Brian Reynolds: The First Double Amputee to Finish a 100 Mile Ultra

<p>Learn about our Patreon Offers!: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod ">⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.patreon.com/DistancetoEmptyPod ⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p><p>Get some free DTE Swag by supporting out sponsors!</p><p><a href="https://janji.com/pages/distance-to-empty">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://janji.com/pages/distance-to-empty⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a>⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and be sure to select &#39;podcast&#39; &gt; &#39;Distance to Empty&#39; on the post purchase &quot;How did you hear about Janji&quot; page. Thank you!</p><p>Check out Mount to Coast here: <a href="https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance">⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://mounttocoast.com/discount/Distance⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠</a></p><p><br></p><p><strong>Brian Reynolds</strong>&#39;<strong> Four-Year Journey at Leadville to Becoming the First Double Amputee to Finish a 100-Mile Race</strong></p><p>On this episode of Distance to Empty, Kevin sits down with Brian, who just days earlier became the first below-the-knee double amputee to finish a 100-mile trail race — completing the legendary Leadville Trail 100 in 28 hours and 55 minutes.</p><p>Brian takes us inside four years and four attempts at Leadville, from a first-year DNF where he had &quot;absolutely zero idea&quot; what he was doing, to prosthetic tread failures that cost him the race in years two and three, to finally crossing the finish line on Sixth Street surrounded by a 19-person crew. Along the way, he breaks down the engineering behind his running blades vs. hiking legs, why aid-station transitions can take eight-plus minutes of stripping down, drying off, and re-taping, and how he trains over 20 hours of weekly cardio without the mileage most ultrarunners rely on.</p><p>We also get into the mental side of the sport: hiding his legs under pants until his mid-twenties, the moment he stopped caring what people thought and started pushing his own limits, and why — despite training in the dark ages before adaptive-sports role models existed — he now gets to be the person others reach out to for answers.</p><p><strong>Topics covered:</strong></p><ul><li>The difference between running blades, walking legs, and hiking legs — and why weight and heel flexion matter on a course like Hope Pass</li><li>Three straight years of prosthetic equipment failures and how he engineered his way past them</li><li>Why he skipped every shorter distance and went straight to a 100-miler</li><li>The 38%-higher energy cost of running as a double amputee, and how he fuels for it</li><li>His 19-person Leadville crew and the community that kept bringing him back</li><li>What&#39;s next: rim-to-rim-to-rim, Comrades, and a very unofficial 99% &quot;no&quot; to 200-milers</li></ul>