Tosh Show - My Ultrarunner Hero - John Kelly

Episode Date: December 3, 2024

Daniel laces up for a conversation with ultrarunner John Kelly, one of only 20 people to finish the brutal 60-hour, 100+ mile Barkley Marathons race in the event's nearly 40-year history.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hi, I'm David Boren. And I am his dear friend Langston Kerman. And we host My Mama Told Me, a podcast about black conspiracy theories. We just did a spectacular live show with some of your favorite comedians on the planet. David, tell them who was there. We had the Kid Mero, Marie Faustin,

and we had Jaboukie Young White. Some of your favorite comedians playing some of the most offensive and groundbreaking games. So listen to My Mama Told Me on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Chelsea Handler here. This week on the Dear Chelsea podcast, Riley Keough discusses the memoir she co-wrote with her mother, Lisa Marie Presley. But it's also such a gift to be able to sit here and say as an adult woman, I had such a good mother.

Yes. That is a gift. I know. You know, she certainly was not like a, I don't know what a perfect mother is. Well, she wasn't a traditional mother. She wasn't a traditional mother. I am so grateful to have had her as a mother. To have that kind of love.

Fine. Dear Chelsea, on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and my latest interview is with Wiz Khalifa. The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people to either being in a dressing room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself.

He is a multi-planet selling recording artist, mini mogul, and an actor. Which among the one, the only, the only, the only. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Up until the very first year that you finished it in 2017? Yep.

And it started in the mid 80s? Yeah, 86. 86, okay. How many people had finished it in 2017? And it started in the mid 80s? Yeah, 86. 86, okay. How many people had finished it by your first year of running it? 14 had finished. 14 humans had ever finished this race. Tosh Show!

Tosh Show! Tosh Show! For sure! Happy, happy Tuesday! It's your buddy Daniel Tosh Show. Tosh Show for show. Happy happy Tuesday. It's your buddy Daniel Tosh. Welcome to another episode of Tosh Show. I am relieved. Why are you relieved?

Eddie, I done goofed. Uh oh. I done goofed. I'm worried they're going to backtrace me. Now I consider myself to be a top 10 parent. True or false doesn't matter. In my head I'm a top 10 parent. But what I did to my daughter the other day, if someone were to say hey we have to take your child away from you for a week just so you understand how bad what you did was.

I would be like, that seems fair. Wow. Yeah. You ready for this? Yeah, let's hear it. Okay. Every day of my son's life, I walk him to school, but I walk him with his sister. His sister's a year and a half, a little bit older. We get there,

we do a routine, we go to his class, puts his book bag away, we play for about three or four minutes outside, and then we go in, we start on the first project of the day. They let the parents kind of assist, you know, with the first little writing activity. My daughter, sometimes she participates with me. On this day, they were doing a little, one of the classmates was doing a presentation

to start the class, and my daughter was being a little loud. So, I excuse myself with her. We go outside, stand by the window, and watch from outside. Got it? Nice. Okay. You're not ready for this. I don't think I am.

There's a metal bin about table height, you know, just slightly tall. My daughter's a little bit taller than it is. That they put all the balls in from recess. I thought it'd be funny. I put my daughter inside of it. It's right next to the window. I can watch inside and then my daughter starts throwing the balls out and then I pick the balls up. I put them back in. She's laughing. Now we've got a game. Okay. She throws the balls out. I pick them up. I put them in. I go to my phone.

I look at things. I take a photo of her. How cute Let's do it again. Okay, next thing. I know I'm I don't know what I was doing certainly wasn't paying attention She climbs up out of the cage on her waist flips over Heads straight down into concrete. Mmm bites her tongue in half, bleeding, I'm positive, she's concussed, just screaming, the TK teacher assistant, she sees me, she's like, oh, like she saw it.

Yep. Oh no. There's nothing I can do at this point. I'm like, oh no. So I just start running. No, I'm kidding. I pick my daughter up and she's just screaming like, oh, why have you forsaken me, father? You've never let me get hurt. And I'm just like, oh no. And I'm holding her. My wife, I don't know where she was at the time. She just comes running out of the classroom. She's like, oh no, what happened?

I'm like, I just tell the truth. I'm like she was in this thing She climbed got herself up and flipped over land on her head, you know, do we need to go get a cat scan? I don't know what you're supposed to do I don't know how hard you're supposed to hit your head on concrete Turns out she just bit her tongue a little bit not too bad, but she is bleeding but that that's starting to stop But now I'm like, well, I gotta feel her head. You know when a kid hits their head, it knots up really good?

Yeah. Okay, I can't find anything. Nothing. I'm just like, there's nothing wrong with her. She landed on her head, she rolled out of it perfectly. Maybe she hit her shoulder. I didn't actually see the impact. All I know is she's got a nap coming up,

and it's gonna be three hours long. and for those three hours, you know, I'm gonna be, I'm gonna be panic stricken. Right. Her mood snaps back to normal. Her eyes look fine. I'm trying to do concussion protocol. Yeah. I don't know what it is. You know, I'm like, let's go to the blue tent and pop it up the tent. Yeah. Let's, let's's let's see if you can still play she's playing you gotta get her back out there I keep thinking my head she's probably gonna be nauseous or irritable if it's a real concussion she was neither of those anyway she goes down for the nap she sleeps for two and a half hours I keep checking her there's movement her personality seems slightly altered but whatever maybe it's for the better rest of day

She's fine. You know, what are you gonna do? This happens. Yep, you feel so stupid. You do feel bad. God you feel stupid Yeah, how can I let this happen? I never let it happen with my son He never never took a spill under my watch, but my daughter whoo This was a real one. Anyway, I got a new game I wanna play. It's called PETA vs. NON. What do you like better, Eddie, PETA or NON?

I'm going NON. That's how you play. Oh. Give you guys an update about having my wife on the podcast. Now, the negotiations have hit a snag partially because my daughter was dropped on her head. It's okay. Okay, but you know, this year, calendar year 2024, not looking good.

First of the year 2025, I think I can make it happen. I think she'll be over it by then. And I'll be honest with you, my wife on probably not gonna be that interesting anyway You're gonna find out what my nights like every day. It's like yeah, you want to go to bed. Yeah, it's 845 Well, let's do it. No, we have a wonderful relationship. It is riveting So so many fun stories to share Alright, not as fun as today's guest. Today's guest may single-handedly be the most impressive person physically that I've ever

met in my life. Enjoy. Skylight frame is more than just a photo frame. It's the perfect way to keep loved ones close no matter the distance. With Skylight, you can share the joy of a special moment, a silly snapshot, or a treasured memory instantly, making it the perfect present for anyone who values connection and family. Millions of families have fallen in love with their Skylight frame.

It's perfect for parents and grandparents with a simple, user-friendly design. This holiday season, give the gift that keeps on giving memories. Whether it's for grandparents who adore seeing the grandkids' latest antics, or a friend who loves capturing every moment, the Skylight Frame is the perfect gift to bring joy and connection into any home. For a limited time, get 20% off your purchase of a Skylight Frame when you go to ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right.

Save 20% off your Skylight Frame at ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's ca.sky-l-i-g-h-t-f-r-a-m-e dot com slash comedy. Hi, I'm David Borden. And I'm his grandson, Langston Kerman. And we host My Mama Told Me, a podcast about black conspiracy theories. And more importantly, we are here to tell you about a very spectacular live episode we

have coming out. It features some of your favorite comedians in the world. David, tell them who. We got the Kid Mero. We got Marie Faustin. And we have Jaboukie Young White. Truly a phenomenal episode featuring some Kid Merrill, we got Marie Faustin, and we have Jaboukie Young White. Truly a phenomenal episode featuring

some of your favorite comedians playing some of the most offensive and groundbreaking games possible. The audience was amazing. We shot it all in Brooklyn. You're not going to want to miss it. Let's get nasty. So listen to My Mama Told Me on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever

you get your podcast. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and my latest interview is with Wiz Khalifa. The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people to either be in a dress room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself. He is a multi-platinum selling recording artist, mini mogul, and an actor. Which among the one, the only,

which Kaleigh was? Did you feel like a big break was coming? I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working. The gang banging and the drug selling, that's not really for me. But the looking cool, the having girls and making music, I'm like, I like that part of it. How was that experience for you? Losing someone so close to you that you love? I am grateful that I was able to have like the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it.

And it's something that I'm still dealing with. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Posh Show! There's a good chance my guest today ran all the way here from Tennessee. He is one of only a handful of people

in the history of humankind to finish the Barkley Marathons, and he's done it three times. Please welcome to the studio where we sit down in chairs for an hour, like normal people, mild-mannered masochist, I mean, ultramarathoner, John Kelly. Thank you, excited to be here.

Didn't come all the way from Tennessee, but I was tempted to run to the studio here. Oh, man. Where'd you come from? Santa Monica. So, just down the road. Yeah. Santa Monica. I thought he was in Tennessee. You live in Tennessee, don't you? Yeah. Yeah, I'm right there on the North Carolina-Tennessee border. You guys got hammered. We did. On this storm. How did your neck of the woods do? So our house was very fortunate. We lost power and water for a few days. Our road was washed out. But yeah, there are definitely areas that have effectively been wiped off the map. Oh, that's awful. I'm gonna get more into Tennessee. Let's start this with my first question. Okay, do you believe in ghosts, John? I'm ghost agnostic.

Okay. Evidence isn't there. Mm-hmm. Your name is John Kelly. You worked under President Trump. I get that a lot. I get lots of angry messages on social media thinking that I'm that John Kelly, but no, not me.

Were you on the track team in high school? I was. Did track and cross country. I was good, definitely not great. Took about 10 years after That before I started running again. Can you be a great ultra marathoner at 19? Or does it really take? Experience and like I mean you can go till you're 50 right or is that not true? Yeah, the things that I do that the multiple day events there are people still competing at the top end until about 50. Mm-hmm. Some of the shorter events you could certainly do when you're 19 and be

extremely good but the longer things get the more time you have to have to build that aerobic base and to build the experience. What's the longest distance you've ever run? 100 mile? You ever done one of those dumb races? Oh yeah. I focus on the multi-day stuff and so one event I did was about 350. 350 miles? Yeah. I love everything you're saying. And when you average your time out what minute miles are you doing for 350 miles? So that one took about five and a half days but that's including sleep. Probably got about six to eight hours of sleep over that period of time.

So you know in the mountains for that length of time if 20 to 30 minutes a mile is is gonna be pretty solid. You look at Berkeley and it's really all you have to do is move 30 minutes a mile to finish and and you're good. Yeah. Alright let's get into the the Berkeley Marathons because now this I'm gonna I'm gonna ramble on it You correct me when I'm wrong somehow something came into my feed I started reading about this and then I just became fascinated and then I just all I could do was look into this So the Bargley Marathons are a multi-day race of five five day race 60 hours 60 hours.

60 hours. 60 hour race in the mountains of Tennessee and it's basically every day you're running a loop which is basically a marathon. It's a little less than a marathon, yes? 20 miles a day, is that what it is? Or 20 miles a loop? Yeah, he calls it 20 miles. It's more like 26. It's all unmarked. Okay fair enough. It's unmarked, you don't have like a GPS with you or

anything like that. You have to run this crazy race. There's a book that you have to rip a page out that coincides with your number so that to verify that you actually went this. People lose pages. People's books have been occasionally mysteriously lost or misplaced and if you don't get that page it your race doesn't count you don't you're not in the record books as someone who finished it and up until the very first year that you finished it in 2017 yep how many people had finished the race into and it started in the mid 80s? Yeah 86. 86 okay so so you know no one can do that math but how many years was that one 2017? 31. 31 all right so how many people had finished it by that by your first year of running it? 14 had

finished. 14 humans had ever finished this race this is why became fascinating the first person to finish the race was a full decade after the race had been going on, correct? Yeah, and he kinda, everyone thought it was a joke at first. Like, oh, no one can actually do the first five loops. And this Mark Williams came over from the UK and wasn't in on the joke. And he went ahead and went out and did the full five loops.

How many people have finished to this day? Twenty now. And this year, 2024, the first female finished. What did you think of that? Were you upset? No, it was incredible. So I, that was Jasmine Paris, a Brit. I lived in the UK for a few years and got to know her quite well.

And it was, I mean, I don't know that I'll ever see anything in sports like that. Definitely not in person. Everyone had given up. She had no chance. Time was running out and then running into camp and finishing like that with 30 seconds to spare. And if she was 35 seconds, it wouldn't have counted. Nope.

There is- she was 35 seconds, it wouldn't have counted. Nope. 60 hours, she was 30 seconds away from it not counting, finished all five loops. How many women every year do you see in the race? I'd say it's about a quarter. So, you know, eight to 10. They only let 40 people run, right? Yeah, and it's math to try to figure out the number of total loops amongst those 40 people.

And this race was based off of the assassination of MLK, what's his name? James Earl Ray. James Earl Ray, who escaped from prison and was caught 60 hours later and had only made it 12 miles away. Yeah, I think it was less than that, just a few miles, kind of curled up in the fetal position.

And so Gary Cantrell, the race director, kind of said, oh, I could go a hundred miles in that amount of time in those mountains. And that was the genesis of the race. Yeah. By the way, the guy, Gary Cantrell, he's the one that started this race. Is he a runner?

Yeah, yeah. He's quite an accomplished ultra runner back in his day and also a heavy smoker. So there's where you get your mix there. Okay. Has he ever finished the race? Oh, no. No, not even like... Not close. He's done a loop at least. And by the way, does he own this land? No, it's a state park. And has the state ever been like, oh, you can't run on this? Yeah, in the early 2000s, they, the head park ranger effectively tried to shut it down and it took a resolution by the Tennessee State Senate to keep it going. And that's why things are so strict now on kind of protecting the land that we run on, limiting the number of entrants, limiting any sort of spectators. It's not a spectator sport or is it at all? No. Can I come and watch the finish? No because it's in a tiny

park that's really resource and space constrained as it is just with the participants and most of it is off trail out in the wilderness. I just want to see the final leg. Yeah I mean it's... What about cameras? Will he set up cameras ever? He has had a few people on specific spots on course with cameras before and he does have a few media people there each year. Okay. Why I'm so fascinated with you in particular is that you grew up in a neighboring mountain and the odds of that are ridiculous. This is a tiny rural community that, you know, the high schools don't even have track and cross country teams there. No one runs.

The whole idea of running for fun is just a foreign concept to most people there. So it's astronomical odd someone would want to do it, much less be capable of finishing it. He probably has no desire to commercialize the Berkeley Marathons. No, there are no sponsors. The entry fee is still $1.60. And what's that the price of? So originally it was supposed to be one, yeah, one cent per mile with the 100-miler plus

the fun run added together is where it came from. To get in the race, this is all so fascinating. You don't just like, oh, I want to show up for this race. Like it's not like the New York marathon. You have to write an essay. Every year do you have to write an essay or are you grandfathered in now? Yeah, I'm grandfathered in and once you finish

so I don't waste my time or his with a big essay. And does, what is he grading papers? What's, what is he looking for in this essay? He's looking for do you have the motivation and do you have the credentials to actually have a legit shot at this? Well, what if you're like a famous ultra marathoner, but you're like, you don't wanna pick up a pen

and jot a few things down? Well, if you're not motivated enough to do that, you're probably not motivated enough to finish the race. John, I hate everything you're saying and it's a hundred percent accurate. Okay so you write an essay he lets you in the race now the race always takes place in April or May? March or April. March. I tried to research this is just all from memory. You've done good. Again. Much better than a lot of running podcasts. It's just it's just bad shit bonkers what they're doing.

Okay, he lets you know when the race is going to be, how far in advance? A few months. Okay. Yeah. But then when you get there, the start time is TBD. It can be anywhere between midnight and noon, and you're notified an hour ahead of time. Okay, and then when the race starts, he blows a conch shell or something?

That's your one hour warning. That's a one hour warning, and then when he lights a cigarette, start running. Yep. Everyone at the same time or is it staggered? No, it's everyone. It's a small field, so that kind of keeps things spaced out.

Your preferred time to start the race? An hour before first glide, I think for me is perfect because you start off on a climb and on the climbs, you don't really need light very much because you're going slow. So then by the time you start your first descent, you have daylight. Okay, and so you're going through the mountains.

It's not a loop. It's not like a trail that like every, you know, 10th tree is painted red. It's, you have to figure this out. He gives you a watch, like some digital crappy watch. Yeah, it's like a $10 Walmart Timex thing. That's what I wear. I only wear it when I go surfing and then that way I know it's okay the kids about to wake up, time to get home and be a parent. But you have to navigate some new path through the mountains and the elevation that you're going up and down throughout this 60-hour race is the equivalent

to two up and downs of Mount Everest. Yep. Net zero. Zero net elevation change. Net zero. Zero net elevation change. That is ridiculous. So that's the race. Now, the first time you ran it, did you finish? No. I got three loops. Is that considered a fun run? It is. He calls it if you do three loops of fun run. By the way, each loop, first loop one direction, second loop opposite direction, and then who's ever in first place for the fifth and final loop, they get to pick which way they go. Is that an advantage at all?

It is. Generally, clockwise direction is preferred and someone just might be more familiar with a given direction. Have you ever been in the lead for the fifth loop? Yeah. So I chose my direction both of my first two finishes. And this past year, I kind of, I'd already finished twice and I knew both directions pretty well.

So I kind of just told the other people they could pick and I go out whenever. Look at you. Well, I also, you know, I wanted the finish in the other direction. Let's talk about the years you finished, 2017. What was the next one? 2023. Oh, what a huge gap. Yeah. Of failure in between there. Do you consider it failure if you don't finish? I only tried twice in that gap. The first time I was in the lead after two loops and I just quit. I didn't want to do it.

Oh my goodness. I was cursed with knowing what the later loops would bring and realized that I just didn't care enough to go through that. And then 2022, I lost my pages. I had them in a little waist belt and the waist belt came off. I spent hours going up and down a hill looking. And by the time I found them, just not enough time left to keep going. I mean, just horrible depression after that? No, it's fine. And you know, it's like you said, do I consider it failure?

You know, maybe technically, but like those early failures for me and Barkley, like my first year I did three loops, the second I did four, those failures were my quickest path to success. I really jumped in the deep end and had no idea what I was doing that first year. So sure, my goal was to finish, but failing is what led to my eventual finish. Have you won it? Yeah, I won it in 2007.

I was the only finisher in 2017. Was that the most rewarding race of your life? The first finish, all I wanted to do was get there. The second finish I wanted to enjoy it and it was incredible. The final climb goes up a mountain that overlooks my childhood home and it was a beautiful sunset, perfect conditions and I just stopped and enjoyed it for like 20 minutes at the top and that was rewarding. And then this past year getting to see others finish,

Jasmine finish, like that was an experience. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but this has happened, I panicked when you said you stopped and enjoyed it for 20 minutes. People have tried to do like a 20 minute cat nap and then just fall asleep for eight hours. Yeah, that's happened and it's something that I'm always concerned about. I try to follow, if I do do that on the trail, I try to find really uncomfortable spots to do it,

to where I know that my body will wake itself up after a bit of time. I think I read about somebody that tried to fall asleep in like a tire rut that was full of water. That was me. That was you. That was you. Yeah. That was you. Oh, I read about that.

That was, so he put himself in a tire rut, just like what he's saying, because it was like, this is the most uncomfortable place. There's no way I'll sleep for a long time in here. How long did you sleep? It was, you know, 15 minutes, if even that. And that was, so, sorry, this was one of maybe my craziest ultra running story. Wait, wait, wait, there was a family. Yeah. was, so sorry, this was one of maybe my craziest

Ulcer running story. Wait, wait, there was a family. Yeah. Okay, go on. So I laid down, I found this muddy tire track. I'm like, oh, that's perfect. And I laid down, was there for a few minutes, and then I look up and here comes this guy and his wife and his two kids walking up and just without hesitation, I go, oh, hey Kit, how's it going?

And he says, oh, that's a John Kelly nap if I've ever seen one. And I mumble something about Barkley and he just keeps going. And it wasn't until after the race that I was like, wait a second, the probability that someone was out there at that time in this random place, that it happened to be one of my childhood friends

from 20 years ago that I hadn't seen since high school. I immediately recognized him and then he just kept going like everything was fine. So it was, you know what, it didn't happen. I was convinced. I was like, I finally had my first real hallucination because other people have hallucinations like seeing pink unicorns and all sorts of crazy stuff that never happens to me.

I was like I finally had it and then I found him on LinkedIn of all places. I was like hey kid this is gonna sound weird but was this you? And he said yeah yeah it was me. We love going in for hikes out at Frozen Head. I actually saw him. Why did he say the John Kelly nap thing? Because he knew about Barkley. He knew what I had done there. So, you know, because normally I would think if you see someone face down in a muddy tire track

in the woods, you might be concerned. But no, he just kept going. Face down? Yeah, well, you know, I'm a stomach sleeper. Well, sure, I mean, you gotta be uncomfortable. Do do people in the area are they even familiar with this race? Do they know that people throughout the world care about this race that are these elite athletes? They definitely do now and that's been one of the cool things for me is Seeing that knowledge and that pride and it grow over the years that I've done it when I was a kid

My dad kind of knew the crazy people showed up in the woods at the park there once a year, but didn't know much more about it. I mean, there should be a sign going into your city that says you live there. I mean, do people know who you are in town? Like, oh, hometown boy made good or no? A bit, yeah. That's my goal here. My goal here is to get you on a Wheaties box. If anybody should be on a Wheaties box, by the way, Wheaties, an underrated cereal, it tastes pretty good if you dump a lot of sugar on it. What about your diet?

Are you crazy about your diet? No, I'm pretty infamous for my sweet tooth and junk food. So it's- A man after my own heart. Yeah. How do you eat during the race? A lot of it's liquid calories and gels. Some of it is also in a race that length.

You're missing actual meals too. So between loops in particular might have a burger or pizza or whatever. You're missing birthdays. I mean, we're missing meals, days. By the way, has it ever fallen on anything where you're like, it has some pretty serious conflicts with your personal life? That's something that I avoid. And it is a bit of a minefield now as the kids have more activities.

There are only so many weekends per year. Endless activities. It's just non-stop. Every day with these kids a new thing I have to care about. You have four children. Do you like being a dad? Yeah. That's pretty fun huh? That's great. Are you a hands-on father? Yeah. Yeah. All right. I'm not a helicopter parent by any means. No? No. They've gotta learn. Okay, well, I mean sure, but. Gotta have the freedom to screw up. Well right, but you don't wanna get hurt physically.

I mean, you live out there. I mean, not permanently. Okay. That's the best parenting advice ever. You don't wanna get hurt permanently. I love that. When you go for a daily run, do you go distance or do you go time?

Mainly distance, but I don't go as far as everyone assumes I would. I really don't train more than a serious marathon runner would. More than a serious marathoner. That seems like a lot. So you're doing five miles, 10 miles? Yeah. Five. 10-ish.

You ever run on a treadmill? I do. I hate it. You hate it. But I did start doing, I got a bike trainer recently and started doing the Zwift thing with the virtual kind of video game thing. That's fun. You like it? I enjoy that. Yeah.

Can you bring anything on your persons during this race? I mean, other than electronic devices, yeah. I mean, like you can bring some toilet paper if you felt like it. Do people do that? Yeah. How many times do you go to the bathroom? And when I say go to the bathroom, I'm not talking about urine during this two and a half days.

This time, probably a couple of times, it's one of the secrets of my first finish, it was zero, none. The zero poop run. Yeah. You held it the whole two and a half days. I just didn't need it. I guess I was mostly on liquid calories and it never had the urge.

And then what do you do? Do you just go? Yeah, find a nice spot in the woods somewhere or hold it for between loops when you can actually have the luxury of a nice bath house and toilet. The year that you quit, stopped, whatever, after two laps, because you knew what was gonna come ahead.

Talk about the things that come ahead, your mind playing tricks on you. Yeah, the worst for me, everyone kinda has their own strengths and weaknesses, and the worst for me is dealing with sleep deprivation. Like some people hallucinate, some people just can't think straight. I will straight up, you know,

I'll fall asleep on my feet and go down harder than the bad guy in a Rocky movie. I just cannot stay awake. And so that's the point for where for me it still gets pretty miserable. So how long do you get to sleep after each loop? Generally none. This past year, I was the only one of the finishers that swept and I went back to my campsite between loops four and five and swept for like 20 minutes and that let people get out in the directions they wanted to go and then I was on my way. Two and a half days and you had a 20 minute nap.

Yeah. I mean do you realize what we're talking about here guys? You understand why I was so passionate about this? Yeah. This is just nuts. I can't make it past lunch without needing an hour nap and then I need one hour to recover. But have you ever really tried? To not nap? Have you ever had that motivation to just see if you could push through it? Well not running. I think you could do it. What are

you talking? No, I'm not cut out for this. I don't like running. Every step is awful. That's fine. And, you know, but any of these things you build up to and, you know, starting running, if you told me I was going to finish Barkley or do half the things I've done, I would have said you were absolutely nuts and crazy. I've ran about four times this year because I was like, oh, I need to lose some weight and you can't cheat running.

So I'm like, I'll just start running. Every day that I ran, I spent the next three weeks just telling everybody that I went running. But again, I think you could do a lot more than you think you could. Maybe you couldn't build up to finishing. I'll never build up to dunking a basketball or running a 10 second 100 meter dash.

Have you seen that current dunk champion? It's this short white kid. That's true. And he out of Philly can just fly. I can't even palm my kids like toy basketballs. So it's not happening. But you know, I could do better than I think I could. And you know, maybe you could do a loop at Barkley.

Who knows? Well, I would, but the problem is I won't be able to get in. My strong suit would be the essay. I probably could pull that part off, but I just want him to know that I only want to try one lap and that's be able to get in. My strong suit would be the essay. I probably could pull that part off. But I just want him to know that I only want to try one lap and that's not gonna interest him. He's not gonna be, well, you're not taking this seriously. So there's people that try to get in every year

as the Virgin Sacrifice, the number one bib. But you know, those are people that are still serious runners but just have no chance. And he kind of, no one has ever gotten in by volunteering to be that person. Yeah. It's not gonna, I'm not, I mean,

no part of me would take it seriously. How easy is it to get lost on these races? Like, how do you figure out where you have to go? Most races you do actually have a GPS and a route that you loaded into your watch or your phone. The Barclay you do not. You just have a map and compass. But also at Barclay it's in a fairly confined area, so if you wander off in the same direction too much, you're gonna hit a road at some point.

And people have certainly done that and had to kind of hitchhike back to the start finish. Can you cheat and get to the book a shorter way? They are laid out to where the course is pretty much self-penalizing. Like if you don't go the correct way, you're losing time from it. Now, as far as if you can kind of do the books in a different order and get a shortcut that way, it is theoretically possible, but it's pretty well self-policed out there because people are going to notice, like, hey, how did you get ahead of me? And you guys are so, you care so much.

It's like, why, who are you cheating? You know, that's my instinct is like, how do you cheat to finish this? Do you ever practice there actually at that mountain off season? So you're actually not allowed to go off trail at the park other than during the race. What a strict park. Well, part of it's to protect some kind of some native species that are growing there. I get why you're supposed to. Prevent poachers from coming in.

And there's also open mine shafts from like decades ago that you could just fall into. But there is an on trail 20 mile loop around the park that you can go run. Do you ever run that one? Oh yeah, all the time. Is the terrain capable of continuing to get hard enough? Yeah.

They could change things and make things way worse? Yeah, it's definitely gotten to the point where it's converging on what is really possible. I mean, if there are other huge improvements in gear. I mean, what other gear besides shoes? That's one of the things I love about the race is the course keeps getting harder to try to keep it right at that edge where like 1% can finish. And a lot of that is in response to gear improvements over the years.

In road running, we have this big debate about super shoes. If super shoes were a thing at Berkeley, the course would just get harder. And that would solve that problem. Back when this race started, the course was easier, but people were seriously out with carbide mining lamps on their head because their other choice was those giant mag lights with the four D cell batteries

that would last for like five minutes. We now have running vests, great shoes, LED headlamps, running nutrition, training and knowledge is good. So I don't know how many were hitting diminishing returns on that. You might be able to get a shirt that changes temperature to keep your body the same temperature at all times Maybe that but you know again he can start coming from the other direction and eliminating some of that stuff like there's no GPS You can't listen to music. There's no altimeters. So you like to listen to music when you run I don't it's kind of like my one time of day when I don't have to think about anything and I can kind of just

Let my mind wander on whatever. Supposed to listen to your body? Yeah. That's what people say. Or nature. Take in nature. Do every year do you have a talk with your wife like hey I'm gonna I'm gonna race it this year or do you does she just know that you probably will? Now it's it's pretty much a default. After that first year like that first year was gonna be a one-and-done sort of like my first marathon. Okay. So year was gonna be a one and done, sort of like my first marathon. And so that was a conversation going into the second year. But at this point, the way I approach it has changed a lot.

I know how to train efficiently to where it's not a disruption and it's not this obsessive, unhealthy, all consuming thing. It's really just going out and having fun in the woods with my friends. But you have a job. Like you're not, it's not like, you're like one of the best in the world,

if not the best, you're in the conversation, right? Is that fair? Within a tiny niche, within a niche, you know, ultra running as a whole, no, definitely not. Okay, but with elevation? Type of race like Barkley. People would say, I don't know if they would say this, because it's so niche that it's like,

well, if more people knew about this and cared about it and there was money into it, then there would be these athletes that could do it. But I feel like the only the people that can do this, do this already. I don't think it's not like LeBron James could be like, oh, I'll do this. He would die.

Yeah, there are certainly some people out there that I would love to see do it whenever they have the desire. Just so they feel it? Yeah, well to see what they could do. But you know, a big piece of this is having to have that desire and that little bit of crazy in your head to go after it. And if they don't have that, then no, they're not going to finish. Do you genuinely enjoy these races?

I do now. And, you know, Barkley, like, I kind of had this where I was over focused and obsessed with it and then dropped off to where now I just didn't care enough. And now it's just this, I genuinely enjoy doing it, even in the moment, other than when I'm trying to stay awake and I have no stress, I have no pressure of trying to finish. It's just an adventure out in the woods.

Do you feel like you've accomplished like amazing things? Yeah, yeah, I've done pretty well, you know, but that's not to say I don't still have goals. And that's one thing that the first time I finished Berkeley I was kind of like, well, what do I do now? I never want to get to that spot where I'm like I've done done good things nothing left to do That's literally my goal in life is to get to a place where my I'm done I mean getting there with my job and getting there financially would be fantastic that that's what that's where you got hosed

You were cursed with being amazing at something that a lot of people don't care about. That's a rough one. Of this type of race, is this the one that people care the most about? How many are there throughout the world? Barclay is pretty unique. It's definitely a niche within the niche of ultra running. There are other multi-day events, like Tour deegion is one that I've done quite a bit, which is in Italy, and I haven't been successful at it yet.

It is one of the more well-known ones. At what age will you stop doing ultra marathons and go back to regular old marathons like some pussy? Well, I mean the thing is the longer it gets, the more well-suited it is for old age. So if anything, it might go the opposite direction. What about the joints and the knees? Everything on your body good? Yeah, they're good. And I think that's kind of my biggest superpower as an ultra runner is I've managed to not

have any major injuries the whole time I've been doing it. I fell off a ladder six weeks before Barkley last year and went in and did it. I just haven't had anything that's kept me side-lined for a while. Eddie fell off a step stool, can't do anything for four months. You know, if you catch things wrong, it can happen. I was fortunate. I bruised my ribs and broke my wrist. How high up were you? I was about 20 feet. Oh, 20 feet. You hear that, Stepstool?

You couldn't drown in a shower. He was face planted on asphalt. He was up 20 feet on asphalt, ran the Barkley Marathon, six weeks later. Unbelievable. He's way lighter than me. Yeah. Yeah, just kind of bounced. He bounced. He bounced.

Everybody that's on the show, I give them gifts, but it's all, you know, just so you know, it's just stuff around my house that I don't want anymore. These companies had been sending me a bunch of socks. I didn't like them, but I feel like they're probably not good, there's some bombas in there, there's some element. Okay.

I just wanted you to have some fresh socks for your toes. Well, thank you. That's handy. The other day, a person was was just throw it on the floor Was on the show and I gave them Old Tosh point Oh merch I was like get rid of this then I found another box of Tosh point Oh merch in my garage. I'm like son of a bitch So now you need extra t-shirts for running and stuff like that. There might be sweatshirts in here I don't who, who knows?

You wear a new shirt, then you send it to Goodwill. My wife and I used to love the show back when I was in grad school. There you go. Now you're gonna want all those shirts. I can't stop giving you stuff. This, these are fun. These are for your kids.

Since you have twins, you always have to have two of everything. Okay. These things are like electric boards They go so fast now the joke with these I got a cup. I always get to It's gonna be interesting. I get getting back on that. I'll ship everything Okay, I always think it's funny. My brother has twins. I always think it's funny to Order him things and just have it sent to his house. And then he just calls me furious.

He's like, what did you buy? What are these things? They're dangerous, they're too fast. But anyway, he, last time he came, thought it was funny, threw them back in my garage. And I'm like, oh, well played, buddy. But now I'm like, won't your kids like these? They're barely used.

We got chargers, they're heavy. Yeah, I got real batteries in there. You're gonna have trouble with those. kids will like these. They're barely used. We got chargers. They're heavy. Yeah, they got real batteries in there. You're gonna have trouble with those. You'll like them. Thank you for getting that off the table. I also got your kids, I always have these Tosh.0, not Tosh.0, these are from tours, stand-up tours. Oh, wow.

Skateboards. Just because I want your kids, I wanna make sure your kids get into something that's cooler than running. There is a skate park right below our house. Great! They got, give them some skateboards. I want your kids I want to make sure your kids get into something that's cooler than running there There is a skate park right below our house Give them some skateboards. This is the perfect kind of thing where they can get hurt, but not permanently right well You can get permanently hurt on a skateboard, but whatever those things are probably not even good skateboards

But at least they can have fun with that was that up cuz cuz I was aware of Oh, no What is it what you do here? What is this? They can have fun with that. Was that it? Cause I was aware of a... Oh no. What is this? Of what you do here. What is this? So... Hold on, what is this bag? I brought my own hand-me-downs. But what kind of bag is this?

Is this a running bag? It is. It's a running vest, but they're kind of like Santa's... Do you run with those weights ever? No. When I see people walking around my neighborhood with that, I'm like, just walk longer.

No, I've never done that. One of my friends put one on his dog, like to burn off energy, and the vet's like, hey, you're killing your dog's hips. So, you know, my own set of hand-me-downs here. Oh, look at you, tit for tat, here we go. Got my own Italian designer Running shirts here, uh-huh

How you know I you're probably taller than me so I'm definitely gonna work But it matter I like I like jogging in the mid drift the things that you can fit in these bags I got you know for your kids here. What is this? Got Eevee. Oh, is this a Pokemon? Yeah. My son is into it. Got a dress for your daughter. I'll take it.

Look at this dress. You watch, you watch, I'll send you a photo of her in this immediately. That's adorable. Here's the bet. I actually. Look at you. I didn't even know this was in here.

This is a- I don't want whatever that is. Limited edition, just hold onto it and, you know this was in here. This is I don't want whatever that is limited edition. Just hold on to it and Sell it on eBay in a few years. What is it? That's that's some of the liquid nutrition for running so disgusting mint I got a taste this just just kind of you mind if I taste this it's a powder So you gotta mix it into your drink? Yeah, I was just gonna pour it But I don't even know that into your drink. Yeah. I was just gonna pour it out. No, that wouldn't end well. Suck down that powder. I don't even know that. Coughing.

So you mix this into your drink and then that's your meal for the night? Yeah, yeah. That's probably half my calories while I'm doing these things. You want me to get this off my desk? No, that's fine. I don't know if we fully,

so the pages. So there are books along the course and you have to rip out your page from each book to prove that you followed the course. What's your page? So you have a bib number for each loop. And so whatever your bib number is, you have to rip out that number page from the book to prove that you followed the course.

And so here is your very own page from an actual Berkeley book in 2019, the year that I gave up. Thought you would appreciate that year. Luke 2. You know, I actually, this is probably my second favorite gift that I've ever received on this show. First, it was a hat that I liked. What's his name? That's fair. But but this this right here

Have he has he ever? Is there any significance in the in what book he puts out there every year usually anywhere from 12 to 15 books per loop and they all have Sort of mocking titles like this one. I think is lost souls and you know, you'll have all sorts of them that kind of Poke fun at the people out there. I mean the the the importance of Page 67 to you or were you 68? I was six. It's all odd numbers There are only odd number bibs because if you had someone that was 67 and another person that was 68 you could could still, you could space them out.

It was only 40 people. Well, yeah. Well, but multiply times each loop. So generally, you know, my final. Oh, they're not putting different books out for each loop. No, so like, you know, your bib one, your loop one bib might be 37

and then your loop two bib like 79. And why can some people, one loop, everybody finds the book and then loop four, nobody like 79. And why can some people, one loop everybody finds the book and then loop four, nobody can find the book's missing? Has that happened or no? There have been a couple times where you have books gone missing, but most of the time it's just by that point in time,

your mind is not thinking very clearly. You might be going in the opposite. No, you can have this too. I don't want. I think I. Has it been used? Yeah, it might be going in the opposite. No, you can have this too. I don't want. I think I- Has it been used? Yeah, it has, but I washed it. It's been washed.

Have you drank out of this? Those have been washed as well. So, you know- Oh, this is disgusting. Man, there's no world where I'm putting my mouth on that ever. I'd rather just dehydrate. Has he ever used the Bible? No, no, not to my knowledge. None of the years that I've done it.

I bet you there'd be people like, you know, just boycotting the race. They're like, you can't rip these pages out. And the importance that you were just, that right there. Isn't that silly? How much has he changed the race from the very first time he had it to what it is now? You know, things, the book, the odd pages. That was from the year one? Yeah, that's all there from the beginning. Did you ever read this page? No, I haven't. It's kind of like a little romance novel of sorts.

There's some kissing going on in this page with Christie. Do you get anything at the end? Do they give you anything? You get a ribbon? So the joke is that the award for finishing is that you don't have to do another loop, which, you know, it's nice in the moment. There's no plaques, there's nothing, is your name?

No, I made my own plaque. I took all, the first finish I had, I took all of my pages and made kind of a little picture frame collage of all the pages. After the race, do you guys all go out to, you know, a restaurant together, a party? Does he throw a barbecue for everybody? No, we oftentimes will pick a local restaurant

and go there for dinner or breakfast, some of us, but no, pretty much Gary included is kind of exhausted. And he's old and smoking the whole time and not sleeping. And so yeah, he's done. And how quick after a race do you catch yourself in normal life where you're like, you know, you're playing with your kid or you're doing something that you don't wanna be doing with them.

And you're like, you know what I was doing a day and a half ago? Or is that like, or do you give yourself a week to decompress? Yeah, I mean, that's the other thing. I've basically just put my life on pause for a few days. So I have to try to catch back up on things with work and family and everything else that's going on.

So there's not a big kind of just crash and do nothing for a week like people might think. Right, like it's not like winning the NBA championship where like, oh, okay, now I get to take a month off and just lay in Italy. I do have a week where, you know, there's no running and I eat absolutely everything, which I love, but. And do you enjoy a week of not running?

Yeah, I do. Yes, I do. You could enjoy that every week. I've never understood people going into these races. You have a taper generally where you decrease your training right before the race. So you go unrested and a lot of people hate the taper. And I'm always just like, wow, this is, this is awesome. You know, I enjoy having that bit of downtime and bit of rest and relaxation.

I'd like, I mean, I'm just letting you know, you could extend that. Instead of a week, you could make it, you know, I don't know, a lifetime. You gotta have the balance. Oh, well, John, thank you very much for taking some time out and sitting down. You know, good luck to you. Thanks very much.

Appreciate it. I enjoyed it. Thank you. Skylight frame is more than just a photo frame. It's the perfect way to keep loved ones close, no matter the distance. With Skylight, you can share the joy of a special moment, a silly snapshot, or a treasured memory instantly, making it the perfect present for anyone

who values connection and family. Millions of families have fallen in love with their Skylight Frame. It's perfect for parents and grandparents with a simple user-friendly design. This holiday season, give the gift that keeps on giving memories. Whether it's for grandparents who adore seeing the grandkids' latest antics or a friend who loves capturing every moment, the Skylight Frame is the perfect gift to bring joy and connection into any home. For a limited time, get 20% off your purchase of a Skylight Frame

when you go to ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's right, save 20% off your Skylight Frame at ca.skylightframe.com slash comedy. That's c-a-dot-s-k-y-l-i-g-h-t-f-r-a-m-e dot com slash comedy. Hi, I'm David Boren. And I'm his grandson Langston Kerman. And we host My Mama Told Me, a podcast about black conspiracy theories. And more importantly, we are here to tell you about a very spectacular live episode we have coming out.

It features some of your favorite comedians in the world. David, tell them who. We got the Kid Merrill. We got Marie Faustin and we have Jaboukie Young White. Truly a phenomenal episode featuring some of your favorite comedians playing some of the most offensive and groundbreaking games possible. The audience was amazing. We shot it all in Brooklyn. You're not going to want to miss it. Let's get nasty. So listen to My Mama Told Me on iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty and my latest interview is with Wiz Khalifa. The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people

to either being in a dress room, being in a plane, or being back in a bed all by myself. He is a multi-planetary recording artist, mini mogul, and an actor. Which among the one, the only, Wiz Khalifa! Did you feel like a big break was coming? I didn't know what that big break looked or felt like, but I knew that what I was doing was working.

The gang banging and the drug selling, that's not really for me. But the looking cool, the having girls, and making music, I'm like, I like that part of it. How was that experience for you? Losing someone so close to you that you love? I am grateful that I was able to have the last moments that I had and to be able to prepare for it. It was something that I'm still dealing with.

Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Pausho! What did you think of that, Carl? John, it's impressive. Now hey, I want to say something. I thought this was a funny bit on the show where I give stuff away, but now too many guests are bringing me things and I needed to stop. Now John, I want to say that giving me that page that I love. The other stuff, I don't want it.

I don't want other guests to be like, oh, he brought, I watched this, he brought something. I don't want your stuff, guys. Do you take my shit? It just defeats the entire purpose. The best gift you could ever give me is nothing at all. I don't want to hold anything. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to respond anything. I don't want to look at it. I don't want to respond.

Just stop. Thank you, but no thank you. All right, let's do some plugs. Carl, where did you go? Come on, man. We're still doing a show. You only have to do the last act of every episode and you act like I'm torturing you. Show some enthusiasm. There you go. Let's go. Let's do this right. All right. Let's do the plugs. Boyswearpink.com. Toshshostore.com.

There you go. Put your head right back down. Eddie Gosling.com. Check out his tour dates. Hey Eddie, I heard you're gonna work in a Key West coming up. Yeah, Key West, second or third week of January. Oh, look at that.

I love the Keys. Never been been you've never been to the Keys No, man, you're gonna fly into Key West. I guess so Where would I get I mean maybe my a lot of people flying to Miami and do the drive But then they realize oh shit that drives two and a half hours. Oh, yeah, then maybe I gotta figure that out Do you also swim in from Cuba? Huh? I'll fly into Cuba and then swim across Yeah, I like that that that's kind of the cool way to get in. Anyway, Huh. Yeah, I'll fly into Cuba and then swim across. Yeah. I like that. That's kind of the cool way to get in. Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh, and then our tour.

And check out our tour. Oh, danieltosh.com. Okay, best part of the show. Free plug. What struggling business? What mom and pop company or fundraiser are we gonna help out this week? I love that music by the way this week's free plug is for Taylor Swift She's performing in Vancouver, Canada at BC place December 6 through the 8th As the final show of the heirs tour tickets are still available starting as low as $1,500. Is that US? Yes. That's US. $1,500. That's before fees. You're looking closer to 1900. That said, and I don't know this to be true, they are by no means a sponsor of this free plug, full disclosure,

but you might still be able to use our seat geek code. I don't know. I don't know if that's still a thing, but doesn't matter. Hey, full price. It's just a good show. Taylor Swift, the heiress tour. Is there somebody opening for her? Is that Gracie Abrams opening for her? She is.

She is great. She's wonderful. Little Nepo baby, right? Yeah, that's all right. And she was taught by my kid's music teacher. Music? That's interesting. It all ties together, guys.

I think that does it, Carl. Until next week. I'm the captain now. It's like. Hi, I'm David Boren. And I am his dear friend Langston Kerman. And we host My Mama Told Me, a podcast about black conspiracy theories. We just did a spectacular live show with some of your favorite comedians on the planet. David, tell them who was there. We had the Kid Mero, Marie Faustin, and we had Jaboukie Young White.

Some of your favorite comedians playing some of the most offensive and groundbreaking games. So listen to My Mama Told Me on iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Jay Shetty, and my latest interview is with Wiz Khalifa. The craziest part of my life, I can go from performing in front of 40,000 people to either

be in a dressing room, being in a plane or being back in a bed all by myself. He is a multi-planetary recording artist, mini mogul and an actor. Which among the one, the only, Wiz Khalifa. Listen to On Purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Chelsea Handler here. This week on the Dear Chelsea podcast, Riley Keough discusses the memoir she co-wrote with her mother, Lisa Marie Presley.

But it's also such a gift to be able to sit here and say as an adult woman, I had such a good mother. Yes. That is a gift. I know. You know, she certainly was not like a, I don't know what a perfect mother is. Well, she wasn't a good mother. Yes. That is a gift. I know. She certainly was not like a, I don't know what a perfect mother is. Well, she wasn't a traditional mother. She wasn't a traditional mother.

I am so grateful to have had her as a mother. To have that kind of love. Yeah. Find Dear Chelsea on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.