#26 Sarah Lavender Smith | Why Western States Needs to Break Up with UTMB, Increasing Women's Participation & Ultrarunning Longevity

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In this episode, Troy Meadows talks with Sarah Lavender Smith, an ultra runner, writer, and horse mom based in Telluride CO, who is passionate about women's participation in ultrarunning and sharing her knowledge and experiences with the trail running community through her weekly newsletter: 

 Colorado Mountain Running & Living  ←— This is a weekly must-read!!! 

Sarah Lavender Smith, an experienced ultra runner and coach, discusses her background in trail running, the challenges of balancing running and family life, and the importance of longevity in the sport. She also shares insights on coaching midlife midpackers and helping road runners transition to the trails. Sarah's book, The Trail Runner's Companion, provides practical advice and training plans for trail runners of all levels. She also writes a weekly newsletter that offers valuable insights and inspiration for trail runners. In this conversation, Troy and Sarah discuss loop runs and training stimulus, the need for Western States to separate from UTMB, the impact of UTMB on independent races, increasing female representation in hard rock and Western States, the power of athletes in shaping the sport, Sarah's race calendar for 2024, 

Sarahs Links

Website - https://www.sarahlavendersmith.com/

IG - @sarahrunning

Links to things we talked about on the pod

The Trail Runner's Companion

Sarah’s Articles for TrailRunner

Sarah’s Articles for UltraRunner Magazine

Running Up for Air Grandeur Peak 12-hour

Run The Rocks Moab 3-Day Stage Race

Lion Devide 100k

Grand to Grand Ultra Stage Race

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

03:10 Getting Started in Trail Running

10:06 Longevity in the Sport

18:10 Balancing Running and Family Life

25:18 Coaching Midlife Midpackers

34:21 Transitioning from Road Running to Trail Running

39:05 Writing the Trail Runner's Companion

42:36 The Trail Runner's Companion Newsletter

43:30 Loop Runs and Training Stimulus

44:26 Separating Western States from UTMB

45:20 UTMB's Influence on Independent Races

48:05 The Impact of UTMB on Grindstone

49:24 Increasing Female Representation in Hard Rock and Western States

50:31 The Power of Athletes in Shaping the Sport

53:32 Sarah's Race Calendar for 2024

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