Western States is just a week away and several marquee ultra marathons, such as Hardrock and UTMB, will follow in the next few months. Fans of trail running prepare to watch their favorite athletes compete in these popular ultra marathons and, no doubt, will be inspired to sign up for their next 100K, 100-miler, or an even longer-distance race.
Matt Daniels, a Nike Trail athlete and founder of MutRunning.com, is among those professional athletes getting ready to race Western States. Having finished in 4th place in 2019, he is no stranger to the course. If anything, he brings more ultra-trail experience to the game now than he did two years ago.
Patreon supporters of MutRunning.com, however, were able to steal away some of Matt’s time in a live Q&A session. A versatile athlete, Matt fielded questions about training for different distances, ranging from the mile to 100-mile, making the transition from road to trails, and the heat-training benefits of having a sauna!
The conversation was not just about Western States, however, but also about shorter sub-ultra marathon distance races, how ultramarathons have come to dominate the trail-running scene, the maturation of the sport, what potential there is for athletes in sub-ultra marathons, and why shorter trail races can be a lot of fun and competitive.