For The Long Run: Exploring the Why Behind Running

Mark Dowdle is a backyard ultra competitor who found running after college football and lacrosse, not because he loved the sport, but because he needed somewhere to put everything he was carrying. What started as 3:30 a.m. runs to eliminate excuses has...

Mark Dowdle is a backyard ultra competitor who found running after college football and lacrosse, not because he loved the sport, but because he needed somewhere to put everything he was carrying. What started as 3:30 a.m. runs to eliminate excuses has turned into one of the more compelling stories in ultra running right now — a guy who washes windows and umpires youth baseball between races, shares his unfiltered thoughts on social media like he's writing in his journal, and keeps showing up to races specifically to find out who he is when everything is telling him to stop.
This conversation goes deep on suffering, faith, identity, and what it actually means to keep a promise to yourself.
Topics covered:
From football and lacrosse to 3:30 a.m. runs and how David Goggins started it
Working three part-time jobs while chasing a dream that hadn't paid off yet
Why running is what he does, not who he is
How he uses hour 60 of a backyard ultra to find out if he's been keeping his promises
The Nike Boston ad and what it means to actually stand for something
How faith gives him the freedom to explore without the outcome defining him
What his wife said on the drive home from BPN that stopped him cold
Stay connected:
Mark on Instagram: @mark.dowdle
This episode is supported by:
Precision Fuel & Hydration - Dial your fueling in this year. Use code “LONGRUN26” for 15% off your first order at www.precisionhydration.com.
Boulderthon - Our favorite Colorado race event with a variety of distances. Use code FTLR2026 for $20 off the marathon or half marathon when you register at www.boulderthon.org.
Tifosi Optics - If you've been curious, now's a great time to try them. Head to tifosioptics.com and use code FTLR2026 to tell ‘em i sent you!
Eternal - The app I've been waiting for is finally here. Your labs, your wearable, your training, all in one place that actually does something with it. Download Eternal Health in the app store at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/eternal-health/id6504541107
Good Ranchers - Better training starts with better inputs. Good Ranchers delivers high-quality, American-sourced meat and seafood so you can stay consistent with your protein and iron. We heard you! The code IRON is now worth $40 and offers the ability to try out a box before subscribing, but if you want to jump in on a subscription you get $100 off the first three months (total) plus a free bonus protein. Visit goodranchers.com to start shopping!

Maria Chevalier has run a marathon in 48 states, finished the Boston Marathon 17 times, and a few weeks ago ran it twice in the same day, starting at 3 a.m. in reverse from Boston to Hopkinton, resting for a few hours, and then lining up with everyone ...

Maria Chevalier has run a marathon in 48 states, finished the Boston Marathon 17 times, and a few weeks ago ran it twice in the same day, starting at 3 a.m. in reverse from Boston to Hopkinton, resting for a few hours, and then lining up with everyone else for the actual race. 52.4 miles total.
But the distance is almost beside the point. What makes this conversation worth listening to is how Maria thinks about hard things and why she keeps choosing them.
She's navigated four wrist reconstructions that ended her music career before it fully started. Nine DNFs at Vermont 100 before finally finishing on the tenth try. A medical history that took away choices she thought were hers to make. And through all of it, she kept finding a way to keep moving forward.
This conversation goes deep and is a must listen!
Topics covered:
How running found Maria after she couldn't make the team in any other sport
What drew her to the 50 States and why she's two away from finishing
Why road marathons and trail ultras attract fundamentally different people
The dashboard effect — why people share their most vulnerable things on long runs
Her DNF at Vermont 100 at mile 65 and quietly finishing her first hundred in Boulder months later
Nine DNFs at Vermont before finishing on attempt number ten
Wrist reconstructions that ended her path to a music career
Learning she couldn't have children and how she found her way through it
Why she stopped listening to people telling her what she couldn't do
What she told her surgeon in the pre-op room that says everything about who she is
The Gap and the Gain — looking back at progress instead of forward at the gap
How Double Boston came together with Mount to Coast and the Trail Animals Running Club
What it felt like to start a marathon at 3 a.m. and feel fresh enough to run another one
What's coming up: Vermont 100, Manchester Monadnock 55, and the final two states
This episode is supported by:
Precision Fuel & Hydration - Dial your fueling in this year. Use code “LONGRUN26” for 15% off your first order at www.precisionhydration.com.
Boulderthon - Our favorite Colorado race event with a variety of distances. Use code FTLR2026 for $20 off the marathon or half marathon when you register at www.boulderthon.org.
Tifosi Optics - If you've been curious, now's a great time to try them. Head to tifosioptics.com and use code FTLR2026 to tell ‘em i sent you!
Eternal - The app I've been waiting for is finally here. Your labs, your wearable, your training, all in one place that actually does something with it. Download Eternal Health in the app store at eternalhealth.app.
Vacation Races - The Rocky Mountain Half and 5K in Estes Park, Colorado this August. Run both and earn the Elk Double. Use code FTLR when you register at vacationraces.com.

Dan Green is a trail athlete for Salomon who grew up running in West Virginia, spent years working at a running shop, and recently finished Cocodona 250 — a race he'd wanted to do for years before finally deciding to stop waiting. In this conversation,...