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Author

Jeff Kozak

Jeff Kozak

Jeff Kozak discovered the mountains and trails through childhood summers spent at the family cabin in California’s Eastern Sierra. A passion for distance running ignited on the cross country courses and tracks of high school in Ohio. After the college years, also known as a directionless tour of the sciences culminating with a Psychology degree, the twin loves of the alpine and running quickly merged at the 1997 Baldy Peaks 50K, the first of nearly 100 ultras over the past two decades. The competitive fire still burns, but is increasingly tempered by adventure running, fastpacking and giving back to the sport that has given so much. He lives in the rainshadow of the Sierra Nevada in Bishop, CA with his girlfriend, Margo, and can be reached at [email protected].

  • Adventure Is Where You Find It

    Jeff Kozak 05/22/2023
    Jeff Kozak 05/22/2023

    Adventure running needs no definition and, unless you are going for a fastest known time (FKT), it has no rules. In a world suffocating under the weight of rules and regulations, and the incessant need to define, label and redefine everything, this realm of running feels increasingly sacred.

    Read more
  • Framework for Ultra Training

    Jeff Kozak 03/30/2023
    Jeff Kozak 03/30/2023

    I’ve got four three-ring binders that sit on my bookshelf, each representing one year of high school cross country—the arena where my lifelong love for running was ignited. The fact…

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: The Kids Are Alright

    Jeff Kozak 07/27/2018
    Jeff Kozak 07/27/2018

    The dream goal was to inspire all 25 kids at the inaugural High Sierra Running Camp. The tiered, more realistic goal was to inspire a few… as I had been so many years and memories ago.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Volume, Discounted

    Jeff Kozak 07/10/2018
    Jeff Kozak 07/10/2018

    As ultrarunners, naturally we love to run. Unfortunately, this enthusiasm for the primal act of running, and its Dr. Feelgood of Fitness-endorphin-effect is often not tempered enough by sensibility. More is only better to a certain point; then the law of diminishing returns kicks in.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: The Spirit of Western States, The Soul of Ultra

    Jeff Kozak 06/27/2018
    Jeff Kozak 06/27/2018

    Seeing some of the Golden Hour finishers I had assisted in some small way successfully complete their journey to Auburn was a pinnacle moment for me after two decades of ultrarunning. There always will be, no matter how mainstream this sport goes, the nowhere-near-first multitudes comprising the heart of Ultra quietly grinding it out for the simple satisfaction of proving to themselves they could do it.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: This Is Not the Zone

    Jeff Kozak 06/13/2018
    Jeff Kozak 06/13/2018

    A cornerstone of being in the zone is freedom from expectations. Expectations are projections into the future, based on the past. They are not in the moment. The present moment is a heady place to be. But that is the only place we will ever find the zone, ever find the fleeting feelings of freedom; on the run, or anywhere.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Heat Acclimatization, Interrupted

    Jeff Kozak 05/30/2018
    Jeff Kozak 05/30/2018

    For those of you, like myself, who are potentially facing triple digit temperatures to match a triple digit race distance, here are some things to consider to keep your ‘A’ goals from evaporating.

    Read more
  • This Is a Long Run for Someone with Nothing to Think About

    Jeff Kozak 05/16/2018
    Jeff Kozak 05/16/2018

    I began mentally rewriting song lyrics as a way to pass the miles, entertain myself, and poke a little fun at the absurdities and idiosyncrasies I see within the subculture of this sport I love.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Remember Me

    Jeff Kozak 05/02/2018
    Jeff Kozak 05/02/2018

    To remember the past is to respect it. Even the most independent of us in this most independent-at-times of sports, do not live in a bubble of rugged individualism feeding the fire of progression alone. We are all interconnected, and we all need each other.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: The Royal Order of The Crimson Cheetos

    Jeff Kozak 04/18/2018
    Jeff Kozak 04/18/2018

    In the modern world, decisions on what to eat and drink and when, can be as confusing as they are convenient.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: 3,770 Miles to Nowhere

    Jeff Kozak 04/04/2018
    Jeff Kozak 04/04/2018

    Was it really possible in the modern world to use the feet more than fossil fuels to get around? It sounded like a life adventure worthy of an attempt and, as a longtime ultra runner, Phil Kiddoo had always thought it somewhat ridiculous how many miles he drove simply to go for runs.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: The Spirit Also Rises

    Jeff Kozak 03/21/2018
    Jeff Kozak 03/21/2018

    “When you backpack the JMT you explore the outer world; when you FKT the JMT you explore your inner world.” Going as fast as I could on the JMT, as it turns out, I explored both, and in nearly overwhelming quantities.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Listen to Your Heart

    Jeff Kozak 03/07/2018
    Jeff Kozak 03/07/2018

    Feeling a lack of motivation? Feeling uninspired? Listen to your heart. It is the wellspring of emotional engagement, and it will tell you what to do.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: More Cowbell

    Jeff Kozak 02/21/2018
    Jeff Kozak 02/21/2018

    The urban dictionary defines “more cowbell” as ‘an extra quality that will make something or someone better.’ My raceday cowbell was patience, and I needed a lot more of it, especially to see those changes through, even when they appeared to be ineffective midrace. We all have a cowbell we need more of in order to progress in running, and in life. What is yours?

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Ultra Friends

    Jeff Kozak 02/07/2018
    Jeff Kozak 02/07/2018

    I have known Krissy, Hal, and numerous others through the sport, for many years, but the totality of our interactions would likely barely rate ‘acquaintance’ status in most other walks of life. Yet somehow whenever the trails of our lives do intersect, that limited time spent at the junction yields a sum of experience much greater than the timepieces would seem capable of producing.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: In Hiding

    Jeff Kozak 01/24/2018
    Jeff Kozak 01/24/2018

    The line of ultrarunners that have come forward over the years to speak openly about their battles with depression is long and illustrious; and that darkness is often confusing when held against the light of their accomplishments and the boundless energy and enthusiasm permeating this sport. And it is impossible to ignore the implications; it seems no kind or amount of success or communal recognition affords illimitable immunity.

    Read more
  • Destination Unknown: Which Way to Tahoe?

    Jeff Kozak 01/10/2018
    Jeff Kozak 01/10/2018

    We’re all essentially on David Byrne’s road to nowhere, often wondering, ‘How did I get here?’ A choose your own adventure novel where we’re constantly being forced to decide which page to turn to before continuing a story of which we desperately want to sneak a final paragraph peek.

    Read more

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A roundup of the week's content and race results. Sent every Thursday.

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