Jake Kilgore
Running a 50k in Jail + A Book Review

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What does your life consist of outside of running?
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What made you decide to pursue ultra running?
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What drives you to keep doing ultras?
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What has been the biggest challenge you have faced in ultra running?
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What is the most important lesson you have learned from ultra running?
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What is something you wish you had known when you first started ultra running?
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What is your top piece of advice for someone who wants to run their first ultra?
1. Just celebrated my 23 yr anniversary with my high school sweetheart, and life long pacer: Bri. 4 amazing kids ages 10-19. When I’m not training, I’m coaching my son’s basketball team and training him in the hardwood, RD of DC Peaks 50, and CEO of 1Solar.
2. After road running for 2 years and achieving my goal to run Boston, I got really bored and needed a bigger goal and tougher challenge to take my mind off of the crap life was serving me on a silver platter.
3. The strategy of game planning for months to have 1 day to pull it all together. Physical and mental wellness. Maintaining a balanced lifestyle. And I’m not getting any younger.
4. Being ok with failing: DNF. I don’t do well failing. I know it’s part of the sport and part how we become who we are, but still….(physically, all 100s have been tough. They’ve all had 20k+ very and super hard. So I’d have to defer to the Tahoe 200 coming up in June)
5. Anything is possible. It takes discipline, dedication, strategy, and a contingency plan to never give up. Anything and everything that happens to you in life is management, one aid station at a time.
6. When training, try to find trails/terrain that mimic the course. i.e. 6-8 easy miles on the road ain’t gonna cut it. 20 mile long run on a service road ain’t gonna cut it if you’re doing Wasatch. Instead, hit routes that have 1000’ per mile, or go up for 2 hrs straight, back down and do it again. (We usually like to go up, down, and then go to our car. Most AS’s are in the valleys so get used to descending for long periods of time, then hit a small AS in your car, and go right back up)
7. Don’t let anyone tell you ‘you’re crazy, that’s too far, our bodies weren’t meant to go that far’ etc. Our bodies were “born to run.” Ultras build character and nurture the soul. It beats sleeping in and sitting on the couch every day of the week.
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