Men’s Mental Health in Running: Breaking the Silence with Jason Bahamundi
The Running Explained Podcast
Running Explained
4.6 • 534 Ratings
🗓️ 30 April 2026
⏱️ 77 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Mental health conversations in running are growing, but when it comes to men, there is still a long way to go.
In this episode of the Running Explained Podcast, we sit down with endurance athlete, community builder, and founder of RunTriMag, Jason Bahamundi, to talk about what men’s mental health really looks like behind the scenes.
We unpack the pressure many men feel to “man up,” how that mindset shows up in training, and why vulnerability still feels so difficult in the running and endurance space. Jason shares his personal journey with sobriety, disordered eating, and the shift from chasing performance metrics to building a more sustainable, honest relationship with sport.
We also dive into:
- How endurance sports can both support and mask mental health struggles
- The hidden signs of burnout, overtraining, and disordered behaviors
- Why community and honest conversations matter more than ever
- What men can do to better support each other and create safer spaces in running
This is a real, authentic conversation about identity, growth, and what it actually means to take care of your mental health as an athlete.
If you have ever felt pressure to push through, stay tough, or ignore what you are feeling, this episode will challenge that mindset and give you a different way forward.
Jason Bahamundi, founder of Run Tri Bike, is a passionate and accomplished endurance athlete dedicated to proving that there is a spot at the starting line for everybody and every body. With a background deeply rooted in the world of triathlon, running, and cycling, Jason has not only excelled in his personal athletic endeavors but is committed to fostering a supportive and inclusive world of endurance sports. This led him to establish Run Tri Bike, a platform that serves as a hub for everyday athletes to connect, share experiences, and access valuable resources. Jason's genuine enthusiasm for endurance sports continues to inspire individuals to pursue their goals and embrace the transformative power of an endurance sports lifestyle.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Running Explain podcast, your go-to resource for learning the how, what, and why of running so you can train smarter and race stronger and actually enjoy the process with a more human approach. And we're your hosts here, Amanda Katz. And coach Nick Lasava. and today we're having an important and fun conversation. |
| 0:22.9 | As we move through May, which is Mental Health Awareness Month, and into June, where there's |
| 0:28.3 | a growing focus on men's mental health, we wanted to create a space for more honesty around |
| 0:32.8 | what that looks like in real life. |
| 0:34.5 | So we're joined by Endurance Athlete community builder, Jason Bahamundi. |
| 0:40.5 | Multi-hyphenated man. |
| 0:44.0 | How are you guys? |
| 0:46.0 | Yeah, we're doing great. How are you? And by how are you, I mean, where are you? |
| 0:50.7 | I am tired of time zones. I'm filing a petition with the world order to remove time zones |
| 0:56.4 | because I am in London. And I think we are seven, five hours. Well, I'm thinking about, I live in |
| 1:05.4 | L.A. So I'm eight hours behind L.A. or ahead of L.A., I guess, right now. Yeah. Well, we're thankful you're here, and we're doing this with you. This is a great topic. I am one who always likes talking about mental health awareness. As a male, I feel like not many do. And so it's always refreshing to find others who are willing to kind of be vulnerable in |
| 1:28.3 | this space. So I think it's going to be a great topic to chat about. I think when you say |
| 1:33.5 | not many do, I would put myself in that bucket until about five and a half, six years ago. |
| 1:39.1 | I was, if we're going to use the definition or the words, typical male, right, I was stuffing every one of those feelings down because you couldn't show them, right? |
| 1:48.6 | You couldn't be weak. You couldn't be vulnerable. |
| 1:51.4 | Every one of those feelings was swallowed. And if I think back and I'm honest about the whole thing, it made life really, really hard. And then I met my now |
| 2:04.5 | wife, Lori, and we had some hard for me conversations. In other words, hard for me to process |
| 2:11.7 | conversations, right? It started with her making a statement one time that I think you have a disordered eating issue |
| 2:20.4 | based on the conversations that we're having. And immediately I was like, that's not right. No way. |
| 2:25.6 | Nope. Not the truth. And then just from there, like just continuing to have those conversations. |
| 2:31.5 | And then all of a sudden you're like like that was a little bit easier to talk |
| 2:35.7 | about than I thought so why don't I talk about my sobriety journey why don't I talk about you know |
... |
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