Most Replayed Episode: Grayson Murphy, 2X Mountain Running World Champion

Send us Fan Mail

Winning world titles is hard. Getting told you are “fine” for 18 months while your body is clearly breaking down might be harder. We sit down with Grayson Murphy to talk through the parts of elite mountain running that rarely get said out loud: identity, sponsorship pressure, health uncertainty, and the behind-the-scenes work it takes to keep showing up.

Grayson opens up about her Crohn’s disease diagnosis and the long, frustrating path to getting answers, including how repeated dismissal can wreck an athlete’s ability to trust their own body signals. We also dig into what changed once treatment started working, why volume and lower intensity made more sense during recovery, and how shifting to short trail and 50K racing created a lower-pressure space to learn again.

Then we go straight at the athlete versus influencer debate. Grayson explains how trail running sponsorships are evolving, why engagement metrics can punish even the best performers, and how she now avoids partnerships built around algorithm-driven reach. We also talk entrepreneurship through her Wild Strides Paper Co planners and training logs, sustainability consulting work that pushes back on greenwashing, and her hot takes on Olympic trail running, pay-to-race pro expectations, and anti-doping reality in the sport.

If you care about trail running, mountain running, Golden Trail style racing, athlete marketing, or health advocacy for endurance athletes, this conversation will stick with you. Subscribe, share it with a friend who loves the sport, and leave a review, what topic should we go deeper on next?

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