October 11, 2023 • 53 mins
We're thrilled to bring you a fascinating discussion part 2 with our friend and adventurer extraordinaire, Pete Ripmaster. Discover how Pete ran his way to self-love and mental healing using outdoor therapy. Unearth the wisdom of his transformational journey, how he found solace in nature, and the cruciality of the present moment in his spiritual awakening.
Venture alongside Pete as he narrates his unique adventure of running 100 miles in every state, a testament to his indomitable spirit. Listen in as he regales us with tales from his journey across 25 states, reveals his anticipation for Montana, his 50th 100-mile run, and the significance it holds for him. But his journey isn't only about personal achievement. Discover how he's leveraging his passion for running to support the Owl Research Institute in Montana, making his journey a voyage of purpose.
We top off our conversation with Pete with an unexpected twist - his love for golf! Be amazed as he shares his exhilaration at scoring a double eagle and a hole-in-one, a rare feat in the game. We then shift gears, drawing inspiration from the legendary Amelia Earhart, a distant cousin of Pete's. He offers inspiring insights on achieving goals and reconnecting with your childhood dreams. This episode is a treasure trove of inspiration for anyone seeking to push boundaries and pursue their passion.
Guest Host: Phil Ewert
Special Guest: Pete Ripmaster
www.peteripmaster.com
Produced by Phil Ewert Productions
Theme Music: Hero's Journey
Joel Loopez Tunepocket.com
Licensed by: Phil Ewert Productions
hometownherooutdoors.org
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Music.
Welcome to the hometown heroOutdoors podcast.
Here is your host, chris TatroMusic.
(00:32):
Welcome everyone to anotheredition of the hometown hero
outdoors podcast.
I'm guest host Phil Ewartfilling in for Chris Tatro, who
is just returning from Texasfrom an HHO event.
Chris has been burning themidnight oil for HHO the last
few weeks and had familyobligations tonight so
unfortunately he could not behere with us.
(00:53):
So I get to fly solo with myspecial guest and friend, pete
Ripmaster.
As you may remember, pete andChris and I had a great chat
about a month ago with PeteEnded up running out of time on
the podcast, so Pete graciouslyagreed to return because he
apparently has a lot more totalk about.
So welcome, pete.
(01:13):
Thanks for joining us again.
How are we doing tonight?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
They're doing wonderful, Phil.
Thanks for having me back.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And, yeah, a few things left to be on set, so
let's have another chat.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Outstanding, and so, for those who might have missed
part one of our podcasts, Ihighly recommend going back and
listening to it, as Pete kind ofrecounts a lot of his, some of
his growing up and going throughhis, what he did on the I Did
Herod foot race and so Pete is acomplex guy found his peace of
(01:47):
mind through the outdoor therapywhen he won the 2018 I Did
Herod trail imitational, whichis a 1000 mile foot race Still
boggling the human mind that youcan do 1000 miles on foot.
And so, again, go back, listento that podcast.
You can hear some of that.
But what I do want to do is Iwant to touch briefly on the I T
(02:09):
I that you talked about in thelast podcast, because we ended
up.
You were talking about how youhad a spiritual moment on the
trail, and so I'd like you togive us some parting highlights
of the 1000 mile race and thenhow that set you up for what
you're doing now.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, you know, as you talked about that, you know
it's been almost six years nowthat I did ride will be the I
did a lot trail invitation willtake place in late February and
that will be six years sinceI've done the race and so it's
been a little chunk of time, butthere's still a lot of vivid
memories from from that time inmy life and I learned a lot
(02:50):
about myself through that and itwas nothing short of therapy
for me.
I had struggled a lot.
I had kind of been a lifelongsearcher, I think I'd be willing
to say just, you know, alwayslooking for something deeper and
trying to understand myself alittle bit better.
And I found that, you know,pushing myself in the outdoors
(03:13):
Most of the time by myself was agreat way to just kind of be
there with your own thoughts,you know, and think through your
life and and think through youknow where you want to go in
life, where you've been.
But most most importantly, Itruly feel like I found I found
mindfulness out there.
I found I found the presentmoment, which had been escaping
(03:35):
me for a long time.
I think I spoke about last timethat you know my most of my life
, all, up until you know,numerous six years ago, was
either living in depressionabout things, about things I
couldn't change about my life orthings I wished I could have
changed and things like that, orelse I would be in anxiety
(03:59):
about, you know, what I neededto do and who I needed to become
, and you know that whole entiretime I really wasn't given any
any thought about now, thepresent moment, and so that
really about 800 miles into theI did rod trail.
You know that just kind of cameover me, as I call it, kind of a
(04:20):
spiritual epiphany.
But you know I just had, I had Ihave beaten myself up, I was a
professional at that and I tendto see that.
You know I learned to lovemyself out there, you know warts
and all I just became reallycomfortable with, with who I was
, and so and you know it took meall that time and all those
(04:42):
thousands of miles to get there,and you know I had my, my faith
, my Christian faith, and thenalso, you know, the spiritual
teachers that I was trying tolisten to and really it kind of
just was like a big you knowtornado that all of a sudden
just hit and and took me overand I haven't stopped since.
(05:03):
So mindfulness is somethingthat I, you know, bring to the
table daily and it's helped me alot and has helped me, you know
, kind of mitigate thedepression and anxiety that I
felt that I know a lot of peoplestruggle with and it's been a
game changer for me.
So intensive physical therapyand the wilderness was a great,
(05:25):
great tonic for me.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Awesome, and so just to, we talked about it.
You know, briefly last time aswell, it's not like the
depression and anxiety went awayRight, like you were cured
because you were at 800 miles ofa thousand mile race, but
helped you deal with it, right.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yes, yes, you know, you're exactly right.
You know it's certainly what,and I still deal with it.
I think you could talk to mydaughters or my wife and and
they will tell you that I stillhave my moments and you know
there's still some, some darktimes and some darkness that
that comes.
But you know I tend to look atit as a roadblock.
You know, when, when I get toofar down that road of depression
(06:12):
or anxiety, I kind of centermyself and and and a lot of
times when I'm, when I'm kind offired up and thinking things
through in my mind, I'm notbreathing real well, you know.
So it's something that likejust comes back to the simple
breath and and kind ofunderstanding that you're okay
right now.
You know you're not threatenedat the moment and and all is
(06:34):
good it's.
It's a lot of, you know, backand forth with with a monkey
mind, as, as, as I used to callit, a lot, you know, just
chasing all the thoughts that gothrough your mind and and never
really finding that piece, andso, yeah, both, both, you know
depression still there, but butI don't, I don't go down those
roads like I used to, and andnow I and also I still, you know
(06:58):
, get outside, you know, and soyou know, I find that to be the
best therapy for me.
You know, I feel I feel my mybest when I'm outside, you know,
and that's always been the wayfor me.
But but you know, we live in aworld where there's a lot of
indoor and there's a lot of, youknow, technology and things,
and sometimes I'll just get tothe point where I go you know, I
(07:20):
got to give this a break andand take a walk or going a long
run or or what you know any, anynumber of things in the
outdoors.
But but yeah, it's always been,you know some somewhat of a
church for me, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, and there's a famous quote and I'm not going
to pretend to know who said itfirst, because I've seen it on
different places, but it it sayssomething like I would rather
be in the outdoors thinkingabout God that in church
thinking about the outdoors, andI've seen it and I've been
attributed to hunting or fishingor all the other things, and
I'm not taking anything awayfrom going to church, so don't,
(07:55):
don't hate you, no, no, oh,there is.
There is something very special.
I'm a deer hunter and so I spendtime out in the woods and some
of my absolute most favoritetimes is climbing up in my tree
stand with my bow, when it'sstill like 4am and it's totally
dark and it's totally silent andthe woods start waking up and
(08:20):
you start hearing the rustlingof the birds and they start
waking up and you just see aglint, just a glint, in the
distance of sunlight and thesky's turning different shades
of gray and then pinks, and thenorange, and that sun comes up
and it's like blinding but and Ihave goosebumps when I'm even
saying this just because thatexperience is spiritual, yes,
(08:43):
you know, and it's amazing tojust have that just wash over
you and just the calmness andnot having your phone out and
whatever, and just experiencingthat nature moment like that.
And so everyone has a differentthing.
For me it's maybe early morningdeer stand.
For you it's a run or someright.
For other people it's you know,it could be a horseback ride or
(09:07):
it could be just a walk.
It could be sitting on theirdeck and having a cup of coffee,
but just having that alone timein the outdoors is and
obviously HHO is huge with that.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Absolutely I agree and I love that.
That was a great visual.
You know, and I think about thesame thing when I'm doing my my
long Ultra runs.
You know my 100 mile runs andwe'll talk more about that in a
little bit.
But you know, there's the,there's the really dark time
that's like usually from youknow midnight to four or five am
(09:39):
, when it's really a challengeto stay awake and you know
you're fighting the sleepmonsters and you're tired and
you're hungry and your feet hurtand you got chafing and and you
know, and then, but like yousaid, then all of a sudden it's
just like you start hearing thebirds come up and and you know
that, you know, you know thatanother day's come and you get
encouraged by that, you know,and and your body kind of picks
(10:02):
up on that and like all of asudden you feel like a little
bit more fired up and a lot oftimes, you know, at that point
I'll have been running for 70,80 miles, and so now it's like,
okay, you know the sun's rightrising and the next few hours
I'm going to finish this run,and you know.
So it's always like fightingthrough some tough times to get
(10:22):
to that peaceful moment or that,that, that new day, that new
dawn, and those are my favoritemoments, and ultra running for
sure.
So and again, like you know, weeach have our own thing.
You know I'm a big believerthat we all have our own path.
We all have our own things thatmake us happy.
It's different for everybody,you know, and so I never am like
(10:44):
, you know.
I find it this way because theperson next to me finds it a
different way and whatever Ijust really appreciate people
that find their, their path, youknow, have enough courage to go
down those roads to find it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Totally agree, yeah, and so, like you said, it's been
six years, it's going to be sixyears, been about five and a
half years, and we can't take itaway from you.
You were the winner, which isamazing, but now you're doing
new things, yeah, yeah, so sowhat?
Obviously you're not letting itdefine you, and so tell me
(11:18):
about what you've been doingsince.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, absolutely so.
When I got home from the I didor, I realized, I mean, it was
such a arduous, tough road andyou know, and putting it all
together and tinkering enough toend up winning the race and
finishing most importantly.
But when I got home, you know,I found myself.
What am I?
I'll be?
I'll be 47 next month.
(11:42):
So I was like early 40s when Iwon the I did or odd and came
back to Asheville and you know,I was proud of the effort and
realized that it was somethingthat I definitely was going to
hang my head on, like as far aslike it was a childhood dream of
mine to run the I did or odd.
You know, I thought it would bewith dogs, but I found a way to
do it on my own, and so it waslike it was this great thing.
(12:04):
But I also like and one ofthese people that always wants
to move forward, you know, likeI don't want to be pigeonholed
as Pete is this, you know,because Pete's a lot of
different things and so when Igot home, I kind of had this
weird time when I was like, okay, well, you know, that was
literally my dream fromchildhood and now I've
(12:25):
accomplished it and won the race, and, and here I am back home
like you know, what do I do nowwith my life and I told you that
I had run 50 marathons and 50states before I did all this.
I did rod stuff and raised a lotof good money for for breast
cancer research and my mom'sname, and so I started thinking
(12:46):
long and hard and I did someresearch and I found that there
was roughly about 15 or 1600people in this country that have
run a marathon in all 50 states, of which I am proudly one, and
but I kind of like to say thatyou know, my mom and dad never
raised me to be one of 1500people that have done something.
(13:10):
You know it's.
And so I started lookingdigging a little deeper and I
said I wonder.
I had run a couple hundred mileruns before and I thought I
wonder how many people have run100?
Well, if there's 15 or 1600people that have run marathons
and all 50 states.
And I kind of put my feelersout there to the ultra running
(13:33):
community and the answer comesback that no one's ever done it,
it's never been done, and so sowith that I started thinking
about things that I want tofundraise for, and I was like
I'm going to be in thisincredible snowy owl experience
when I ran the IDID erod, myfirst year on the IDID erod
(13:53):
trail.
I was in last place, all bymyself in the wilderness,
feeling bad for myself and apretty dark time, and I remember
this beautiful white owl fliesout of nowhere and just lays on
a tree next to me and is juststaring at me and I had this,
(14:13):
this incredible kind ofspiritual encounter with this
owl and it made such an impacton me and I remember thinking to
myself like I vividly feel thisis somebody coming to check on
me.
Like you know, owls are omensto a lot of people and I had
this feeling that and I've lostboth of my parents at this point
(14:35):
and I was in my mind thinking,you know, this might be my mom
or dad coming to check on me onthe trail and all of a sudden it
gave me this kind of strengthand, you know, I didn't feel
alone and I felt much better andI went down the trail and this
owl followed me for a littlewhile and then flew away.
But it made such an incredibleimpression on me that when I
(14:58):
decided that I was going to tryand attempt to be the first
person to run 100 miles in all50 states, I thought why don't I
fundraise for the Owl ResearchInstitute, which was this
awesome nonprofit that I foundup in Montana, and so that you
know that there, as they say,the rest is history.
I've been working like a madmantowards this goal and I find
(15:20):
myself now 25 states in to theproject.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Hey brother.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, halfway man, and oh my gosh, it's taken so
much effort to get halfway andso I know what I still have in
front of me and it's.
I don't take anything forgranted, but I'll be heading to
Omaha, nebraska, next month, andthat will be actually this
month and in a few weeks, andthat will be state 26.
And I've raised, I think,$34,000 so far for Owl Research
(15:51):
Institute so far in the project.
So it's going.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
It's going fantastic and it gives me purpose and it
helps me feel like I'm doinggood for others, and which is a
big part of you know why I dothis, and so it's good.
It gives me a purpose, but it'salso doing good for others, and
in this case, owls and thepeople that studied them.
But it's been awesome and it'sbeen so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
So you've gotten 25 states down.
You have 25 to go, right.
So I have a two part question.
Sure, which state upcoming areyou most looking forward to?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I want to hear some of your craziest or best stories
from the previous 25.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Okay, okay.
Well, you know I'm, I love theWest.
You know I live in NorthCarolina and Asheville and super
happy here.
But like my, my, I feel mostcomfortable in my spirit when
I'm out in the wide open spaces.
So I love you know, I've kindof kept a few states for later
(17:00):
in the project.
Montana will be my last state.
I'm really looking forward toIdaho.
Let's see Hawaii.
You know my.
You know my family wants tocome to Hawaii, if you can
imagine you know, they wonderwhy?
Yeah, exactly they want to be apart of that one, so that that
will be fun, I think.
(17:20):
Vermont and Maine I love Maine,I love you know, love New
Hampshire.
So you know, like just the, youknow I don't really get off too
much on the big state, the bigcities.
It's certainly not what I'mabout, although they're fun for
a little couple days for me.
I just don't ever feel quite atpeace when I'm in the big
(17:44):
cities, and so I try and find,you know, kind of easy,
logistically easy routes to do.
And so, yeah, those are some ofthe states I'm looking forward
to.
And then a story I'll tell youa great.
I'll tell you a great story.
And so there's a ultra runner.
(18:05):
Her name is Darcy Peque, andDarcy, in the ultra running
world, is just the luminary.
She's a legend, right, she's a.
There's a race out in Coloradocalled the Hard Rock 100.
And it's like one of thetoughest races in the country.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I can imagine a lot of elevation changes, tons of
weather, really tough route.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And she's won that numerous, numerous times, and so
she's a famous ultra runner andme and Darcy somehow were.
We both were brought up inBirmingham, michigan, so, and so
we kind of kept tabs on eachother a little bit.
I certainly was watching whatshe was up to and I would, you
know, we would touch base hereand there.
(18:52):
And you know, at one point Iwas going to run the Leadville
100 in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I thought I'd just give it a try.
So I was like you know, darcy,is there any chance that you
would pace me, you know, for thefor the Leadville 100?
And you know, I thought it waskind of a long shot, you know,
but she is so nice and so sweetand she's like, yeah, like right
away.
She's like yeah, I don't haveanything going on, I'll, I'll
come I think she lives outsideof Boulder I'll come to
(19:20):
Leadville and pace you for the100.
So I was like awesome, this is,this is great.
You know, it's pretty crazythat two people from Birmingham,
michigan, end up doing all thisstuff in the ultra running
world and we had never met,never met physically, and so I
was like super excited and I wasgoing to pick her up at mile 50
.
And so I got yeah, at aboutlike 40 to 45, you have to start
(19:45):
going up over Hope Pass, whichis the high point of the whole
route, and you go up over HopePass and then you go down, and
that was mile 50, but then youhave to turn around and come
back up over Hope Pass and backdown to the rest of the route.
Well, when I picked up Darcy, Ihad the starting of elevation
(20:07):
sickness, altitude sicknessreally starting to take its toll
on me.
I tried to sneak in like a daybefore the race started.
I didn't come like 10 daysearly to acclimatize, so I was
just trying to kind of sneak inon the altitude and there I was
getting over Hope Pass.
(20:27):
And next thing I know I am justfeeling very nauseous.
And so I picked Darcy up andyou know I was like it's so
great to meet you, I'm so firedup.
And then, like you know, likefive minutes after we're running
, I'm like Darcy, I'm sorry, Ithink I'm going to get sick, I'm
not feeling good at all.
And so so there I am on theside of the trail just like
(20:48):
throwing up, and then at thesame time like like farting and,
like you know, like my body waslike both ends, it was coming
out of both ends and I justcouldn't do anything about it.
You know, as much as I wantedto, you know, not be doing that,
especially in front of Darcy,right.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Maybe a little embarrassing.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Quite, a bit embarrassing, but you know it
was.
So I'll never forget becauseshe's like you know, she goes.
You know she's like Pete, I'vebeen doing this a long time,
I've seen it all.
Don't worry about it, you know,just take care of yourself.
So she kind of turned her backon me for a little while.
I'm like just kind of takingcare of myself and and I was
white as a ghost and you know, Ijust thought, you know, I'm
(21:29):
going to have Darcy kind of takeme to the next checkpoint and
I'm going to call it a day.
I'm going to quit.
You know I and I'm not aquitter.
I think anyone that listens tome for five minutes realized I'm
stubborn and all this stuff.
So I get to the next checkpointand my crew refuses to let me
quit.
They're like you know I'msaying, you know I'm done, I'm,
(21:51):
you know, here's my bib.
And they're like no, just keepthat on, let's try and get a
little food in you, let's get alittle, you know.
And they just kind of keptprodding me along.
And then someone came up and bythe time I was, by the time I
felt like I had given up toomuch time at the eight stations
when someone came by and said ifyou get up right now and you
jog and walk, you have enoughtime to finish the lead bill 100
(22:15):
.
And I was like let's go.
So I like got up and perseveredand they have a 30 hour cutoff.
I came in at like 29 and a halfhours across the finish line
and and finished that race andso that was awesome but very
embarrassing.
But.
But Darcy was a great sportabout it and helped a lot, so
that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, glad to hear you finished.
Yeah, you got it out, literally, I guess.
Yeah, you know I might havementioned to you one of our last
times we spoke that I think thelongest run I ever did was a
five mile knife, and that was ina former lifetime, when I was
in law enforcement and I wasqualifying for SWAT school.
(23:00):
Okay, and I am not a runner.
Okay, I'm a football sizedlinebacker sized human being.
Running is not my thing, buddy.
So it was.
It was very hard, but I wasvery proud of myself for
finishing.
Yeah, so I have a lot I have.
I have no idea how mentallysomeone could go a hundred miles
(23:27):
, because when I think of ahundred miles I think, oh,
that's like you know, 80 minutesof driving.
Oh my God, Two hours of drivingor whatever right, I guess not
80 minutes, about two hours ofdriving, and so, yeah, that's
absolutely amazing.
And and To do it for a cause,that's really cool.
And so again, some insidebaseball.
(23:50):
For those who might have missedround one of our podcasts, as I
did narrate your autobiography,so I know the story of the
snowy owl and so I find itfascinating that you did tie
those two things together.
That's really cool, man.
We'll return to the podcast injust a moment, but first
hometown hero outdoors wouldlike to thank the following
(24:12):
companies that support HHO andour mission Relentless defender
apparel and gear, silencer,central suppressors, best
defense armory and range inForest Lake, minnesota, and
Tito's handmade vodka.
We thank them for their support.
Now back to our podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
It was great.
And this owl research instituteup in Charlo Montana, which is
just outside of Missoula Montana, this guy, denver Holt, he's in
charge of it and he isincredible.
He's probably the number oneworld educator in owls.
Like he's just so well versedin owls, he studies them all
over the world and journalseverywhere and for kind of a
(24:57):
science nerdy guy like me, likehe's one of my heroes and we've
gotten to know each other.
We're going to do some talkstogether and things, and so some
fun things are coming togetherjust because of the partnership
and the fundraising.
But it's been fantastic and,like I said, I made a $50,000
goal and I'm about $34,000 inhalfway.
(25:20):
So it's looking great and I'msuper, super happy to help in
that realm.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So have you had any owl encounters since the one up
in Alaska?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yes, yes, definitely.
I've seen a handful of owls andactually here in Asheville they
come in my backyard quite often, and so I'll hear Eastern
screech owls and then I'll hearthe great horned owls, which are
the biggest owls, and I'll justsit out my back porch and try
(25:53):
and call them in.
And or sometimes what willhappen is the crows.
We have a lot of crows and thecrows will mob.
The crows will get together andreally bother like the hawks
and the owls.
It's like a preemptive mobbingwhere they're just because what
(26:14):
happens is the owls or the hawkscan actually kill the crows if
they want to, and so the crowswill kind of proactively get
together and just kind of botherthe owls.
And so sometimes once, while inlike early winter, I'll wake up
early in the morning and I'llwalk outside and I'll hear a
(26:34):
bunch of crows kind of callingand I realize, oh, this is
probably a hawker and owl, thatthey got treed.
And so I will kind of searchout where the sounds coming from
with my binoculars and quite afew times I've kind of found the
action and looked up there andthere's a beautiful owl just
kind of sitting there peacefullyin the tree.
And so, yeah, I've gotten toknow the owls and I'm studying
(27:00):
them a lot all the differentkinds, so it's fun.
I think they're awesome.
I love that.
Now I'm kind of known as theowl guy, since I'm fundraising,
so anytime one of my friends oracquaintances sees an owl or
hears an owl or sees you knowlike you know something at a
secondhand shop that's got anowl on it, you know they're
sending it to me and takingpictures of owls and so they're
(27:23):
wonderful.
I think they're the coolestcreatures around, so I've been
really interested in them.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So in my mind now, I'm thinking when you run your
last race and you cross thefinish line, you need that group
, owl City, to be singing foryou, right?
Oh, yeah, that'd be great.
Yeah, we could get thattogether.
It's good.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Like I said, I'm going to save my 50th 100 mile
run for Montana and I'm going tobring a ton of friends and
family up there, just like I didfor my 50th when I ran the
marathons, and we're going tothrow a bash and have a party
and a fundraiser and just liveit up.
And so you know who knows whatwill come by that time.
(28:05):
I'm just making.
Obviously, I'm taking them oneat a time.
I can't.
For a while I thought I couldkind of rush through this
project, but not so much.
You know these things.
Any one 100 mile run just takesit out of you and you know you
really pay the price for a whileafter you run.
And so I kind of kind of took alittle step back and now I'm
(28:28):
running, probably I'll probablyrun four or five a year until I
finish the project.
So we're talking, you know,five, six more years before, god
willing, before this project isdone.
But, like I said, I'm notfighting for the finish.
I'm just kind of, you know,using my mindfulness and just
saying, hey, all right, thismonth I'm going to Omaha,
(28:49):
nebraska, and I'm super fired upfor that and see what unfolds
there.
So it's just a really cool wayto travel and to see a bunch of
different places and meet abunch of cool people.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
So thinking about that you had mentioned you're.
There's nobody who has done 100of these or 100 miles in every
state yet, correct, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
The best of my knowledge.
You know I've reached out topeople that are like historians
of the ultra running realm andyou know it's like I have not
heard of anyone that has done it.
But then, at the same time,like there's been times when
I've like like asked, you know,like Alexa, or you know chat GPT
(29:34):
or something hey, is theresomeone that's run 100?
And they're like, yes, numerous, a few people have done it, but
the people that they mentionedthat have done it, I know for a
fact, haven't.
And so you know and I have tosay this too like the reason I'm
doing this is that, you know,it's not only because it's never
been done.
You know, it's my happy place.
(29:56):
I love going out and runningand I love all that comes with
it.
I love inspiring others, I lovefundraising.
If it comes that I'm the firstperson that does it, that's
fantastic.
If it comes that I'm the fourthperson that's done it, that's
fantastic too.
You know I'm not I'm not likeall in on being the first, but
that's cool and a lot of peoplelike to hear that.
(30:18):
You know, it's kind of likesomething that you lead with
when you're when you're doingadvertising and stuff like that.
But to be honest, it reallydoesn't make much difference
whether I'm first or fifth, oryou know, I think it's a hell of
an accomplishment.
I think, you know, I think itwill take everything in my heart
and soul to get there.
I've wanted to quit alreadynumerous times I can't even tell
(30:41):
you how many times where I'vebeen deep into a hundred mile
run in some state that I mightnot necessarily want to be in,
away from my family.
You know, with all the things Imentioned, the chafing and the
cramps and the sour gut and theblisters and and, and I'm like
you know I'm done.
When I finish this one, I amout, I don't care what anyone
(31:03):
says, I'm done.
And then you know, it's justamazing that you know, a day or
two after I run, it's like, nextthing I know I'm looking for
another run.
Or you know I'm like, all right, I've come too far to quit and
my stubbornness takes over and II'm plodding along.
So it's it's, it's mayhem, it'slike a controlled mayhem, but
(31:24):
but it's, it's like it's.
It's, it's who I am, it's whatI want to do with my life, and
so it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
What is the closest in days that you ever ran to
100s?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Huh, well, I have to say that I ran a race called the
Tahoe 200, which was a 200 milerun that circumnavigated Lake
Tahoe.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
And that was that.
Took 86 hours to run aroundLake Tahoe from point to point.
And so that was a, that was asuper tough one.
But yeah, I would say a coupleof weeks, you know.
You know, and and I, you knowit's amazing I'll see people
like a friend of mine here fromAsheville did, I think, five,
(32:12):
100s this summer alone.
And so there's a people,there's people that their bodies
are made to do this.
They recover better than I doand again, part of me wants to
try and like do you know, it'sdefinitely crossed my mind to do
10 a year and try and get thisthing done in a couple of few
years, you know.
And so I can kind of move onwith my life.
(32:34):
Because it takes a lot of myextra money.
You know I didn't mention butI'm paying my way through this
project, and so you know, allthe money fundraise goes
directly to our researchinstitute.
I don't touch a dime of thatmoney, and so I the promise was
that I would pay my my, my waythrough the project in order for
(32:55):
all the donations to gostraight to our research
institute.
So you know it's a, it's afinancial commitment, it's a
time commitment, it's a physicalcommitment.
It's certainly, you know, Iwould say, taken, taken time off
my life, just the grind of ofdoing that and beating your body
up so much.
But I'm willing.
You know, I promised myselflong ago that I would rather be
(33:18):
old with stories than old withregrets, and so I kind of
promised myself that I was goingto go after life, not thinking
that at some point I'll pay theprice, and because we're not
guaranteed tomorrow, and so Ireally wanted to attack life
with as much gusto as I could,and I feel like I'm doing that
with this project.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
So we spoke briefly in the last podcast.
But you are, you have a lot ofinterests and one of those is
golf, yes, and so I understandyou.
You like to play golf.
I follow you on LinkedIn and Isee you, you've gone golfing
with your buddies and things,but you have the distinction of
two things that escapes mostgolfers.
(34:00):
Yeah, you have a hole in one anda double eagle, and for those
of, for those who don't golf, adouble eagle is actually what
I've been told is more rare thana hole in one, because it's
when you get you sink the ballinto the hole on your second
shot, on a par five, and so alot of times that's a longer
distance than a par three shot.
(34:22):
Right, so can you recount forgolf geeks like myself?
Yes, and those, those twoevents that happened because I'm
fascinated.
So my father is also a verygood golfer, as is.
I have a brother who's ascratch golfer.
I am not but um and my uh, butmy father had a double eagle
(34:47):
once, uh, but no holes in one,and so can you.
Can you talk about those for aminute?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yeah, I'd be happy to .
Yes, I love the sport.
It's maddening.
I mean, it is such a toughsport.
Those guys that play on theprofessional level make it look
so easy.
I don't know how they do it.
It must just be the amount ofpractice they put in on a daily
basis.
But it's not that easy to getout there and swing and put the
ball towards the hole.
(35:13):
So it's a very humbling sport,but I've had some incredible
times with it.
I'll tell you about the doubleeagle first, the Albatross.
So I was playing with myfather-in-law and my another
friend and we're in Raleigh andit's funny, I don't even
remember the name of the course,but we're in Raleigh, north
(35:33):
Carolina.
We're on the 18th hole and it'sa par five, the 18th hole and I
can hit the driver.
Well, that's never been anissue for me.
I can hit the ball a long ways.
So I hit probably like a 320 or330 yard drive and I was in the
(35:55):
middle.
That's a good one.
Yeah, it was a good one.
I used to hit a lot furtherthan I do now, but this was
probably 10 years ago or more.
So I hit a big drive.
I was out in the middle of thefairway and the green was such
that you could see the flagstickbut you couldn't see the green.
(36:16):
And then there was water on theother side of the green.
And so my father-in-law wastalking to me and I was like,
well, how should I shape theshot?
You know, and he goes well,send it up towards that power
line.
You see that power line overthere, aim it, aim it, start it
at that power line.
And then I usually have a draw.
And so he says, you know, hitit at the power line and then
(36:39):
let it draw into the green.
And so I took like a long iron Ithink it was like 190 yards to
the hole and you know, I hitthis ball and I had, right when
I hit it, there was somethingkind of interesting about it
Because right when I hit it, itwent straight at that power line
(37:01):
that he told me to hit it atand then turned over and started
going towards the green.
And I was like I did exactlywhat she said to do, like it was
a great shot.
It was just exactly the shapethat he asked for and it looked
like it was going right onto thegreen.
And so I was like super excited.
And so you know, as we'regetting up towards the hole, you
(37:23):
know I told you there was wateron the other side of it.
So when I got up to the green, Iscanned the green and I didn't
see a single ball on the green.
I was like what the hell?
I was like you know that thatthat was a good shot.
So I was like I bet it wentover the green and went into the
water.
So I was.
I was walking on, walking tothe water's edge to kind of look
for golf balls.
(37:43):
Meanwhile my father-in-law, youknow, walks by the cup and goes
hey, pete, why don't you golook in the hole?
And I was like.
I was like you got to be kiddingme and I walked by.
And here's the best part of ityou know I had lost my mom to
breast cancer research and thatday I was I was playing a ball
(38:03):
that had the pink ribbon on it.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I looked down in the hole and that pink ribbon is
looking up at me from thebottom of the hole Albatross two
on a par five.
And I just started running andscreaming and yelling and I
really didn't know how rare itwas.
I mean, it's many times morerare than a hole in one, but it
was.
It was fantastic, you know, andgreat way to end around.
(38:30):
And it was super, super cool.
So that that was the theAlbatross story, and then the
whole one story was I'm a memberat the club here in Asheville
and I hit it.
It was a par three that youcould see the green this time
and I hit a great seven iron.
(38:50):
It was like a hundred and say ahundred and seventy yards,
something like that, a hundredand sixty yards and it landed on
the green and started trackinglike a putt and dropped right
into the hole.
Oh nice, and so I startedscreaming.
I was playing with three guys.
I started screaming, I startedrunning down towards the green
(39:13):
because I just still couldn'tbelieve that it was in the hole.
While I was going down runningtowards the green, I took my
shirt off and I was swinging myshirt around like this it's like
losing my mind screaming, andwent down there, got the ball
out of the cup, held it back upand then ran back up to the T
box, you know, and hugged all mybuddies and and come in and
(39:36):
they said well, we still need tohit our balls.
So it was like it was awesomeand but it was it was.
It was funny because at thetime I was like three under par
or four under par, I had birdieon two, and then was two under
on that hole in one and I endedup with like eighty or so.
I mean I thought, oh my gosh,I'm going to shoot like a sixty,
(39:58):
sixty five today, you know,like not even close, and I and I
started doing a little bit ofcelebrating, you know, on the
back nine too.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
So good for you, yeah that's awesome yeah.
Yeah, my, my closest ever.
There was a club that my fatherand I used to play a league at,
nine hole league and there's apar three.
It's, I want to say it's aboutdepending on there's two sets of
teas for that particular hole,but depending on the teas, it's,
(40:27):
it's right at that, you know,one fifty.
So for me that's eight iron,depending on wind.
And that day I hit an eight andit landed in front and the way
the green sloped away from you.
So you know when it's rollingyou can see the ball and I hit
the green and it starts rollingtowards the pin and it stopped
(40:47):
18 inches in front of the hole.
But I'll take it.
I'll take it.
It was a beautiful shot.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
I got the birdie, happy birdies are great, you
know, but it's like it's it's alucky thing, I mean, I don't
like I have played with golfersthat are ten times better than
me and they've never had one,you know, and they've been close
numerous times, and so I justthink it's like the way it
bounces, there are, you know, Ivery rarely do I think someone's
(41:13):
so good that they literally putit exactly where they want to.
It's just like kind of, youknow, it's it's up to the golf
gods.
I don't know, you know, butthat's awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Oh yeah, no, it's, it's fun.
I didn't get to play this yearas much as I wanted, but yeah, I
agree with you it's.
It's probably the mostfrustrating but can be the most
rewarding when you're playingwell or when you strike a good
one, because you can have ahorrible round and you get to
like you say the 18th hole andyou par the 18th hole.
You're like this game's great.
(41:44):
I know, I can't play again.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
You know exactly it takes to make you want to come
back.
So it's, it's a great sport,super fun.
I've had, and hope to stillhave a lot of fun with that.
That's something I definitelywant to put some more time and
energy into when, when this AllRun Hundreds project is over.
But you know that I just kindof take it when it comes, for
(42:07):
now I'm raising two girls andI'm busy and I don't get to play
as often as I'd like either.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
But then then you start the Owl Foundation golf
tournament every year down therein.
Asheville Right.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Talking yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Yeah, I'll be waiting for my invite.
For that You'll get it.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
You're on the list, man, you're on nice, yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
So then, for a guy who has all this stuff going on
right, you're an avidoutdoorsman when it comes to
running golf, spending time inthe great outdoors.
What's next?
What are you looking forward todoing after you get the 100s
done?
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, this is like I saidthis is still gonna be a Chunk
of time longer.
So it's not anything that I'msuper close to, but, but I do
have some.
There's a couple things thatI'll say that I really would
like to do before my life isover.
One is I would like to go downto Antarctica, and I'd like to
(43:11):
get to that.
I'd like to get to the SouthPole, I think.
I think a South Pole expeditionwould be really, really, really
cool.
I've I've done a lot ofstudying about it, and I don't
know if you've ever heard of theendurance or Shackleton Boy
absolutely and that that bookmade a gigantic impression on me
and and and and.
(43:33):
So the history of of that placeis called my name.
And I don't think, you know, Idon't think it will be the type
of thing where I'm trying to doit as fast as as possible.
I think it will be just areally fun.
You know, you know Our Jewishtime with a couple friends and
and just kind of earning yourway to the South Pole.
(43:54):
I I don't see it as being, youknow, one of those things where
you're trying to, you know,break Time records or anything
like that.
I think I probably, by the timeI get down there and do that,
you know, I'll probably be alittle bit older and a little
bit grayer and it will probablybe more just about the adventure
than than anything else.
And then I also want to climbDenali.
(44:15):
You know I've spent so muchtime in Alaska and Study that,
that mountain so often, and youknow I lived in the foothills of
that mountain for a while and IWould look up there and just
say, you know, at one one time Iwould love to to, you know, to
have a mountaineering trip toDenali and if I could ski down,
(44:37):
I'm a telemark skier, so if Icould ski down, that make it
even better.
But you know, just just justtaking the time and I have some
people I've started kind oftalking through that with and
that are interested in it aswell, and so, yeah, those those
things are those things are twothings that I'd really love to
do Before it's all said and done.
(44:59):
So you know, there's some big,hairy, audacious goals.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
You got there, brother.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, that's the way I roll, man.
I just, I really like those big, hairy goals that are tough to
gnaw at and that that fight back.
You know, I learned that fromrunning the marathons, you know,
I'm just, I'm just not the onethat wants the low-hanging fruit
.
You know, I want the, thephysical and the spiritual and
(45:24):
the mental aspect kind of all tocome together and make it, you
know, very difficult.
So, yeah, you know, I Shoot forthe moon and that's that's the
way I, that's the way I wasraised.
You know, like, like I said,you know, a Amelia Earhart is,
as you know, from from, from youknow it's helping me with the
(45:46):
book.
Amelia Earhart is a distantcousin of mine and she comes
from my family line and and Iremember kind of studying her
when I was younger and thinking,you know, amelia's dead and
gone and has been for a longtime, but yet people are still
talking about her and like thatwas a legacy, you know, and I
(46:07):
wanted to make a legacy of myown and so you know, these
things that I do, you know, yes,they're fun for me, but I
really want to put something outin my life to where, you know,
when I'm dead and gone.
I want people to be like well,you know, pete, while he was
alive he did, he did thesethings and you know, maybe some
others can you know, followingmy footsteps, or or take it a
(46:30):
step further, as as most youngpeople do.
You know I'm I certainly am notdoing it thinking, you know I
have arrived at any.
I'm a lifelong learner.
I, you know I've learned a lotabout myself.
So you know, I know thatthere's more talented athletes
that can do the things I've doneon a On a grander scale, and
more power to them.
I hope I can inspire others todo those things, but I would lie
(46:53):
if I said I didn't want toleave a legacy in this, in this
life.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
All that being said and all your life experiences,
pete, what is a piece of advicethat you would give to people
struggling to find themselves ormaybe having self doubt?
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Yeah, I think I I'm glad you asked that.
You know, I really feel likebeing, I really feel like it's
important to put your dreams andyour thoughts out on paper.
You know, I Feel it's importantto kind of you know, you know,
think of it, what, what you wantto do, and the way I think
(47:30):
about it is like, what did youwant to do when you were a kid?
You know, you hear about somany people that are like you
know they had these big dreamswhen they are younger and then
all of a sudden, you know they,they get in the middle age and
you know they think, oh well,shoot, I missed the boat and oh
well, so I'll just give up andI'll just give up on life and
I'll just kind of talk aboutwhat I did when I was 18 and
(47:53):
it's like I just never had muchtime for people like that.
You know, I'm like, what areyou doing today?
What are you doing now?
I don't really care what youdid 20 years ago and I I would
hope people to say the same withme and so you know, I would
just say that you know, yeah,put those goals out on paper and
then kind of work backwards forthose, like you know, rather
(48:15):
than being like you know, thisis what I want to do.
I don't have no, any idea.
Well, you know, kind of takethe latter steps that you need
to.
You know, like when I ran mymarathons, it wasn't like, well,
if for me I did run a marathon,kind of impromptu, but, like
for most people, they're notgonna just go run a marathon,
right.
So you like, like you run the5k and you run either five mile
(48:37):
run and you run the halfmarathon, and you know, and so
you kind of methodically worktowards your goals.
But I really feel, like youknow, in order to Understand
what those goals are, you haveto think back to when you're
younger and and you know,anytime you can reconnect with
goals from your childhood.
(48:57):
I think it's beautiful, youknow, because life just happens
so fast, you know.
I mean, I'm turning 47 nextmonth.
I can't believe that, you know,and and so it's for me it's
like you know, I still havethese goals that I want to work
towards, but it's I'm not just adreamer, you know.
I'm willing to kind of lay thegroundwork and work towards
those goals.
(49:17):
So I would say that's a piece ofadvice, is just to you know,
make realistic goals and thenmethodically chew them apart and
be a bulldog about it.
You know, and and and also Letme say this right something that
I have Really lean on a lot isUsing failures as stepping
(49:39):
stones to success.
You know, I think, I think alot of times, if you make big
enough goals, you should befailing.
You know, and I, when I give my, when I talk and my public
speaking, I hone in on this alot because, you know, a lot of
people say you know, I havethese goals, and then you try
and you fail, and and somepeople just give up, and it's
(50:00):
like you know, if you're makingbig goals, you should be failing
, like that's going to be a partof the whole equation, and so
just to learn from thosefailures and kind of keep moving
forward is a big piece ofadvice as well.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Pete, if people want more information about your hour
one, I will run 100s or to haveyou as their special event
speaker.
Where can they find thatinformation or find you?
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah, I'm on social media.
You know, pete ripmaster, I,let's see, I do Facebook and
Instagram and LinkedIn, and thenmy website is Pete ripmastercom
and that's got.
That's got information aboutthe public speaking and about
the hour run, hundreds, and thenit's definitely got a Got a way
to get in touch with me and youknow, and so, yeah, that that
(50:47):
would be the best ways for sure,but I'm wide open and so I'm
free to talk to anybody too.
Like definitely Don't mindpeople reaching out, asking
advice or questions or you know,or the likes.
Speaker 1 (51:00):
So no, and that's very appreciative.
We were very appreciative forthat and we very much appreciate
you taking the time twice totalk to us and our HHO audience
and I really hope that thethings that we talked about
would be inspiring to some folks.
And Especially, I really likewhat you just said a minute ago
(51:26):
about that your big goals thatyou Will fail right, because if
it's a that big of a goal, it'sgonna be hard to achieve, and I
really like that thought process.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Yeah, you know I, I remind people regularly.
You know I, yes, I won the, Idid rod, but my first year I was
last place.
I Tried and failed twice to getto gnome and and quit two years
in a row, and so it waslittered with Failures along the
way, but I did.
I never took those, as you know, as things that were gonna set
(52:02):
me back.
I just thought, okay, I'm backto the drawing board, what can I
learn?
And so it ended up in a goodplace.
But I always like to tellpeople you know, my first year I
was last place and so it was,uh, you know I, just, I just not
away at it, and that's what Ifeel like people can do for sure
.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
Pete, you're a great human being.
I just I love it.
You inspire me and I love it.
I also want to let everyoneknow that you can find Pete's
autobiography anywhere.
Books are sold called the LongWay Home how I won the 1,000
mile.
I did a rod foot race withpersistence, patience and
passion, also available onaudible, and so thank you, pete,
(52:44):
for For taking time to join usagain on the this week's podcast
and as a listener to thispodcast.
If you are in a dark place orhaving a difficult time, please
reach out to us at hometown herooutdoors.
Our staff is trained andapplied suicide intervention
specialty training, also calledassist, which is crisis
intervention training.
(53:06):
You can also call 988, which isthe national suicide and crisis
hotline, because there's alwayssomeone willing to help you
through your dark times and talkto you.
I'm phil ewert, guest hostingfor chris tatro on the hometown
hero outdoors podcast.
Thank you for watching thisweek and we'll see you next time
.
Thank you for listening to thehometown hero outdoors podcast.
(53:31):
For more information, visit ourwebsite at
hometownherooutdoorsorg.
Music.
Welcome to the hometown heroOutdoors podcast.
Here is your host, chris TatroMusic.
(00:32):
Welcome everyone to anotheredition of the hometown hero
outdoors podcast.
I'm guest host Phil Ewartfilling in for Chris Tatro, who
is just returning from Texasfrom an HHO event.
Chris has been burning themidnight oil for HHO the last
few weeks and had familyobligations tonight so
unfortunately he could not behere with us.
(00:53):
So I get to fly solo with myspecial guest and friend, pete
Ripmaster.
As you may remember, pete andChris and I had a great chat
about a month ago with PeteEnded up running out of time on
the podcast, so Pete graciouslyagreed to return because he
apparently has a lot more totalk about.
So welcome, pete.
(01:13):
Thanks for joining us again.
How are we doing tonight?
Speaker 2 (01:16):
They're doing wonderful, Phil.
Thanks for having me back.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
Absolutely.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
And, yeah, a few things left to be on set, so
let's have another chat.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Outstanding, and so, for those who might have missed
part one of our podcasts, Ihighly recommend going back and
listening to it, as Pete kind ofrecounts a lot of his, some of
his growing up and going throughhis, what he did on the I Did
Herod foot race and so Pete is acomplex guy found his peace of
(01:47):
mind through the outdoor therapywhen he won the 2018 I Did
Herod trail imitational, whichis a 1000 mile foot race Still
boggling the human mind that youcan do 1000 miles on foot.
And so, again, go back, listento that podcast.
You can hear some of that.
But what I do want to do is Iwant to touch briefly on the I T
(02:09):
I that you talked about in thelast podcast, because we ended
up.
You were talking about how youhad a spiritual moment on the
trail, and so I'd like you togive us some parting highlights
of the 1000 mile race and thenhow that set you up for what
you're doing now.
Speaker 2 (02:27):
Yeah, you know, as you talked about that, you know
it's been almost six years nowthat I did ride will be the I
did a lot trail invitation willtake place in late February and
that will be six years sinceI've done the race and so it's
been a little chunk of time, butthere's still a lot of vivid
memories from from that time inmy life and I learned a lot
(02:50):
about myself through that and itwas nothing short of therapy
for me.
I had struggled a lot.
I had kind of been a lifelongsearcher, I think I'd be willing
to say just, you know, alwayslooking for something deeper and
trying to understand myself alittle bit better.
And I found that, you know,pushing myself in the outdoors
(03:13):
Most of the time by myself was agreat way to just kind of be
there with your own thoughts,you know, and think through your
life and and think through youknow where you want to go in
life, where you've been.
But most most importantly, Itruly feel like I found I found
mindfulness out there.
I found I found the presentmoment, which had been escaping
(03:35):
me for a long time.
I think I spoke about last timethat you know my most of my life
, all, up until you know,numerous six years ago, was
either living in depressionabout things, about things I
couldn't change about my life orthings I wished I could have
changed and things like that, orelse I would be in anxiety
(03:59):
about, you know, what I neededto do and who I needed to become
, and you know that whole entiretime I really wasn't given any
any thought about now, thepresent moment, and so that
really about 800 miles into theI did rod trail.
You know that just kind of cameover me, as I call it, kind of a
(04:20):
spiritual epiphany.
But you know I just had, I had Ihave beaten myself up, I was a
professional at that and I tendto see that.
You know I learned to lovemyself out there, you know warts
and all I just became reallycomfortable with, with who I was
, and so and you know it took meall that time and all those
(04:42):
thousands of miles to get there,and you know I had my, my faith
, my Christian faith, and thenalso, you know, the spiritual
teachers that I was trying tolisten to and really it kind of
just was like a big you knowtornado that all of a sudden
just hit and and took me overand I haven't stopped since.
(05:03):
So mindfulness is somethingthat I, you know, bring to the
table daily and it's helped me alot and has helped me, you know
, kind of mitigate thedepression and anxiety that I
felt that I know a lot of peoplestruggle with and it's been a
game changer for me.
So intensive physical therapyand the wilderness was a great,
(05:25):
great tonic for me.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Awesome, and so just to, we talked about it.
You know, briefly last time aswell, it's not like the
depression and anxiety went awayRight, like you were cured
because you were at 800 miles ofa thousand mile race, but
helped you deal with it, right.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Yes, yes, you know, you're exactly right.
You know it's certainly what,and I still deal with it.
I think you could talk to mydaughters or my wife and and
they will tell you that I stillhave my moments and you know
there's still some, some darktimes and some darkness that
that comes.
But you know I tend to look atit as a roadblock.
You know, when, when I get toofar down that road of depression
(06:12):
or anxiety, I kind of centermyself and and and a lot of
times when I'm, when I'm kind offired up and thinking things
through in my mind, I'm notbreathing real well, you know.
So it's something that likejust comes back to the simple
breath and and kind ofunderstanding that you're okay
right now.
You know you're not threatenedat the moment and and all is
(06:34):
good it's.
It's a lot of, you know, backand forth with with a monkey
mind, as, as, as I used to callit, a lot, you know, just
chasing all the thoughts that gothrough your mind and and never
really finding that piece, andso, yeah, both, both, you know
depression still there, but butI don't, I don't go down those
roads like I used to, and andnow I and also I still, you know
(06:58):
, get outside, you know, and soyou know, I find that to be the
best therapy for me.
You know, I feel I feel my mybest when I'm outside, you know,
and that's always been the wayfor me.
But but you know, we live in aworld where there's a lot of
indoor and there's a lot of, youknow, technology and things,
and sometimes I'll just get tothe point where I go you know, I
(07:20):
got to give this a break andand take a walk or going a long
run or or what you know any, anynumber of things in the
outdoors.
But but yeah, it's always been,you know some somewhat of a
church for me, you know.
Speaker 1 (07:33):
Well, and there's a famous quote and I'm not going
to pretend to know who said itfirst, because I've seen it on
different places, but it it sayssomething like I would rather
be in the outdoors thinkingabout God that in church
thinking about the outdoors, andI've seen it and I've been
attributed to hunting or fishingor all the other things, and
I'm not taking anything awayfrom going to church, so don't,
(07:55):
don't hate you, no, no, oh,there is.
There is something very special.
I'm a deer hunter and so I spendtime out in the woods and some
of my absolute most favoritetimes is climbing up in my tree
stand with my bow, when it'sstill like 4am and it's totally
dark and it's totally silent andthe woods start waking up and
(08:20):
you start hearing the rustlingof the birds and they start
waking up and you just see aglint, just a glint, in the
distance of sunlight and thesky's turning different shades
of gray and then pinks, and thenorange, and that sun comes up
and it's like blinding but and Ihave goosebumps when I'm even
saying this just because thatexperience is spiritual, yes,
(08:43):
you know, and it's amazing tojust have that just wash over
you and just the calmness andnot having your phone out and
whatever, and just experiencingthat nature moment like that.
And so everyone has a differentthing.
For me it's maybe early morningdeer stand.
For you it's a run or someright.
For other people it's you know,it could be a horseback ride or
(09:07):
it could be just a walk.
It could be sitting on theirdeck and having a cup of coffee,
but just having that alone timein the outdoors is and
obviously HHO is huge with that.
Speaker 2 (09:18):
Absolutely I agree and I love that.
That was a great visual.
You know, and I think about thesame thing when I'm doing my my
long Ultra runs.
You know my 100 mile runs andwe'll talk more about that in a
little bit.
But you know, there's the,there's the really dark time
that's like usually from youknow midnight to four or five am
(09:39):
, when it's really a challengeto stay awake and you know
you're fighting the sleepmonsters and you're tired and
you're hungry and your feet hurtand you got chafing and and you
know, and then, but like yousaid, then all of a sudden it's
just like you start hearing thebirds come up and and you know
that, you know, you know thatanother day's come and you get
encouraged by that, you know,and and your body kind of picks
(10:02):
up on that and like all of asudden you feel like a little
bit more fired up and a lot oftimes, you know, at that point
I'll have been running for 70,80 miles, and so now it's like,
okay, you know the sun's rightrising and the next few hours
I'm going to finish this run,and you know.
So it's always like fightingthrough some tough times to get
(10:22):
to that peaceful moment or that,that, that new day, that new
dawn, and those are my favoritemoments, and ultra running for
sure.
So and again, like you know, weeach have our own thing.
You know I'm a big believerthat we all have our own path.
We all have our own things thatmake us happy.
It's different for everybody,you know, and so I never am like
(10:44):
, you know.
I find it this way because theperson next to me finds it a
different way and whatever Ijust really appreciate people
that find their, their path, youknow, have enough courage to go
down those roads to find it.
Speaker 1 (10:57):
Totally agree, yeah, and so, like you said, it's been
six years, it's going to be sixyears, been about five and a
half years, and we can't take itaway from you.
You were the winner, which isamazing, but now you're doing
new things, yeah, yeah, so sowhat?
Obviously you're not letting itdefine you, and so tell me
(11:18):
about what you've been doingsince.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Yeah, absolutely so.
When I got home from the I didor, I realized, I mean, it was
such a arduous, tough road andyou know, and putting it all
together and tinkering enough toend up winning the race and
finishing most importantly.
But when I got home, you know,I found myself.
What am I?
I'll be?
I'll be 47 next month.
(11:42):
So I was like early 40s when Iwon the I did or odd and came
back to Asheville and you know,I was proud of the effort and
realized that it was somethingthat I definitely was going to
hang my head on, like as far aslike it was a childhood dream of
mine to run the I did or odd.
You know, I thought it would bewith dogs, but I found a way to
do it on my own, and so it waslike it was this great thing.
(12:04):
But I also like and one ofthese people that always wants
to move forward, you know, likeI don't want to be pigeonholed
as Pete is this, you know,because Pete's a lot of
different things and so when Igot home, I kind of had this
weird time when I was like, okay, well, you know, that was
literally my dream fromchildhood and now I've
(12:25):
accomplished it and won the race, and, and here I am back home
like you know, what do I do nowwith my life and I told you that
I had run 50 marathons and 50states before I did all this.
I did rod stuff and raised a lotof good money for for breast
cancer research and my mom'sname, and so I started thinking
(12:46):
long and hard and I did someresearch and I found that there
was roughly about 15 or 1600people in this country that have
run a marathon in all 50 states, of which I am proudly one, and
but I kind of like to say thatyou know, my mom and dad never
raised me to be one of 1500people that have done something.
(13:10):
You know it's.
And so I started lookingdigging a little deeper and I
said I wonder.
I had run a couple hundred mileruns before and I thought I
wonder how many people have run100?
Well, if there's 15 or 1600people that have run marathons
and all 50 states.
And I kind of put my feelersout there to the ultra running
(13:33):
community and the answer comesback that no one's ever done it,
it's never been done, and so sowith that I started thinking
about things that I want tofundraise for, and I was like
I'm going to be in thisincredible snowy owl experience
when I ran the IDID erod, myfirst year on the IDID erod
(13:53):
trail.
I was in last place, all bymyself in the wilderness,
feeling bad for myself and apretty dark time, and I remember
this beautiful white owl fliesout of nowhere and just lays on
a tree next to me and is juststaring at me and I had this,
(14:13):
this incredible kind ofspiritual encounter with this
owl and it made such an impacton me and I remember thinking to
myself like I vividly feel thisis somebody coming to check on
me.
Like you know, owls are omensto a lot of people and I had
this feeling that and I've lostboth of my parents at this point
(14:35):
and I was in my mind thinking,you know, this might be my mom
or dad coming to check on me onthe trail and all of a sudden it
gave me this kind of strengthand, you know, I didn't feel
alone and I felt much better andI went down the trail and this
owl followed me for a littlewhile and then flew away.
But it made such an incredibleimpression on me that when I
(14:58):
decided that I was going to tryand attempt to be the first
person to run 100 miles in all50 states, I thought why don't I
fundraise for the Owl ResearchInstitute, which was this
awesome nonprofit that I foundup in Montana, and so that you
know that there, as they say,the rest is history.
I've been working like a madmantowards this goal and I find
(15:20):
myself now 25 states in to theproject.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
Hey brother.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Yeah, halfway man, and oh my gosh, it's taken so
much effort to get halfway andso I know what I still have in
front of me and it's.
I don't take anything forgranted, but I'll be heading to
Omaha, nebraska, next month, andthat will be actually this
month and in a few weeks, andthat will be state 26.
And I've raised, I think,$34,000 so far for Owl Research
(15:51):
Institute so far in the project.
So it's going.
Speaker 1 (15:54):
Congratulations.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
It's going fantastic and it gives me purpose and it
helps me feel like I'm doinggood for others, and which is a
big part of you know why I dothis, and so it's good.
It gives me a purpose, but it'salso doing good for others, and
in this case, owls and thepeople that studied them.
But it's been awesome and it'sbeen so fun.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
So you've gotten 25 states down.
You have 25 to go, right.
So I have a two part question.
Sure, which state upcoming areyou most looking forward to?
Speaker 2 (16:34):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
I want to hear some of your craziest or best stories
from the previous 25.
Speaker 2 (16:40):
Okay, okay.
Well, you know I'm, I love theWest.
You know I live in NorthCarolina and Asheville and super
happy here.
But like my, my, I feel mostcomfortable in my spirit when
I'm out in the wide open spaces.
So I love you know, I've kindof kept a few states for later
(17:00):
in the project.
Montana will be my last state.
I'm really looking forward toIdaho.
Let's see Hawaii.
You know my.
You know my family wants tocome to Hawaii, if you can
imagine you know, they wonderwhy?
Yeah, exactly they want to be apart of that one, so that that
will be fun, I think.
(17:20):
Vermont and Maine I love Maine,I love you know, love New
Hampshire.
So you know, like just the, youknow I don't really get off too
much on the big state, the bigcities.
It's certainly not what I'mabout, although they're fun for
a little couple days for me.
I just don't ever feel quite atpeace when I'm in the big
(17:44):
cities, and so I try and find,you know, kind of easy,
logistically easy routes to do.
And so, yeah, those are some ofthe states I'm looking forward
to.
And then a story I'll tell youa great.
I'll tell you a great story.
And so there's a ultra runner.
(18:05):
Her name is Darcy Peque, andDarcy, in the ultra running
world, is just the luminary.
She's a legend, right, she's a.
There's a race out in Coloradocalled the Hard Rock 100.
And it's like one of thetoughest races in the country.
Speaker 1 (18:24):
I can imagine a lot of elevation changes, tons of
weather, really tough route.
Speaker 2 (18:31):
And she's won that numerous, numerous times, and so
she's a famous ultra runner andme and Darcy somehow were.
We both were brought up inBirmingham, michigan, so, and so
we kind of kept tabs on eachother a little bit.
I certainly was watching whatshe was up to and I would, you
know, we would touch base hereand there.
(18:52):
And you know, at one point Iwas going to run the Leadville
100 in Colorado.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
And.
Speaker 2 (18:58):
I thought I'd just give it a try.
So I was like you know, darcy,is there any chance that you
would pace me, you know, for thefor the Leadville 100?
And you know, I thought it waskind of a long shot, you know,
but she is so nice and so sweetand she's like, yeah, like right
away.
She's like yeah, I don't haveanything going on, I'll, I'll
come I think she lives outsideof Boulder I'll come to
(19:20):
Leadville and pace you for the100.
So I was like awesome, this is,this is great.
You know, it's pretty crazythat two people from Birmingham,
michigan, end up doing all thisstuff in the ultra running
world and we had never met,never met physically, and so I
was like super excited and I wasgoing to pick her up at mile 50
.
And so I got yeah, at aboutlike 40 to 45, you have to start
(19:45):
going up over Hope Pass, whichis the high point of the whole
route, and you go up over HopePass and then you go down, and
that was mile 50, but then youhave to turn around and come
back up over Hope Pass and backdown to the rest of the route.
Well, when I picked up Darcy, Ihad the starting of elevation
(20:07):
sickness, altitude sicknessreally starting to take its toll
on me.
I tried to sneak in like a daybefore the race started.
I didn't come like 10 daysearly to acclimatize, so I was
just trying to kind of sneak inon the altitude and there I was
getting over Hope Pass.
(20:27):
And next thing I know I am justfeeling very nauseous.
And so I picked Darcy up andyou know I was like it's so
great to meet you, I'm so firedup.
And then, like you know, likefive minutes after we're running
, I'm like Darcy, I'm sorry, Ithink I'm going to get sick, I'm
not feeling good at all.
And so so there I am on theside of the trail just like
(20:48):
throwing up, and then at thesame time like like farting and,
like you know, like my body waslike both ends, it was coming
out of both ends and I justcouldn't do anything about it.
You know, as much as I wantedto, you know, not be doing that,
especially in front of Darcy,right.
Speaker 1 (21:06):
Maybe a little embarrassing.
Speaker 2 (21:07):
Quite, a bit embarrassing, but you know it
was.
So I'll never forget becauseshe's like you know, she goes.
You know she's like Pete, I'vebeen doing this a long time,
I've seen it all.
Don't worry about it, you know,just take care of yourself.
So she kind of turned her backon me for a little while.
I'm like just kind of takingcare of myself and and I was
white as a ghost and you know, Ijust thought, you know, I'm
(21:29):
going to have Darcy kind of takeme to the next checkpoint and
I'm going to call it a day.
I'm going to quit.
You know I and I'm not aquitter.
I think anyone that listens tome for five minutes realized I'm
stubborn and all this stuff.
So I get to the next checkpointand my crew refuses to let me
quit.
They're like you know I'msaying, you know I'm done, I'm,
(21:51):
you know, here's my bib.
And they're like no, just keepthat on, let's try and get a
little food in you, let's get alittle, you know.
And they just kind of keptprodding me along.
And then someone came up and bythe time I was, by the time I
felt like I had given up toomuch time at the eight stations
when someone came by and said ifyou get up right now and you
jog and walk, you have enoughtime to finish the lead bill 100
(22:15):
.
And I was like let's go.
So I like got up and perseveredand they have a 30 hour cutoff.
I came in at like 29 and a halfhours across the finish line
and and finished that race andso that was awesome but very
embarrassing.
But.
But Darcy was a great sportabout it and helped a lot, so
that was pretty cool.
Speaker 1 (22:37):
Well, glad to hear you finished.
Yeah, you got it out, literally, I guess.
Yeah, you know I might havementioned to you one of our last
times we spoke that I think thelongest run I ever did was a
five mile knife, and that was ina former lifetime, when I was
in law enforcement and I wasqualifying for SWAT school.
(23:00):
Okay, and I am not a runner.
Okay, I'm a football sizedlinebacker sized human being.
Running is not my thing, buddy.
So it was.
It was very hard, but I wasvery proud of myself for
finishing.
Yeah, so I have a lot I have.
I have no idea how mentallysomeone could go a hundred miles
(23:27):
, because when I think of ahundred miles I think, oh,
that's like you know, 80 minutesof driving.
Oh my God, Two hours of drivingor whatever right, I guess not
80 minutes, about two hours ofdriving, and so, yeah, that's
absolutely amazing.
And and To do it for a cause,that's really cool.
And so again, some insidebaseball.
(23:50):
For those who might have missedround one of our podcasts, as I
did narrate your autobiography,so I know the story of the
snowy owl and so I find itfascinating that you did tie
those two things together.
That's really cool, man.
We'll return to the podcast injust a moment, but first
hometown hero outdoors wouldlike to thank the following
(24:12):
companies that support HHO andour mission Relentless defender
apparel and gear, silencer,central suppressors, best
defense armory and range inForest Lake, minnesota, and
Tito's handmade vodka.
We thank them for their support.
Now back to our podcast.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
It was great.
And this owl research instituteup in Charlo Montana, which is
just outside of Missoula Montana, this guy, denver Holt, he's in
charge of it and he isincredible.
He's probably the number oneworld educator in owls.
Like he's just so well versedin owls, he studies them all
over the world and journalseverywhere and for kind of a
(24:57):
science nerdy guy like me, likehe's one of my heroes and we've
gotten to know each other.
We're going to do some talkstogether and things, and so some
fun things are coming togetherjust because of the partnership
and the fundraising.
But it's been fantastic and,like I said, I made a $50,000
goal and I'm about $34,000 inhalfway.
(25:20):
So it's looking great and I'msuper, super happy to help in
that realm.
Speaker 1 (25:27):
So have you had any owl encounters since the one up
in Alaska?
Speaker 2 (25:33):
Yes, yes, definitely.
I've seen a handful of owls andactually here in Asheville they
come in my backyard quite often, and so I'll hear Eastern
screech owls and then I'll hearthe great horned owls, which are
the biggest owls, and I'll justsit out my back porch and try
(25:53):
and call them in.
And or sometimes what willhappen is the crows.
We have a lot of crows and thecrows will mob.
The crows will get together andreally bother like the hawks
and the owls.
It's like a preemptive mobbingwhere they're just because what
(26:14):
happens is the owls or the hawkscan actually kill the crows if
they want to, and so the crowswill kind of proactively get
together and just kind of botherthe owls.
And so sometimes once, while inlike early winter, I'll wake up
early in the morning and I'llwalk outside and I'll hear a
(26:34):
bunch of crows kind of callingand I realize, oh, this is
probably a hawker and owl, thatthey got treed.
And so I will kind of searchout where the sounds coming from
with my binoculars and quite afew times I've kind of found the
action and looked up there andthere's a beautiful owl just
kind of sitting there peacefullyin the tree.
And so, yeah, I've gotten toknow the owls and I'm studying
(27:00):
them a lot all the differentkinds, so it's fun.
I think they're awesome.
I love that.
Now I'm kind of known as theowl guy, since I'm fundraising,
so anytime one of my friends oracquaintances sees an owl or
hears an owl or sees you knowlike you know something at a
secondhand shop that's got anowl on it, you know they're
sending it to me and takingpictures of owls and so they're
(27:23):
wonderful.
I think they're the coolestcreatures around, so I've been
really interested in them.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So in my mind now, I'm thinking when you run your
last race and you cross thefinish line, you need that group
, owl City, to be singing foryou, right?
Oh, yeah, that'd be great.
Yeah, we could get thattogether.
It's good.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Like I said, I'm going to save my 50th 100 mile
run for Montana and I'm going tobring a ton of friends and
family up there, just like I didfor my 50th when I ran the
marathons, and we're going tothrow a bash and have a party
and a fundraiser and just liveit up.
And so you know who knows whatwill come by that time.
(28:05):
I'm just making.
Obviously, I'm taking them oneat a time.
I can't.
For a while I thought I couldkind of rush through this
project, but not so much.
You know these things.
Any one 100 mile run just takesit out of you and you know you
really pay the price for a whileafter you run.
And so I kind of kind of took alittle step back and now I'm
(28:28):
running, probably I'll probablyrun four or five a year until I
finish the project.
So we're talking, you know,five, six more years before, god
willing, before this project isdone.
But, like I said, I'm notfighting for the finish.
I'm just kind of, you know,using my mindfulness and just
saying, hey, all right, thismonth I'm going to Omaha,
(28:49):
nebraska, and I'm super fired upfor that and see what unfolds
there.
So it's just a really cool wayto travel and to see a bunch of
different places and meet abunch of cool people.
Speaker 1 (29:03):
So thinking about that you had mentioned you're.
There's nobody who has done 100of these or 100 miles in every
state yet, correct, right yeah?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
The best of my knowledge.
You know I've reached out topeople that are like historians
of the ultra running realm andyou know it's like I have not
heard of anyone that has done it.
But then, at the same time,like there's been times when
I've like like asked, you know,like Alexa, or you know chat GPT
(29:34):
or something hey, is theresomeone that's run 100?
And they're like, yes, numerous, a few people have done it, but
the people that they mentionedthat have done it, I know for a
fact, haven't.
And so you know and I have tosay this too like the reason I'm
doing this is that, you know,it's not only because it's never
been done.
You know, it's my happy place.
(29:56):
I love going out and runningand I love all that comes with
it.
I love inspiring others, I lovefundraising.
If it comes that I'm the firstperson that does it, that's
fantastic.
If it comes that I'm the fourthperson that's done it, that's
fantastic too.
You know I'm not I'm not likeall in on being the first, but
that's cool and a lot of peoplelike to hear that.
(30:18):
You know, it's kind of likesomething that you lead with
when you're when you're doingadvertising and stuff like that.
But to be honest, it reallydoesn't make much difference
whether I'm first or fifth, oryou know, I think it's a hell of
an accomplishment.
I think, you know, I think itwill take everything in my heart
and soul to get there.
I've wanted to quit alreadynumerous times I can't even tell
(30:41):
you how many times where I'vebeen deep into a hundred mile
run in some state that I mightnot necessarily want to be in,
away from my family.
You know, with all the things Imentioned, the chafing and the
cramps and the sour gut and theblisters and and, and I'm like
you know I'm done.
When I finish this one, I amout, I don't care what anyone
(31:03):
says, I'm done.
And then you know, it's justamazing that you know, a day or
two after I run, it's like, nextthing I know I'm looking for
another run.
Or you know I'm like, all right, I've come too far to quit and
my stubbornness takes over and II'm plodding along.
So it's it's, it's mayhem, it'slike a controlled mayhem, but
(31:24):
but it's, it's like it's.
It's, it's who I am, it's whatI want to do with my life, and
so it's been a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (31:32):
What is the closest in days that you ever ran to
100s?
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Huh, well, I have to say that I ran a race called the
Tahoe 200, which was a 200 milerun that circumnavigated Lake
Tahoe.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
Oh, wow.
Speaker 2 (31:52):
And that was that.
Took 86 hours to run aroundLake Tahoe from point to point.
And so that was a, that was asuper tough one.
But yeah, I would say a coupleof weeks, you know.
You know, and and I, you knowit's amazing I'll see people
like a friend of mine here fromAsheville did, I think, five,
(32:12):
100s this summer alone.
And so there's a people,there's people that their bodies
are made to do this.
They recover better than I doand again, part of me wants to
try and like do you know, it'sdefinitely crossed my mind to do
10 a year and try and get thisthing done in a couple of few
years, you know.
And so I can kind of move onwith my life.
(32:34):
Because it takes a lot of myextra money.
You know I didn't mention butI'm paying my way through this
project, and so you know, allthe money fundraise goes
directly to our researchinstitute.
I don't touch a dime of thatmoney, and so I the promise was
that I would pay my my, my waythrough the project in order for
(32:55):
all the donations to gostraight to our research
institute.
So you know it's a, it's afinancial commitment, it's a
time commitment, it's a physicalcommitment.
It's certainly, you know, Iwould say, taken, taken time off
my life, just the grind of ofdoing that and beating your body
up so much.
But I'm willing.
You know, I promised myselflong ago that I would rather be
(33:18):
old with stories than old withregrets, and so I kind of
promised myself that I was goingto go after life, not thinking
that at some point I'll pay theprice, and because we're not
guaranteed tomorrow, and so Ireally wanted to attack life
with as much gusto as I could,and I feel like I'm doing that
with this project.
Speaker 1 (33:38):
So we spoke briefly in the last podcast.
But you are, you have a lot ofinterests and one of those is
golf, yes, and so I understandyou.
You like to play golf.
I follow you on LinkedIn and Isee you, you've gone golfing
with your buddies and things,but you have the distinction of
two things that escapes mostgolfers.
(34:00):
Yeah, you have a hole in one anda double eagle, and for those
of, for those who don't golf, adouble eagle is actually what
I've been told is more rare thana hole in one, because it's
when you get you sink the ballinto the hole on your second
shot, on a par five, and so alot of times that's a longer
distance than a par three shot.
(34:22):
Right, so can you recount forgolf geeks like myself?
Yes, and those, those twoevents that happened because I'm
fascinated.
So my father is also a verygood golfer, as is.
I have a brother who's ascratch golfer.
I am not but um and my uh, butmy father had a double eagle
(34:47):
once, uh, but no holes in one,and so can you.
Can you talk about those for aminute?
Speaker 2 (34:52):
Yeah, I'd be happy to .
Yes, I love the sport.
It's maddening.
I mean, it is such a toughsport.
Those guys that play on theprofessional level make it look
so easy.
I don't know how they do it.
It must just be the amount ofpractice they put in on a daily
basis.
But it's not that easy to getout there and swing and put the
ball towards the hole.
(35:13):
So it's a very humbling sport,but I've had some incredible
times with it.
I'll tell you about the doubleeagle first, the Albatross.
So I was playing with myfather-in-law and my another
friend and we're in Raleigh andit's funny, I don't even
remember the name of the course,but we're in Raleigh, north
(35:33):
Carolina.
We're on the 18th hole and it'sa par five, the 18th hole and I
can hit the driver.
Well, that's never been anissue for me.
I can hit the ball a long ways.
So I hit probably like a 320 or330 yard drive and I was in the
(35:55):
middle.
That's a good one.
Yeah, it was a good one.
I used to hit a lot furtherthan I do now, but this was
probably 10 years ago or more.
So I hit a big drive.
I was out in the middle of thefairway and the green was such
that you could see the flagstickbut you couldn't see the green.
(36:16):
And then there was water on theother side of the green.
And so my father-in-law wastalking to me and I was like,
well, how should I shape theshot?
You know, and he goes well,send it up towards that power
line.
You see that power line overthere, aim it, aim it, start it
at that power line.
And then I usually have a draw.
And so he says, you know, hitit at the power line and then
(36:39):
let it draw into the green.
And so I took like a long iron Ithink it was like 190 yards to
the hole and you know, I hitthis ball and I had, right when
I hit it, there was somethingkind of interesting about it
Because right when I hit it, itwent straight at that power line
(37:01):
that he told me to hit it atand then turned over and started
going towards the green.
And I was like I did exactlywhat she said to do, like it was
a great shot.
It was just exactly the shapethat he asked for and it looked
like it was going right onto thegreen.
And so I was like super excited.
And so you know, as we'regetting up towards the hole, you
(37:23):
know I told you there was wateron the other side of it.
So when I got up to the green, Iscanned the green and I didn't
see a single ball on the green.
I was like what the hell?
I was like you know that thatthat was a good shot.
So I was like I bet it wentover the green and went into the
water.
So I was.
I was walking on, walking tothe water's edge to kind of look
for golf balls.
(37:43):
Meanwhile my father-in-law, youknow, walks by the cup and goes
hey, pete, why don't you golook in the hole?
And I was like.
I was like you got to be kiddingme and I walked by.
And here's the best part of ityou know I had lost my mom to
breast cancer research and thatday I was I was playing a ball
(38:03):
that had the pink ribbon on it.
Speaker 1 (38:05):
Sure.
Speaker 2 (38:06):
And I looked down in the hole and that pink ribbon is
looking up at me from thebottom of the hole Albatross two
on a par five.
And I just started running andscreaming and yelling and I
really didn't know how rare itwas.
I mean, it's many times morerare than a hole in one, but it
was.
It was fantastic, you know, andgreat way to end around.
(38:30):
And it was super, super cool.
So that that was the theAlbatross story, and then the
whole one story was I'm a memberat the club here in Asheville
and I hit it.
It was a par three that youcould see the green this time
and I hit a great seven iron.
(38:50):
It was like a hundred and say ahundred and seventy yards,
something like that, a hundredand sixty yards and it landed on
the green and started trackinglike a putt and dropped right
into the hole.
Oh nice, and so I startedscreaming.
I was playing with three guys.
I started screaming, I startedrunning down towards the green
(39:13):
because I just still couldn'tbelieve that it was in the hole.
While I was going down runningtowards the green, I took my
shirt off and I was swinging myshirt around like this it's like
losing my mind screaming, andwent down there, got the ball
out of the cup, held it back upand then ran back up to the T
box, you know, and hugged all mybuddies and and come in and
(39:36):
they said well, we still need tohit our balls.
So it was like it was awesomeand but it was it was.
It was funny because at thetime I was like three under par
or four under par, I had birdieon two, and then was two under
on that hole in one and I endedup with like eighty or so.
I mean I thought, oh my gosh,I'm going to shoot like a sixty,
(39:58):
sixty five today, you know,like not even close, and I and I
started doing a little bit ofcelebrating, you know, on the
back nine too.
Speaker 1 (40:06):
So good for you, yeah that's awesome yeah.
Yeah, my, my closest ever.
There was a club that my fatherand I used to play a league at,
nine hole league and there's apar three.
It's, I want to say it's aboutdepending on there's two sets of
teas for that particular hole,but depending on the teas, it's,
(40:27):
it's right at that, you know,one fifty.
So for me that's eight iron,depending on wind.
And that day I hit an eight andit landed in front and the way
the green sloped away from you.
So you know when it's rollingyou can see the ball and I hit
the green and it starts rollingtowards the pin and it stopped
(40:47):
18 inches in front of the hole.
But I'll take it.
I'll take it.
It was a beautiful shot.
Speaker 2 (40:53):
I got the birdie, happy birdies are great, you
know, but it's like it's it's alucky thing, I mean, I don't
like I have played with golfersthat are ten times better than
me and they've never had one,you know, and they've been close
numerous times, and so I justthink it's like the way it
bounces, there are, you know, Ivery rarely do I think someone's
(41:13):
so good that they literally putit exactly where they want to.
It's just like kind of, youknow, it's it's up to the golf
gods.
I don't know, you know, butthat's awesome.
Speaker 1 (41:23):
Oh yeah, no, it's, it's fun.
I didn't get to play this yearas much as I wanted, but yeah, I
agree with you it's.
It's probably the mostfrustrating but can be the most
rewarding when you're playingwell or when you strike a good
one, because you can have ahorrible round and you get to
like you say the 18th hole andyou par the 18th hole.
You're like this game's great.
(41:44):
I know, I can't play again.
Speaker 2 (41:47):
You know exactly it takes to make you want to come
back.
So it's, it's a great sport,super fun.
I've had, and hope to stillhave a lot of fun with that.
That's something I definitelywant to put some more time and
energy into when, when this AllRun Hundreds project is over.
But you know that I just kindof take it when it comes, for
(42:07):
now I'm raising two girls andI'm busy and I don't get to play
as often as I'd like either.
Speaker 1 (42:14):
But then then you start the Owl Foundation golf
tournament every year down therein.
Asheville Right.
Speaker 2 (42:21):
Talking yes, yeah.
Speaker 1 (42:23):
Yeah, I'll be waiting for my invite.
For that You'll get it.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
You're on the list, man, you're on nice, yeah, so.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
So then, for a guy who has all this stuff going on
right, you're an avidoutdoorsman when it comes to
running golf, spending time inthe great outdoors.
What's next?
What are you looking forward todoing after you get the 100s
done?
Speaker 2 (42:49):
Yeah, that's a great question.
You know, this is like I saidthis is still gonna be a Chunk
of time longer.
So it's not anything that I'msuper close to, but, but I do
have some.
There's a couple things thatI'll say that I really would
like to do before my life isover.
One is I would like to go downto Antarctica, and I'd like to
(43:11):
get to that.
I'd like to get to the SouthPole, I think.
I think a South Pole expeditionwould be really, really, really
cool.
I've I've done a lot ofstudying about it, and I don't
know if you've ever heard of theendurance or Shackleton Boy
absolutely and that that bookmade a gigantic impression on me
and and and and.
(43:33):
So the history of of that placeis called my name.
And I don't think, you know, Idon't think it will be the type
of thing where I'm trying to doit as fast as as possible.
I think it will be just areally fun.
You know, you know Our Jewishtime with a couple friends and
and just kind of earning yourway to the South Pole.
(43:54):
I I don't see it as being, youknow, one of those things where
you're trying to, you know,break Time records or anything
like that.
I think I probably, by the timeI get down there and do that,
you know, I'll probably be alittle bit older and a little
bit grayer and it will probablybe more just about the adventure
than than anything else.
And then I also want to climbDenali.
(44:15):
You know I've spent so muchtime in Alaska and Study that,
that mountain so often, and youknow I lived in the foothills of
that mountain for a while and IWould look up there and just
say, you know, at one one time Iwould love to to, you know, to
have a mountaineering trip toDenali and if I could ski down,
(44:37):
I'm a telemark skier, so if Icould ski down, that make it
even better.
But you know, just just justtaking the time and I have some
people I've started kind oftalking through that with and
that are interested in it aswell, and so, yeah, those those
things are those things are twothings that I'd really love to
do Before it's all said and done.
(44:59):
So you know, there's some big,hairy, audacious goals.
Speaker 1 (45:03):
You got there, brother.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
Yeah, that's the way I roll, man.
I just, I really like those big, hairy goals that are tough to
gnaw at and that that fight back.
You know, I learned that fromrunning the marathons, you know,
I'm just, I'm just not the onethat wants the low-hanging fruit
.
You know, I want the, thephysical and the spiritual and
(45:24):
the mental aspect kind of all tocome together and make it, you
know, very difficult.
So, yeah, you know, I Shoot forthe moon and that's that's the
way I, that's the way I wasraised.
You know, like, like I said,you know, a Amelia Earhart is,
as you know, from from, from youknow it's helping me with the
(45:46):
book.
Amelia Earhart is a distantcousin of mine and she comes
from my family line and and Iremember kind of studying her
when I was younger and thinking,you know, amelia's dead and
gone and has been for a longtime, but yet people are still
talking about her and like thatwas a legacy, you know, and I
(46:07):
wanted to make a legacy of myown and so you know, these
things that I do, you know, yes,they're fun for me, but I
really want to put something outin my life to where, you know,
when I'm dead and gone.
I want people to be like well,you know, pete, while he was
alive he did, he did thesethings and you know, maybe some
others can you know, followingmy footsteps, or or take it a
(46:30):
step further, as as most youngpeople do.
You know I'm I certainly am notdoing it thinking, you know I
have arrived at any.
I'm a lifelong learner.
I, you know I've learned a lotabout myself.
So you know, I know thatthere's more talented athletes
that can do the things I've doneon a On a grander scale, and
more power to them.
I hope I can inspire others todo those things, but I would lie
(46:53):
if I said I didn't want toleave a legacy in this, in this
life.
Speaker 1 (46:57):
All that being said and all your life experiences,
pete, what is a piece of advicethat you would give to people
struggling to find themselves ormaybe having self doubt?
Speaker 2 (47:09):
Yeah, I think I I'm glad you asked that.
You know, I really feel likebeing, I really feel like it's
important to put your dreams andyour thoughts out on paper.
You know, I Feel it's importantto kind of you know, you know,
think of it, what, what you wantto do, and the way I think
(47:30):
about it is like, what did youwant to do when you were a kid?
You know, you hear about somany people that are like you
know they had these big dreamswhen they are younger and then
all of a sudden, you know they,they get in the middle age and
you know they think, oh well,shoot, I missed the boat and oh
well, so I'll just give up andI'll just give up on life and
I'll just kind of talk aboutwhat I did when I was 18 and
(47:53):
it's like I just never had muchtime for people like that.
You know, I'm like, what areyou doing today?
What are you doing now?
I don't really care what youdid 20 years ago and I I would
hope people to say the same withme and so you know, I would
just say that you know, yeah,put those goals out on paper and
then kind of work backwards forthose, like you know, rather
(48:15):
than being like you know, thisis what I want to do.
I don't have no, any idea.
Well, you know, kind of takethe latter steps that you need
to.
You know, like when I ran mymarathons, it wasn't like, well,
if for me I did run a marathon,kind of impromptu, but, like
for most people, they're notgonna just go run a marathon,
right.
So you like, like you run the5k and you run either five mile
(48:37):
run and you run the halfmarathon, and you know, and so
you kind of methodically worktowards your goals.
But I really feel, like youknow, in order to Understand
what those goals are, you haveto think back to when you're
younger and and you know,anytime you can reconnect with
goals from your childhood.
(48:57):
I think it's beautiful, youknow, because life just happens
so fast, you know.
I mean, I'm turning 47 nextmonth.
I can't believe that, you know,and and so it's for me it's
like you know, I still havethese goals that I want to work
towards, but it's I'm not just adreamer, you know.
I'm willing to kind of lay thegroundwork and work towards
those goals.
(49:17):
So I would say that's a piece ofadvice, is just to you know,
make realistic goals and thenmethodically chew them apart and
be a bulldog about it.
You know, and and and also Letme say this right something that
I have Really lean on a lot isUsing failures as stepping
(49:39):
stones to success.
You know, I think, I think alot of times, if you make big
enough goals, you should befailing.
You know, and I, when I give my, when I talk and my public
speaking, I hone in on this alot because, you know, a lot of
people say you know, I havethese goals, and then you try
and you fail, and and somepeople just give up, and it's
(50:00):
like you know, if you're makingbig goals, you should be failing
, like that's going to be a partof the whole equation, and so
just to learn from thosefailures and kind of keep moving
forward is a big piece ofadvice as well.
Speaker 1 (50:13):
Pete, if people want more information about your hour
one, I will run 100s or to haveyou as their special event
speaker.
Where can they find thatinformation or find you?
Speaker 2 (50:25):
Yeah, I'm on social media.
You know, pete ripmaster, I,let's see, I do Facebook and
Instagram and LinkedIn, and thenmy website is Pete ripmastercom
and that's got.
That's got information aboutthe public speaking and about
the hour run, hundreds, and thenit's definitely got a Got a way
to get in touch with me and youknow, and so, yeah, that that
(50:47):
would be the best ways for sure,but I'm wide open and so I'm
free to talk to anybody too.
Like definitely Don't mindpeople reaching out, asking
advice or questions or you know,or the likes.
Speaker 1 (51:00):
So no, and that's very appreciative.
We were very appreciative forthat and we very much appreciate
you taking the time twice totalk to us and our HHO audience
and I really hope that thethings that we talked about
would be inspiring to some folks.
And Especially, I really likewhat you just said a minute ago
(51:26):
about that your big goals thatyou Will fail right, because if
it's a that big of a goal, it'sgonna be hard to achieve, and I
really like that thought process.
Speaker 2 (51:39):
Yeah, you know I, I remind people regularly.
You know I, yes, I won the, Idid rod, but my first year I was
last place.
I Tried and failed twice to getto gnome and and quit two years
in a row, and so it waslittered with Failures along the
way, but I did.
I never took those, as you know, as things that were gonna set
(52:02):
me back.
I just thought, okay, I'm backto the drawing board, what can I
learn?
And so it ended up in a goodplace.
But I always like to tellpeople you know, my first year I
was last place and so it was,uh, you know I, just, I just not
away at it, and that's what Ifeel like people can do for sure
.
Speaker 1 (52:22):
Pete, you're a great human being.
I just I love it.
You inspire me and I love it.
I also want to let everyoneknow that you can find Pete's
autobiography anywhere.
Books are sold called the LongWay Home how I won the 1,000
mile.
I did a rod foot race withpersistence, patience and
passion, also available onaudible, and so thank you, pete,
(52:44):
for For taking time to join usagain on the this week's podcast
and as a listener to thispodcast.
If you are in a dark place orhaving a difficult time, please
reach out to us at hometown herooutdoors.
Our staff is trained andapplied suicide intervention
specialty training, also calledassist, which is crisis
intervention training.
(53:06):
You can also call 988, which isthe national suicide and crisis
hotline, because there's alwayssomeone willing to help you
through your dark times and talkto you.
I'm phil ewert, guest hostingfor chris tatro on the hometown
hero outdoors podcast.
Thank you for watching thisweek and we'll see you next time
.
Thank you for listening to thehometown hero outdoors podcast.
(53:31):
For more information, visit ourwebsite at
hometownherooutdoorsorg.
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