Hey, everybody, welcome to the free trail podcast. Doesn't that sound so much better? Oh, M.G. It sure does to me.

I have to say, I am immensely happy and grateful and relieved with the positive response that we received from the rebranding that we announced on Wednesday.

Thank you, everyone, for your support and understanding.

I'm so, so happy to have that behind me so that we can start charging forward in the right

direction together. Let's get back down to business, shall we today? My guest is somebody I

have wanted to have on for such a long time. I am joined by

the amazing Ruth Croft, the Kiwi Crusher, who is in my opinion one of the best, most versatile

athletes in the world, somebody who is dangerous on every start line that she steps to, no matter the distance, the terrain or the

elevation profile, Ruth is always a contender. She and I met in her home country of New Zealand

back in 2015 at the TerraWara Ultramarathon, where she finished second place in her first 100K, and I have

been a big admirer of hers ever since. Not only do I think very highly of Ruth as an athlete,

but I also love her humble, hard work attitude and also the really intentional and thoughtful way that she has organized her

career over the years. I think she has been very smart, which is one of the reasons that she has

been so ridiculously consistent as a high performer in the sport over the past several years.

This year, Ruth had an absolutely insane season

starting the year winning the TerraWara Ultramarathon outright. That is correct. She finished

first overall before then winning the Ultra Trail Australia 50K in the spring, finishing

second place in her first 100

miler on one of the biggest stages in the world at the Western States 100. And then recently,

she finished her season with another victory at Le Tompley, which is one of the most important

races in France. She is an absolute superstar.

We talked about, obviously, this past season, what she thinks contributed to that

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