What happens when a life in climbing spans five decades, multiple eras, and some of the most surprising moments in outdoor history?

In this episode, legendary climber Russ Clune takes us inside the world that shaped him: the Shawangunks (“the Gunks”) of the 1970s and 80s — an unlikely counterculture just two hours from Manhattan where artists, dirtbags, misfits, and pioneers built the early soul of American climbing.

Russ shares rare, behind-the-scenes stories from his incredible career, including:

• Competing in a government-run climbing event in Cold War Russia
Painted red lines on limestone cliffs, leather-gloved belayers, Soviet stadium crowds, and a Wyoming cowboy becoming a national hero overnight.
It’s a chapter of climbing history almost no one has heard.

• The quiet era of “competitive free soloing” in the Gunks
Russ recounts the friendly, unspoken one-upmanship among friends that culminated in his iconic solo of Supercrack.
A moment that revealed both the power and limits of the mind — and marked the end of his soloing career.

• What longevity really looks like at 66
Not superhuman strength — but consistency, humility, curiosity, and the ability to redefine performance as the decades unfold.

• How to stay connected to your sport when your body changes
Russ talks openly about becoming the belay anchor instead of the rope gun, and why aging in climbing can feel meaningful in its own way.

📘 Russ’s Book: The Lifer

We talk about his excellent memoir, The Lifer, which chronicles his adventures across the Gunks, Yosemite, Europe, South America, and beyond.
It’s full of laughter, history, and insight — a must-read for anyone who loves climbing or stories of a life lived with passion.

👉 Highly recommended: search “Russ Clune The Lifer” wherever you buy books.

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If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

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Listen on: Apple Podcasts Spotify

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What happens after you run for five straight days — 466 miles, 111 hours, two broken ribs, a torn hamstring… and then go right back to teaching high-school civics on Monday?

In this rare, intimate conversation, ultrarunner Harvey Lewis shares a front-row look into his healing journey after Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra — widely considered one of the toughest and strangest endurance races in the world.

This is not just a running episode.
It’s about recovery, identity, and the small, consistent choices that help everyday people rebuild and age with strength.

Harvey opens up about:

• How he cracked his ribs and tore his hamstring on Day 5
• Why he kept going for 12 more hours after the injury
• The exact recovery tools he used (sleep, sauna, red light, ART therapy, movement)
• How he distinguishes “trying harder” from “trying smarter”
• Why purpose (his Haiti fundraiser) kept him moving
• The mindset shifts that matter more at 49 than mileage ever did
• How a human-powered commute — even on crutches — became part of his rehab
• The real meaning of resilience, especially after setbacks

This episode is shorter than usual as Harvey had to get back to class — but we hope to bring him back for Part Two.

And a personal note:
We just crossed 100 consecutive weekly episodes of Ageless Athlete. Thank you for being here, for listening, and for making this community possible.

Timestamps

00:00 — Breakfast, the run commute, and showing up to school
03:00 — How the injuries happened during Big’s
07:00 — The surprising pace of his healing
10:00 — What “trying harder” actually means in recovery
13:00 — The role of sauna, red light, ART therapy, and sleep
17:00 — Why nutrition matters more than protein myths
22:00 — Motion as medicine: walking, cycling, gentle running
26:00 — The Backyard Ultra: explained in simple terms
33:00 — Mindset in hour 80–100: hallucinations, purpose, micro-rest
40:00 — Running for David in Haiti
45:00 — Veganism, misinformation, and fueling as an ageless athlete
51:00 — Harvey signs off to rush back to class

References & Links

• Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra — Race format & rules
  https://backyardultra.com
• Harvey Lewis Instagram
  https://instagram.com/harveylewisultrarunner
  
  

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If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

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1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

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When Loree Bolin was told she’d never run again, she didn’t just defy expectations — she redefined them.

At 70, Loree completed her 11th Ironman triathlon after years of battling knee osteoarthritis. But this isn’t just a story about sport. It’s about service.

A retired dentist and lifelong endurance athlete, Loree sold her practice at 60 to launch a nonprofit bringing medical and dental care to underserved communities across Tanzania. Her work now includes safehouses for girls fleeing forced marriage, business programs for widows, and a school for over 200 kids — all in regions where access to care and education was once nonexistent.

In this episode, Loree shares how sport fuels her purpose, how she rebuilt her knees without surgery, and why your most impactful years might be the ones still ahead.

🙌 Support Loree’s Work

Want to get involved with Health & Hope Foundation — or help fund their next school, clinic, or safehouse?
Visit healthandhopefoundation.org
to donate or volunteer.

🎧 Love the Ageless Athlete Podcast?

If this episode moved you, share it with a friend — and leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Your support helps us keep telling stories like Loree’s.

🧭 Topics & Timestamps

• [00:02:00] Why she left dentistry to pursue humanitarian work full time
• [00:08:00] Her first volunteer trips — and the moment that changed everything
• [00:14:00] Grandmothers breaking rocks, and the birth of a business program
• [00:21:00] Starting a school in rural Tanzania for 200+ kids
• [00:30:00] How she manages teams and funding from Seattle
• [00:39:00] What most people misunderstand about volunteering
• [00:43:00] Training for Ironman while traveling overseas
• [00:56:00] Cultural barriers, custom inspections, and resilience
• [01:06:00] Reversing osteoarthritis and getting back to racing
• [01:13:00] What Ironman feels like at 70
• [01:22:00] Strength, recovery, and mindset for long-term health
• [01:33:00] Her vision for the next decade — and advice for those wondering what’s next

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If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

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This quarter on Ageless Athlete brought together some of the most surprising and meaningful stories of the year — from record-setting endurance swimmers to rebel skateboarders, alpinists, paddlers, big-wall climbers, and athletes redefining what’s possible in their 60s and 70s.

Across ten very different conversations, one theme kept surfacing:
Courage in uncomfortable places.

Not the loud kind — but the quiet courage that appears at the edge of uncertainty, identity, aging, and ambition.
This “Best of Q3” highlight reel pulls together the moments that stayed with me long after the mics were off.

Featured Guests & Clips

This episode includes curated highlights from:

• Sonnie Trotter — Precision, conviction, and breaking big goals into tiny steps
• Judi Oyama — Rebellion, falling and rising again, skating with fire at 65
• Andy Donaldson — What the ocean reveals when everything falls apart
• Jamie Whitmore — Choosing light and purpose after cancer
• Andy McVittie — Making movement safe again; rebuilding confidence through simplicity
• Susan Marie Conrad — A night with whales, weather, and the wild in Alaska
• Jim Donini (Part I and II) — Partnership, trust, grief, and a lifetime in the mountains
• Seb Berthe — Integrity over convenience; sailing to the Dawn Wall
• Joan & Doug Beyerlein — Curiosity, partnership, and staying in motion at 75
• Chris Anthony — Mongolia, humility, and finding perspective far from home

What You’ll Learn

• Why courage often shows up in small, humble decisions
• How elite and everyday athletes navigate fear
• How aging can deepen, not diminish, athletic purpose
• The role of values, integrity, and long-term devotion
• What it means to reinvent yourself without losing yourself
• The emotional cost — and reward — of chasing a life in motion

Why This Episode Matters

More than athletic stories — they’re reminders of how to live.
Every clip is a moment where someone stepped forward despite uncertainty, discomfort, or change.
If one of these voices resonates, go back and listen to the full episodes from Q3 — each conversation goes far deeper than this highlight reel can capture.

Listen to the Original Episodes

All full episodes from Q3, 2025 can be found in all popular podcast apps or at www.agelessathlete.co

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If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

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What happens when you mix psychedelics with some of the most fearsome waves on Earth?
What does it take to stay curious, joyful, and deeply alive—well into your 70s?

In this wide spanning conversation, legendary surfer Jock Sutherland joins Ageless Athlete to talk about the radical experiences, deep values, and spiritual practices that shaped his life—from surfing Pipeline in the 1960s to climbing mango trees and sharing fruit with neighbors at 77.

Raised off-grid on Oʻahu, Jock came of age paddling rivers, spearfishing, and spending summers with the “Hermit of Kalalau.” His mother, Audrey Sutherland—a pioneering solo paddler—raised him on a handwritten list of survival skills that included everything from “save someone drowning with available equipment” to “dance with any age.”

Jock opens up about:

• His early experiments with LSD, and why surfing while high never replaced the clarity of presence
• Why he left surfing at the height of his fame to join the Army
• The life lessons he learned from injury, reinvention, and working as a roofer for over 50 years
• How community, fruit bartering, and stretching classes help him age well
• And what it means to stay in love with movement, the ocean, and learning—at any age

This is a conversation about psychedelics, surfing, reinvention, and awe—but more than anything, it’s about how to live with wonder, even as the decades pass.

🔥 Topics & Timestamps

0:00 – The sourdough, marmalade, and mango trade that fuels Jock’s mornings
5:00 – What it means to be the “one-man fruit distributor of Oʻahu”
13:00 – Summers with the Hermit of Kalalau and Audrey Sutherland’s list of life skills
22:00 – Surfing Pipeline: early fear, speed, and beauty
30:00 – LSD, consciousness, and why surfing high didn’t last
38:00 – Leaving pro surfing to join the Army
48:00 – Rooftops, reinvention, and building a different kind of life
58:00 – Staying active at 76: stretching, herbs, and still surfing
1:05:00 – On legacy, parenting, and feeling unfinished
1:10:00 – “Too old to start?” Jock’s answer
1:14:00 – The billboard message he’d leave for Hawaiʻi

📚 References & Mentions

• Audrey Sutherland’s list of life skills: via The New Yorker
  
  
• Let My People Go Surfing by Yvon Chouinard (Patagonia
  )
• Fierce Grace – Documentary on Ram Dass
• The Duke Kahanamoku Invitational Surfing Championship
• Thai herbal supplements mentioned by Jock (no official site – listeners should research independently)

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🚀 Love the show? Here’s how to support it

If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

Support the show

After 60 years in the weight room, Dan John has distilled fitness down to its essence:
Move well. Lift often. Walk every day. Recover deeply.

In this conversation, Dan joins host Kush Khandelwal to share the universal rules for staying strong and mobile through every decade — especially for climbers, runners, and outdoor athletes looking to balance performance and longevity.

They unpack how fit literally means “to knit” — body, mind, and life woven together — and how that philosophy can guide everything from how you train and eat to how you recover and show up for others.

Topics include:

• How to train for decades without breaking down or burning out
• The six fundamental movement patterns for lifelong mobility
• How to integrate mobility into your strength sessions — without extra time
• Walking as a cornerstone of strength and recovery
• How to structure strength training alongside endurance sports
• The art of recovery and “everyday strength”
• Why ritual matters more than motivation
• The difference between hurt, injury, and agony — and how to manage each
• Dan’s blunt but liberating three rules: Don’t get fat. Don’t get debt. Don’t stop walking.

This is a conversation about strength, yes — but also about meaning, consistency, and how to build a body and life that last.

📚 REFERENCES & RESOURCES MENTIONED

🧭 Dan John Resources

• Website: https://danjohnuniversity.com/
  
  
• YouTube: Dan John Strength Coach
  
  
• Articles & Programs: available through DanJohn University

📘 Books by Dan John

• 40 Years With a Whistle — Reflections on coaching, teaching, and staying curious
• Never Let Go — Essays on strength, life lessons, and long-term consistency
• Easy Strength (with Pavel Tsatsouline) — How to get stronger by doing less, smarter
• Attempts: Essays on Fitness, Health, and Long-Term Thinking
• Intervention — A framework for identifying what truly matters in training and life
• From Dad, To Grad, and Beyond — A rare personal collection mentioned during the episode

📗 Other Books & Thinkers Mentioned

• 
  
• Life Lessons from a Remarkable Coach: Percy Cerutty by Alastair Gunn — On the pioneer who inspired “Easy Strength” principles
• Original Strength by Tim Anderson — Movement resets and mobility foundations (discussed in his “Tonic Thursdays”)
• Gift of Injury by Dr. Stuart McGill — On spinal health and walking as medicine
• Gray’s Anatomy — Referenced when explaining the complexity of wrists, ankles, and small joints

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🚀 Love the show? Here’s how to support it

If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

Support the show

Imagine growing up in the conservative Deep South, where young women were expected to play it safe

Now imagine trading that world for Himalayan storms, frozen walls, and a seven-year stretch of living out of a Subaru to chase something bigger.

Kitty Calhoun did exactly that. She became the first North American woman to summit Dhaulagiri and the first woman to climb Makalu’s West Pillar—two of the hardest, highest peaks on Earth. Along the way she’s survived avalanches, eight-day storms, and the loneliness of cutting new lines where no woman had before.

But at 65, Kitty’s story isn’t about danger or glory—it’s about clarity. About the discipline, focus, and simplicity that have allowed her to keep climbing, mentoring, and living fully decades after most people would have retired their harness.

In this conversation, we explore:

• Growing up in the Deep South and breaking gender barriers in one of the world’s most male-dominated arenas
• What surviving a Himalayan storm taught her about resilience and priorities
• How seven years of minimalist living shaped her philosophy on focus and freedom
• The difference between chasing summits and finding meaning in the climb itself
• What she’s learned about longevity, humility, and living with purpose at 65

Kitty also shares how she’s passing her lessons forward—through mentoring younger women, climate advocacy, and a renewed connection to simplicity in an age of excess.

This episode is for anyone who’s ever wondered how to stay passionate, grounded, and physically vibrant as the years go by—and how courage can evolve from proving yourself to knowing yourself.

🔑 Takeaways

• Discipline is freedom; simplicity sharpens focus.
• Strength doesn’t fade with age—it refines.
• True leadership is opening doors for others, not standing on top of them.
• The outdoors isn’t an escape—it’s a mirror.

📚 References & Links

• Kitty Calhoun – Protect Our Winters
  
  
• TEDx Talk: “Last Ascents” by Kitty Calhoun
  
  
• Patagonia Profile: Kitty Calhoun
  
  

📸 Jay Smith

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If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

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Nutrition advice is everywhere — and most of it overcomplicates what should be simple.
In this replay, EC Synkowski, founder of Optimize Me Nutrition and creator of the 800-Gram Challenge, shares a refreshingly practical approach to fueling performance, recovery, and longevity.

She’s coached CrossFit athletes, corporate teams, and everyday movers — and she’s one of the most grounded, science-based voices in nutrition today.

🧠 What You’ll Learn

• The 800-Gram Challenge: a data-driven, no-BS way to eat more fruits and vegetables
• How much protein we really need (and why “more” isn’t always better)
• Why consistency beats restriction for long-term health
• How to eat well when you’re on the road, in the mountains, or living out of a van
• What truly matters more than supplements for living long and strong

🥦 About EC Synkowski

EC is a licensed dietitian, CrossFit seminar staff alum, and the creator of The Consistency Project podcast. Through her brand Optimize Me Nutrition, she helps people cut through the noise of fad diets with simple frameworks that actually work.

🌐 optimizemenutrition.com

📸 Instagram: @optimizemenutrition

🎙️ Podcast: The Consistency Project

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🚀 Love the show? Here’s how to support it

If something you’ve heard here has stayed with you, made you smile, or helped you keep going, I’d be honored if you’d consider supporting the show. 👉 https://buymeacoffee.com/agelessathlete

📰 Subscribe to the Ageless Athlete newsletter !

1-2x a month, no spam. We share behind-the-scenes reflections, longevity tips, and athlete wisdom you won’t find anywhere else. You can sign up at https://www.agelessathlete.co/newsletter/ 📩

Support the show