 Oh boy! It's time to run! Whoo! Here we go! Silver Rush 50! Good morning my friends from Leadville Colorado. I'm here hiding behind a tent so I can give you some good audio before the race starts. Yes, I'm running a race the Silver Rush 50, 50 miles. I wasn't originally supposed to do this. I was supposed to be in Sweden but the airline went on strike! Yay! Actually, I was pretty bummed but this is a great backup and I'm excited to be here. I love Leadville. I love this race series. This is my first time ever doing the 50. I did the 100 last year and I'm getting all prepped for the 100 this year and since this was such a last minute race I forgot my running shorts so at my brother's house last night he lent me some basketball shorts so I'm channeling my inner Courtney DeWalter and we'll see how this goes. You know, I'm excited to be here. This is a pretty crazy start to a race. Starts right here, goes right up this hill. Look how steep that is. This is gonna hurt. But when it goes to hurt, remember, you're better than you think you are. You can do more than you think you can. Three, two, one! Oh yeah! Why are you running? You're crazy! This is too steep! Good luck everybody! This is crazy! What a fun way to start a race! Good to see you, brother! Let's have some fun out there! Have fun, brother! Let's have some fun! All right everybody, how we feeling? Thank you! It'll be like this the whole time! You take them everywhere! Yeah, pretty much. He's been all over the world. He's probably been on 30, 40 ultra runs and numerous marathons. So my goal for this race is to pretty much just to have fun. I'm building up mileage for the Leadville 100 and getting my legs ready because at the end of last year's Leadville 100 I really struggled. My legs fell apart and I think it's due to the fact that I didn't run enough. I didn't train enough so I'm trying to get in some bigger days. Thank you for cheering us on! Thank you! So I made a new friend, Alex, from Colorado Springs. What's up? Hey, how's it going everyone? So he's running the 50 mile today and then tomorrow what are you doing? I'm doing the 50 bike ride. What? Just to see what's fun. Nice to meet you, brother. You too, and good luck. Cheers! Five bucks to anybody who wants to run through this! You'll be on YouTube! What inspired you to be out here today? Oh my gosh, I have to say just my family. They've been supporting me the whole time and friends like Ann. Ann, what's up? Yeah, what's up? It's all for friends and family but really it's something I gotta do personally. I gotta do it to say that I can do it. Have you ever done a 50 before? No. Is your first 50? First 50! First 50! I got it. All right, that's a moving selfie. So even though the start to this race was insanely steep, we're on flats now and the whole race isn't all that crazy. I think we're looking at about 7,000 feet of vertical gain today, which is not bad for 50 miles. It is a proven scientific fact. When you wear goofy clothes, ultras don't hurt as bad. That's right, huh? Right into a new boulder friend. Brad, what's up man? Nice to meet you man. First time running 50 miles, you got this. That's right, thank you. So I love running. The act of running, of course. It makes me feel good. I love being out in nature. But what I really love are events like this with lots of awesome people. The energy is always through the roof. And you know, I came here last minute. I forgot some important things like my shorts. You know, I was feeling a little down because my plans this summer fell through. But just being here in Leadville with all these awesome people makes me feel so good. Yeah, buddy, you got this. You know, most of my big adventures are on bike. And I love riding my bike. It's my favorite activity. But I've been a runner since I was a little kid. And whenever I do a race, it just brings me back to those memories of my first races and the excitement and the energy and moving my body with just my feet. That's what I love about running. It's just simple. I'm not going to get a flat tire today. There's going to be no mechanicals. All I need a little bit of water and running shoes. Jump it. So we've got the sun. It's totally up in the sky now. Making friends. You've done a lead man. How many times? Seven times. Seven times. Seven times in a row, right? That's right. Going for eight and it's going to be a battle, but we're going to make it. Yeah. What inspires you to do all this hard stuff? I just like to find my limits and really test myself and this is the place you can do it. That is some great hair. Yeah, buddy. That's some red. Got to get it big. Yeah. Absolutely. Some of my wife knows where I am. It's like a little lighthouse, a beacon. Yeah. It's intimidating to the other racers. That guy has red hair. He must be fast. That's how they know. And then they can see me finish way after they finished. And it's real exciting for them, you know? Thank you. That's one one or two. Yeah, one's good. One little guy. Good morning. Good morning. Thank you, eight station people. You're awesome. I just choked. I'm eating one of these fig bars. I love these fig bars. I'm so excited to have these. Hurry up. Come on. Hurry. You're supposed to be winning. So as I run, you know me. I make friends and my friend here from Indiana started a really cool nonprofit. I want to share what he does. So tell us what do you do? What's up, friends and fam? What's up? Casey here. I was just telling him about an organization called New Shoe Day. So it's a nonprofit in Indiana. We come alongside other organizations and provide them mental health resources and curriculum and celebrate them by giving them a new pair of shoes. And we primarily do it for folks that might not have the means. Are you mostly young people? No. Anybody? Anybody. Yeah. So a lot of trail runners and we love to push ourselves and promote positive mental health and create connection and community and really just empower people through movement. So that's what we're out here doing today. That's right. We're moving. And besides all the serious talk, how's it being a flatlander out here in Leadville? How you doing? I'm just riding in your wake right now. So keep pulling me up the mountain. Okay. We got it. Finally, a steep hill. We can chill out and walk. Too much running involved in this running race. Look at that. That is so pretty. It's so green right now. I'm easily excited by beautiful nature. Sorry. How are we all feeling? Yes. How's life? Life can't get any better. This is it. This is it right here. A lot of you people out there think I'm over the top sometimes. It's true, but it's nature's fault. Nature gets me psyched. So that big guy right there is Mount Sherman, one of Colorado's 14ers. Someday I gotta go do that one. Looks very beautiful. So we just came around the corner here. We have a new view and check this out. That's like Mount Massive right there, Mount Alberts right there. This is a beautiful spot. It's too beautiful to run in fact. Yeah, Ryan. Can I give you a sweaty hug? Good to see you, buddy. Okay, I gotta go. I'm gonna win. See ya. I love A-Stations because I love people. Life's good. We'll see you later. Thank you. I'm going to have a stroke waffle. There we go. Good job. Good go. Oh god, that's always so good for the soul. I spend a lot of time at A-Stations, which slows me down, but I don't care. It's fun. I'm really psyched that this is a 50-miler, you know, because when you do a 100-miler, you wake up in the morning and you're like, okay, this is gonna be like a full day, but a 50-miler, you know, you're done by mid-afternoon and time for enchiladas. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Good morning. Good morning. Hey, you stop running. You're gonna blow yourself up. This is Coach Duser. Stop it. Stop running. I like harassing people in the uphills. We've got ourselves a pretty steep uphill here, which you might think, oh, uphill hard, which it is, but you just walk and it slows everything down. You calm your breathing down. You eat a little bit. You drink a little bit and you just enjoy some quiet time. Run faster. This is it. You look great. You can walk in a second after I get this shot. This area right here is really quite stunning. All these mountains here behind me. That's my state born and raised, Colorado proud. What's up, Martin? How you doing, bud? I'm doing great. Great. Doing wonderful. You feeling good? I'm feeling good. Yeah, buddy. Why do you like doing hard stuff? I was in the army. It was this. It was this all the time. All the time. Marching. Marching up and down mountains and 10th mountain used to be in Colorado Springs. Yeah. You just be like, we're bored. Let's climb that mountain. All right. We're starting to see some of the leaders coming through. Good job, buddy. Good job. Way to go. Yeah. It's impressive. Impressive. Nice job. Nice job. Way to go. Looking good, bud. Way to go. Way to go. Looking good. Nice job. Nice job. Say hello, mom. What's up, buddy? What's up? You're looking good, Shadow. Come on, Dolan. We're doing great. We're going to the aid station for more snacks. Way to go, bud. Way to go. Looking good. Hell yeah. Looking good. Looking good. Way to go. Thank you for being here. Oh, got the high five train. High five. High five. High five. I feel bad for not running in front of you all. I'm sorry. Man, they really sneak this one in here. They're like, oh, there's an aid station, but you have to walk up a steep hill to get there. Yo, what's up? I want to follow you, Patreon. Oh, you're the best. What's your name? Cindy. Cindy, thank you so much. I appreciate it. It's so good to see you here. Super duper. Thank you. Thank you. I appreciate it. All right. High five. High five. High five. Thank you. I gotta stop messing around and get out of here. These aid stations are too fun. If only life could be a constant stream of aid stations. That's really the best of humanity. Everybody's so friendly and positive and encouraging and generous. I love it. Way to go, buddy. Way to go. You're there. Good job, my friend. Way to go. I feel pretty good. Yeah. I'm doing just fine. We're going to be okay. Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Way to go. Yeah. Yeah. What's up? Get it. Whoo. Way to go. Way to go. What's up, Shadow? You doing all right, buddy? Whoa. Whoa. This is a very chunky road. You got to be careful. You can easily twist an ankle. Whoo. Oh, I just slipped in the mud. That's all right. Went right into a mud puddle. Look at that. I was trying to be careful on the way down and clipped my toe and right into one of the mud puddles. Gonna wash off the GoPro and the creek here. So I'm hearing somebody behind me with tons of energy running up and cheering everybody on. And I'm like, damn, who has that much energy? You know who it is? That's Courtney DeWalter right there. Come on, Courtney. Catch up. Come on. Let's go. How are you feeling? I feel pretty good. I just fell in the mud puddle, but other than that, I'm good to go. Courtney's giving magical high fives. Line up, everybody. Line up. Yeah. Let's go, guys. Let's go. Nice job, Renee. I love cheering with you. It's just like double the energy. It's fun. Don't tell anybody. Courtney is not pacing me. Right. Get out of here. Get out of here. Have a good one, Courtney. Yeah, right up. High five. High five. Hey, brother. Nice work. Nice work. Doing good, Shadow. Doing good. Keep it up, Shadow. Okay. No trippies, no follies, no smash my faces. Looking great. Looking great. Okay. So this is just a tour of making friends, really. Not running, but this is Miriel. She's from the Boulder area. She's done Leadville. How many times have you done all this crazy stuff? I have done 200s, and this is my second silver rush. All right. Yeah. What inspires you to get out here and do hard stuff? I think just wanting to test myself and seeing people I really admire, like get out and do it. And I'm like, damn, that's rad. I wonder if I can do it. All right. Well, we're feeling good. We're loving it. We're loving it. We're just chatting in the woods. Oh, that's hard. That's hard. I made it. I made it. I made it back. Do you have any salt tabs? Plenty. My man, thank you. I don't know if I'd be able to unscrew that thing right now. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Whoo. Yeah. Have a good one, everybody. Oh, it's you again. I know you. So this happens in every race and I'm out of the distance. I always find myself alone. I'm nowhere near the super fast people, but I'm ahead of most of the pack, and that puts me like in no man's land. And then I start thinking, did I go the wrong way? I didn't this time. I have done that before, but it's all right. Gives me time to think and just chill and enjoy the solitude. Now where'd my shadow go? There it is, the left side. That's it, buddy. We got this. Let's keep going. We got this. We got this. Dude, Michael, that shirt. Thanks, man. I love it. Thank you. So what's your philosophy on wearing fun stuff? Yeah, I just realized that I run better when I have more fun, and I have more fun when I wear a costume. So that's why I'm dressed like Magnum PI today. Do you usually have an awesome mustache like that? No, no, no. This is not my natural color. This is just for men. I'm trying my best right now to run or at least jog. I'm on an uphill, but it's not steep enough to really justify walking. And I'm going to try to try to run at a slow pace, make some ground. You know, the faster I run, the faster I finish this, right? Faster I get to chill. I can't get over how beautiful it is. I mean, look at all this. Look at all this. Look at all this beauty packed into one moment here in life. I'm just slowly charging up this hill, just slow and steady, keeping a nice pace. I just made a new friend, Aaron. We're going to try to try to not walk in the water right here as we talk. Aaron, this is the longest you've ever run in your life. Yeah, this is the longest I've run so far, 36 miles. How you feeling? I'm feeling it for sure, but I'm ready to finish. Yeah. Yeah. And what inspired you to do something like this? Army buddy of mine got me into running and we did, I'm a dream last year and he's always wanted to do Leadville. So once we both accomplished that, I'm a dream last year. I figured let's give Leadville 50 a shot and see how we do every step. I'm just trying to go from rock to rock. Pop, pop, pop, pop. It's like dancing, trail dancing. How you feel? You look strong. Yeah, I feel pretty good. Awesome. Do it. Do it. Oh, oh, that feels so good. Love it. Thank you. You're the best. Bye-bye. Thank you, angels. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Appreciate it. Come on, Aaron. Let's go run. Do it. Back in my, my aspen trees. That sun is hot now. It's legitimately warm out for sure. And I'm dreaming of some cold water at the finish line. There are some awesome clouds in the sky right now. I'm a big fan. They're leading the way. Oh, hey, Shadow. What's up? How you doing, buddy? We're almost there. We're almost there, dude. Keep going. Check this out. Hit it, hit it. It's on my entertainment option left side here. Yes, Shadow. All right, here we go. Getting off the bike path, heading up. Oh, man. It's tough to finish with a steep hill, but they're just making sure that we earn this. Oh, where are you finish line? Where are you? I can hear music. This is so unfair. It's like this squiggly little single track just doubling back on itself constantly. Oh, man. Are you kidding me? I have to go up that? Oh, God. Last hill today, hopefully. Last hill. These races are tough. Always. There's never an easy ultra. They always test you, which I guess is why I do it. I think that's the finish line, but it looks kind of far. How the heck do I get there? Yes, come on, Ryan. Come on, buddy. Here we go again. Ah, I've been running races all my life, and the finish line always feels so good. So good. Takes a lot of work to get to each finish line. Here we go. Man, this is steep. I wish I had my mountain bike. Wow, this is super steep. Oh my God. Yikes. Here we go. Down the steep hill. Water. Thank you, water. Yes, thank you so much. Oh, that felt good. I'm so happy to be here. Time to chill. Thank you. I feel so much better now. I got a little nauseous after the finish line. It's hot out here, and the best way to fix pretty much everything in life is to jump into water. Thank you so much for watching this video. It was a great race. It was so much fun to share it with you. I hope maybe some of you out there or maybe we're going to sign up for this or do other Leadville events in the future, and the energy up here is just incredible. So like and subscribe and share my videos with all your friends. That's really helpful for me, and we will see you down the road.