Heber Cannon once ran eight miles into a marathon in Death Valley before the heat pulled him out of the race. Eighteen years later, he went back and finished it, on what turned out to be the hottest day ever recorded there. In this episode, the filmmaker behind CrossFit's biggest documentaries and the Buttery Bros YouTube channel talks about failure, obsession, and what it actually takes to keep showing up.

Heber traces his path from a childhood spent bouncing between roller hockey, jujitsu, marathon running, and almost any other sport he could try to a career filming CrossFit's biggest names, and the moment in 2018 when he chose to not pursue his previous dream of filmmaking in Hollywood and build something of his own instead. Nathan, Matt, and he dig into the Death Valley marathon that has bookended his adult life: the failed attempt in his twenties, and the return trip 18 years later on the hottest day the location has ever recorded.

The conversation moves through how his relationship with fitness changed as he got older, from chasing raw talent without effort to respecting the grind, and how a series of sport specific training blocks after turning 40 (strength, then Olympic lifts, then endurance) reshaped how he trains and why. He tells the stories of his last minute decisions to pace a marathon in the mountains for his cousin and another joining alongside James Lawrence as James completed his 100th consecutive ironman length triathlon.

Heber also opens up about training his 9 year old son to run a full marathon before turning double digits, and what that process taught him about coaching a kid through the mental side of endurance, not just the physical. The episode closes on where he's headed next: the Leadville 100, a race that has sat unfinished in the back of his mind for years, and why the runner's high in a beautiful, remote place still beats anything he's felt on a gym floor.

Guest bio

Heber Cannon is a filmmaker and endurance athlete based in Salt Lake City. He spent over a decade producing content for CrossFit, including six feature length documentaries that topped iTunes' best seller list, before starting the Buttery Bros YouTube channel, where he travels the world training with elite athletes and documenting all of his and his friends' adventures. He has completed multiple Ironman triathlons, ultra distance runs, and self-supported endurance challenges, and is currently training for the Leadville 100.