David Roche: The Future of Ultrarunning Is Here — and It’s Faster Than We Think

Singletrack

Finn Melanson

Wilderness, Trail Running, Sports, Sports News, Mountain Running, Running, Ultrarunning, Ultra Running, News, Ultramarathon

5 • 897 Ratings

🗓️ 1 November 2025

⏱️ 64 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

David Roche returns to the Singletrack Podcast fresh off his 12:18, second-place performance at the Javelina Jundred. In addition to the race report, David dives into how high-carb fueling, recovery science, and fearless pacing are rewriting what’s possible in trail and ultrarunning, why overtraining and under-fueling are essentially the same thing, how athletes like Will Murray, Canyon Woodward, and Tara Dower are redefining performance ceilings, and what the next five years of the sport mi...

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right, welcome back or welcome to the single track podcast.
0:03.5	I'm your host Finn Melanson, and in this episode, David Roche returns to the show,
0:07.8	this time fresh off his podium performance at last weekend's Havelina 100.
0:13.2	We talk a bit about his race report there, but also reflect on a few larger state of sport questions
0:18.6	and get into some insights into what the remainder of this
0:21.3	year as well as his 2026 campaign might look like. Before we get started though, a few partner
0:27.4	shoutouts first to Norda, the official footwear partner of the single track podcast and makers
0:32.3	of my favorite trail super shoe, the zero zero five. Head over to their website, nortar run.com, to check it all out. Also, thank you to Delta G ketones, a returning sponsor of the show. I love their products. Use it during podcast interviews, during training, during recovery. Great stuff. Go check them out at delta G ketones.com. And also, Rade Research, makers of my favorite belt, the LF2L. Go check out all of these
0:56.6	products in the show notes of our episode. With that, let's get started. All right, David Roche,
1:02.2	great to have you back on the single track podcast. How are you doing today? Thank you so much for
1:06.2	having me, Finn. I just love your pod so much and everything you do for the sports. So thanks. I can't wait to chat.
1:13.4	I think the first place we started this, we were just talking about the miracle that is Mercedes-Lewis,
1:18.6	you know, the oldest tight end in the NFL right now. And there was something that you and Megan said
1:23.7	on your Havelina recap pod that I want to address here at the top of the pod, do you
1:29.5	think, because I know that you're nervous that by forfeiting this golden ticket, it very well could
1:34.9	be the case that you're not going back to Western States through this process likely ever again.
1:38.8	I think I disagree.
1:40.3	I know Megan disagrees, but that was sort of your worry on the podcast.
1:44.0	Do you think that as
1:45.4	the sport professionalizes, will it filter out older athletes like in this current era that are
1:52.3	still having success? Will we see, will that become more and more an exception to the rule? Or is there
1:56.8	something about ultra running that just like until like 50 or 60 like you can really
	...

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