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The Rich Roll Podcast

Badwater – What It’s Like to Run 135 Miles Across The Desert

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Education, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.713.3K Ratings

🗓️ 27 October 2014

⏱️ 130 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

This show is about chasing dreams. Making stuff happen. Helping others. And sharing the journey. We can all use a little education. Some solid information. And a dose of experience-based inspiration to guide our own path towards self-betterment. My goal is to help you see and understand that we are generally our own self-limiter. That we are all capable of being better and doing more, irrespective of circumstances. That we all have a more authentic self lying dormant within yearning to be more self-expressed. We owe it to ourselves to fertilize that seed. Why? Because life is short. Trite? yes. Cheesy? definitely. But nonetheless oh so true. Right now I'm up in Palo Alto at Stanford University for my 25th Reunion. 25 years since I graduated from college. How is that possible? Translation: I am old. Old is a mindset. Another lame idiom I choose to believe. Honestly, I feel like I am about 28. But this weekend made me acutely aware of the fleeting and transitory nature of our lives. It seems like yesterday I was in school with all these amazing people with whom I spent the last few days reconnecting and reminiscing. People that have ventured forth to do extraordinary things like found billion dollar startups; create non-profits that have helped millions; and launch movements that have forever altered how we think and live. This not hyperbole. This is Stanford — a place; an institution; and a mindset that fosters the ethos that truly anything is possible. That you should challenge authority. That you must question the status quo. It's a culture that empowers the philosophy that not only can you change the world, but that it’s in fact your responsibility. This weekend I was surrounded by people who have done and are doing just that. I am tremendously grateful for the experience. And it left me inspired to do and be better. 25 years, man. Life is short. There is no time for idleness. There is no time to equivocate. Speaking of eradicating limitations, today marks the return of my ultrarunning buddy Josh Spector – if you are a long-time listener you will recall our conversation from last year, recounting our respective experiences crewing for Dean Karnazes and Ray Sanchez at the Badwater 135 ( RRP 40 ). Widely accepted as the “World's Toughest Foot Race”, Badwater is a 135 mile running race across Death Valley — the hottest place on Earth — where temperatures average 120+ in July and can reach as high as 130 with pavements temps typically in the 170-180 degree range. Starting at Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, approximately 100 invitation-only runners from across the globe begin a jaunt that takes them across bleak and scorching desert terrain as well as three formidable mountain passes, including the culminating 13-mile ascent up the portals of Mt. Whitney — the highest peak in the lower 48 — to finish at 8,300 feet. This past summer, and for the first time, Josh stepped up his game and ran the legendary — but recently revised — race himself. This week's show is a rare peek behind the curtain at exactly what it takes to prepare for, endure and complete one of the most difficult running challenges on the planet – a race that requires...

Transcript

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0:00.0

Welcome to the Retro-All podcast episode 110 with Josh Specter.

0:09.3

But before we get into it, three quick things.

0:12.4

The first thing is a big announcement.

0:17.2

You've heard me talk about the documentary and conspiracy on the podcast, right?

0:21.7

No, you're new to the podcast.

0:23.4

You don't know what this is.

0:25.4

I'm going into episode 91.

0:27.5

It's my interview with the filmmakers, Kipp Anderson and Kiegen Kuhn, do this immediately.

0:36.0

But if you have been listening to the podcast, you know that

0:40.4

Couch Spiracy is a new documentary.

0:43.1

It is an incredibly sobering and powerful and entertaining film that takes a hard,

0:51.4

flinching look at the deleterious impact of animal agriculture on the environment.

0:57.2

And the reasons behind why this crucial issue fails to get the air time and the attention

1:04.3

that it deserves in the global environmentalism conversation.

1:09.8

Imagine an inconvenient truth meets blackfish and you get the picture.

1:16.5

The filmmakers have been crisscrossing the US hosting screenings and with the help of

1:20.8

Tug.com people have been hosting their own screenings.

1:23.4

I think there's been like about 100 screenings across the US over the past couple months.

1:29.9

And personally, I've been feeling a lot of questions.

1:32.3

How can I see the film?

1:33.7

Where is it?

1:34.7

When is it going to be online?

...

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