Episode #10: Co-host John Stamstad. One of the most pioneering and accomplished ultra-athlete on the planet. Depression...addiction...alcoholism...re-inventing thyself, and trying to be mindful of it all.

Lies Between Us - Roger Ray Bird

There are people who run and/or cycle, and then there are runners and cyclists.

There are runners and cyclists, and then there are racers of those two demanding sports.

There are racers running and cycling who are competitive, and then there are those racers who win.

There are racers who win, and then there are those successful athletes who are desirable by sponsors and news cameras.

There are some of those winning desirable racers who are wired differently, doing shit most people would never attempt.

I am talking about ultra-athletes.

There are ultra-athletes, and then there is John Stamstad.

John and I have known each other for over 25 years and here in episode #10, we both jump straight into the conversation about the huge life issues in each other’s lives that we both share:

Depression, addiction, using athletics to help counter-balance our addictions, twice divorced, parenting through both said divorces, fascination with psychology and how our athletic bodies work, a multitude of major injuries and several brushes with death out there doing adventuring, our love for winter sports, and much more.

John addresses his addictions, his philosophy on remaining realistic with our goal setting, his scariest moments, and much more.

John gets brutally honest and shares details of his life that most people would normally hide from public view, but not John Stamstad.

It is a brutally honest talk with the OG of Adventure Sports. Pioneering sponsorship for adventure sports more than 20 years ago, thousands of athletes and adventurers around the world have John Stamstad to thanks for laying the foundation for some of the paychecks they receive today.

John’s credentials are too numerous to list but here are a few highlights:

Running on foot, John covered the entire 200-mile John Muir Trail which goes through Yosemite, unsupported.

John has twice run the UTMB, an ultramarathon race in Chamonix, France up and around the highest mountain in western Europe.

John ran 100 miles, unsupported, on the White Rim Trail in Utah, pushing a Baby Jogger full of drinking water so he did not end up as a snack for the desert buzzards lurking overhead.

On his bicycle, John’s adventures and accomplishments dwarf his running career:

John rode his mountain bike 3,500-miles off-road across the Australian continent including straight through the famous Aussie Outback, just for the challenge of it; one hell of a challenge.

In 1999, John decided oh what the heck, why not ride his mountain bike the entire length of the Great Divide Trail that follows the Continental Divide from Banff, Canada to the Mexican border in New Mexico. And while that didn’t seem to be enough of a challenge, John decided to set an aggressive goal of how fast he thought he could do it and keep time for the entire 2,500 miles of challenging mountain trails. This Great Divide challenge that John cooked up would lay the groundwork for the duplicated timed ultra-challenge that still thrives today.

And oh yeah, of course, there is the little fact that John in the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame.

For me, this is the holy shit sentence: John has won the Iditasport bike race in Alaska 8 times. Holy hell.

And much more.

This dude John Stamstad, a great man, a fascinating human, and an athlete I consider to be in a class by himself.

The book:
Daddy, Why Were You A Drug Addict?: Winning the War Amid My Angel and Devil Within
by Roger Ray Bird
ISBN 979-8218286651
Available on Amazon for $11
Roger's social directory: HERE