From the Western States 100 to the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB), Caroline McKay has finished some of the world’s most revered ultras. She’s also the brains and voice behind Of Mountains and Minds, the podcast she launched in 2018, which sees her interview members of the endurance sports community about life-changing challenges such as grief, mental illness, exercise addiction and eating disorders.

Here, Caroline shares some of her own ultrarunning experiences, along with the motivations behind her podcast and the lessons she’s learned from guests such as The Spine Race winner, Jasmin Paris, and ultrarunner Gayle Tait.

© Hillary Biscay

She’s an American pro triathlete and ultra-runner – and as of July last year, the FKT record holder for the Vermont Long Trail – yes, Alyssa Godesky is in the house! Last year, Alyssa successfully completed her fastest known time (FKT) attempt, negotiating the gnarly 273-mile stretch and 67,500ft of elevation in a record-breaking 5 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes, only sleeping 17-18 hours in the process.

During her career, Alyssa has chalked up an incredible 45+ ultra-marathon finishes and more than 30 iron-distance triathlons. When she’s not competing, Alyssa is a triathlon coach and also co-hosts the super-cool IronWomen podcast, which is dedicated to female triathletes, so I’m thrilled to have her on the blog.

N.B I recently interviewed Alyssa solely about her FKT attempt for Red Bull. The feature includes lots of juicy details which we don’t cover here – head to the link at the end of this interview to have a read.

Photo: INOV-8.COM/LEE PROCTER

Last Friday I went to a talk by fell running legend Nicky Spinks (read my interview with Nicky from earlier this month here) at Katie Bell Physio in Sheffield. Having completed a raft of staggeringly difficult races and events (including, famously, the Double Bob Graham round) Nicky is a wealth of ultra-running insights.

Here are some of the nuggets of information she shared with us.

51-year-old ultra-runner and multi-day stage race specialist, Carolin Botterill, wasn’t always into running. It wasn’t until she was 36, and a mum of three, that she began the journey which would ultimately lead to her becoming an ultra-runner – accidentally – via a bid to get fit and lose weight. At first she walked, then she ran, and just kept running. Now, 17 years later, Carolin has completed some of the toughest multi-day ultras on the planet, taking her from the Arctic Circle to the Peruvian jungle.

In one of the most insightful interviews I’ve posted, Carolin shares her experiences with me, including the lengths she goes to in order to acclimatise to extreme heat and cold ahead of her ultra-events.