Just a heads-up that I’m taking a break from posting for a week while I’m away. Normal service will resume on Tuesday 9^th April.

Katie x

Today’s interviewee, Tricia O’Hara, is an American stair runner or ‘vertical runner’ who is ranked first in her age group and sixth in the US. Vertical running (also known as tower running or stair running) is a fast-growing sport that involves racing up the stairwells of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers. It even has its own World Series – the Vertical World Circuit – established a decade ago, which awards world ranking status and world champion titles.

When Tricia’s not racing up 100 flights of stairs, she’s running marathons and Ironman triathlons while splitting her time between America and France where she works as a personal trainer. I put some quick-fire questions to the 52-year-old (yes, she really is 52!) below.

© Zoya Lynch

Australian freeride and big mountain skier Nat Segal spent six years competing (and bagging podiums) on the Freeride World Tour and Freeskiing World Tour circuit. A lover of backcountry skiing, Nat’s expeditions have led her through Greenland, Iceland, NZ, Canada and France, and when she’s not carving out her mountain skills, she’s passionate about producing female-driven content.

Together with her X-Games slopestyle skier sister, Anna Segal, and adventure film-maker Bjarne Salén, Nat recently produced Finding the Line, a documentary that explores fear and the sisters’ different experiences and approaches to it. Casual observers could assume both Anna and Nat to be ‘fearless’ based on their choice of career, so it’s an intriguing theme which we explore a bit further in our interview.

The UK premiere of Finding the Line debuts at the Four Seasons Film Festival in London on Friday 22 March.

Earlier in the week I brought you part one of my interview with the brilliant obstacle course racer and ultrarunner, Rea Kolbl (if you missed it, you can read it here), in which Rea chatted about her running, love of hills and her long-term plans to one day run the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).

In part two, Rea talks about last year’s World’s Toughest Mudder experience, how she fuels her endurance events and, amongst other things, her favourite items of kit (hello, dryrobe). Thanks, Rea!

British wilderness guide, Sophie Nolan, 28, lives in Finland and splits her time between running her own backcountry ski touring business, Sidetracked Adventures, and working as a guide on a Finnish husky farm.

Below, Sophie provides a beautiful and fascinating account of cold winters spent exploring and guiding within the untouched wilderness of Finnish Lapland. Thank you, Sophie.

© Lisa Nestorson

Swiss amateur multisport athlete, Diane Sadik, competes in both swimrun and triathlon and has scooped a stash of swimrun wins and podiums in some of the toughest swimrun events out there (hello, ÖTILLÖ swimrun). Number one female in the 2017 swimrun world rankings, 30-year-old Diane has enjoyed success in both mixed and female teams.

I put some questions to her about her background, training and love of endurance sport.

Edwina Sutton is a coach and ultra-runner whose achievements include taking silver medal at the British 100km Championships, competing at the Ironman World Championship in Kona and winning the South Downs Way 50 mile ultra. She is also mother to three children aged 3, 6 and 8, and lives with her husband and family in Morzine, in the French Alps.

Here, Eddie shares some brutally honest chat about the demands and joys of being a mum and ultra-runner, and just how crazy the juggling act is.

© Jeff Liu

In August 2018, 100 seasoned adventure-loving endurance cyclists gathered for the start of the inaugural Silk Road Mountain Race, a fixed route, 1700km unsupported bikepacking race across the mountains of Kyrgyzstan via crumbling old soviet roads, single and double track gravel, remote mountain villages and 26,000m of mountainous ascent. Only 29 riders finished, including Canadian endurance adventurer (and former blog guest) Jenny Tough, who battled through snow blizzards, altitude and hike-a-bike terrain to finish in 13 days as first solo lady.

As someone who’s run solo and self-supported across Kyrgyzstan’s Tien Shan Mountains, Morocco’s Atlas Mountains and, most recently, the Bolivian Andes, Jenny is no stranger to demanding endurance challenges (as you may remember from her last blog interview). So what was her Silk Road Mountain Race experience like? And was it as brutal as it looked? Jenny spills the beans below.

P.S Registration for next year’s SRMR is open until 31 December. #justsaying

© Saucony UK

Training at the top echelons of sport is demanding at the best of times, but what happens when you throw a baby and toddler into the mix? For five-time Olympian Jo Pavey, it meant breastfeeding trackside, squeezing training into buggy walks, and a new-found happiness – all of which led to her incredible gold medal win in the 10,000m at the 2014 European Championship, aged 40 and just 10 months after having her second child!

Now 45, Jo’s children are five and nine. I chatted to the Saucony ambassador about how she makes life as an elite athlete work alongside school runs, clubs and family life.

©Red Bull/Climbing Hangar

Two-time bouldering world champ Shauna Coxsey is on the blog! In addition to being the country’s most successful competitive climber, the Sheffield-based athlete is also founder of the successful Women’s Climbing Symposium event. Ahead of this year’s WCS on Saturday, Shauna shares her six favourite training exercises for better grip strength with me.

The 8th annual Women’s Climbing Symposium will take place in London this Saturday 6th October 2018. There are still a few remaining tickets – to book visit: www.womensclimbingsymposium.com.