The Run Shoe Diaries Podcast

Episode 27: The Making of Running Bear with Danny Brigman

• Luis (aka Chico) • Season 3 • Episode 8

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Danny Brigman: The Making of Running Bear

This episode of Run Shoe Diaries is brought to you by SILO Performance! Whether you're chasing your first finish line or taking on your biggest challenge yet, SILO has your back with performance-tested gear built for the long haul. Use code RSD10 at GoWithSILO.com for 10% OFF your order.

Now, let's get into it...

In this episode, I welcome back a familiar voice to the Run Shoe Diaries Podcast—Danny Brigman. You may remember Danny from Episode 16, but this time he's returning with a very different story to tell.

Danny is the founder of Homelands, a community-driven leader, and an ultrarunner whose journey has become one that many of us can relate to. From the DNF disappointments to an epic finish at the Crazy Mountain 100, Danny shares the lessons, growth, and mindset shifts that helped him become the runner he is today.

Together, we revisit the race that humbled him, the race that rebuilt his confidence, and the moment he returned to finish the very race that once stopped him. Along the way, we discuss identity, resilience, community, and what it means to keep showing up when things don't go according to plan.

Danny opens up about the support system that helped him along the way, the evolution of his relationship with running, and the next challenge on the horizon—the Oregon Outback 230.

This conversation is about much more than race results. It's about growth. It's about persistence. It's about becoming the person capable of accomplishing the things that once seemed impossible.

From the "green lost puppy" of his first hundred-miler to the runner many now know as Running Bear, Danny's story reminds us that long-term consistency will always beat short-term intensity.

So whether you're chasing your first mile, your first hundred, or simply trying to become a better version of yourself, this episode is for you.

Lace up. Race up. And let's get moving.

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Photographer Credit: Anastasia Wilde (Photo Used With Permission) https://www.instagram.com/_anastasiawilde/

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https://www.instagram.com/dannybrigman/

Homelands:
https://www.instagram.com/homelandsapp/

Run Shoe Diaries:
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SPEAKER_02

Did I grab grab me or not?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, you are the Danny Brickman. Welcome to the Run Two Diaries Podcast. Celebrating run of the ball backgrounds and abilities. First is what we're running new night in fire and motivates. Last up to each other, wait up to listen to it. Hey, what's up, everybody out there running on Native Land? And welcome to the Run Two Diaries Podcast. I'm your host, Luis TKTcoin this is season three, episode seven, making it broadcast number twenty-seven. And thank you for spending some of your precious time listening to the show. I appreciate it. Definitely not gonna waste it. Late up, right up, and let's take it moving. We're back after line with it again. First of all, welcome back to the show. And before we get into the miles, we start every episode the exact same way with the Run Two Diaries Fatch 5. So let's see what you got there. Let me know when you're ready. Let's go. Alright, here we go. Question number one: Do you like to run on roads or trails and why?

SPEAKER_03

I like I like breaking up the monotony, being out there in the wilderness, feeling more connected to the land and um more focused on the journey and not caught up in pace and everything else.

SPEAKER_01

Oh heck yeah, I definitely agree with that. You know, that is one of the things that I don't have the privilege to do a lot is run on uh trails. There is actually one trail that I do run down here. It's called uh Cattail Marsh. But the flip side to that, it is a uh place where they harvest gators. So a little bit of motivation there, I guess, as well. Question number two do you prefer medals, buckles, or would you be out there running even if there was nothing at the finish line?

SPEAKER_03

I would be out there running if there was nothing, but nothing can really beat a nice buckle.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. I I oh man, I I know we're gonna have some great buckle uh talk here in a little bit. So let's move on to question number three. What do you do when you're not running, but you still need to reset?

SPEAKER_03

So if I'm not running and I still need to reset, normally it's family time. Um just try and be where my speed are. Where, yeah, sure, running helps with so much, but being there with my family, being there with my kids, um, definitely trying to be active with them is where I usually end up with and seeing their joy when they're active is 10 times better than anything running gives me.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, heck yeah. Hey, the last time we were talking on the podcast, uh, correct me if I'm wrong, you were just getting ready to have a child at that time. And now how old is that child?

SPEAKER_03

If that was Atlas, he's a year and a half. I think that probably was Atlas. He's a year and a half. His birthday is early July.

SPEAKER_01

Hey, question number four. What is one thing that your younger self got completely wrong about life?

SPEAKER_03

That there's so much, man. Like this could be a whole podcast in itself, but to to kind of keep it to the point, just that like everything was gonna be structured and there'd be a process. If you do A plus B, it's always gonna equal C. Whether if that's if you just go through college, you're gonna get a job. And not realizing how much more complicated that is, or like, hey, everyone in these high-up job positions, they're there off of merit and because they're good employees, like everyone with job titles must be great. And learning that's not the case, just so that I guess more or less a lot of us are faking it till we make it, then we realize that it's not just you by yourself feeling that way. It's like a lot more of the world is like that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. You uh it's funny you say that because I was uh on Instagram the other day and somebody just graduated with their doctorate degree, but the caption was nobody tells you how hard it is to find a job with no experience, but you have a doctorate degree. It's like, ooh, yeah, that is crazy. Hey, question number five What is something in your life right now that you are quietly proud of?

SPEAKER_03

That I'm quietly proud of. Um, maybe it's not quiet, but the first thing that comes to mind is we had a big local 12K um in Spokane called Bloomsday. Yeah, and my seven-year-old and eight-year-old daughters did it with me, and it was like 85 to 90 degrees out, and they did the whole dang thing. Nice. They were hurting, they were struggling, they they showed all that grit and just like running that last half mile with them and their smile finished. Like that's something I'm really proud of them. Heck yeah. And because they wanted to, not just because I wanted them to, like, they actually wanted it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, that has definitely got to be amazing. Just to see them putting themselves in the space that you often visit now, right? That mental space. That's awesome. Hey, thank you for that. That was the fast five. I appreciate you rolling with that. Now let's slow down just a little bit. For those listening who might not know you just yet, go ahead, reintroduce yourself, tell us who you are and what you're all about.

SPEAKER_03

All right, I'm Danny Brigman. I'm a Spokane tribal member over here on the Spokane Indian Reservation in eastern Washington, um, kind of outside of the city of Spokane. So grew up on the reservation my whole life, come back, worked for my tribe, uh, currently work um for our housing authority and finance. Um, big family guy, um, family of five kids total, ages 16, 8, 7, uh, and three in a year and a half. Very, very busy with all those guys. And then at the same time, really try and pour back as much as I can into my community, as much as they pour into me. Um, help out a lot of time, setting up different community events, usually somehow centered on running and fitness, and just trying to give back as much as I can to my community.

SPEAKER_01

Nice. I like it. Tying these two together, community events. So you're trying to build a community, and you're doing that as the founder of the Homelands app right now. I definitely like that. And building something like the Homelands isn't just a small feat. So let me ask you this where did that project even start for you?

SPEAKER_03

So in order to kind of tell the story of where it started, I kind of gotta go pretty far back. I think maybe we touched on this a little bit in our first conversation. So back in like 2021, um, you know, post-COVID, we were everyone was getting outdoors more, and a lot of our different movements were catching steam. And one of them that hit close home to me was the Every Child Matters movement. Um, up there in Kamloops, that's where a good chunk of my family's from. Um I have family that went to that residential school. Um, have family that went to boarding schools here in the States, and so that kind of started me on kind of that path with those movements, and then that set the foundation, and then that kind of evolved into I did a virtual challenge run the res, I think is what I called it, where you would just log your miles on whatever travel lands you were. And I did that challenge, I think, for 2022, 2023. What I was kind of seeing with that challenge was it was more or less people like you and me, Chico participating that already know whose native lands we're on, and it wasn't kind of reaching beyond and kind of really educating people. And someone in some comment was saying, Hey, you know, like what is this? Is this an app? Like, I want to be a part of this challenge, and that really kind of lightballed moment for me. I was like, what if this was an app and it was more accessible? Because the way my challenge went, it was so tedious to go in. You had to have like three different web browsers in to log everything in. Yeah, what if I streamlined this? And so that planted the seed of how could I do some sort of like fitness challenge or fitness app where we could log our miles, see whose native lands we're on, and all be in one place. Yeah. And so from there, I kind of got started with that idea, um, started flushing out a little bit, talked to a handful of different developers, which helped me kind of flesh the idea out more. But at the same time, I wanted to get someone on board that was just as excited about it as I was.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And then I finally found the one and kind of got the ball rolling with them and figured out what different phases it was going to take, what all I needed to pour into it, what they could do. And that's kind of really how all that got started. And that was, yeah, that would have been gosh, was it 2023, 2024-ish is when like the developing actually really started.

SPEAKER_01

How close are you to uh finishing, getting a finished product? I mean, I'm sure once it's finished, there's still going to be things that need to be tightened up after that. It's just like a uh continuous refining project, but how close are you to the end?

SPEAKER_03

Really, really close. So it's kind of taken a little bit longer than anticipated just because of funding. I'm at the point right now where I've been able to kind of dig into my own pockets and get money together to cover nearly most of it. So I'm $7,000 away from finishing paying the development phase. And once that's paid, then the beta version will be ready for testing. Oh, okay. And assuming the beta version is pretty solid, then the app can go live shortly after.

SPEAKER_01

Oh wow. Uh now from the outside, people see what you're building, but what's something they don't see about your journey? What are some of the struggles of the Homelands app journey?

SPEAKER_03

The biggest struggles probably are financial. It's very quick and easy to say, like, oh, I apply for a grant over here, talk to these guys over there. But I have found out kind of the hard way, this specific niche of app development, but then also kind of in this newish space that's not carved out. Yeah, it's in this area that just doesn't have coverage. So, like typical grants and stuff are more for tribes and nonprofits. This isn't a nonprofit. A lot of entrepreneurial stuff, they want to see an established business with revenue. This is an app that's starting up that doesn't have revenue yet. And then so any source of these programs that doesn't really cover this where it's capital intensive up front without clear, like, hey, we show you've made money for two or three years. Yeah. And so that's been really hard and then been networking, um, kind of getting out of my comfort zone, just try and talk to more people, talk to more entities. And that usually ends up being the roadblock. And with that, another part of it is you don't have like a product in front of you that you can show them of like, hey, look at the shirt, feel it. It's different.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

It's an app and it's not fully developed yet. So it's like there's some resistance there of like, okay, is this guy just a snake oil salesman? Like, what's going on? Like, I don't have something to see right here.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, nothing tangible yet.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. And so, like, through these phases, that's where I've able to get a little bit more of momentum to where it's like instead of just a pitch, not gonna have some like screen recordings of what the different uh app pages will look like. And so it's kind of able to like make people feel more secure. But I've just really found out this specific space is kind of like um just like uncharted land, it seems like. So it's definitely kind of like there's no clear path for me. And so I'm kind of like trying to blaze my own path through here.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, I understand. Hey, the um Homelands app sounds like it's very, very deeply rooted in community and youth. It's definitely it definitely says a lot about who you are. But let's shift gears for a second and let's run it back. Uh, this is something that we do from time to time on the show. Um, we go back to something you said, whether it be in the Fast Five or a previous podcast, we just don't let it slide. So, like to run it back, I I want to run it back to episode 16 because the last time you were on the show, we just didn't end a conversation. We actually left off in the middle of a story. You were coming off the Crazy Mountain 100, and I remember that hunger, that need for redemption. And at that point, you had already signed up for the Tianwe Country 100. So, that being said, let's pick up the journey right there at that point, because back then Tianway was the race that you were hoping that would help you rewrite your story. So, deep breath, DNF at the Crazy Mountain 100. Danny Brigman, take one and go.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so we had Tiannaway later that fall. Um, trained hard, was totally thought I was ready for it. Unfortunately, ended in another DNF. Oh, yeah, so Tian Away is pretty brutal. Um I mean, nothing's quite as brutal and crazy as Crazy Mountain, but Tian Away is pretty close. It gets rugged in some sections. It was one of those you don't know until you know. And so, like, I had to kind of make those mistakes and have those learnings. And yeah, um, it was everything was going pretty solid, but it was one of those I think I just started out too hot. As you know, and anyone who's ran Crazy Mountain, there's definitely sections of Crazy Mountain, especially after like the first 20-ish miles. The trail's a little bit more rough where you can't really open up a lot of loose rocks and stuff. So the Tianway in the beginning, the downhills were buttery smooth. Yeah, you know, it was a single track trail and everything, and I paid for it because I went way too hard on those downhills. I'm like, oh man, I'm runnable downhill. I've been waiting for this for months, like ever since Crazy Mountain, I couldn't open up. And so I just hammered my legs early on in the race. And so after about the halfway point, I started finding out I couldn't do more than just walk the downhills.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And so that cutoff time started sneaking up on me as I was getting slower and slower. And then before I knew it, my whole lower leg, like half everything was not quite seized up, but like there's no ankle flexion. I couldn't, everything was just like stuck.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And so then even hiking after that was rough. And then my cousin was coming to pace me for that, but the wheels had kind of already fallen off. And it was like I made the decision in my head. I I quit my head before my body gave up. Yeah. So I was just feeling that pain, and I just like mentally already quit. So by the time I came into that aid station, I think I was an hour ahead of the cutoff. But that aid station, I think, was at mile 76 or 72. Yeah. And that was the last place you could drop from. And that was gonna be the last time you saw a crew. Yeah. And I just knew what was ahead of me, and I'm like, there's no way, like, I'm I'm not gonna make it. So let me just call it, call it quits here, and sat there and watched runners maybe just as bad a shape or worse shape than me, come through and still going. And I was sitting there in the chair, already had my mind made up, already had my shoes off, and was making plans.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

So that's where Tianway ended.

SPEAKER_01

Man, I I'll tell you, I felt that plenty of times. The race director, Rob, uh, he was the the race director and owner for trail racing over Texas for a number of years. He actually saw that, and now he has rise racing down here in Texas. And um, one of his sayings is if you're gonna run an ultra, you gotta burn the boats. That means getting out there, there's no way of getting back except for you know walking or running it in. But it's the same thing with burning the boats. You can't leave yourself a way back. It definitely sounds like you left it all on a line there. And trust me, I plenty of us have done that too. So uh quick question uh for you on this one. Hey, after Crazy Mountain, what was the biggest lesson that you took into Tiananue, whether it be physically, mentally, or spiritually? And where did that actually show up when it mattered most for you out there on uh that Tianway course?

SPEAKER_03

I think uh one of the biggest things was just the experience. So before Crazy Mountain, the only ultra I ever did was a 50 miler. Jesus, right? Especially to look back because that's some some crazy guy with a podcast. That's uh that's my big brother now was like, Yeah, sure, let Crazy Mountain be your first. And so, yeah, so I I was so green, I had no idea of anything, and so then Crazy Mountain was like, Okay, this is what this pain feels like, this is what this hurt feels like, and that time on feet, even um kind of getting that experienced where it's like, okay, cool, like Crazy Mountain was the hardest thing I've ever done. Now I have a reference point, and so it just gave me more confidence headed into Tianway, yeah, than I think if I just went straight into Tianway off the start.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, yeah, I definitely understand that. Coming off the uh Crazy Mountain experience, did Crazy Mountain leave any fear in you going into Tianway?

SPEAKER_03

It did. Like, as much as I say it gave me experience and all this stuff, like there's still that voice that's like in the in the back of my head of like, are you good enough? Can you actually do this? Like, should you be out here? And that voice was still there, and it kind of had like a win up on the board already with Crazy Mountain. And so like that that voice was in the back of my mind. And I honestly do think at that aid station at TNOA, like I could have left, but I wouldn't have met the overall cutoff time. I would have been out there like well past dark, just struggling. I would have been a liability to everyone. Yeah, but that voice in my head was what kind of led me to mentally quit first of like, look, remember Crazy Mountain? Like, remember how that ended? And look, here you are, like your body's giving up on you. Maybe you aren't cut up for this. And it's like, okay, yeah. Like, and I just let that voice get to me. Like, yeah, let's let's call it a day here.

SPEAKER_01

All right. So, all the lessons learned that you have from the Crazy Mountain DNF and the Tiana Way, what of those are you still working on and still following through to execute as a runner?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, it's one of those. I don't know. I'm trying to like think of stuff that's not just like the corny basic stuff. Yeah, like I understand. It's corny because like it's so true to everyone. Of I forget what the exact quote is, but I heard people say like it's 80% physical and 80% mental.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Like, you know, it's kind of that thing of not forgetting to train your mind as much as your body that like you have to be in sync to do these things.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

And like you can't over-index for one over the other. You really got to be the complete package to go into these things because when one fails, the other is there to keep you going. And like that's what having to learn and learn the hard way on these things is like I was kind of through these various different races experiencing it on either extreme of like my mind quitting before my body. And then I I've had situations like since then of like my mind still raring to go and my body gave up.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. Well, you now you put yourself through two brutal hundred-mile experiences, and you came back to a redemption race at the Crazy Mountain 100. Tell me about that experience.

SPEAKER_03

Well, we will see a backup for a second. I I DNF'd Crazy Mountain a second time because my second DNF is when you got your redemption and you finished. That's right. I went in shambles and went back to the finish line to see you finish. Okay.

SPEAKER_01

So the second year of crazy, right? Yes. And then you DNF'd that one, and then you came back to the star line for me. All right. And then let's let's fast forward to your finish now, which was 25.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Give us the down and dirty on that.

SPEAKER_03

Okay. Yeah. So head into that one, man. It's one of those I I felt like obviously unfinished business, but I almost felt like my Seattle Seahawks headed into the Super Bowl of that, like, already knew that we were gonna kick ass and win this thing. Yeah. Like the game just like the clock needed to start, sort of deal. And like I was I wasn't going in overly cocky, but having DNF'd twice, having DNF Tiannaway, then going back to Tian Away and getting redemption, I'm like, hey, like I'm built for this. I know each misstep I've had, I'm prepared, I'm ready to go. Now is my turn. Yeah. And so it was like on the way there, it was almost like a business trip. Of like, okay, cool, like we're here, we're here to kick some ass, like let's get going. And then locked in from the start, and then like I just I just love Crazy Mountain so much. And as much as I was like treating it like as a business trip, you know, going for the pre-race check-in and kind of mingling with all of our other different like native runners and yeah meeting meeting some some people in person for the first time that I've known online and going through check-in, and then Megan has this picture up of me at check-in. She grabbed this headshot of me and put it in a picture frame. I was hearing people talk in front of me in the line, and they were asking if that person had died. Like it looked like a memorial setup. And I was just like, oh my god, like, yeah, I know. Like, Megan might need to hang on to that. I might actually end up dying at sunlight this year, so so we'll see if the prophecy comes true here. Yeah. Of course, leave it, leave it to Megan to you know, kind of break my my my tension and my my head and my seriousness with that right off the bat, completely unexpected. She laughs, and so that kind of like helps set the tone. Then obviously, she jokingly gives me a hard time during her pre-race meeting because so on the second year when I DNF'd, it rained on us pretty hard in the beginning. And I did not have the required jacket in my pack because I'm like, Crazy Mountain is so hot, I don't need it. Let me just keep it in my drop bags, and then it dumped rain on us, and I got soaked.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Obviously, I'm here talking to you, so I was fine. But then Megan went to make an example of me in the race check-in of like, don't forget your jacket like Danny did. They will and can rain, like, weather changes quickly. Yeah. Of course, there's there's Megan to big sister me and get things going. And that was all before the start of the race and kind of like helped set the perfect tone and feelings before get going for that last redemption tour at crazy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. Yeah, I know we're talking about uh the two times DNF, but what changed in this third time that wasn't physical for you?

SPEAKER_03

I think it was kind of twofold. It was the experience, and with the experience comes like that mental strength of it's one of those things you just don't know until you know. Yeah. And so kind of going through these challenges, and as much as I wanted to give up after each DNF, because I I had just in total in hundred-mile races, I had three DNFs in a row. Yeah. Um, as much as I wanted to quit, just having a good support system around me, just to kind of keep going, and then through that, you know, digging deep and still being foolishness enough or brave enough to continue trying, and then kind of getting a couple of wins under my belt and just getting that experience of like, okay, when I feel this way, here's what I do. Because you can listen to every podcast, you could read every article, you could follow every pro runner, but you don't know until you know. Like, you gotta experience it yourself, and like that's what I was feeling out there, and like, you know, as simple as lows don't last, like you like they will end, and like actually experiencing it finally, because it's something you know everyone talks about, but like until you live it, okay, like that this is this is how it is. Like, yes, that that did end, that wasn't the end of the world, right? And just having that experience, which that experience building up my mental strength, like okay, I have like more tools in my mental tool belt, yeah. Like, I I am equipped to pull this thing.

SPEAKER_01

At what point did you stop trying to prove something and started trusting yourself out there?

SPEAKER_03

I think that probably wasn't until, you know, ironically, I don't think it was until the second Tianway attempt to where probably big sister Phyllis convinced me to not quit. Yeah. She she came to pace me at that race, and like Phyllis being Phyllis, she already knew exactly what I was gonna say before I said it. Yeah, so she made the long drive just to come pace me, and she prepped my crew. He's gonna say these things, he's gonna feel this way, don't listen to him at all. And sure enough, like I come into that section, I was hitting a low, and that's what I was talking about, hitting a low, and yeah, I was gonna snap back. And like I already had my DNF speech planned out in my head of like what I'm gonna tell these guys. And my dad, he ran down the trail aways and met me, and I'm giving him my DNF speech, and then he lets me finish. Like, yeah, no, Phyllis said you're gonna say that. So just no, just go sit in the chair, we got everything ready for you. And I'm like, what? Huh? And then we went out to the trails, and Phyllis gave me that tough love of like, quit whining, like you're fine. Like, this sucks. This is what you signed up for. Like, come on, move faster, you can move faster. Come on, quit. Like, I don't want to keep waiting on you and being like, okay, and then really Phyllis grounding me and at the same time being that big sister voice that I needed in the moment was like, Yeah, okay, yeah, no, like I there's nothing to prove. Like, yeah, okay, no, like this is this is what I'm here for. Like, that was that moment kind of Phyllis flipped that completely because if Phyllis wasn't there, I probably would have ended up DNFing that again and maybe just given up. But Phyllis having lived it long enough and like knowing what I was saying before I was saying it, like to help snap me out of that.

SPEAKER_01

What did those DNFs teach you that finishing could never teach?

SPEAKER_03

Well, that's one of those things, like obviously you can still learn things from a finish, but I feel like you you learned so much just about yourself, whether it's just like the specifics of like racing better, whether it's hydration, training, all that stuff, but then just like mentally, and because it's one of those DNFs, they it sticks with you, like it's almost like you got branded, and like you have to stare at it, and it's like so it just sits with you. Like finishing getting a buckle, it's like cool. I can throw up a picture of my buckle, I can throw up a you know on Strava my race result, and you kind of move on, but that DNF just sticks, it just sits with you, and you just have to live with it. And so, with that, like you're kind of forced to face yourself with a DNF, right? You're kind of forced to be like, Okay, something happened, what was it? And you know, you process it with over time. So, like the first, the first, yeah, the the time I DNF'd Tiano, I was thinking, oh my legs, they just gave out. Yeah, no, it was a smart call. I I could have getting compartmentalization in my muscles, like it could have been really bad, and it could have ended up being rhabdo, yeah, no good call. And then the longer I lived with it, it was like, No, you were reckless at the beginning of the race. You hammered those downhills way too hard. And then you made a mistake early on and just kept compounding on it, like it was within your control, and you made the wrong decision and you had to live with it, right? Versus like if I would have finished the race, it would have been like, cool, chalk up another win, move on to the next one.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. So I quote unquote started the race with you, and I mean, I saw you for maybe a minute, and then I didn't see you at all. But you know, let me uh throw my account in there real quick. So I was at mile 15. Man, I tell you, I wiped out hardcore. And um just the way I fell, I fell on either a root or a rock. Didn't know it at the time, but uh after the x-rays, I ended up cracking a rib. But being at mile 15, I want to say it's what 19 miles to Ibex, which is gonna be the second aid station. So I had to toughen it out for roughly four miles, and all of the runners that were passing me just like nothing, and now I'm out there falling on myself. Anytime there was some space where there was no um nobody around, I was screaming and cussing. Uh, that being said, I did not know that the camera that I had in my pocket was still rolling, so I have like an hour and 20 minutes of just raw footage of people checking on me, me cussing, me on the ground numerous times. But I even got um some behind the scenes of ibex aid station, which is uh really, really awesome. But that being said, I end up trying to get out of Ibex. I got maybe about a mile out, and I was just like, I can't do it. I know it's ahead, you know, I don't want to be a liability because I know I'm not gonna see anything for the next, you know, I don't know, marathon away at at least. And I know how hard that climb is, so nah, I gotta call this. It's I know it's what's best. But that being said, I caught a ride back into the camp. I broke down camp, and then I went and got uh an x-ray. Then I drove all the way back to Browning, which is like five hours away. Woke up the next morning to check the tracker, and on the tracker, it says that you were DNF'd. So I was just like, oh dang it. So I'm trying to call you. It keeps going to voicemail, voicemail, voicemail. So I was like, all right. So me, Phyllis, and Megan were texting amongst each other, and then all of a sudden, well, excuse me, it was me and Phyllis first. And then Megan finally gets service and she jumps in. She goes, No, he's still out there. Well, magically you pop back up on the tracker and like you're not DNF'd. And so I'm looking at my watch, I'm like, oh man, I wonder if I can beat him. So I have a five-hour drive. And I I want to say you had like maybe like 20 miles to go. It's like, I wonder if I could beat him. So me and the girls jumped in the vehicle and we made the drive all the way back down, and we caught you at the the last turn going into the finish. Oh my god, like I swear to God, like I had the girls checking the trackers, like, where's he at? Where's he at? We finally saw you on the road, and man, I was flooring it. If there was a hire patrol there, like, yeah, I wouldn't have I would have definitely wouldn't have saw you finish. But we got to see you on the road at the last, I don't know, maybe it's like the last quarter of a mile. We parked and watched you come in, was there to celebrate with you. And the funny thing about it was my daughter said, You're crying in that the finish photo, one of the finished photos. I'm looking at you crying, but my daughter's like, Are you crying because you're happy? Are you crying? Yes, that one, or are you crying because you have a broke rib? But man, I'll tell you, just that was just simply amazing. Timing couldn't have been perfect, but it really did allow me to sit back and allow my girls to come and witness the atmosphere at Crazy Mountain and everything. And so you being one of the people that they know from the podcast, and they've watched you grow as well, uh, just to see your finish. It was just amazing all the way around and everything. So really, really super happy for you and everything. That being said, what did finishing actually feel like? And was it what you expected?

SPEAKER_03

Man, like uh like when you're recapping, like I'm getting choked up, like reliving it. Like it was it was so so so emotional. You know, I don't know, I can't really describe it because it's one of those things, like you you know this well, and like a handful of others, like Crazy Mountain has been like our top of the top. And to like, you know, especially towards the end of the race, knowing like it's actually gonna happen. Okay, because there's always doubts and like knowing it's just like this this high that I I can't even begin to describe of like getting on that pavement there at the end, knowing like, hey, this is happening, like no matter what. Yeah, and then then it was just so cool, like on the pavement running, and then just I just had this feeling because like cars are going by, you know, everyone's pretty much everyone driving on that road is like somehow touching crazy mountain, some sort of way, they know what's going on, but they're all kind of cheering. Yeah, I just felt this car coming up, and I'm like, something's just different about this car. And I could feel they're slowing down, like, I know this person, I know it, and then turning and seeing you guys, and it's that is like that's forever gonna be one of the highlights of like my my work in real life. Yeah, this undescribable high and then coming in and seeing that finish, and seeing the view of Megan standing on the other side of the finish line there, and yeah, it was it was just everything I think it would be important, like it was just one of the greatest moments of like because we all know what it what it takes to finish that race and for it to like I finally put the puzzle pieces together. Yes, it was just so rewarding and just to have all you guys there and like all you guys know exactly how hard it is so to the highest of all five.

SPEAKER_01

It's like it met all my expectations and they run fan, here's two people who are the time we've watched Daddy's journey unfold over the years. My daughters have followed his story through the podcast and watched him grow as a runner. Here's the unforgettable fish line moment through their eyes.

SPEAKER_00

I'm Pappy, I'm Chris Golden. What I remember whenever you came back home is you were extremely tired, your grumpy pants on. Oh yeah. Um, so we just kind of let you be for a little bit so you could relax after you had your fall. And the next morning, hey girls, do you want to go to the race movie? And we were like, at first I said no. I wanted to go, and so he wouldn't be alone and hurting. It was a long drive. At the end of the drive, dad was going really fast and they were like windy roads. Yeah. And oh my gosh, I was so car sick, and he was like speeding really bad. So Priscilla had said, Dad, you need to slow down. Dad's like, we're almost there, hold on. He kept making me check where Danny was to see where like how far along he was in his like race. I remember passing up so many people, and then dad would always say, like, oh, is that Danny? And we were like, No, this is not. And then I think the final person we came up on was Danny. And when we saw him, I think all of us got really emotional. Yeah, we were all like, Oh my gosh, this is so awesome. Like, it was just like it was different seeing like other people finished a race other than dad. Because like we've seen him finish so many races, yeah. But like people that we don't even know that like we know they've worked hard for because we see how hard dad trains, like, we know that they worked hard just to finish that, and they were finally like accomplishing that. But when Danny came and caught us to finish the race, I think that's where that was like a lot of it's been we all started crying, yeah. We're all just so crowded. Danny crossed the finish crying, but I think all of our things are just feeling like overwhelming and still crowd of the cloud so people are very proud of you for that. I'm proud of you too. And you got this bye, Danny, and good luck on your next race.

SPEAKER_01

I appreciate you sharing that because when you hear your full journey from DNF to coming back and finishing the Crazy Mountain 100, it's not just about races. It's about who you've become as a runner over these past years. And the reason I say that is because now you're not stepping away from challenges anymore. You're actually leaning into something bigger now, right? So you're not just closing a chapter, you're turning the page, and now, if I'm not mistaken, you're stepping into the Oregon Outback 230. Yeah, yeah, that's that's right. That's right. All right. I I'm just so amazed to just see you grow and take on this next challenge. Tell me about this.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so I I've been like 200 plus mile curious for a while now. Yeah, and like been wanting to dip my toes in, but not quite ready. Like, obviously, I I watch the Coca-Dona 250 stream every year and enjoy it. Yeah, and I've been wanting just as the years pass of like, oh, can I, can't I? And then like kind of getting it, like I said, building out that tool belt and accomplishing these hard things, yeah. Of like, okay, I think that day is coming sooner rather than later. And then especially like after Crazy Mountain, like that high was that high, but at the same time, it's like, okay, what next? Like, what that'll never be matched, but like, what can I do next that will give me some sort of like what I'm looking for out of this space? And like I said, being 200 curious, obviously leaning on Phyllis a ton. I mean, she's she's been so great at all these different distances, and she's definitely been planting seeds along the way and trying to encourage me. And I was looking at a couple this year and just wasn't working out timing-wise of like you know, life and everything else. And then when that Oregon Owlback 230 was posted, I'm like, Hey, this is closer to home, that's that's a good time of year. And I'm pretty sure I sent it to Phyllis first, and I was like, What do you think? Yeah, maybe. And she's like, obviously, supportive was like, Go for it. And I'm like, Okay, you know, I think this might be my next big thing because it's not this summer, but next summer. And then yeah, they had that kind of special on registration, and like, okay, that's the the signal I needed. Yeah, I'm jumping all the way in and let's figure this thing out.

SPEAKER_01

Wow, man, you've got to be so stoked for that one. Yeah. Uh, do you have any races between now and then, or are you just gonna start training for that specifically?

SPEAKER_03

So, yeah, I'm going to build out somewhat of a race calendar between now and then. I mean, who knows what it'll look like. This week, this year has been a little funky, but I do have the Rut Trifecta on my calendar for this year. Okay, yeah, definitely. Yeah, so that's the only thing on my calendar right now. I'm looking at maybe some more smaller local races this year. Next year's pretty wide open. Um, but I definitely want to get some some more ultras before that. Perfect world. It would be nice to get a 100k or 100 miler in before that, just to kind of like dust off the cob cobwebs before that race.

SPEAKER_01

I hear you. And the rut will hammer your legs into shape for a little bit. And you're you're doing a trifecta, right?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Oof, good luck, brother. Definitely gonna be watching and cheering for you on that one. Yeah, um, so the uh uh organ outback 230. Is this going to be um the race? Is it about distance or is there a deeper meaning for you on this one?

SPEAKER_03

I think it's just wanting to explore my limits more. Um, it's not necessarily just the distance, it's more or less the challenge and like seeing what I'm capable of, see what I can do, and kind of you learn so much about yourself from these things and kind of wanting to tap into that more and not just get complacent of like, hey, I've done crazy hard things. This is a little different. Let's let's test it out, see what happens.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. After all your races, all of your experiences, everything that you've been through. What does your crew and your support system look like going into the Oregon Outback 230?

SPEAKER_03

So, with that, I'm I'm gonna almost have to revamp everything. Um, I've been lucky enough to have my dad crew me on like pretty much all these hundred miler attempts, and so he's been able to see the worst and see the highlights. Yeah, uh my dad's not getting any younger, and these are tough on him. Um try and make him sleep, um, he's too wired, and I end up worrying more about him than myself when I'm out there. And so I I think I'm I'm letting him kind of soft retirement on crew and me.

SPEAKER_01

I understand.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I know he I know he's gonna be blowing up my phone and tracker, and and if he wants to show up on his own, he's free too, but I just don't want that responsibility weighing him down. Um I want him to be able just to kind of spectate and enjoy it, so I'm gonna have to kind of revamp everything. Phyllis has agreed to become kind of crew/slash pace for the early part of it. Yeah, but this race is the week before Crazy Mountain, I'm guessing, next year.

SPEAKER_01

Okay.

SPEAKER_03

If Megan keeps her calendars kind of similar. So Phyllis is telling me I gotta run fast just so I can finish so she still has enough time to go to crazy next year. I hear you.

SPEAKER_01

Well, trust me, we're a year out. Whatever you need, all you gotta do is ask. All right, so when you picture yourself finishing this race, what do you hope is different about you on the other side?

SPEAKER_03

I hope on the other side of the finish, I am able to give myself more grace and be more patient with myself. That's kind of some things I hope is maybe not a traditional answer, but it's it's very easy in the day-to-day, just in general, to be, you know, expect a lot out of yourself, work, personal life, everything else. Yeah, but that's something I hope through this of having to work through multi-day, multi-night, and kind of being with my own thoughts for even longer, you know, more yeah, more than twice as long as I ever have. I hope I can get to that spot to where I am just kinder to myself, I give myself more grace.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, definitely. From Crazy Mountain and Tianway, the two races that humbled you, to coming back and finishing the very race that once stopped you and now stepping into the Oregon Outback 230, it's definitely not about the miles. It's all about growth. And you're definitely not the same runner that showed up at that first starting line. And I think people just need to understand and they need to hear that. Because every runner out there, whether it's their first mile or their, you know, 15th, 100 mile or that they're doing, we all have moments that just stop us. But what matters is what we do after that. And the way you keep showing up, keep building, keep believing. That says a lot about who you are, not just as a runner, but as a person. Just watching you grow as a runner and then seeing the next big milestone is just gonna be simply amazing to watch you keep growing. Are there any words that you want to give runners that are in their own journey developing their running persona?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so like to kind of give an example, then explain it a little bit more. So that first crazy mountain, I I felt almost like a puppy dog that was looking for a home and was just trying to latch onto Chico here and just follow him through the mountains. And like that's honestly what I felt like as a runner then. Like just so green, so wide-eyed, didn't know what I didn't know. And then to now be where I'm at, of having finished these hard races and being experienced more in tune with you know my mental strengths, weaknesses, physical strengths and weaknesses, and kind of almost trying to also be that that helping hand to others of like kind of goes back to I I've heard this more kind of like in the the business space, the entrepreneur space, but it's like you overestimate what you can do in one year, but underestimate what you can do in three. And I feel like that even rings true here to where I overestimated what I could do in that first year at Crazy Mountain, going from running a road marathon being my farthest distance at the beginning of that year, and then you know, really three years of racing, you know, the third try of Crazy Mountain, and then getting it done without being putting myself in danger, without flirting with cutoff, like how much just growth as the runner I had over that three-year period. And so I just think for other people out there, kind of maybe changing that frame of reference for instead of their race directly in front of you or the running season directly in front of you, looking at it more longer of two, three years out and what you can accomplish.

SPEAKER_01

Right. So amazing to go back. Well, the other day I was listening to your first podcast, and now to hear this one night and day difference. So, man, congratulations on your finish at the Crazy Mountain 100 and uh good luck on the organ outback 230. Man, that's a lot of miles. All right, Danny. So we covered the miles, we covered the mindset, we covered the moments that are going to be in your future. Uh let's flip the script just a little bit and let's talk about community and running events. You were putting on some running events for your local community, and since then, I believe you got your endurance coaching certification as well. How are you tying these all together to help uh the youth and your community?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so that's kind of part of that too, of kind of getting that certification. I mean, obviously just wanting to pour back in the community, but it was almost out of necessity too, trying to build homelands, trying to trying to get something going to there. But I was able to kind of take all that and I think I'm able to do it again this summer. But last summer, um, I was able to do a run camp for the youth year. It was like ages, I think like six to twelve years old. Had a multi-day run camp from a forum. It was so rewarding seeing them just grow over the couple days, and kind of a big thing we're hammering home was especially when it comes to sports, running's not always a punishment. Running running can be fun too, because we're taught in every other sport. Like when you screw up, you're sent to go run. Yeah. And so, like doing that, and then I've had a couple other different community challenges that I've helped do of like um the listeners are familiar with Air Vipa and Jamil, they did the burrito league. Yeah, um be the local legend on a segment. I did that here on the reservation, and then I kind of modified that challenge again last month.

SPEAKER_01

Okay. Hey, can you tell me about the the uh burrito league? I'm really not up to speed on what that's all about. Can you uh fill us in?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, so to to go back to the beginning, it was last year, it was the Chipotle Challenge. Okay, and if you could be the local legend of the segment in your city by the end of January, you would get a year's worth of free Chipotle. Oh wow. They were typically like quarter mile-long segments, like usually on a sidewalk or something in the city. Yeah, and since Jameel Curry down in Tempe got in on it, it started going viral. Him and another runner, Kevin Russ, were having a showdown. All right, and I think they put like 300 to 400 miles on that segment in the month of January. What? Yeah, like he ended up setting up a whole live stream camera, and like it it blew up and went viral. And then so then this coming year he was going to do it again, and Chipotle wasn't doing it. And so he just decided, what if I try and do it on my own, and then partnered with the local Mexican restaurant for the year's worth of like free burritos? And so when you kind of built it up from the ground up and set out a template, and different running communities were creating their own segments, talking to their own local restaurants for prizes and everything else, and it got to the point where especially the bigger ones, they were getting like shoe sponsorships. Oh wow. Um, I think even down in Tempi, like the winners got free entries into Coca-Dona 250. Really? Yeah, like it was it was huge, and yeah, and then they had their own live stream the whole time for like the whole month of January. And then it was really cool because they put it out there to like the burrito league race directors so you can sign up and jump on the live stream. And so then having hosting our own segment out here on the res, I was able to jump onto the live stream, and I was able to time it up when we were having um our anniversary of our tribes establishment. We're having a powwow going on, and our segment was just on the powwow grounds. Yeah, and so I was able to jump on the live stream and show that off. And yeah, it was it was really cool.

SPEAKER_01

That is pretty cool. Hey, going back to the homelands uh, do you use AI at all to help you develop this at all?

SPEAKER_03

Not the actual developing when it comes to like business plan type stuff and like kind of some of that, like I'll kind of run it through, but the actual development, so for better or for worse, I started developing it right before the AI boom, uh-huh where now like AI can do a bunch of coding and stuff and developing for you. Yeah, I started and locked into that contract right before that AI boom. Oh, okay. So there's a bit of me that's like, man, if I this never happens in the business space or like entrepreneurs space, but if I would have sat on my idea for a while, would it have been better than just jumping with AI? But I just look at it as you know, I I think this type of idea, like regardless, I would have needed to work with people, right? And you know, and kind of just having that peace of mind. I everything happens for a reason, it's gonna work out.

SPEAKER_01

But yeah, I definitely agree. Have you ever asked AI to look you up? No, no, I've never done it. So I just looked up. Tell me about Danny Brigman. And here's what it says.

SPEAKER_02

Did it actually grab grab me or nothing?

SPEAKER_01

Yes, you are the Danny Brigman. Danny Brigman is an altar runner, entrepreneur, coach, and spoke hand tribal member who's building the homelands platform. He's trying to merge endurance sports, indigenous identity, community building, and technology into one ecosystem. That is what AI knows of you, sir. Wow, thank you, AI.

SPEAKER_03

I'm blushing. That was flattering.

SPEAKER_01

That's pretty awesome, man. Let's see what it would say about me. It says, You're an ultra runner, a podcast host creator, industrial firefighter, and the founder of the Run True Diaries platform, a project built around highlighting the human side of running instead of the performance side. I think that's pretty accurate. Wait, yours was like it like I was hitting on you. You're just telling me what I do. Oh man, all that is great, man. Hey, real quick, the Coca-Dona 250. Is it 250? That just finished.

SPEAKER_03

Uh, you watch that from like beginning to end, man. I I had it up on one of my monitors at work the whole time. I've I've been been trying to convert everyone in the office of like, you guys, here's what's going on, you gotta follow it. Here's here's what's going on, here's why you need to watch, here's the people. Yeah, no, I oh, I love it.

SPEAKER_01

That's amazing. What'd you think about the uh the finisher? The finishers.

SPEAKER_03

It was it was so good. That's from beginning to end, it's just so much fun to watch. And Rachel Anterkin, she's winning outright and setting the course record outright. She's just amazing. Like you can't help but root for her. She's the nicest person ever. I at the Badger Mountain 50, I was running the 50, she was there running the hundred miler. Yeah, and kick your butt. Oh, yeah, she was I think she was at like mile 60 something before I was even at 50. As we passed, she was already headed back out. She yeah, she kicked everybody's butt. Yeah, like but she does it in such a cool way, and that's what I really like to see is I think through like athletics and everything, everything in our culture has been so male dominant that we're like the Jordan mentality of like always trying to find that edge and you can't be friends. Yeah, and like this just shows you there's a whole alternate path because like there's no one because you know, like what you see too in her interviews, like that's just who she is, and like you know, like Megan's talk to her at Crazy Mountain and stuff, like that's just who she is. Her and Courtney and these other like amazing females, they're able to do it a different way, yeah. It's not like they're any less competitive, it's just we kind of have this male lens on competitive competitiveness. Yeah, and it's just so cool to see that there's this other option out of here, and they're just out kicking ass. Yeah, and from from that, then to all the way through the back of the pack, watching them finish go through just as hard, and then even that last. I'm not sure if you watched, but there was that last finisher. I think he missed the cutoff by like two minutes and he had a bad lean. Yeah, just the community, and like so cool to see at these races where there's more people at the finish line for the golden hour than there is for the people who win the race.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, definitely.

SPEAKER_03

So cool.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I didn't get to see Rachel come in, but I got to see Megan. So Megan is one of my friends. We started running together here in these uh troll racing over Texas races, and she was actually volunteering when I did my first hundred, which was pretty cool. But just like you, to see your running career expand into what it's going into now. I got to do the same thing with her, and so just super excited for her and everything. Of course, excited for everybody, but when you have a personal connection with somebody, it just makes it that much more, you know, cell celebratory and everything.

SPEAKER_03

Oh, yeah, and she had such a good race, and like it was so cool to see for her, not knowing her at all, but listening to all the pre-race shows of like yeah, she wasn't on a lot of people's radar, right? And to see her run her race, like just not get caught up in it, and then like chase people down, yeah. And and it was just so cool to see.

SPEAKER_01

Uh, the last run that we ran together was the Smoky Bear run, I think is what it's called, but it's in New Mexico. Man, she was just lapping me like crazy. And so the only time we got to like stop and like visit was during her walks when that's like actually when she was eating. So I got to catch up with her then, but and then to see her fast forward into now, just light years. So definitely amazing and everything. And again, congratulations to all the uh Coca-Dona 250 runners. Is this gonna be one of your races one day?

SPEAKER_03

I hope so. It's definitely, I mean, well, we'll see how it goes, and then especially I mean, it's through no fault, but Coca-Dona going into a lottery because there's so much interest, we'll see. Because we we know how those lotteries are and how hard they're to get into. So I hope the ship hasn't sailed. Yeah, I'd love to do it one day, but yeah, I've definitely gotta build to it and get ready. And hopefully Phyllis would still be willing to help me at that point because like she's gonna get sick of me leaning on her for all these races.

SPEAKER_01

I hear you, definitely hear you. All right, is there anything else you want to hit up? Go back, revisit before we move into the next section? No, I I think that's that's good. And now it's time for the five to stay alive. These are five questions I ask every guest about themselves. The book keeps them motivated. Contesta Danny, are you ready to enter the five to stay alive? Yes. Here we go. Question number one Do you run with or without music? And if so, what is one song that gets the running bear moving?

SPEAKER_03

Alright, so when I'm on the trails, typically no music, but when I'm doing a workout, or especially these like burrito league type things, I definitely got some music on. One song. So the one now, because if you remember, the one I picked at the first go-around was to my kids. I gotta double back pick my kids and stay current. Show I'm hip with my kids. Yeah, it's how it's done, Hunters from the K-pop demon hunters. We got that soundtrack on a loop, and that's my favorite song.

SPEAKER_01

All right, definitely gonna check that one out. So it's how it's done, right? All right, we're gonna we're gonna check that out after this. Hey, and uh that one's gonna go on a Run True Diaries playlist. Um, also, hey, what kind of headphones do you use when you're out there uh kicking butt on the trails?

SPEAKER_03

Uh, got some aftershocks, that's always my go-to.

SPEAKER_01

I like the bone conducting uh technology they have.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, well, I guess they're shocks now, but yeah, definitely, especially out on the trails, need the open ear to listen for wildlife or anything coming down the trails.

SPEAKER_01

Right. Question number two What is something in your life that has gotten better since you started running?

SPEAKER_03

Man, it's hard to pick one thing because it just feels like everything. Running helps keep such a balance to everything. If I had to pick one thing, maybe instead of physical health, I'd go with my mental health. Um, really helps with my stress relief and kind of just help manage all my life and kind of recenter myself. My mental health has gotten so much better.

SPEAKER_01

That's great. Yeah, definitely a stress reliever. Question number three What is one thing that runners should avoid in their journey to become a better runner?

SPEAKER_03

You it's one of those things you can avoid it, but do your best to kind of push it down. It's self-doubt, it's gonna happen. You can't completely avoid it, but just not letting it consume you and not giving in to that negative self-talk.

SPEAKER_01

Finish this statement. When it comes to long distance running, the running bear cannot leave the house without his my watch.

SPEAKER_03

If it's not on Strava, it doesn't count. Like I gotta there's times I've freaked out, you know, like my watch dies on me, and then I gotta start it on my phone. It's I gotta have the watch and preferably charge.

SPEAKER_01

Definitely. Question number five Do you have a mantra? Something that you tell yourself when things get tough?

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, um, kind of a mantra. I just more or less think what's the story you're gonna end up telling or want to tell your kids when they see you get home? Like, what's that story? Like, is the story gonna be like, hey, their dad quit because I got hard? Or is like the like what what is that story gonna be? Is the story gonna be, hey, no, everything went wrong, but your dad still kept trying and got it done? So that's kind of what I always reflect back to is you know, what story am I gonna go home to tell my kids? And then like have my kids hold me honors because how can I expect them to do these things if I keep quitting on myself?

SPEAKER_01

Hey, that was the five to stay alive. I appreciate you rolling with that. Before we bring this one in, is there anything on your mind that you want to leave the people with, or are there any shout-outs that you want to give?

SPEAKER_03

So, first part first, more or less of like you are the author of your own story, and it's not fully written. So, like, no matter how many DNFs you stack up, or even if you get a win under your belt and then another DNF, like you are in control of the story and control the narrative, and like don't forget that because just like with these Holtras, like the lows don't last forever, but you gotta remind yourself the highs don't last forever either, and realize you're in control of that, you know, one foot in front of the other. And then shout-outs. Obviously, Phyllis has been shout-out a ton already. Megan, big sister Megan, love you so much, and then Eric's stiff arm, he paced me at Crazy Mountain. Eric's amazing. I wouldn't have got it done at Crazy if it wasn't for him. He went through the whole night with me so much, and then obviously, you know, my dad helped me out for years crewing. Like then just our the whole your whole run-shoe diaries community, that community, and then the crazy mountain community, and kind of that overlap, you know, just so much support for someone like me coming into the space and to eventually get it done. I couldn't do it without that one.

SPEAKER_01

Uh man, I definitely appreciate the shout-out. And I know Megan and the Crazy Mountain 100 community appreciates it as well. You know, we're here for you, and um, trust me, we're gonna be here through Oregon Up back 230, my brother. Appreciate it. Yeah, definitely. Hey Danny, thank you for agreeing to come back on the show. Your ability to take a step back and turn it into a foundation for growth is definitely something to be admired. Your willingness to stay consistent and put in the work, keep showing up. It teaches us that progress isn't always allowed, but it is always earned, that the races that challenge us most are often the ones that shape us the most. And on behalf of the running community, I want to thank you for continuing to build, for continuing to show up, and continuing to create space for us all at the starting market. So again, Danny Bear, it is truly an honor to have you back on the show. Hope you have a wonderful day, my brother. And now to you after running turtle. But we just don't know it until we get there. I want to summarize a few points of our conversation that give us a deep insight into his journey. Here's that.

SPEAKER_03

Right? It's actually to look back because that's some crazy guy with a podcast that's uh that's my big brother now who's like, yeah, sure, let Crazy Mountain be your first trip. I was so green I had no idea of anything, and so then Crazy Mountain is like I felt almost like a puppy dog that was looking for a home and was just trying to latch onto a Chico here and just falling through the mountains. And like that's honestly what I felt like as a runner there. Like just so green, so wide-eyed, didn't know what I didn't know. And then to now being where I'm at of having finished these card races and in experience more in tune with you know my mental strengths, weaknesses, physical strengths and weaknesses, and kind of almost trying to also be that that healthy hand to others of like you overestimate what you can do in one year, but underestimate what you could do in three. And I feel like that even rings true here to where I overestimated what I could do in that first year. Yeah. Going from running a road marathon being a farthest distance at the beginning of that year. And then, you know, really three years of racing, you know, the third try of Crazy Mountain and then getting it done without being putting myself in danger, without flirting with cutoffs, like how much just growth as the runner I had over that three-year period. And so I just think for other people out there, maybe changing that frame of reference instead of the race directly in front of you or the running season directly in front of you, looking at it more longer, needs three years out and what you can accomplish.

SPEAKER_01

As runners, we all come from diverse backgrounds, stories, and experiences. Danny's journey is positive, motivating, and habits all rooting for him. From being a green lock puppy in his first hundred months to becoming the running bear, Danny's growth and this space has been amazing, well earned, and a reminder of what's possible it's taken to step to keep showing up and trust the process. We're super proud of you bear. Keep doing your thing, good luck, and you know you have our support in the organ out back to 30. Next, whether you're heading out for a long run, crushing a workout or diving into your next rate, keeping those 50 add duty to product end center, Danny is adding outdone hundreds to the run to diary spottified guest playlist. To keep the momentum rolling, I'm adding all this alright by the Alabama chicks. When the spring to run two diaries spotified guest playlist to 41 tonload and enjoy. And with that, we have lost the finished line. So if you have any questions, comments, concerns, or guest recommendations, contact me at run2.diaries at gmail.com. Again, that is run2.diaries at gmail.com. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at work remote active, but you can also find us on Facebook next daddy to Twitter3 to 22 diaries. Thank you for listening to the 22 diaries podcast episode 27 with daddy32 title next time. Remember that with each depth to 1020 put in one to 20 out of 2010. Which you can do on your own two feet in a mouth.

SPEAKER_00

Congratulations, Danny. Say congratulations, congratulations. We're so proud of you.