What does it really take to complete the TOR330?

On this episode of Trails, Tales & Fails, we're joined by Mike Harrington from George & Falcon Trail Runners to talk about taking on the TOR330 — a brutal 330km ultra through the Italian Alps, packed with huge climbs, technical mountain trails, sleep deprivation and some seriously tough decisions.

Mike takes us inside the race, sharing the highs, the lows, the moments when things got properly difficult, and what it takes to keep moving when you're running on empty.

We also talk about his experiences at the Winter Downs 100 and UTS the realities of racing over extreme distances, lessons learned the hard way, and what it takes to tackle some of the biggest challenges in ultra running.

Plus, we're introducing some new features to TTF, including Coaching Corner, Tales from the Trail and TTF Shout-Outs. We want your questions, stories and running disasters!

🎧 In this episode:

• What makes the TOR330 one of the ultimate ultra-running challenges

• Managing sleep deprivation, fuelling and fatigue over multiple days

• The highs, lows and toughest moments of a 330km mountain ultra

• Race strategy and lessons learned

• Advice for runners stepping up to longer ultras

• Mike's next big challenge

Also with Truth or Lie and our quickfire questions.

We're shaking things up! Alongside our usual chats with runners doing ridiculous things on the trails, we're introducing new features:

🏃 Coaching Corner — Your training, racing and fuelling questions answered.

😂 Tales from the Trail — Your funniest, strangest and most disastrous running stories.

🙌 TTF Shout-Out — Celebrating runners doing brilliant things, big or small.

We want to hear from you, so send your questions, stories and shout-outs to trailstalesfails@gmail.com. You could even feature in a future episode!

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This week, Max, Rob and Sarah are joined by one of the biggest names in UK ultra running — Damian Hall.

Damian has finished fifth at UTMB, won the Spine Race, set multiple FKTs and taken on some seriously ambitious challenges. But there’s much more to his running than racing.

He’s also a coach, author, journalist, climate campaigner and co-founder of The Green Runners — a group working to make running and the wider sport more environmentally sustainable.

We chat about Damian’s recent running adventures, and with winter ultras such as the Spine and Winter Downs approaching, we also get practical: how do you train for 200 miles without destroying yourself? How much running do you actually need to do? What role does strength training play? How do you prepare mentally for several days on your feet? And how do you stay motivated when it’s dark, cold and absolutely miserable outside?

We also chat about longevity and Damian’s latest book, Run Forever, which explores how we can continue to get the most out of running as we get older.

Plus, there’s the usual Trails, Tales, and Fails chaos with Celebrity Pacer, Truth or Lie and the Quickfire Round.

If you enjoy the episode, please give us a rating, follow the podcast and share it with your running friends. It really helps us grow the show.

Support the show via ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠and buy us a coffee.

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Don’t forget to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to join our Strava club to connect with fellow trail lovers and celebrate your own achievements.

👉 Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trails, Tales, and Fails Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to continue the conversation and connect with fellow trail and ultra runners.

Rob and Sarah sit down with UK ultra runner Leroy Valentine after his incredible 88 hours and 7 minutes at Bigfoot 200 in Washington State.

Bigfoot 200 is a 200 mile point-to-point trail race through the Cascade Mountains, featuring 44,082 feet of elevation gain, 45,563 feet of descent and a 107-hour cutoff. It's the kind of ultra where running ability is only part of the equation — pacing, nutrition, strength, sleep, feet, mindset and the ability to adapt all become crucial when you're moving through the mountains for days.

Leroy takes us behind the scenes of his journey to the start line, from how he got into ultra running and his experience applying for Bigfoot, through to the realities of actually taking on 200 miles.

We talk about how you train for a 200-mile ultra, the importance of strength training, nutrition and fuelling, sleep deprivation, dealing with problems during a race, and the mental battle of continuing when you've been moving for days.

And if you've seen Leroy's legendary frying-pan lunches, we couldn't let him get away without talking about those either.

Plus, we've got our usual Truth or Lie and Quickfire rounds.

If you're into ultra running, trail running, 100-mile and 200-mile races, endurance challenges or simply hearing what happens when someone decides that running for nearly four days is a good idea, this one's for you.

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Don’t forget to⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ click here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to join our Strava club to connect with fellow trail lovers and celebrate your own achievements.

👉 Join our ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Trails, Tales, and Fails Facebook Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ to continue the conversation and connect with fellow trail and ultra runners.