Andrea Kooiman: From First Marathon to Badwater

We talk with Andrea Kooiman (Coachk) about how a self-described everyday mom becomes a prolific ultrarunner while keeping the sport joyful, social, and grounded. The conversation moves from coaching kids to her first marathon to chasing Badwater and Barkley, with real talk on setbacks, nausea, and the mindset that keeps you moving forward. • we kick off this episode with corrections and listener feedback on the last episode on the doping debacle• Andrea’s running origin story and the run club social glue that makes connection easier • coaching middle schoolers to their first marathon and building a long-running nonprofit program • the marathon-to-ultra progression and how community makes big distances feel possible • a “unicorn” Vermont 100 during a Grand Slam year and what clicks when everything aligns • signing up for a first 100 with minimal lead time and learning cutoff rules mid-race • chasing Badwater 135, stacking qualifiers and learning from DNFs through better problem solving • Barkley Marathons training realities, navigation stress and why obsession is part of the entry cost • knowing when to step back from a goal while still supporting the community around it You can hit us up at running with problems on Instagram or [email protected] Thanks for listening to Running With Problems. Follow us on Instagram @runningwithproblems. DM us there with questions in text or audio messages! Or email us at [email protected] by Jon Eisen (@mildly_athletic) and Miranda Williamson (@peaksandjustice). Edited by Jon Eisen. Theme music by Matt Beer.