Guest Featured

• The calculated three-year progression: Fun Run in 40 hours, then 36, then the finish
• The decision to go out on loop four despite feeling awful, and the stubbornness that distinguishes finishers
• Jared Campbell's offer of the clockwise direction on loop five, the gesture that made history
• The final kilometer: calculating splits in her head while her body screamed to stop
• What the race strips away, and what it leaves behind
• The Green Runners: why she wore patched shoes and a borrowed bag to the most watched ultra finish in history

'I got to the gate and just pretty much fell over it. Because I had no control of myself anymore. I was getting to the gate and I hadn't gone into the calculation of how to decelerate or touch the gate and sit down in a normal fashion. I just hit it and basically fell over.'

Series Context

Bonus Episode 03 of 06. The emotional centerpiece of The Source Material. Next episode: The Endurance Artist - Jared Beasley at the 2025 race.

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• New Mexico Pack Burros — Website: https://www.newmexicopackburros.com
• New Mexico Pack Burros — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmexicopackburros
• Unbranded — Documentary (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unbranded
• BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro
• Backcountry Burro — Shane's book. Order from the website for a signed copy and sticker.
• OTTR (Off the Trail Recreation) — Durable, high-quality outdoor gear. Sponsors the Hiking Hack segment.
• Hilltop Packs — Lightweight, durable, custom gear. Sponsors the Off the Beaten Path segment.

• Fairplay, Colorado — Birthplace of pack burro racing, 1949. Annual race to the top of Mosquito Pass. Part of Burro Days festival.
• Leadville, Colorado — Flagship race, centerpiece of Boom Days festival. Shane completed 150 miles of the Colorado Trail before racing here with Comet.
• Tombstone, Arizona — One of Shane's favorite venues. Incredible burro race with strong historic atmosphere.
• Ruidoso and Silver City, New Mexico — Fall races on the New Mexico circuit.
• International — A race ran in France two years ago. The circuit is growing.

• Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com
• Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.

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• New Mexico Pack Burros — Website: https://www.newmexicopackburros.com
• Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry — Shane's book. Available on Amazon or signed with a sticker from the website.
• Garage Grown Gear — Ultralight backpacking gear supporting small and cottage brands. Sponsors this episode. Free shipping on orders over $40.
• Six Moon Designs — Ultralight backpacking gear. Sponsors the Trailblazer's Toolkit segment.
• Triple Crown Coffee — Fine coffee supporting national scenic trail preservation. $1 per pound donated to trail nonprofits. Sponsors the Hiking Poll.

• Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com
• Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.

Part 2 drops in 10 minutes. Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.

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The Full Traverse is a new long-form narrative format on Hiker Trash Radio. Each episode draws from multiple years of conversations with a single guest to tell the complete story: where they started, what shaped them, and who they became. This is Episode 1.

Guest: Christine Reed, trail name Lady Unicorn, author, thru-hiker, FKT holder, and founder of Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing.

Book: Alone in Wonderland: Longing for Connection and Adventure in the Shadow of Mount Rainier, Christine's debut memoir, originally self-published in 2021 and re-released in April 2026 through Rocky Mountain Books. The new edition includes an afterword written five years after the original. Available wherever books are sold.

Also mentioned: Blood, Sweat, and Tears, Christine's anthology of women's outdoor stories, featuring 26 contributors. Winner of the BAMF Award at the Banff Mountain Film and Book Festival.

Bethany Adams: FKT holder and author of her own memoir published through Rugged Outdoorswoman Publishing in March 2026.

Trails featured in this episode:

• Appalachian Trail
• Wonderland Trail, Mount Rainier National Park
• Colorado Trail
• Long Trail, Vermont
• Ouachita Trail, Arkansas
• Womble Trail, Arkansas
• Mount Whitney, California

POTS: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. A form of dysautonomia affecting the autonomic nervous system. Christine was diagnosed in 2020 after living with symptoms her entire life. For more information: dysautonomia.org

FKT: Fastest Known Time. An informal record-keeping system for completing trails or routes. Records are tracked at fastestknowntime.com and are open to anyone.

Follow Christine: Instagram: @ruggedoutdoorswoman Website: aloneinwonderland.com

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Donkey, Burro, Mule — The Definitive Guide

Why Burros — The Practical Case

Pack Burro Racing

The Guided Expedition

The History the Horse Didn't Write

The Water Stories

Comet — He's Family

• New Mexico Pack Burros — Website: https://www.newmexicopackburros.com
• New Mexico Pack Burros — Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/newmexicopackburros
• BLM Wild Horse and Burro Program: https://www.blm.gov/programs/wild-horse-and-burro
• Backcountry Burro: Your Guide to Packing Burros and Donkeys in the Backcountry — Shane's book. Available on Amazon or order signed with a sticker from newmexicopackburros.com.
• Unbranded — Adventure documentary following a group of men who trained wild mustangs and rode from Mexico to Canada. Available free on YouTube. Shane's media recommendation. Strong cinematography and a fair treatment of the wild horse and burro issue on public lands.

• Fairplay, Colorado — Birthplace of pack burro racing, 1949. Annual race to the top of Mosquito Pass. Part of Burro Days festival.
• Leadville, Colorado — Flagship race. Centerpiece of Boom Days. Shane completed 150 miles of the Colorado Trail before racing here with Comet.
• Tombstone, Arizona — One of Shane's favorite venues on the circuit.
• Ruidoso and Silver City, New Mexico — Fall circuit races.
• Full circuit — 20 to 30 races annually across the Southwest. Season runs January through fall. A race ran in France two years ago.

• Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com
• Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.

Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Guests Featured

• Who the Barkley selects for: the application process as first filter
• Elective suffering: the philosophy connecting SEAL training, ultra running, and the Barkley
• Crewing at a race with no information, the unique anxiety of waiting at the gate
• How people arrive at the Barkley from completely different corners of the world
• The post-race reckoning: pride, disappointment, and the immediate question of whether to come back

Elizabeth Bespalov: 'I first learned about this race when I was maybe five or six. I'd fallen asleep in the car and when I woke up, all I heard was that the race was about books. And I was just enthralled because I loved books. I was like, this is the best race ever, mom.'

Series Context

Bonus Episode 02 of 06. Follows Ground Zero at the 2025 Barkley Marathons. Next episode: 99 Seconds - Jasmine Paris.

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Our 2026 Pacific Crest Trail correspondent Austen Goring made it 76 miles before a mysterious ankle injury forced him off the trail. In this episode, Doc sits down with Austen to talk about what happened out there — the physical toll of a desert that doesn't negotiate, the emotional weight of stepping off a dream, and the strange, coyote-adjacent ending to his first attempt at the PCT.

In this episode:

• The lead-up to the trail — gear prep, resupply boxes, and that last restaurant dinner
• Life in the desert: solo hiking, deep thoughts, and an urgent craving for fruit
• How the ankle injury developed — and why Austen kept going anyway
• The decision to step off trail, and the guilt that came with it
• A missing shoe, a suspected coyote, and one very clear sign from the universe
• What Austen would do differently — and why 2027 is already on the radar

Mentioned in this episode:

• Chris "Winslow Walks" Anderson, former HTR guest
• FarOut app
• Kennedy Meadows
• Julian, CA

Sponsors: Six Moon Designs | Triple Crown Coffee | Off the Trail Recreation | Hilltop Packs | Vera Watches | Far Out | Garage Grown Gear | Jolly Gear

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The Hot Take — Thru-Hiking Is Not Therapy

Prius Life — The Philosophy

Nomad Gatherings and Skooliepalooza

The Best Hitch — Gunner the Chihuahua

The Trail Romance Warning

Post-Trail Depression and the AZT

The Dad Story — Harts Pass

Hiking Hacks — Three for the Price of One

Off the Beaten Path

Pay It Forward — SPONC

Idaho Hot Springs

• Sucker for Side Quests — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuckerForSideQuests
• Liz Kidder (Handstand) — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LizKidder
• Dean's List (Forerunner) — YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DeansListHiking
• SPONC — Support for People with Oral and Head and Neck Cancer: https://www.spohnc.org

• Email: mailto:hikertashradio@gmail.com
• Social: Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok — search Hiker Trash Radio.

Leave a review on Apple Podcasts — it takes 60 seconds and makes a real difference.

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