Life-Sparring Podcast - Round 16: Morten Klingenberg - Big Dog's Backyard and the Ultra Mindset
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Life-Sparring Podcast - Round 16: Morten Klingenberg - Big Dog’s Backyard and the Ultra Mindset
Synopsis:
It is a poorly kept secret that the Life-Sparring Podcast is mainly just a front for me to talk to people I look up to about topics of interest to me.
Morten Klingenberg with Lazarus Lake at the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Championships
Middle of October, I was one of maybe two thousand endurance sports fans, glued to a Facebook Live stream from Bell Buckle, Tennessee, following Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, one of the craziest ultra trail running races in the world.
Different from a traditional start to finish race, Big’s Backyard does not have a finish line. Instead, all race contenders must start a loop of the course at every full hour. If they manage to get around the 6.7056 km / 4 miles 880 feet long loop in less than 60 minutes, the remainder of the hour can be used for resting, refueling, running to the toilets, or even sleeping.
The race winner is the participant, who manages to complete one more round than the second last contender.
Despite not offering any prize money, cult race organizer Gary Cantrell, aka Lazarus Lake, manages year over year to get a good share of the world’s elite ultra-runners to camp out in his backyard, suffering multiple days until there is only one runner left.
For Morten Klingenberg, aka Løbetossen / Run Crazy, the trip from Denmark to the Big’s Backyard Ultra World Championships was a big step up to the world stage and only his second race outside of his native country. Completing 31 laps, equaling 129.17 miles or 207.8 kilometers, outlasting 14 other participants as an amateur runner in such an elite field, is nothing short of impressive.
As a trail running enthusiast, albeit a slow one, I couldn’t have been more excited getting Morten on the show, talking about running with the “big dogs,” and developing the ultimate ultra mindset.
Just as the past two rounds of Life-Sparring, you have the choice to listen to the audio only version via your favorite podcast platform, or to watch a video version on YouTube.
Resources mentioned in this episode:
Morten Klingenberg ‘s Official Website
Mortens’ Instagram, and Strava
Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Official Website
Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Championship 2021 - Official Results
Neo.Life, Robin Donovan: ”BACKYARD ULTRAMARATHONS PUSH THE LIMITS OF RUNNING”
Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Official Facebook Group
Bigs Backyard Log Appreciation Society Facebook Group
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About the Life-Sparring Podcast:
Sparring is an important part of martial arts; it is the reality check of your abilities. As Mike Tyson famously said: "Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth." Life-Sparring takes the sparring from the ring into real life. Hear Life-Sparring host Fabian Gruber punching above his weight, interviewing top experts in their respective fields, trying to fight (his own) mediocrity one round at a time.
The Life-Sparring podcast is hosted by Fabian Gruber and produced by Thomas Latter.
Intro and Outro beat is produced by Markezi Producer.
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