Backpacker Radio Episode 32: Peter Downing on Ultrarunning, the Peace Corps, and Suffer Better
In today’s episode of Backpacker Radio, we’re joined by Peter Downing, a modern-day renaissance man. We chat about his history as an ultrarunner (including his four wins at the Buena Vista 50), his time in the Peace Corps, his career as a lawyer, and now, his latest undertaking, Suffer Better, a community of ultrarunners whose mission is to give back. It’s a fun, freewheeling convo where Peter teaches us the ins and outs of the ultra world.
We touch on what it’s like to have cold feet before a thru-hike and we get into a rather lewd edition of Would You Rather.
Links:
- Recorded at Wayfinder in Denver
- Greenbelly.co – use code “Trek10” to save 10%
- Sawyer Micro Squeeze
- Sawer Micro vs. Sawyer Squeeze
- Zpacks.com – use code “BACKPACKERRADIO” (all caps) to save 5% (good through 4/31)
- Four Sigmatic (our link) – use code “thetrek” to save 15%
- Chaunce is on the AT, but she isn’t, but she is (but she isn’t).
- Zach kicked in a window. Altra Lone Peaks are not glass proof.
- Hoka One One trail runners (started from the former Salomon employers)
- Ultimate Direction running vests
- Chaunce gets covered in poo (again)
- The life of a law student
- Suffer Better
- Second Thoughts and Pre-Hike Blues by Christy Fairlie
- Would You Rather
- 5-star iTunes Reviews
- Danny Devito
- Song: Walking Slow by Animal Years
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Comments 2
Hey, good show, as always. I appreciate hearing from an ultra runner.
Peter referred to the “running cult” up in Boulder. I wrote about that group fairly extensively when I was a journalist. Back then, it was calling itself “Divine Madness,” and the leader was a guy named Marc Tizer, who goes by “Yo.”
The group had some success in ultra-distance races, especially by members Janet Runyan and Steve Peterson.
The group still exists, but its membership has continued to age and to my knowledge, no longer has any members who are elite runners.
For anyone interested, here are links to a couple of stories I wrote about the group back when:
“Run Ragged” by Clay Evans, Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.), March 7, 2004: https://www.culteducation.com/group/893-divine-madness/5685-run-ragged.html
“Community or cult?” by Clay Evans, Daily Camera (Boulder, Colo.), Oct. 5, 1997: https://www.culteducation.com/group/893-divine-madness/5687-community-or-cult.html