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Rob and Sarah sit down with UK ultra runner Leroy Valentine after his incredible 88 hours and 7 minutes at Bigfoot 200 in Washington State.
Bigfoot 200 is a 200 mile point-to-point trail race through the Cascade Mountains, featuring 44,082 feet of elevation gain, 45,563 feet of descent and a 107-hour cutoff. It's the kind of ultra where running ability is only part of the equation — pacing, nutrition, strength, sleep, feet, mindset and the ability to adapt all become crucial when you're moving through the mountains for days.
Leroy takes us behind the scenes of his journey to the start line, from how he got into ultra running and his experience applying for Bigfoot, through to the realities of actually taking on 200 miles.
We talk about how you train for a 200-mile ultra, the importance of strength training, nutrition and fuelling, sleep deprivation, dealing with problems during a race, and the mental battle of continuing when you've been moving for days.
And if you've seen Leroy's legendary frying-pan lunches, we couldn't let him get away without talking about those either.
Plus, we've got our usual Truth or Lie and Quickfire rounds.
If you're into ultra running, trail running, 100-mile and 200-mile races, endurance challenges or simply hearing what happens when someone decides that running for nearly four days is a good idea, this one's for you.
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Listen guide
"Leroy Valentine: Bigfoot 200" is an episode of Trails, Tales, and Fails - An Ultra Running Podcast. Runtime 1 hr 7 min. Published September 10, 2026. Hit play above to stream it here, or open the free Spot Sports app for background play and offline downloads.