Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Human Performance Outliers podcast with Zach Bitter.

All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Human Performance Outliers podcast.

I'm your host, Zach Bitter. And today, I'm bringing in the New Year's first episode with my wife, Nicole Bitter.

So it hasn't been that long since Nicole's been on the show.

She was on a few episodes back, actually, after she completed the incredibly competitive

Havillina 100 Mile, where she took third place.

And it was such an interesting event to follow this year,

partly because I feel like it marks a growth spurt, perhaps,

in the sport of ultramarathon running,

where since I've been doing the sport,

and for the longest time, I think,

well before I ever knew what an ultramarathon was, the Western

States 100 has been the most competitive 100-mileer in the United States. And it really isn't

even that close. There's been some other competitive 100-mileers, no doubt about it. But this

year, Havillina had a huge growth spurt, in my opinion, in that the women's field was just really deep.

And in my opinion, it was probably the second most competitive 100-mile race on the women's side behind Western states and really did kind of close that gap that we normally see between Western states and other 100-mileers around the country.

So it was just such a fun race to be a part of.

Nicole's race particularly was interesting because she started out the day in 10th place

and worked away all the way up to 3rd, which was awesome.

But for those of you who are in the know, the Havelina 100 is a golden ticket race,

meaning the top two finishers on the men's and

women's side of that race get automatic entries into the Western States 100.

...