In this episode, we bring you a new interview from last September’s Spartan Podfest at the Squaw Valley Resort in Lake Tahoe - featuring 68-year old Olympian Rod Dixon. Rod Dixon is a legend in the running community. He’s an Olympic Bronze medalists and won the 1983 NYC Marathon in one of the most dramatic finishes the race has ever seen. Rod’s additional triumphs include: winning the national 1500m titles of New Zealand, France, U.S.A, and Great Britain; running the fifth fastest 1500m of all time 1974 at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games;  a fourth-place finish in the 5000m at the 1976 Montreal Olympics; victories at the Philadelphia Distance Classic in 1980 and 1981 in course record times; victories at the Examiner Bay to Breakers Road Race in San Francisco in 1982 and 1983 in course record time; and a 10th place finish in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics marathon.

This week we offer another interview recorded at the Spartan Podfest last September in Lake Tahoe. And this time we’ve got double trouble for you. Our latest guests are race directors, ultra runners and adventurers Johnny Waite and Luis Escobar. Johnny Waite is a race director for Spartan Race Canada, and a man of many great soundbytes, including the motto he lives by, which is “a lifetime of adventures of a lifetime.” Luis Escobar is a long-time runner, photographer, experienced race director possibly best known for the Born to Run Ultra Marathon Extravaganza near Santa Barbara, California and now co-director for the new Spartan Trail series launching this year. These guys took opposite paths to eventually find each other and build an enduring friendship over common threads. And they both have an amazing perspective on how to live your best Seasoned Athlete life.

In this episode, we get to know Steve Mittleman of Long Beach, CA. Steve is a husband, father, weightlifting coach at Mo-Mentum Fitness in Huntington Beach AND he’s a competitive Highland Games athlete. Steve is a member of the Orange County Highlanders, a group that practices in Orange County and competes at Scottish Festivals throughout Southern California, and he recently earned first place as a Masters 50+ athlete at a tournament at the Ventura Highland Games last October. Additionally, Steve has competed as a powerlifter, winning a California championship, two state records in the squat and the deadlift and a national championship.

This episode comes to you from the Spartan Podfest at last September’s Spartan World Championships, and features Willie Banks. Willie is a former World Record Holder and Olympian, President and CEO of the ANOC World Beach Games and President of the US Olympians. Much of Willie’s fame comes from his innovative approach to sports and his exuberant personality that he brought to track and field competitions.  He is the originator of the now common hand clapping that takes place during many track and field events, which he talks about in true Willie style during our conversation. In 1999, Willie was inducted into the USA National Track and Field Hall of Fame and he still continues to compete to this day.

This week, we talk to 67-year old Helen Leeds of Bullhead City, Arizona. Helen is a mother of three, grandmother of seven and she has one great grandson. She’s a retired Senior Accountant, a golfer, a bowler and a competitive soccer player. Helen medaled twice in the Bullhead City/Laughlin Senior Olympics in 2017 and recently competed with the San Diego Soccer Women Global Goals team in Norway, playing alongside women ranging from 41-77 years old - and her daughter. Helen’s passions also include Zumba, motorcycle riding, camping and birdwatching.

Jimmy Choi, 43, is a husband, father, runner, cyclist, obstacle racer and American Ninja Warrior. After being diagnosed with early onset Parkinson’s Disease at age 27, and spending years in denial, a life changing incident was the catalyst that led him to make a change to lead a more active life. Since his first 5K in 2012, Jimmy has literally hit the ground running and has run countless road races, numerous 50+ mile bike races and two seasons of American Ninja Warrior - all the while representing Team Fox and raising $250,000 for the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Jimmy has become an inspiration to the Parkinson’s community and beyond, and lives his life with a positive mindset, passion and dedication to helping find a cure for Parkinson’s.

On Friday, September 28, 2018, John Witzing, Josh Chessman and Brian “Tosh” Chontosh entered individual shipping containers and spent 24 hours running on Trueform Runner human powered treadmills. They did this in the dark, isolated from the outside world. No communication, no music, nothing but their own thoughts and iron will pushing them through. The goal? Run as many miles as possible in 24 hours. Known as the Locked and Loaded 24 Hours of Isolation Challenge, they were doing this in support of mental health, veterans and first responders. Although their individual goals were to run more miles than their competitors, to them, true victory was to help those suffering in silence.

In our main interview, we talk to 43-year old Rachel Cosgrove of Santa Clarita, California. Rachel owns and operate Results Fitness, named one of the top ten gyms in the US by Men’s Health Magazine. She’s the best-selling author of The Female Body Breakthrough and Drop Two Sizes. In 2012, Rachel earned the title of IDEA Personal Trainer of the Year. She has competed as a triathlete, a powerlifter, and in the last year, she made a name for herself as a competitive obstacle course racer. Some of Rachel’s recent OCR stats include earning a 3rd place Masters finish at EPIC Series in 2017, a 3rd place age group finish at the 2017 Big Bear Spartan Beast, 2nd in the 40-49 age group at the 2018 SoCal Spartan, and 3rd place in the 40-49 age group at the 2018 Big Bear Spartan Beast, which also punched her ticket to the 2018 Spartan World Championships as an age group competitor.

This week, we meet 61-year old Helen Fritsch - a flight attendant, published fitness model, IFBB Bodybuilding Pro and Certified Wine Specialist who believes that age is irrelevant to pursue goals, dreams and desires. To that end, she started competing in bodybuilding shows when she turned 55 and consistently placed in the top 5. When Helen turned 60 last year, she won a national championship and earned her pro card. Four years ago, Helen was diagnosed with Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia, but that didn’t stop her from pursuing her athletic goals. Helen have been featured in Oxygen Magazine, D’Fyne Magazine, Center Stage Magazine and she writes a column in Max Sports and Fitness Magazine called Forever Young.

his week we talk to 66-year old Masters Runner Tom Bernhard of Castro Valley, CA. He currently holds four men’s 65-69 American age group records - 1 Mile, 5000m, and 10,000m on the track along with the 5K record on the road.  Tom is a four-time Road Runner of the year in your age group: once in 55-59, once in 60-64, and twice in 65-69. And he's won the Masters LDR Grand Prix two times: once in 2015 in the 60-64 age group and once in 2017 in the 65-69 age group.

In this episode, we discuss how Tom has managed to work through various injuries and how he continues to be able to race at a high level. 

This episode is a little different than what we normally do here at Seasoned Athlete. I recently had the opportunity to bring the Seasoned Athlete Podcast to the Celebrity Sweat Wellness Day in Downtown Los Angeles. Celebrity Sweat is a television show on Discovery Life Channel that features interviews with celebrities and athletes and is all about motivating and inspiring people to live their best lives. Kind of like what we do around here.

Episode 030 will feature interviews with three people who are all over 40 and represent different specialties in the fitness and wellness arena. The first interview is with Tae Bo creator, fitness legend and Celebrity Sweat co-host 62-year old Billy Blanks. The second is with martial arts athlete and qigong expert 47-year old Chris Shelton. And the last interview of the episode is with Hollywood physique expert and Celebrity Sweat co-host 49 (aka forty-fine) year old Eric The Trainer. In these three interviews, you’ll hear three distinctly different stories but some common threads, as well, such as taking care of yourself from the inside out and the importance of getting rest. All three are over 40 and have some fantastic advice for the over 40 athlete.

This week we talk to masters distance runner Brian Pilcher of Kentfield, California. He has been named male masters runner of the year in 2012 and 2013, he was the overall masters athlete of the year in 2013. He currently holds the 60-64 age group world record in the half marathon, 25K and 30K distances, all of which were earned on the same day during the 2016 Chicago Marathon, where he also tied the full marathon record set by Clive Davies in 1979. Just one week earlier, he broke the 5K world record for his age group at the Syracuse Festival of Races with a time of 16:38, a record he still holds to this day.

In the episode, we discuss how he got back into running in his fifties after a long break and what advantages can come from having a late start as a runner, and he gives advice to others who may be considering getting into running at a more advanced age.

This week, we talk to Kevin Donoghue from Monroe, New York. Kevin has been a Spartan Race Pro Team member since 2015 and holds multiple Spartan Race records. These records include 102 combined masters and overall Spartan Race podiums, 50 1st place finishes, and 71 1st place age group finishes. He's the host of Daily Burn Spartan, the first ever workout video series for obstacle racing and he's been a two-time team captain on NBC’s Spartan Ultimate Team Challenge. In addition, Kevin is Spartan Master Trainer, Obstacle Specialist Coach and one of the founding Spartan Course Officials.