Glad to see Jamil moving a bit better. The Chipotle challenge was so much fun to follow!

fantastic news, Corrine! Way to go!

very interesting hearing Corrine talk about her new path forward w/ Hoka

Congratulations Corrine on being a part of the HOKA team!

Skylers picks, LFGGGG!!! GOT ME HYPE! ABBY! TIM! We are here!

#betonhans

Yes to organic courses! I haaaaate the idea that a course *must* be a defined distance, especially when adding or removing miles detracts from the experience for runners. Let it flow, distance be damned!

Obviously no cheat. Great podcast.

You guys talk so fast like you are on Adderal! 😂Strange

what kind of climate action are we talking about?

Can’t carry the boats on a rest day

Such a heartbreaking interview, thank you Dylan for letting Stian explain the whole case and giving him a chance to express himself in a long format and in a supportive environment. As a fan of the sport I follow Stian for quite a long time and could not believe he was a cheater and profoundly believe him. Doping authorities should do much better to protect clean athletes even if at the same time they sometimes have to cope with experts in cheating. I deeply hope the community will be in Stian's corner for his comeback, I also hope he will get sponsors back. I will be very happy to see him tow a start line soon and hope to be able to cheer for Stian in person in the future. Dylan you got me emotional with this one, as always you're doing a great job keep it up in beautifully voicing our sport!

Nose strip, of course

Beer is the perfect fuel for running

Interesting to hear the many mishaps from the anti-doping agency in this case... I'm sorry about Stian. It doesn't make any sense to use a long half life diuretic to mask PEDs which VERY STRONGLY supports his claim of accidental exposure. Not an expert myself obviously, but it seems to defeat the purpose and you'd probably go with short half life ones and/or if you know what diuretic to take, you'd use a protocol that would put you in the clear by testing time. So beyond his good reputation, it just doesn't add up. Truth is, anti-doping is very weak and underfund in trail running. And without in-training random control, you'd think it'd be relatively trivial to dope but still test negative. Not saying this about Stian, just more broadly. Which means that in those controls, you are likely NOT finding people who are doping deliberately, but will end up with false positive (or accidental exposure). Which goes to the 40% accidental exposure claim. The one part that makes me feels super uncomfortable is how it seems sponsors were very quick to find "a solution" / excuse using the pregnancy and fake doctor prescription. Makes you wonder how common this is... ps: the personal fridge thing is so weird. Aren't these anti-tampers vials? I would assume so,...but then again, I would have assumed samples to be shipped immediately after collection.

How do you guys know all this stuff?

Dybo what a shame man... You didn't even try to confront him at some point. There was a diuretic found in his samples, the guy is a cheater. End of story... He took his suspension, can't present him as a victim! I know you want more views on your podcast to get more sponsorships but i mean come on

Great show guys, your takes on the important news on the sport are greatly appreciated and help us keep up with the stories that'll shape up the season. 27:38 did Corrine call Aroa Sío "Arroyo"? 😭 Getting Vietnam flashbacks from the Trail Society pod (IIRC) post UTMB on the pronunciation of Martyna Młynarczyk and Rosanna Buchauer surnames. Nobody's asking for perfect multilingual skills, but I believe trying to get names in the ballpark of correct is important for athlete recognition.

This was a great conversation. I feel deeply for Stian and his family , its a nightmare of a situation. I hope everything resolves and Stian can get back to his running and a happy life with his family. I think it's very sad that sponsors don't have the balls to stick with their athletes in situations like this.

Not a lot of push back Dylan pretty pro Stian stance, without any critical questioning. Pretty much free pass for Stian it feels from you.

I really hope Stian is able to not only return to the sport he loves but excel once again. Praying sponsors will pick him up again!

Yes! Thank you, Freetrail, for covering this story about Stian. This story is heartbreaking.

I’m super stoked for the next few months! Fingers crossed for no snow delays at Black Canyon this year! 🤞 Good luck Dylan and Corrine on your race seasons this year! 🙌

Im from the uk and asics seems like a massive brand, especially in road running, but moving into trail. On Running, not that big. Do you think the Arc being UTMB-efied , arguably a slightly different style of support etc, helped with the course records? or it being UTMB attracting better runners?

Whats more worrying is that basically UTMB aid stations are not safe to use.

Need the hat that D-bo is rocking like yesterday

Great show. How is this current events without covering the burrito bowl showdown going down in AZ??

Wishing Stian and his family all the very best after this saga can be put behind them. The toll this has had; financially, emotionally, physically, mentally, it's so so cruel. Thank you for giving Stian the opportunity to share his side of the story Dylan.

This is such an important Podcast. Stian you're so brave and so courageous. I hope you figure this out.

Yay more news!! My understanding is that urine DNA testing isn’t always very reliable and relies heavily on how the urine is stored and the timeframe of the testing. But with ultra racing, given the amount of muscle breakdown and likelihood of more blood in the urine it might be actually better than in the normal population. Seems crazy that they would say no. ASICS are solid shoes, super popular in Australia, and the trail shoes are on the improve for sure, but Tom taking it off at rhe finish line was super weird for me. It wasn’t as weird at states with the speed ultra because everyone knew how much he contributed to the making of it. This felt odd but so excited to see what this pairing comes up with.

I have so much respect and admiration for Stian. He has demonstrated so much courage in speaking so openly with you, Dylan, about this horrendous experience. I wish Stian and his girlfriend and their two children all the best. My confidence in the French anti-doping agency and WADA is severely diminished after watching this episode.

In the meantime you surely have seen the lovely finish line shots with Elsey and her family. That was sweet.

Love this!! thanks you guys for another stellar update chat!!

We need some Burrito Bowl coverage (local legend battle in tempe AZ)

Agree testing the dna should be part of the system. Why not make a good process better? What’s the downside for the testing agency? Protect the innocent athletes and make sure you’re penalizing the guilty ones.

Rest Day! Love this concept 🙌🏼

Maybe aid station integrity/recording can be delegated. One person at each aid station (or shifts for later aid stations with longer time windows) to write down everything available and where it's from. Bananas? At least we can know that they were bought at Ralph's on the Thu before the race. I understand race org might not want to take on both the work but also the responsibility. And this exposes one reason why anti-doping is going to be so much harder for ultras, where you do have bananas and home-made rice balls on course. But maybe also (and this has to be up to the athletes as well) some designation of on course supplies- we have the batch numbers for these Gu packets. We can't confirm that these home-made rice balls are only NSF certified ingredients.

love this. keep them coming. For info: Elsy's wife surprise welcomed her on the finish line with their little boy Victor. Beautiful! Great running by Sarah Alonso and Amanda Basham (of the more well known women), Dutch Noor van der Veen won the 100. And for your next show: amazing world record by Sophie of She Races for most distance run in 48hrs on a treadmill. Filed under Euronews and Hereforthewomensrace.

Cool that Tom Evans signed with Asics. The Asics Trabuco Max is my fave trail shoe.

All medical or similar laboratory tests (e.g. food control for pesticide residues) are carried out strictly according to the described analysis protocols, from sample collection to interpretation of the results. This is called "method validation". No method validation protocol will have a clause that "the sample can be stored in a private refrigerator for X time". Elementary laboratory logic says that the sample should have been sealed and transported to the official laboratory immediately, while being stored at a specified temperature (e.g. in a cooler). And already in the laboratory it can be stored in the refrigerator for X time, because the temperatures of laboratory refrigerators are controlled according to good laboratory practice protocols. Meanwhile, the temperature of a home refrigerator depends on how often you open the door, and I won't even elaborate on possible cross-contamination, because "storing in a private refrigerator" is in no way compatible with the avoidability of cross-contamination. So it seems that either the analysis protocol was grossly violated (highly likely) or the analysis was performed using non validated methods (unlikely). In both cases, the analysis results cannot be considered valid, but here it is necessary to go to court and file a lawsuit.

Great conversation. Good luck Stian! Can’t wait to see you back on the trails.

You are able to survive everything. Trust in you 💪 I know you are going to come back 🤟

Stian's performance at OCC in 2023 wasn't an unusually high performance when compared to the level of athlete that he is. Why would Stian put his entire reputation and career on the line by taking a masking agent the day before or during the race, when this is a race he was very likely to win or at least podium? The risk versus benefit here just doesn't add up, at least not to me. The same goes for a scenario where Stian had been cheating for years. An athlete who understands doping versus testing well enough to cheat the system successfully multiple times, all of a sudden takes a masking agent within a time frame when he is just about guaranteed to be caught? Considering the particulars of Stian's case, his reputation in the sport, both as an athlete and as a person, that he was about to have a second child with his girlfriend, it's hard to imagine a scenario where he would stupidly throw away his career and ability to provide for his family. Personally, I hope the trail running community gives him a second chance.

Wow. Amazingly powerful interview. Just wow. I really hope a company picks him up. Thanks Mr. Bowman.

Brutal trip

Sadly, I believe that in all sports - including ultrarunning - cheating among the elites is rampant. SO MANY seemingly sincere athletes have excuses for why their test was adulterated. The fact is, doping works and pro athletes have powerful incentives to cheat: not least is that they KNOW they will be competing against other elite athletes who are cheating. Which means, if you want to win, you almost HAVE to cheat. It's easy to come up with mental gymnastics to justify a false positive. And false positives do happen. Do I KNOW that Stieg is a user? Of course not. But I don't find sincere protestations compelling.

Looking forward for your comeback champ!

I'm in his corner.