Jacob Banta | Golden Tickets, Brain Injury, Being Patient, & Going Pro
The Freetrail Podcast with Dylan Bowman
Dylan Bowman
4.8 • 866 Ratings
🗓️ 2 April 2026
⏱️ 83 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
- What makes you you?
- Jacob's experience racing motocross
- Dealing with traumatic brain injuries and concussions
- An email Jacob's mother Misty sent to Freetrail
- The importance of being given an opportunity
- Jacob's coach, Rick Floyd
- Earning a Golden Ticket
- How the Altra partnership came to be
- Practicing patience while building a pro athletic career
- Visualization and cultivating belief
- Training and goals for Western States
- Upcoming race at the Gorge Waterfalls 50k
- A lot more!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, fan, welcome to the free trail podcast. Of course, I'm your loving host, Dylan Bowman here today with Jacob Banta, a pro runner and photographer based in Mill Valley, California. |
| 0:22.6 | Jacob has been building a great racing resume in the sport for a few years before achieving the biggest breakthrough to date in February when he finished second place of the TerraWero 102K down in New Zealand. That result of course earned Jacob a golden ticket to the Western |
| 0:39.3 | States 100 in June. And this podcast coincides with Jacob signing his first professional running |
| 0:46.1 | contract with the ultra, an important moment for any ambitious athlete in a perfect occasion |
| 0:52.0 | to do our first long form conversation with him here on the show. |
| 0:56.6 | Some topics we discuss. Of course, what makes you, you? We talk about Jacobs' experience racing |
| 1:02.3 | motocross, then dealing with traumatic brain injuries and concussions that resulted from that |
| 1:08.6 | period of his life. We review an email from Jacob's mother, Misty, that she sent to Freed Trail shortly after |
| 1:15.1 | his breakthrough at TerraWara. |
| 1:17.5 | We talk about the importance of being given an opportunity, both in his running career |
| 1:21.6 | and in his photography career. |
| 1:23.3 | We talk about his coach, Rick Floyd, practicing patience while building a career. |
| 1:28.6 | We go through the ultra partnership and how it came to be. |
| 1:31.6 | We talk about visualization and the process of cultivating belief. |
| 1:36.2 | Of course, we talk about his training and goals for Western States, his upcoming race at the Gorge Waterfalls 50K, who he admires and a lot more. I've become a huge fan of this guy |
| 1:46.8 | and think he could surprise a lot of people at Western States in June. Before we get to it, |
| 1:53.5 | just a quick programming note. Last night, we posted the Big Alt, 100K highlight video on |
| 1:58.2 | YouTube. It's a beautiful 20 minute piece documenting the inaugural running of |
| 2:03.3 | that new distance at our event here in Marin just a few weeks back. So go check that out on |
| 2:09.4 | YouTube and stay tuned for the 50K and 28K highlight videos that will be coming out soon. Shout out to |
| 2:15.7 | Solomon, Daybreak Racing, and especially our guy, |
| 2:19.6 | Ryan Thrower, the artist who made the film. Check it out after today's show with that. |
... |
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