Welcome back or welcome to the single track podcast. I am your host, Finn Melanson,

and in this episode we talk with Garrett Heath, a professional runner for Brooks.

Garrett's demonstrated impressive range over the last couple of decades, and with world-class

PRs and events from the 1500 to the 10K, Garrett has been a threat every time he steps on a start line. As a three-time champion

of the famed Edinburgh cross-country race, his gutsy racing style has carried him to victory

over some of the world's most legendary runners, including Mo Farah. I reached out to Garrett a couple

of weeks ago after seeing his announcement that he was making the switch to trail running. Maybe it's up for

debate, but in my mind, he is the highest level track athlete to ever cross over to our sport.

The dude is legit. In this conversation, we cover all the basics, what motivated him to make

change, why now, whether he'll be coached, whose training partners will be, what his race schedule

looks like in 2022. And given his background with the famed Brooks Beast Training Group in Seattle,

we also have a long back and forth about what it would take to build a similar type of

team in the ultra world. We get his perspective on being a full-time runner, the pros and cons

of the lifestyle, whether he recommends

it. And we talk about perceptions of our trail and old running world outside of the bubble

and what it would take to recruit more pro athletes like Garrett into the sport. Let's get started.

Garrett Heath, welcome to the single track podcast.

Yeah, thanks a lot for having me.

I consider myself to be a super fan of trail running, and I'm always watching the news.

And on Instagram, maybe a couple weeks back, I saw you make a post that to some extent you were getting involved in the trail scene.

And you have this

I'll use the word illustrious track and field and cross country and road career so

...