Keep Moving Forward

Hey Team!

I’m on the road again... this time reporting live from Austin, Texas. The first few days have been a whirlwind, but now I’ve got a small pocket of slower time before things ramp up again this weekend.

It’s been interesting spending so much time in the U.S. lately. I hardly watch television, whether I’m at home or on the road, and although I have my own views on the current administration, the truth is you don’t really feel much of that in day-to-day life. No horror stories from the airport. Nothing dramatic in the streets. Mostly just time with friends, some incredible business opportunities, and daily runs with local clubs.

That said, I do love my downtime at home. I’ve really learned to appreciate stillness. And I’m especially looking forward to getting back this time because I get to dog-sit my baby girl Coconut for two weeks.

From The Field

This past weekend was nothing short of breathtaking. I had the chance to crew one of the most spectacular running events I’ve ever witnessed: the G1M Ultra hosted by BPN Supplements. It started Friday at noon with 145 runners. The format was simple and brutal... complete a 4.2-mile loop within the hour, then start again on the next hour, every hour, until only one person remains. Miss the cutoff or decide you’re done, and that’s a DNF. There is only one official finisher.

What makes this kind of race so wild is the math of suffering. Many runners were coming in around 47 to 52 minutes past the hour, which meant they had maybe 8 to 12 minutes to sit, stretch, eat, hydrate, reset, and somehow get ready to do it all again. As the hours pile up, that margin disappears. A few minutes becomes one minute. One minute becomes no time at all. By the 24-hour mark, the runners still standing had crossed 100 miles... with no sleep.

I was there to crew my friend Jake Heyen. Jake wouldn’t call himself a huge runner, but he can absolutely run a solid marathon. A lot of people know him as the guy on Instagram covering wellness, fitness trends, interesting brands, and events like this. Somehow, out of 10,000 applicants, he landed one of just 170 spots in the race... and he showed up ready to empty the tank.

That’s exactly what he did. Jake crushed his 50-mile goal and kept going until 3 a.m., finishing at 63 miles. Our crew all felt like he had one more in him, but he didn’t. And that was okay. He dug deep, exceeded his own expectations, and made the call on his own terms. We respected that completely.

Over the past year, I’ve met some incredible runners, including a few who were out there racing. One of them was Kendall Fallas, last year’s inaugural co-winner and a clear fan favorite coming into the weekend. He was an absolute savage. Kendall and Mark Dowdle went 72 laps... 300 miles... meaning they ran for three straight days. Their breaks were often nothing more than a quick reset and maybe a 2 to 4 minute nap every few hours. Mark ended up completing the 73rd lap and became the official winner.

That kind of race becomes a pure test of one question: how bad do you want to go one more?

Of course fitness matters. But not nearly as much as the mental fortitude it takes to keep stepping back onto that course through heat, thunderstorms, sleepless nights, and the emotional roller coaster of the whole thing. Mark even shared afterward that he was falling asleep while running. That tells you everything.

For me, it was an honour to be in service. I wrote about that earlier this week. And as I thought about everything else going on this weekend... The Masters, Coachella... I can tell you there was something deeply fulfilling about helping a friend chase a big goal. Watching Jake, and everyone else in that arena, was genuinely special.

This Week’s Shift

And yet, the story that stayed with me most belonged to Mike Egan.

I know everyone’s feed is different, but this seemed to consume the internet for a minute... while Bieber was onstage playing hits off a MacBook at Coachella, Mike, a U.S. Marine combat veteran who lost both legs in war, was out at the G1M Ultra doing something no one had done before: taking on the race in a wheelchair.

It’s honestly hard to put into words what I witnessed in him. I’d watch him cross the start line after each loop, hunched over, arms cramping, clearly wrecked. The ranch field was uneven, grassy, and deceptively hard to push through, with subtle inclines that made every lap harder than it looked. Even as early as 32 miles, I remember thinking there was no way he could keep going.

He kept going.

Mike raced for more than 27 hours. He covered over 110 miles and outlasted 117 other competitors.

But the part I’ll never forget came in the middle of the thunderstorm overnight. The course turned into a mess of water, mud, and thick ground that moved more like cement than dirt. Mike got caught in it. I was told that several runners still in the race were moving toward him, pulling his chair inch by inch through the mud. When they offered help, he told them to keep running their race... that he would finish the lap.

And he did.

He didn’t make it back before the cutoff, but he finished the lap.

If there’s one thing you click from today’s edition, make it this. Watch this clip of Mike... it’s one of the most powerful displays of resilience I’ve ever witnessed.

That’s the shift for me this week: sometimes the win is not in beating the clock. Sometimes it’s in refusing to quit on the version of you that said, “I’m going to get this done.”

Mike is a true hero. The epitome of resilience. And I’ll be forever grateful I got to witness it firsthand.

What I witnessed this past weekend won’t leave me anytime soon. A reminder that resilience is rarely loud or polished... it just keeps moving forward.

Catch you on the Start Line,
—Matty