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The Rich Roll Podcast

The King of Moab: Ultrarunner Max Jolliffe On Winning Moab 240, Recovery From Heroin Addiction & Why Suffering Is His Greatest Teacher

The Rich Roll Podcast

Rich Roll

Education, Society & Culture, Self-improvement, Health & Fitness

4.713.3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 April 2026

⏱️ 105 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Max Jolliffe is the Moab 240 course record holder, elite ultrarunner, and one of endurance sport's more unlikely origin stories. This conversation explores Max's multi-generational family history with addiction, the opioid crisis, his decade-long battle with heroin, the moment in a jail cell that changed everything, and how the tools of sobriety – surrender, teachability, the daily reprieve – became the foundation of an athletic career. Along the way, we get into what it looks like to take an obsessive, addictive mind and aim it at something that gives back. Max is the real deal. Enjoy! Show notes + MORE Watch on YouTube Newsletter Sign-Up   Today’s Sponsors: BetterHelp: Get 10% OFF the first month👉🏼https://www.betterhelp.com/richroll Rivian: Electric vehicles that keep the world adventurous forever👉🏼https://www.rivian.com WHOOP: The all-new WHOOP 5.0 is here! Get your first month FREE👉🏼https://www.join.whoop.com/Roll Mill: Get $75 off your fully automated food recycler with code RICHROLL + 90-day risk-free trial👉🏼https://www.mill.com/RICHROLL Birch: For 27% off ALL mattresses👉🏼https://www.BirchLiving.com/richroll Noble Mobile: The first phone carrier that pays you to use your phone less. Try it for just $10 with code RICHROLL👉🏼https://www.noblemobile.com/richroll   Find out more about Voicing Change Media at https://www.voicingchange.media and follow us @voicingchange

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.8

So a little over nine months ago, I underwent spinal fusion surgery.

0:04.9

And since then, my focus has shifted away from chasing these really big, audacious performance

0:11.2

goals like I did in the past to now accepting my limitations in this current reality and

0:18.1

learning how to build a daily rhythm that actually feels sustainable for where I'm at

0:23.6

right now today. And whoop, this wearable health and fitness coach that you see right here on my

0:29.2

wrist every time you see me, is this amazing tool that gives me insights into all the things that

0:36.3

influence how I feel and how I perform,

0:38.8

my sleep, my recovery, my strain, and my overall health so that I can better understand

0:44.6

how my habits are influencing how I feel.

0:47.6

And what's interesting is how these insights translate beyond training, better sleep changes,

0:53.1

improve how I show up at work, recovery changes,

0:55.5

how patient I am with my family. And when I'm planning for bigger goals, like lining up to

1:00.5

participate in the New York City Marathon to celebrate my 60th birthday this fall, WOOP helps

1:05.8

me stay grounded in what my body needs right now, not what my ego wants it to do or what I used to be able to do.

1:14.2

And I think that's really what adding more life to your years means, making decisions today that

1:19.3

allow you to show up more fully tomorrow. Go to join.wup.com slash roll for one month free of

1:26.0

Wook.

1:29.9

I've been sober for 12 years.

1:31.8

It's a big part of who I am.

1:33.8

I just come from like a really long line of alcoholics and drug addicts.

1:38.1

People ask me, what is my heritage?

1:39.6

And it's like alcoholism.

...

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