PODCAST

The Steep Stuff Podcast

James Lauriello

Welcome to the Steep Stuff Podcast, your source for all things Short Trail

sports running

All Episodes

70:29

#172 - Marcel Höche

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/21

Send us Fan Mail A top European trail runner lands in the US, strings together races and workouts across the West, and leaves with a clearer view of what makes American trail running culture feel so alive. We sit down with Marcel Höche, professional athlete for the Adidas Terrex team, right after his spring swing that includes Big Alta and a podium at the Lake Sonoma 50K. Along the way, he breaks down what surprised him most: the speed of the fields, the variety of terrain, and the post-race ...

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9:01

Announcing Our Presenting Sponsor

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/20

Send us Fan Mail Use code SteepStuff for 20% your cart on Sidas.us Follow James on IG - @jameslauriello Follow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_pod Follow Sidas USA on IG - @sidas_usa

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71:08

#171 - Aimee Kohler, Founder & RD of The Running Kind

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/16

Send us Fan Mail Trail running says it loves the outdoors, but are we willing to change how we race to protect the places we run? I’m joined by Aimee Kohler race director of The Running Kind, a small but fast-growing organization putting on carbon-neutral trail races across Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and upstate New York, including the brutally steep Climate For Climate in the Catskills. We talk about why the Northeast is still underrated for mountain running, and why “smaller mountains” can d...

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63:46

#170 - Christopher Fisher

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/14

Send us Fan Mail Chris Fisher just came back from a three-month Ecuador adventure that started with almost no plan and turned into a full-on human-powered volcano mission. From a base in Quito at high altitude, he links long bike days with climbs on Ecuador’s biggest volcanoes, chasing a “Big Ten” style objective that becomes nine summits once he decides an actively erupting peak is a hard no. We get into what the miles actually feel like, including a brutal opening push to Cayambe and the re...

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13:50

Alexa Aragon | Gorge Waterfalls 30K Pre Race Interview

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/08

Send us Fan Mail The Gorge Waterfalls 30K brings a rare mix of speed and strength: runnable trail, road sections where pace changes can stick, and late climbs that punish anyone who goes out too hot. We’re in Hood River with Alexa Aragon for a pre-race conversation about stepping up to 18 miles, testing her limits against a deep women’s field, and using one early-season start line to guide an entire summer of trail running goals. We talk training through an unusually warm winter, when less s...

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21:32

Robin Vieira Brower | Gorge Waterfalls 30K Pre Race...

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/08

Send us Fan Mail A fast 30K can be more intimidating than a steep ultra, especially when the trail begs you to push from the opening minute. James sits down with Robin Vieira Brower ahead of the Gorge Waterfalls 30K to talk about what makes the Columbia River Gorge such a special place to race: lush, sea-level air, deceptively technical singletrack, and that mix of speed and flow that punishes overreaching early. We get into the nuts and bolts of trail running training from Bend, Oregon, whe...

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29:56

Mason Coppi | Gorge Waterfalls 30K Pre Race Interview

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/08

Send us Fan Mail A great race can change your season, but it can also expose every weakness you’ve been dodging. We’re joined by Mason Coppi for a Gorge Waterfalls 30K pre-race talk that goes deeper than predictions, getting into what it really takes to show up ready when the course is fast, punchy, and technical and the men’s field is stacked. Mason shares how he’s building Hello To Running, coaching everyone from couch-to-5K athletes to runners competing at the highest level. We dig into w...

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21:04

Tyler McCandless | Gorge Waterfalls 30K Pre Race...

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/08

Send us Fan Mail A stacked start line, a rolling course that never lets your legs settle, and a late climb that can flip the whole day on its head. That’s why the Gorge Waterfall 30K feels like more than “just” an early-season trail race, and why I wanted Tyler McCandless back on Steep Stuff for a pre-race check-in. Tyler comes from a deep road and track background, but he’s been sharpening his trail running range, and this two-hour sub-ultra effort asks for the full toolkit: speed, strength,...

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24:20

Grant Colligan | Gorge Waterfalls 30K Pre Race Interview

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/08

Send us Fan Mail A course that makes you hammer 5:15 pace on the road, then immediately asks you to thread technical trail like you still have fresh legs, is not a “standard” trail race. Gorge Waterfall 30K is built to punish hesitation, and that’s exactly why we wanted to sit down with Grant Colligan before the gun goes off. We talk through why Grant originally saw Gorges as a chill rustbuster after a disrupted winter, and how that plan changes fast when a deep, aggressive start list shows ...

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53:41

#169 - Caleb Hardaway

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/06

Send us Fan Mail A five hour push across Boulder’s Flatirons sounds like a hard trail run until you add exposed scrambling, solo climbing up to 5.7, and the kind of off trail linkups where every boulder wants your ankles. We sit down with Caleb Hardaway, a new La Sportiva mountain running athlete, to unpack how he set the FKT on Jerry Roach’s Top 10 Flatirons linkup and why that time was built months before the clock ever started. Caleb walks us through the route’s moving parts: choosing a c...

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48:14

#168 - Mountain Tiger RD's, Connor & Alice Curley

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/04/01

Send us Fan Mail A great trail race isn’t a distance on a flyer, it’s a line you cannot stop thinking about. I sit down with Connor and Alice, the founders and race directors behind Mountain Tiger, to unpack how a “run it because it’s beautiful” mindset turned into one of the most talked-about mountain races in Donner Summit, California near Lake Tahoe. We get specific about what makes their course work: a point-to-point route that links two ski areas, hits four summits, and avoids the usual ...

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56:49

The Sub Stack Short Trail News - Episode 3

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/30

Send us Fan Mail Big Alta didn’t just crown winners, it showed how quickly short trail racing in the U.S. is leveling up. Rachel & James break down a heat-impacted weekend where the 28K delivered a course record and the 50K produced tight battles that came down to execution. Rachel shares what the Big Alta course feels like at speed, why the exposure changes everything late, and how she approached racing while pregnant, chasing smart goals and still competing hard. From there, we go glob...

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30:29

Kyle Richardson Signs with Arc’teryx

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail Breaking news with a human pulse: we sit down with Kyle Richardson to unpack his move to Arc’teryx and what it means for the future of mountain running, creative projects, and the gear we trust on steep ground. From FKTs to film, Kyle’s vision thrives where art meets endurance, and this partnership gives him the tools, team, and runway to make it real. We dive into why the fit works beyond logos. Kyle describes a culture where designers, marketers, and athletes are climbers,...

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36:48

Elise Coates - 2026 Trail Team Selection

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail A stress fracture can either end your momentum or teach you how to build a career that actually lasts. I’m joined by Elise Coates, fresh off being named to the 2026 Trail Team Elite squad, and her story is a rare blend of high-performance ambition and real-world perspective. She’s the only Canadian on the new elite squad, based on Vancouver Island, and she’s chasing the tricky middle ground where track speed meets mountain durability. We get into how a soccer background turn...

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26:36

Paul Knight - 2026 Trail Team Selection

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail You can feel the moment a runner starts to outgrow the track and get pulled back toward the mountains. That’s where we meet Paul Knight, newly selected for the 2026 Trail Team Elite and fresh off D2 Indoor Nationals, where a strength-focused block for the 10K unexpectedly sharpened his 3K and 5K speed too. We dig into what that kind of fitness means when you’re eyeing trail racing and skyrunning, where the pace changes constantly and the terrain demands more than clean splits...

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31:09

Maya Rayle - 2026 Trail Team Selection

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail A Harvard biologist who loved salamanders, a Wisconsin grad-year racer chasing deeper fields, and a Montana transplant who found her stride on steep, technical trails—Maya Rayle's story is a study in smart risk and joyful grit. We sit down to chart her rapid rise from track speed to mountain savvy, including a breakout podium at The Rut 28K and a fresh selection to the Trail Team. Maya unpacks what it’s really like to be recruited to an Ivy through likely letters, how she ba...

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28:43

Grace Strongman - 2026 Trail Team Selection

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail The NCAA doesn’t last forever, but the hunger to train, compete, and belong to a team doesn’t magically disappear at graduation. That’s where Grace Strongman is right now: a Colorado School of Mines standout, a materials engineer, and one of the newest additions to Trail Team Elite, stepping into trail racing with equal parts confidence and curiosity. We trace Grace’s story from growing up in Kansas City in an all-sports household to discovering cross country in high school,...

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55:49

Zachary Erikson - 2026 Trail Team Selection

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/26

Send us Fan Mail A re-release with a purpose: we’re celebrating Zach Erickson’s selection to the 2026 Trail Team Elite and unpacking the gritty, honest road that got him there. Zach grew up in Idaho Falls chasing every ball sport, found running in middle school, and lived the BYU dream—until a chronic hip injury benched him for a year and eventually cut him from the roster… twice. What followed wasn’t a comeback montage; it was a mindset shift. He let go of fear, built gratitude into his dail...

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63:57

Jane Maus Signs With Arc'teryx + Debriefs of the...

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/19

Send us Fan Mail A late-race surge, a flow-state descent, and a new home with the bird—this conversation with Jane Moss is pure momentum. We kick off with Black Canyon 50K where Jane, still two weeks removed and sore in all the usual places, explains how a volume-first, low‑workout block set her up to race by feel. She breaks down the risk of going out hot, the mental game of tuning out hype, and the moment she finally spotted the leader’s hat and decided to chase. It’s a masterclass in pacin...

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80:23

#167 - Kalie McCrystal

The Steep Stuff Podcast ·

2026/03/17

Send a text A helmet for the whole race. Crumbly rock. Big exposure. And somehow a course record anyway. We’re joined by Kalie McCrystal fresh off her win at the Quattro Refugios Sky Race in Bariloche, Argentina, and she walks us through what made the day click, from setting the pace early to chasing a time goal when the gap opened up. If you love skyrunning, mountain running, and the gritty details that separate a good day from a great one, this conversation delivers. We also zoom out to th...

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The Steep Stuff Podcast

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