Ryan Montgomery is an openly queer ultrarunner and sat down to talk with Scotty about Pride Month and being a beacon for others. Last year he placed second at the Desert Solstice 24 hour and third in the 100-mile event. And while most of us were binge-watching Tiger King, Ryan sett an unsupported FKT on the Wonderland Trail around Mt. Rainier.
Ryan will be rocking the red, white and blue for Team USA l at the 24 Hour World Championships in Romania this year as well as running at UTMB.
In the spirit of Pride Month, we’d like to share a great organization dedicated to LGBTQ+ youth, Brave Trails. Brave Trails offers accredited summer camps, family camps, mentorship programs, meet-up groups and year-round leadership programing. The programs focus on helping LGBTQ+ youth find what they need most to thrive. Learn more at bravetrails.org.
Ryan’s Coaching Website
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Transcript
Announcer:
Coming up on the Ultrarunning Magazine Podcast…
Scotty Sandow:
Pride month, pickle juice, and a bad monkey. Stay tuned.
Eric Schwindt:
Hi, this is Eric Schwindt from Portland, Oregon, and I’m currently training for the Wy’east Howl 100K and the Oregon Cascades 100 miler. This episode is supported by Drymax socks.
Scotty Sandow:
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Announcer:
You’re listening to the Ultrarunning Magazine Podcast.
Scotty Sandow:
Hi, you guys. Welcome to Ultrarunning Magazine Podcast. I’m your host Scotty Sandow. This week on my trail run, I strained my soleus calf muscle, and I am tremendously bummed. It’s not good. Don’t like it. I don’t like where I’m at. This is not good. Okay. A little detour from my mission to get my first 100 mile buckle, but I’ll get it back on track.
Scotty Sandow:
Here we go. All right, you’re in for a treat today, folks. My next guest is the amazing Ryan Montgomery. If you’re like me, you’re a huge fan of his Instagram account. His wanderlust for the great outdoors is only surpassed by his talent for endurance running and his kindness to others. I fricking love that. Ryan joined me to talk about what Pride Month means to him as an openly queer ultra runner and being a beacon for others, sharing his love for people and nature. Ryan has been burning up the trail lately. He placed 2nd at the Desert Solstice 24-hour run and took the third-place finish in the 100-mile event there. While most of us were binge-watching Tiger King, Ryan set an FKT speed record for an unsupported run on the Wonderland Trail at Mount Rainier National Park. How lovely is that? Ryan, geez. Way to go, man.
Scotty Sandow:
Ryan will be rocking the red, white, and blue for Team USA later this year at the 24-hour World Championships in Romania. How cool is that? And he’ll be running and dancing on mountains at UTMB. Good luck, man. We cannot wait to see what you do there.
Scotty Sandow:
Ryan is sponsored by Ultrarunning, 2XU, and Suunto. Yep, he also has a full-time job and manages to squeeze in coaching too. He currently lives in drop dead gorgeous Park City, Utah. Ladies and gentleman, give it up for my new spirit animal, the magical Ryan Montgomery.
Scotty Sandow:
Ryan, how you doing, buddy? Thanks for joining the show.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be on.
Scotty Sandow:
It’s great to have you. Today’s Monday. How was your weekend? Did you get some running in.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, I got a lot of running in. I ran with a friend of mine that lives in Big Cottonwood Canyon in Utah. We go to this nice little [inaudible] up on the mountain. The aspen trees are blooming. There’s surprisingly little snow up at 9,000 feet here in Utah. So yeah, just had a really enjoyable weekend.
Scotty Sandow:
I saw your Instagram post. And if you don’t follow Ryan on Instagram, you should pause this episode right now. Go ahead. We’ll wait. We’ll be right here when you come back. What’s your handle, again?
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s ultra.ryan.
Scotty Sandow:
Easy.
Ryan Montgomery:
Think ultra running but ultra.ryan.
Scotty Sandow:
Easy-peasy. We like easy. But yeah, you had a beautiful photograph running up in those aspens, man. That was cool.
Ryan Montgomery:
Thanks. Aspen trees, I feel like they are pretty commonly popular among trail runners, but they’re so magical.
Scotty Sandow:
They are magic.
Ryan Montgomery:
And they’re so pretty, especially in the fall time when they change colors.
Scotty Sandow:
Bingo. They’re little gold coins hanging from trees, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yes.
Scotty Sandow:
All right, we’re tracking.
Ryan Montgomery:
Exactly.
Scotty Sandow:
I understand you just moved to Utah. You bought a house, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
I did. I made the big decision, and I bought my first house which was scary. But this last year, I’d been living in Tahoe during the pandemic. It really helped me understand that I find so much joy being in the mountains and having trails right outside my front door. Because running is my life, it’s my lifestyle, I’ve been trying to find a place and a house that fits that lifestyle. I honestly found my dream house just outside of Park City.
Scotty Sandow:
Good for you. What’s more scary, lining up for a 100-mile race or signing the contract for your mortgage?
Ryan Montgomery:
Well, I can tell you the first time I ran a 100 miler, it probably was running a 100 miler, because that was so scary. Now, I’ve done it so many times, I’m not as nervous. But definitely, signing that contract where I know I’m going to have to wire over all this money was a little scary.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s a big gulp, man. Well, you’re adulting now. Congratulations.
Ryan Montgomery:
You’re like, biggest purchase of my life.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, you’re adulting. Congratulations, Ryan.
Ryan Montgomery:
Thank you.
Scotty Sandow:
I’m very proud of you. I’m very, very proud of you.
Ryan Montgomery:
Thank you so much.
Scotty Sandow:
The big step. Is your house kind of empty now?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, especially by yourself. I’m just a single person. I’m just by myself, so it makes it even more scary.
Scotty Sandow:
Well, I know there’s probably a lot of people out there who have a full house who are thinking, man, that sounds really good right now, that sounds pretty great. Are you all moved in, or are you still living out of the boxes?
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh, I thought I was going to be able to move into this place in two weeks, be like, oh, yeah. I planned all the orders for the furniture to be… Of course, expect the worst situation when you buy a house. I still don’t have a bed frame yet. I barely have my couches in from a few days ago. So, we’re slowly making progress, but we’re getting there.
Scotty Sandow:
It’s a good thing you’re an endurance athlete, Ryan. I think you have the aptitude for it.
Ryan Montgomery:
I’m a true optimist, so it’s very helpful in this situation.
Scotty Sandow:
I’m getting that from you. That’s great. I wanted you on the show for a couple of reasons. First, it’s Pride Month, and I read one of your posts recently about you were at the Western States Endurance Run training run and an experience you had there. Reading a lot of your other posts too, I just like what you’re using your social media account for. There’s just a lot of, in my opinion, love and positivity just spewing out, just gushing from you. I really like that. I admire that about you. So, I thought it was really important to bring you on the program to talk about what Pride Month means to you as a person, as an ultra-runner, and maybe start the conversation there. There’s a ton of stuff we need to get to, so let’s get started.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. No, thanks for bringing that up.
Scotty Sandow:
What does Pride Month mean to you?
Ryan Montgomery:
I guess a little bit of backstory about myself, because I think that’s helpful background information for whoever is listening. I grew up in a very conservative household, very religious. Really, I’ve only been publicly, publicly out with my orientation as a gay man for really only three and a half years, honestly, which is not a lot of time. So for me, being a person that essentially has been bottled up or hasn’t felt completely free to express myself… Because at the time, I was going to Brigham Young University. If anyone knows that university, it’s a Mormon university, and being gay is also probably a risky identity in that type of environment. I found myself not being able to express myself, which if you ask any person, any psychologist, expressing yourself is essential to being happy and being whole. For me, as I’ve been exploring what is pride for me as I’ve been entering this new chapter in my life of really tapping into my identity and really showcasing that to other people, it really is just unapologetically showing up as this is Ryan, this is me, I feel comfortable expressing myself.
Ryan Montgomery:
For me, Pride really is that outward expression. I feel that a lot when I run. I feel that a lot when I’m out in my running community, which I know probably a lot of these listeners also feel that how we express ourself is through running. This Pride, when I was thinking about it, I’m like, well, what is this for me? It honestly is how I want to show up. And so, I’m painting my nails for the third time and went out for a fun little photo shoot and just had a fun time just expressing myself.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s so key to our individuality as human beings. It’s like air for a lot of people, for many of us. What I’m getting from you is that I think you have a platform here. Even this interview, we consider this a platform for you to share your thoughts and your ideas and your feelings about who you are as a person. So please, don’t hold back. I really would like that because it’s so special. And you’re a special person, because I feel like you’re using your platform to carry a message forward for folks, and not only to be a message but to actually take questions from people. Can you talk about that a little bit, about how you’re moving through this time and space?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. It’s almost like when you get into a position where I now have a new perspective in life, I want to share that with other people, because I’ve learned so much in this process. I see so many other people in my life, like my family, for example, they are still pretty conservative and perhaps don’t 100% agree with my thinking or even my behaviors. I really see my, you keep saying, platform, but it’s really my space. It’s my Instagram, my social life, my influences or people that may follow me. I really want to use that as an opportunity to help people understand new perspectives, because that’s the only way that we can learn and understand each other.
Ryan Montgomery:
You alluded to an experience I had at Western States training camp a couple weekends ago where I was showing up to our training run. On the first day when we run from Robinson Flats to Foresthills, I stopped at Michigan Bluff, but I passed a gentleman early on in the run. I don’t know if he heard me or not or if he was purposely trying to speak loud. But I remember when I passed him, obviously you can very clearly see my nails painted and what looks to be like a very male figure, cis-gendered male in a tank top, who was me, he made a comment of like, “I can’t believe a guy with nails is passing me.”
Ryan Montgomery:
Foremost, this is not a race. This is a training run. But then, [inaudible] not only calling out that someone is passing me but also that supposedly he is better or that he should be passing me because he is more masculine than I am.
Ryan Montgomery:
And so, I think I welcomed that discussion on my social media recently, the discussion of what happens and what are the problems that we see even in our running community about masculinity, about openness, and diversity towards the LGBTQ community. And yeah, like you said, there’s a lot of love and outpouring, but those are the people that probably agree with me or support me. I’m sure there’s tons of people that probably think otherwise or might have underlying biases that probably think otherwise that didn’t participate in that conversation.
Scotty Sandow:
A couple things here, thank you, one, for sharing the story. Two, what color were your nails, Ryan? Everyone wants to know that.
Ryan Montgomery:
They were a royal blue color.
Scotty Sandow:
Nice.
Ryan Montgomery:
Currently, they are gray. But that weekend, they were blue.
Scotty Sandow:
And by the way, if you don’t have anything nice to say, duh. I just have such little tolerance for that behavior especially on the trail. It shouldn’t be tolerated anywhere, but especially that space because we’re so united on this thing. It’s such a special place for all of us.
Scotty Sandow:
Did you have anyone reach out to you and say, “Yeah, Ryan, I get the same thing that you experienced.” Anyone reach out to you with that point of view?
Ryan Montgomery:
Not so much that narrative but more of the narrative of, actually, I have my nails painted too, surprisingly, from an entire spectrum too of my heterosexual male friends to my queer friends as well where they all have shared they have had their nails painted at some point or currently have their nails painted. It was a good bridge building moment.
Scotty Sandow:
I have a rule any time that one of my toenails goes black, my daughter gets to paint it whatever color she wants.
Ryan Montgomery:
If I had a daughter, I would let her to do my nails too.
Scotty Sandow:
We can come back to this. There’s a lot I want to pack into this conversation. I going to to steamroll ahead just a little bit. You did the Western States Endurance Run, but I understand no States for you this year?
Ryan Montgomery:
I know. It’s just an unfortunate situation. It’s just disappointing. But again, I’m [inaudible]. It’s going to be okay. I guess just some backstory is I was supposed to run it last year just like everybody else that was supposed to run it. And it really has been my A race for two years where I feel like I’m performing and competing at a high level. I wanted to showcase that in a race like Western.
Ryan Montgomery:
This past winter, I did so much training up in Tahoe. I would skate ski every single day. I would run every single day. My fitness was next level with the Nordic training as well. But I actually partially tore my adductor muscle. It’s one of the muscles that comes inside your thigh and attaches onto the pubic bone. I got an MRI. It’s partially torn.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh, I’m squirming in my seat right now, Ryan.
Ryan Montgomery:
I know.
Scotty Sandow:
I’m squirming in my seat.
Ryan Montgomery:
Well, it’s so unfortunate, because I would go for these runs. I’d go on a 20-mile run. I’m like, my leg is chronically just tight all the time. I feel like I can’t give that 100%. So anyways, got that diagnosis. Took some time off. Got a [inaudible] injection into that area. I feel really healthy now. I showed up to that Western States training camp. I felt like I hung on to some of the other lead men and just had a really good time running with them. But I think it’s still so early on in my rehab that it’s probably not a smart decision to race right now.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah. If you’re going to go on a date with a supermodel, do you want to go on the date with the supermodel with a mullet or with a really good haircut? You want to look your best. So Western States, you want to go for it, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). This is the type-A, overachiever Ryan coming out, where I know if I show up on that start line, I’m going to literally die on that trail, so be it; which is not a good situation to be in when I’m just coming off of injuries, because I still have so many other events this year that I want to do well at too.
Scotty Sandow:
When I show up to States with my giant foam finger that has your face on it, I want you to be competing at your best, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Please have that face at the start line so I feel like I somehow was there.
Scotty Sandow:
Deal. Deal, deal, deal. You just said that you have some loftier goals coming at you this fall that we want to talk about. You have UTMB, and you have the 24-hour race in Croatia, I think, for Team USA, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, it’s over in Eastern Europe. It’s actually in Romania.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh, I’m sorry, Romania. Let’s talk about that a little bit. You must be feeling pretty good, better about the injury. What are you doing between now and then to take care of yourself? Do you have races planned for that to get prepared and all of that? What’s going on?
Ryan Montgomery:
I just really want to have fun this summer. Training is fun. It’s all about just showing up every day and enjoying yourself. My plan this summer is just to get out for a lot of fun adventures and to stay healthy and come into UTMB feeling strong as ever.
Ryan Montgomery:
I have a pretty broad experience in mountain ultras and flat ultras. I really feel like I’d really like to show up in both of those spaces. I think last year was a good confidence builder for me that I could show up in the mountains and do well when I did the Wonderland FKT unsupported. That type of vert is very comparable to what you’d experience at UTMB, so I feel pretty comfortable in some of those climbs that UTMB definitely shows off to the runners there. I’m looking forward to just going out there and having a lot of fun. I know since it hasn’t happened in over two years, it will just be a fun party to reconnect with everybody.
Ryan Montgomery:
And then, the first weekend of October, the USA national team for the 24-hour event is going to be competing at the World Championships in Romania. Last December, I qualified at Desert Solstice with my performance there. I’m looking forward to showing up there, and hopefully USA can take the world title there.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, Desert Solstice, you came in second place there for the 24-hour race, for the event, which in ultra terms was a close finish that you had.
Ryan Montgomery:
It really was. It was so close.
Scotty Sandow:
Can you tell folks how close that was and what you ran that in?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. Foremost, it was my first 24-hour event, let alone one on a track. Where if you don’t know a track 24-hour event, you run on a 400-meter track for 24 hours. It sounds crazy, and it is crazy. You switch directions every four hours, and you just keep clipping away at those laps. And yeah, I was able to complete 154 miles and some change.
Ryan Montgomery:
It was a really interesting experience, because I remember at 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. I actually had my responder on my ankle too tight. How they accurately monitor your distance is you run over this responder every lap. I had it too tight on my ankle, and if anyone’s ran an ultra marathon, you swell. Your body literally swells when you run. My responder ended up becoming like a tourniquet on my ankle.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh my gosh.
Ryan Montgomery:
You can imagine it’s not a good situation. So anyways, 3:00 a.m. my foot is really hurting me, and of course I’m just also tired. I remember I sat down for a while. Then, of course, you get cold once you stop. It was this whole thing.
Ryan Montgomery:
Anyways, after a little break, I get back onto the track. Your muscles really start to harden up. Because of my ankle that was so messed up, I literally could not run for maybe two miles. So, I just walked around that track. I just walked and I walked. And then, it slowly got more limber. I got into a little faster walk. Then, I got to a jog.
Ryan Montgomery:
We come to an hour before the end of the race. So hour 23, I see that I’m only a couple miles behind the first place guy. I remember talking to my crew members. I’m like, “Can I catch him if I keep running, if I run?” They’re like, “Yeah, go for it.” So, the last hour, I just let it rage. I just was running those laps like I thought I was going to hopefully win this race.
Ryan Montgomery:
I got so close. I remember I was running a sub… I don’t know how fast I was running, maybe 7:45s, 7:30s at that point in the last few miles. I almost caught him, but we had about a three laps distance from first place. But yeah, I came pretty close.
Scotty Sandow:
Three laps separating you and first place?
Ryan Montgomery:
Three laps.
Scotty Sandow:
Geez, that’s crazy, and all because of your ankle monitoring device.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, it’s easy to scapegoat that, but there’s all sorts of stuff going on.
Scotty Sandow:
Sure, but we can. Why not? We can rewrite history.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, let’s scapegoat it. Yeah.
Scotty Sandow:
Well, congratulations on a race well done. And if you want to hear more about that, I really would encourage you to listen to We Run the Desert. They interview Ryan after that race, and they really go deep into that. So, good job to them on that episode. We talked to you too. You did a great job with that. And yes on pizza and yes on Sour Patch Kids from that interview.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, candy is life. But yeah, kudos to Nick Curry who definitely crushed that race.
Scotty Sandow:
That guy, he’s an animal. If I could be him for a day, actually two days, that would be pretty legit.
Scotty Sandow:
I want to talk to you about the World Championships. Did you ever dream in your wildest dream that you would be putting on the red, white, and blue to represent your country in the sport of running?
Ryan Montgomery:
Definitely, no. I remember I’ve always loved the athletic, but I never considered myself to be a runner until high school. But I know that I’m just the type of person that when I have my mind set to something, I just go all in. I just want to see what I’m capable of doing. I saw that ultra running was a potential avenue for that.
Ryan Montgomery:
At the same time, it was really fun. You get to run in the mountains on trails and see aspen trees. Who doesn’t want to do that? And I think I’ve just learned so much about my body in this process. I’ve learned how strong our minds are as well, which has just been such a fascinating science experiment. At the core, it’s just a fun thing to experience and to see how it unfolds.
Ryan Montgomery:
And so, now I love competing. I love to see what is that next level that I can achieve physically and mentally. Now, I’m excited to take on such a larger scale on a larger stage at our world championship. Hopefully, try to show up there and perhaps even win it. That would be an amazing story.
Scotty Sandow:
You can win it. You’re just such a strong runner. Just your history of what you’ve done and accomplished so far, you’re just getting started. It’s crazy. If you may, if you can indulge me for just a minute, Ryan, I’d like to go over your accomplishments. Here are just a few. Although, if I miss any big ones, please let me know.
Scotty Sandow:
You took first at Quicksilver 100K, second at Tahoe 200 in 54 hours, 24 minutes. Crazy. Second place at the 100 mile for the USATF Trail Championships in 2019, fourth at Bandera 100K. Badwater, you ran Badwater when you were 24 years old. Are you crazy?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. I [crosstalk]
Scotty Sandow:
Yes, you are. The answer’s yes, Ryan.
Ryan Montgomery:
But yes, I did.
Scotty Sandow:
And so, I want to get into a bit of this in just a moment. For folks who don’t know Ryan Montgomery and the twists and turns your life took to get you here in this moment, I think it’s really significant and worth sharing. I wanted to ask you about running on this team for World Championships. Who else is on the team with you? And I want to know what you need to do to get there safely and be ready. I know you’re going to have a lot of fun this summer, but what does that fun look like? So first, who’s on the team with you?
Ryan Montgomery:
Some of the athletes that I’m inspired by when I first started coming into ultra running are on my team with me, so I’m really excited to get to know them better and just have a good time. A couple team members that are on the team are Harvey Lewis, he’s a pretty well-known guy in the ultra running community, he is a complete boss at the 24-hour event and has consistently showed up at Badwater to just crush it, Jacob Jackson, Olivier Leblond, he also is just an amazing athlete and just crushing it. On the women’s side, I know Camille Herron, she’ll be there. We all know Courtney Dauwalter, Pam Smith, Micah Morgan. Also on the men’s side, Jacob Moss, Nick Curry. So, just some really great athletes that are in our sport today.
Ryan Montgomery:
I feel so lucky that I get to run with these people, because so many people look up to them and just are inspired by them. So, I’m just excited to just get to know them better and to share this event with them.
Scotty Sandow:
I just found one more thing more scary than signing the contract for a mortgage which is to toe the line against you guys, any one of you guys, at this race.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, USA is going to show up. We definitely have a great team. I’m really excited. Now, we just all have to stay healthy.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, that’s key. That’s key. Let’s talk about that. What are some of your keys for recovery after your big runs?
Ryan Montgomery:
What I do for recovery?
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah.
Ryan Montgomery:
I learned in the past couple years as I’ve been training more intensely and just putting in more work that strength really is the secret sauce. I mean, it’s not the secret sauce, everyone knows you need to do strength, but it really is the foundation of injury prevention. I’m so glad that my coach taught me that. Because if you asked me three years ago, Ryan, let’s go to the gym and do leg work, I would tell you no because I’m already running X amount of miles a week. The logic in my head was why would you work out your legs if you’re running already.
Scotty Sandow:
Right, as soon as you-
Ryan Montgomery:
But it’s the complete-
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah. Well, as soon as you pick me off the floor laughing, you can take me to the gym, but that’s not going to happen.
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s so true. Either you currently are there or we thought of that in the past, because it really is what I think has differentiated me in some of my events. It’s being able to do that strength training. There’s no way I could do UTMB at the level that I want to if I do not show up in the gym and do strength training. And the recovery too, if I didn’t do it, I would be out for weeks. And then, World Championships comes around and I’m not ready for it, you know?
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah.
Ryan Montgomery:
I think strength really is that essential part of recovery too. Some people don’t really think about it in that perspective. And then, also I think your question might have alluded to specific practices or foods that I eat. One of my greatest things that I love to do is I go to Costco and I buy that large jar of Kirkland peanut butter. I usually just sit with it at my desk, and I just take a spoon and I eat it. Peanut butter is one of the greatest things for me in my recovery and just making sure that I eat enough. Because we do so much to our bodies, we abuse it day and day out, we just need to make sure that we’re giving it the nutrients that it requires.
Scotty Sandow:
Run don’t walk to your nearest Costco to get some peanut butter. They’re going to have a run on peanut butter. All of a sudden, there will be peanut butter on desks across America after this episode, Ryan. That sounds awesome.
Ryan Montgomery:
Peanut butter is the secret to ultra running.
Scotty Sandow:
If I can use my chocolate bar as a spoon, now we’re really talking.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yes. Use all the food items as your spoon. There you go.
Scotty Sandow:
For those who are looking to up their game right now in terms of strength training, can you give us just a little taste of what that is for you when it comes to your strength training workouts at the gym? What’s keeping you there?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. I have a physical therapist that I see on a regular basis. She helps me identify my weaknesses. I think it’s important to have people in your circle that can identify that for you whether that’s a strength coach, whether that’s a P.T., to help you identify what you need to work on. Because if you just keep working on your quads, maybe your quads don’t need help. Maybe it’s your hamstring or maybe it’s your hip.
Ryan Montgomery:
For me, I’ve learned that generally runners tend to have weaker hamstrings. So, I love my kettlebell. I love single lifts with my kettlebells. All the band work, you can never do enough band work, because a lot of our hips we don’t really focus on in terms of strength. Those are such the connective tissue for our upper body and our legs. That’s essential for holding you up and sustaining you on these ultra marathons. Those have been two areas that I have been focusing on a lot.
Ryan Montgomery:
But again, that might be different for you. That’s why I think having that person in your circle that can help you tailor that approach of strength is going to be really helpful.
Scotty Sandow:
You know what? It’s funny. I went and saw a P.T. today. I’ve got a calf injury I’m dealing with, so I was doing my initial… He’s like, “I’m just going to look at your body from head to toe.” I’m like, “All right. It’s my calf, but all right let’s do this.” And so, he was focused on my feet. He’s like, “Your feet need a lot of work.” I’m like, “My feet? What do you mean, my feet? They’re my feet.” And he’s like, “Nope. You’ve got to work on that.” Yeah, he said, “Your core needs work.” And blah, blah, blah. I felt really bad about myself, Ryan. I went straight over to a bar afterwards and just drank myself silly. No, I’m kidding.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, that’s their job. It’s like we need to surface all these inadequacies because that’s how we’re going to be better athletes.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, you need the tough love from the P.T. You have to have it, yeah.
Ryan Montgomery:
Mm-hmm (affirmative). Totally. And to your point too, I’m glad you brought that up. Because you thought it was a calf problem, but it’s crazy how our bodies are so connected. I also coach, by the way. Sometimes my athletes will say, “I have a knee problem. My knee hurts. The side of my knee hurts.” Where you feel the pain is not usually the source of the problem. It’s usually the tight I.T. band or it’s your glute or it’s a weakness in hamstring. That’s why you really need to have that expert opinion to help you identify that. That’s why they go to school. It’s to be able to tell us that information.
Scotty Sandow:
And if you don’t mind me just tossing into the soup here of also your mental well-being, because you can take in a lot of stuff. It’s what you do with that stuff. If you’re not getting that stuff out and doing some sort of really healthy ways to just de-stress yourself and process that you can harness that, you will ball that ess up. It will manifest itself in ugly ways in your body if you don’t deal with it in the right way.
Ryan Montgomery:
100%.
Scotty Sandow:
I encourage people to either get professional help, talk to a good friend. But whatever you have to do, if you know you’re holding onto stuff, it’s so key to everything to us.
Scotty Sandow:
All right. If you didn’t hear it, go to my interview with Cory Reese. We talk about depression, so go listen to that.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah.
Scotty Sandow:
After this one, all right, folks? Okay. We’ve got the mind, and we’ve got the body going on here. I want to dive into something else, which is your story and how you got here. What’s special for me about this interview is that you went through the impossible2Possible program. That’s Ray Zahab’s program, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Scotty Sandow:
Okay, good.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, that’s correct.
Scotty Sandow:
Glad I have that right. And so, that introduced you to a whole new world if I’m doing my research correctly to making you who you are today, at least contributing to who you are today. I want to talk about that a little bit, because I think it’s so very cool.
Scotty Sandow:
But we’re going to back up a little further than that to a high school running coach when I think you brought up the idea of running a marathon and they basically told you no. That was the spark. Can we start there?
Ryan Montgomery:
I can tell you did your research. I want to preface this narrative. I think a common theme in this is really oppression. Think about oppression and how people really want to be free. People want to flourish. People want to be themselves. I think I didn’t realize that’s the underlying story in my running career until much later.
Ryan Montgomery:
But yes, your point, I was in high school. I’m a freshman in high school, so I’m quite young, and I tell my coach, “I want to run a marathon. I think it’s cool, and I think it’s awesome.” She told me that if I run this marathon, I will never be able to run again, because I’m going to injure myself because I’m too young for it. Granted, she-
Scotty Sandow:
That’s one hell of a thing to say.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, and I was so excited. Can you imagine 14-year-old little Ryan? I’m so bubbly, and I’m so excited about this, and I just felt like someone crushed my dream.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh yeah. They basically said, “You could die, Ryan. If you run that marathon, you’re dead. Basically, you’re going to die. That’s what’s going to happen to you.”
Ryan Montgomery:
But her response was so logical. Like, you can hurt yourself. But how I heard it is, Ryan, you’re not good enough. Ryan, you shouldn’t do this. I’m already so fragile because I’m this closeted gay boy. And so, that’s how I interpreted it. Of course, Ryan, high-schooler, does it anyway.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s awesome.
Ryan Montgomery:
I go run this marathon. I did not die, because I’m talking to you today. It was a hard experience, but it was so fun, and I learned so much about myself in that experience. I take that experience, and I remember it fueled the fire for me where I’m like, what’s next? What other impossibles can I break down? What other oppression or new barrier that I can overcome to help me feel like I’m rising and I feel like I’m free?
Ryan Montgomery:
And so, that’s where the i2P story comes in. Do you want me to tell that story too?
Scotty Sandow:
I do. But I want to pause you for a moment. Let’s go back to this high school running coach. Did you go back to them and say, “Guess what? Medaled. I got my medal here that says I did it. I did it.” Did you talk to them? Did you tell them you did it?
Ryan Montgomery:
I honestly don’t remember that conversation. I’m sure I did because I ran cross-country all four years of high school. I don’t remember how that conversation went to be frank.
Scotty Sandow:
No worries. But what was your big takeaway from that?
Ryan Montgomery:
My takeaway, it was simply what I said about how I felt like people were always going to put limitations on you. That’s just not only from an athletic perspective. That’s all things in life. We see that day and day out. That’s why we have Pride Month. It’s because the queer community has been so oppressed and has fought so hard for just simple basic human rights. Yeah, it’s that we get to dictate what we can and cannot do. We have the opportunity to tell that story for ourselves. So, I think that was the big lesson I learned.
Scotty Sandow:
That is really cool.
Ryan Montgomery:
And I think it developed more over time too. At that point for me, it was just that you were wrong, coach, and I was right, and now I’m going to go do more things, to go explore this running thing.
Scotty Sandow:
It ignited the fires. Also, there’s a bit of self-care going in there too, right? Like, no, no, no, you’re not going to define me. I define me.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yes.
Scotty Sandow:
Thank you.
Ryan Montgomery:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Scotty Sandow:
Can you tell folks what impossible2Possible is before we get into this and then how that opportunity came about into your life?
Ryan Montgomery:
Absolutely. Impossible2Possible, it’s a non-profit organization founded by Ray Zahab. If you don’t know who Ray Zahab is, you should definitely look him up. He is also just the most amazing human who has just done some crazy athletic adventures and just has a really cool life story. He lives in Canada.
Ryan Montgomery:
But he founded this organization. And the premise of what he wants to accomplish with this organization is to take youth-at that time I was 16, 17-and bring them onto these expeditions at some random place in the world, have them do something seemingly impossible; so go on these crazy expeditions, these long distances, and inspire the youth of today. At the same time while inspiring them, educate them. Let’s on our expedition have an educational curriculum where classrooms can follow us and can learn and through hands-on learning actually participate in this expedition while also inspiring them. It’s a really cool platform.
Ryan Montgomery:
I guess how I got wrapped into it is one of my previous teachers heard about this, and they’re like, “Oh, Ryan, you’re the perfect fit for this.” I applied and interviewed, and they invited me on to an expedition in Bolivia. And so, in May 2011, me and a bunch of other youth, we flew to the Altiplano of Bolivia. Running at 12,000 to 15,000 feet, we ran about a marathon a day for five days.
Scotty Sandow:
What?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. Can you imagine when I told my mom this? Because I’m also such a self-sustaining child at this point that I just run my own show. I told my mom. I’m like, “Hey, mom. I’m in a final interview to go on this trip to Bolivia by the way. Oh, by the way, I’m also going to run multiple marathons there.”
Scotty Sandow:
And her response was what?
Ryan Montgomery:
She was like, “What? Who are you? Whose child are you? What’s going on?” Yeah, my poor mom. She definitely had to learn how to handle that.
Scotty Sandow:
Wait. Someone wants to take you to South America? What?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. Oh, and I’m going by myself by the way. I’m meeting these random people that you’ve never met.
Scotty Sandow:
That is a crazy adventure. That is such a crazy adventure for anybody, let alone someone who’s in high school.
Ryan Montgomery:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Scotty Sandow:
Oh boy, so many questions here. How do you prepare yourself at that age to run a marathon a day? Or what, five days?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, five, six days we were there, mm-hmm (affirmative). To be frank, I was horrified, because foremost I’d only had one marathon experience and I could not walk for two days after that. And then, to think about doing that day after day after day while camping out in the middle of the most random place in South America, it was scary. But I feel like at that time in my life, it was just something so far-fetched and something so out there that I just felt like it was something I needed to do to go learn about something. Whether that was just meet new people, so be it. But I felt like it was just going to be an opportunity for me to really learn about myself, and it definitely became that. And honestly, that experience is the experience of who I am today as a runner, which we can talk about that [inaudible].
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, I want to hear that. It’s such a pivotal time in your life to go through that. It’s really you’re shaping yourself, whether you know it or not, at that time. But yeah, connect the dots here for us in terms of this program and who you are today and what happened in between.
Ryan Montgomery:
The first day, we were running across the Salar de Uyuni, which if you don’t know what that is, google it. It’s one of the largest salt flats in the world. That was day one. We ran across this salt flat. It was so cool. I was so scared day two and day three that my body is not going to be able to show up and do this.
Ryan Montgomery:
The thing that I learned day after day is that the body is really optimized to be resilient. The body learns and adapts as you stress itself. I learned as the expedition progressed, my body actually recovered faster and faster. By the time I got to day five, I really wasn’t even sore. I just was running, then I was jogging. Of course, we’re not going at the pace that I would be running if I were to run Western States. Of course, because we’re high school students. But it was still such an eye-opening experience that our bodies are so much more capable than what we give it credit for.
Ryan Montgomery:
Also, the guys that run this organization, guys and girls that run this organization, a lot of them are ultra-runners. This is the expedition where I heard the stories of Badwater, where I heard the stories of all these other iconic races. I remember listening to them as a 16, 17-year-old saying, “I am doing that some day, because this is just wild and I’m learning so much about myself. I feel like I’m drinking from the fire hose of just learning about my body and learning about my mind in this experience.” That like, “I need to do this, because I feel so empowered now.”
Scotty Sandow:
Wow.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, sure enough, it was just like I had to do it. And so, I jumped right into ultra running when I was in college. Of course, I immediately started doing 100-mile races.
Scotty Sandow:
In college?
Ryan Montgomery:
In college, of course.
Scotty Sandow:
As if you’re not busy enough being a full-time student. Now, you’re running ultras, because that’s normal.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. Because I saw the long ultras as the avenue to really get those experiences of all the human emotions where you can truly be like you put your body in that mind and that space where you can really dig deep into it. And then, of course, I’m like, oh, I’ve done three 100 milers now, logically let’s do Badwater. And then, I do Badwater.
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s just been this chain reaction for me where it’s not so much… Running is definitely it, but it’s more of I feel so free when I’m out there. Ultra running is my expression of myself. Tying it back to what Pride is, I feel like I’m expressing myself. In that expression, I’m learning about myself. And I just don’t want it to end. That’s why I just want to keep going on this journey.
Scotty Sandow:
Wow. As you age and as you get more life experiences, that narrative is going to change for you.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah.
Scotty Sandow:
But it’s also going to help propel you forward too and meet a lot of life’s challenges head on. At least, it does for me.
Scotty Sandow:
Gosh dang it, I want your life, Ryan. I wish I could go back and do it over again. Get in a time machine and go back and run with Ray. Was Ray Zahab with you when you guys ran that?
Ryan Montgomery:
Sorry, what was that?
Scotty Sandow:
Was Ray Zahab with you when you ran that in Bolivia?
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh yeah, he definitely was there.
Scotty Sandow:
That guy is a freaking Jedi master, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
He is.
Scotty Sandow:
And you’re like the little Jedi Padawans.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, I wish I knew how cool Ray was at that time. We still talk on the phone every once in a while, because he’s just a good human.
Scotty Sandow:
He’s a good dude, yeah.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, good people. Good people to have in your circle.
Scotty Sandow:
I have more questions for you, but I do want to do… I have a new installment for this podcast, which is Scotty’s 5K, which is my five [K-stions]. Not questions but K-stions, because it’s a 5K. I have five quick K-stions for you.
Ryan Montgomery:
I love it. Very witty.
Scotty Sandow:
They’re really short. Thank you very much. My first question, K-stion, excuse me, Spotify or Apple Music?
Ryan Montgomery:
Spotify.
Scotty Sandow:
Okay, what’s your go-to playlist? Do you have one?
Ryan Montgomery:
Okay, fun fact about me is I love all music. I love everything from Katy Perry to country music to rap to dance music. I listen to it all. I don’t have particular favorites.
Ryan Montgomery:
This year though I discovered a new artist called Lady Zamar. She’s a South African artist, and she has this song called Collide. It is the most random thing I’ve found, but it’s such a good vibe music. I used to skate ski to it every day single day this last winter. So, if you want a good vibe song, Collide by Lady Zamar.
Scotty Sandow:
I’ve already written it down. It’s going to be playing for me at my next run, I promise you that.
Ryan Montgomery:
It will not disappoint.
Scotty Sandow:
All right. K-stion number two, pickle juice, yay or nay?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yay. I love pickle juice. Even especially when it’s a little frozen during a hot ultra marathon.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh, you get like pickle ice chunks in there?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah. It’s a little pickle juice slushie. It’s amazing.
Scotty Sandow:
Who knew? For years, there’d be that one pickle just floating in the jar. It would just be there like a turd.
Ryan Montgomery:
Exactly.
Scotty Sandow:
But now, it’s like, “No, no, no. Don’t throw it out. That stuff is good.”
Ryan Montgomery:
No, no, no, I want it. Hilarious.
Scotty Sandow:
All right, K-stion number three, do you have a mantra? When things get tough, do you have a mantra you go to?
Ryan Montgomery:
That’s a good question. Nobody’s ever asked me that. I don’t have a mantra, but I’m a visualizer. So, when things get tough… I guess if we’re talking about a race, then I’m a visualizer where I picture myself at the finish line. I’m ruining down the shoot to the finish line and I’m embracing my friend. I’m a big visualizer to carry me through the dark moments in races.
Scotty Sandow:
I think about food.
Ryan Montgomery:
What kind of food though is the bigger question.
Scotty Sandow:
You know what? I am knowing what restaurant is nearest to the finish line. That’s where we’re going.
Ryan Montgomery:
You’re like, “What restaurants can currently Uber Eats something to me at the moment?”
Scotty Sandow:
Oh, that would be baller to do that, to get Uber Eats during a run.
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh, hell, yeah. I would totally do that.
Scotty Sandow:
Well, we’ll see who can get to it first, okay?
Ryan Montgomery:
You’re going to set the trend. This is a whole untapped market, perhaps.
Scotty Sandow:
It is, it is. All right, number four, do you have a go to YouTube rabbit hole? Are you into a specific genre of videos or anything like that of that’s just where I go?
Ryan Montgomery:
I don’t. I’m not a big video watcher. During the pandemic, I watched a little bit more Netflix, but I’m usually so busy. I don’t usually watch YouTube or even TV. But if I do watch YouTube, I really like music videos, especially anything from Nicki Minaj or Doja Cat.
Scotty Sandow:
I have seen her a lot when I go to Urban Outfitters. The truth is, Ryan, I’m just not cool enough to buy anything from Urban Outfitters, actually.
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s okay. You can still be a groupie at this point.
Scotty Sandow:
I bought a pair of swim trunks over at Urban Outfitters a few months ago. I wore them around. I was at my girlfriend’s house, and her daughter’s 20. She saw my outfit. She goes, “Scotty, your outfit is hurting my feelings.”
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh my gosh. Oh, that’s too funny.
Scotty Sandow:
I love them. Okay, number five. Sorry, I digress. All right. Who or what is your spirit animal?
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh. Back when I was 20 years old, someone told me I was a dolphin. I don’t why, but I feel like they said I was a dolphin because I’m very chipper and happy all the time. I feel I’m more like a monkey though. I feel like my boyfriend would say I’m a monkey, because I am a big cuddler. I can be kind of cute, but then I can also be really mean if you get on my bad side, which are exactly like monkeys. But everybody loves monkeys, so…
Scotty Sandow:
They do.
Ryan Montgomery:
I think it’s a good spirit animal. They’re quite smart, too.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, you would not eff around with a pissed off monkey. Man, those things are-
Ryan Montgomery:
Exactly.
Scotty Sandow:
… are scary strong. Yes, all right. I don’t want to see your bad side, Ryan. I don’t think I’m going to. Okay, good.
Ryan Montgomery:
Just don’t see me after the Badwater 135.
Scotty Sandow:
Done.
Ryan Montgomery:
That’s probably the bad monkey.
Scotty Sandow:
The bad monkey, you need to get a shirt that just says good monkey on one side then you turn it inside out and it says bad monkey, just to give your boyfriend a heads up.
Ryan Montgomery:
You’re like, “Don’t make me flip my shirt.”
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, don’t make me flip my shirt now. That’s funny. All right, bad monkey, I want to go back to your FKT. Your speed record for unsupported run around the Wonderland Trail, which is 93 miles at the Mount Rainier National Park, you did that in 18 hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds. Does that record still stand?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yep, it does.
Scotty Sandow:
It does? Good.
Ryan Montgomery:
I can’t imagine someone doing it in the wintertime.
Scotty Sandow:
Well, it seems like every 15 minutes someone else was breaking a record that was just broken, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
I know. Well, the reason was last summer everyone was doing Wonderland, like Dylan Bowman, Tyler Green, Kaytlyn. I was like, I’m from Seattle. I have to show up on this course, on this trail where everybody’s coming. So, I’m glad I joined the bandwagon.
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah, you did. One thing I did not see, what was the elevation? How much was the gain on that?
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s about 24,000 overall.
Scotty Sandow:
Holy crap. Holy crap. Can you give us just a brief overview of that trail and the terrain and what that was looking like for you? You were feeling it, man. You were feeling good that day.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, I felt so in my element that day. And by the way, if you’ve never been to Mount Rainier National Park, please go. Don’t go all at once, because let’s keep our national parks pristine, but it is such a beautiful, magical place, foremost. But yeah, I started around 3:00 a.m. at Cougar Rock Campground. My cheerleader and support for the day, even though I didn’t have support support, my mom was there at the start and at the end. So, she was my-
Scotty Sandow:
Yes, mom. Way to go.
Ryan Montgomery:
My mom is the best. She is my number one cheerleader, and she always will be.
Ryan Montgomery:
I just felt so floaty all day. The thing too is for people who aren’t familiar with unsupported FKTs, you can’t receive any assistance at all from any human. All the food I had for the entire 90-plus miles was in my pack or on my person somewhere. I had to refill water throughout the day from various creeks. It’s a whole process and because of that, your pack is so heavy. It was so incredibly heavy. Imagine going up, climbing some of these hills just with a pack that felt like it was weighing you down. It just adds to the complexity of a run like that. But overall it just-
Scotty Sandow:
Did you weigh your pack?
Ryan Montgomery:
I should have, but it probably it was maybe 12 pounds. I’m really bad at guessing weight.
Scotty Sandow:
Did you load it up with California [inaudible] or something? What was in there?
Ryan Montgomery:
I had GoMacro bars. I had [inaudible] bars. I had Spring energy. I had some waffles, the Honey Stinger waffles. Then, I just had a bunch of little single-serve electrolyte things that I would fill my soft flasks with once I refilled them with water. That was pretty much all I had.
Scotty Sandow:
Did you have enough?
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh yeah, I actually had all of my food perfectly dialed. I think there’s only one or two things I didn’t eat.
Scotty Sandow:
So lucky. You got so lucky.
Ryan Montgomery:
It was perfectly optimized. I had just the right amount of water on me. I had two on my pack, and every few hours, every two to three hours, I’d fill them back up again and load it with electrolyte and on my way.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s amazing.
Ryan Montgomery:
I felt like my nutrition was pretty dialed for someone that had no idea what he was doing. I know for some people it might seem like, wow, Ryan really misdialed. I had no idea what I was doing. I just showed up and hoped for the best.
Ryan Montgomery:
But yeah, that whole day was so fun. I really approached it like I just want to have a fun day around Mount Rainier and just put myself out of my comfort zone on some of these climbs and just let everything happen. It just really worked out that day.
Scotty Sandow:
Was there any point of doubt where you thought, I don’t know, this may have been more than Ryan can take today?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, because I was also injured again last year. I know it’s been a double whammy with my injuries. But I had just been recovering from an injury that summer too, so I was nervous that my injury would flare up. On one of the climbs, I felt my hamstring a little bit. I was like, oh, no, this could be the end of it. Or I was also worried that I would blow my ankle or something.
Ryan Montgomery:
The worst thing that happened though was after the 50K mark. I was going down a very steep descent, and it happened to be very wet. Rocks and wet and greenery in the Pacific Northwest means that it’s slippery. I slipped, and I cut open my arm, my forearm, a little bit. I had blood running down my arm for the whole day. Eventually, it dried and coagulated. But yeah, that was the worst thing that happened the whole day.
Scotty Sandow:
We’ll take it. You said you were feeling floaty. I’m going to use that word now for good days. Like, how was your run? Dude, I was just floaty out there. I love it.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, especially in trail running, I use that word all the time. If you feel like you’re floaty, it felt like I’m going up the hills effortlessly. I feel like I’m in control on the downhill. That’s floaty. I love it.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s great. I want to know who are you running for nowadays. Who are you sponsored by?
Ryan Montgomery:
I run for Altra on their Altra Elite team, so Altra shoes. I also run for Suunto. A lot of ultra-runners use Suunto watches for their battery life. Honestly, their hardware’s pretty awesome. And then, I also have clothing from 2XU.
Scotty Sandow:
That’s pretty legit. That’s a lot of work to get there. Are there any misconceptions that you get, or do you get common misconceptions from folks about being a sponsored elite runner?
Ryan Montgomery:
How do you mean by misconceptions?
Scotty Sandow:
I don’t know. Do they think, well, all you do is run, right?
Ryan Montgomery:
Oh.
Scotty Sandow:
Like, no, I kind of have a full-time regular job too.
Ryan Montgomery:
I feel like even the top, top athletes in our sport aren’t making millions of dollars at all. It’s a very small sport. I definitely approach my sport as I just want to have fun. That’s why I’m here. If people want to support me along the way, then that’s a win-win situation for me. So yeah, I just feel really grateful that there’s people in our industry that see value in me and want to support me along this journey.
Ryan Montgomery:
It’s so expensive to be a runner. There’s way more expensive sports, like cycling and skiing, but I think running shoes are not cheap either.
Scotty Sandow:
No.
Ryan Montgomery:
I just feel super grateful to be supported, you know?
Scotty Sandow:
Yeah. No, exactly. This is an expensive sport. Oh my god, I don’t want to look at my bill this month. It is ridiculous.
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, if anyone looks at like… I know a lot of people like you. Running Warehouse, or if you are an Altra runner or a Hoka runner, how much money you actually spend with these people, it’s a lot. It adds up.
Ryan Montgomery:
But also, to your point too about my day job, I really want to be a dynamic human. I’m runner Ryan, but I’m also consultant Ryan at my tech company. I’m also Coach Ryan, and I like to play that role. I think I would do myself injustice if I just became athlete Ryan, because I want to be way more than that.
Scotty Sandow:
You’re coaching too, if people are interested, what’s the best way for them to reach you to hire you as a coach?
Ryan Montgomery:
Yeah, if you’re interested, you can reach out to me on my Instagram, ultra.ryan, or our company website which is Mountain Endurance Coaching.
Scotty Sandow:
Ryan Montgomery, thank you so much for coming on the show. It has been an absolute pleasure and delight. I am super proud of you and what you’ve accomplished and what you’re doing right now. I cannot wait to see what’s coming ahead.
Ryan Montgomery:
Thanks. I’m excited for the journey.
Scotty Sandow:
Oh, it’s going to be fantastic to watch. Hey, good luck this summer. We’re rooting for you at UTMB and at World Championships. It’s going to be a blast.
Ryan Montgomery:
Thanks. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Scotty Sandow:
You got it. Thank you so much, Ryan, for joining today’s show and sharing your story with us. We’re all rooting for you to have an amazing time at UTMB and World Championships. And we can’t wait to see which nail polish color you’ll decide to wear while bringing it.
Scotty Sandow:
In the spirit of Pride Month, I would like to share a great organization dedicated to LGBTQ youth. It’s called Brave Trails. Brave Trails offers accredited summer camps, family camps, mentor programs, meet-up groups, and year-round leadership programming. The programs focus on helping LGBTQ youth find what they need most to thrive. You can learn more at bravetrails.org.
Scotty Sandow:
And just a side note, if you’ll be at States, and we hope that you will be, be sure to look for the Ultrarunning magazine both at the Western States pre-race expo on June 25th. That is the Friday before the race. We’ll be joined by the one and only Dean Karnazes from 10:00 to noon. He’ll be signing copies of his new book, A Runner’s High, and giving them away to current Ultrarunning magazine subscribers. So, if you haven’t subscribed yet, you should do it and grab a free book, all right?
Scotty Sandow:
We’d love for you to come by and say hello and let us know what you’re up to. We’ll be sharing the love for States from 9:00 to 1:00 p.m. at the pre-race expo. We’re also planning to be at Foresthill on race day with refreshments and a surprise for competitors. Don’t tell them we’re doing something for the runners which requires your help. So, we’re so excited to see everyone at States.
Scotty Sandow:
All right, let’s get it back. All right. Thank you, guys, for listening to the show. This would not be possible without your support. You guys are the goo in my waist pack. You keep me going when I need it most. Seriously, keep that up. I love it.
Scotty Sandow:
All right, I am Scotty Sandow. I’ll see you at States. You’ve been listening to Ultrarunning Magazine Podcast. Live long.