sport for a couple years, accumulating experience and discovering his talent. Last week, Max had his biggest athletic breakthrough, winning and setting a new CR at the Moab 240. Max has a powerful personal story and it was great to get to know him in this conversation.

Topics discussed:

• Max's struggles with addiction
• Getting clean and discovering purpose through running
• Run streaking and why he started 3+ years ago
• Max's tattoos and tattoo culture
• Discovering running talent and chasing goals
• The value of jumping in the deep end
• Max's sponsors Satisfy & Cadence
• Learnings from TDS
• The Moab 240 comeback victory
• A lot more!

The Beach Kid -- Film about Max's race at TDS

Follow Max on Strava

Subscribe to Woah Max on YouTube

Sponsors:

• Use code freetrail10 for 10% off Speedland Footwear
• Grab a trail running pack from Osprey
• Use code FT15 for 15% off Gnarly Nutrition
• Go to ketone.com/freetrail30 for 30% off a subscription of Ketone IQ

Freetrail Links: Website | Freetrail Pro | Patreon | Instagram | YouTube | Freetrail Experts

Dylan Links: Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn | Strava

If you enjoy listening to the Freetrail Podcast, please consider leaving us a 5 star review in Apple Podcasts (or wherever to are consuming this) to help other like-minded listeners find our show. If we like your review, we'll consider sharing it so make sure you're following us @runfreetrail on Instagram.