Mountain Tactical with Rob Shaul Podcast-Ep. 3 with Mike Wolfe

Rob interviews professional ultra runner Mike Wolfe in episode three of Mountain Tactical. Conversation revolves around Mike's transition from Federal Prosecutor to North Face Global Athlete, his recent 600 mile Crown Traverse run between Missoula, Montana and Banff, Alberta, balancing running and family, and his next goal-a successful persistent hunt. It's a delicate balance of doing what you love and what makes you tick...and being responsible and taking care of your family-Mike Wolfe Mike has been racing competitively as a professional mountain ultra-runner for over a decade.  As a Global Athlete for The North Face, Mike has competed in over 75 ultra-distance mountain races around the world.  Among the many races he has competed  in, he holds numerous course records, and has won or place top-3 at the world's most competitive and prestigious mountain races:  the Western States 100, the Ultra-Trail du Mont Blanc, and the North Face 50-mile Championship, among others. In addition to racing, Mike loves the purity of running in the mountains to challenge him outside the race environment. In August 2013 he ran the 223-mile John Muir Trail in the high Sierras of California, along with North Face teammate Hal Koerner.  Only stopping to rest for a total of 4 hours, Mike and Hal set a new speed record on the trail, running the 223 miles in 84 Hours. Most recently, Mike just completed a pioneering new adventure run on October 8, 2015. Along with fellow North Face teammate Mike Foote, Mike ran the full 600-mile length of largest contiguous ecosystem in North America—the Crown of the Continent. Dubbed “the crown traverse,”  Mike traversed 13 mountain ranges between Missoula, Montana, ending in Banff, Alberta.  In 22-days of running, they covered some of the wildest mountain terrain in the Rocky Mountains.  Running half of the days self-supported, with all their bivy gear on their backs, they ran mainly remote mountain ridge lines off-trail, encountering technical 4th-5th class exposed climbing terrain, route-finding complexity, and snow and ice. No one else has done such an extended and technical mountain traverse to date. Although Mike loves the competition aspect of ultra-running, Mike's true passion lies in the love of wild places, and the personal insight and exploration that comes from pushing oneself to the edge, maybe even over the edge, high in the mountains. In addition to being a professional mountain runner, Mike is also a practicing attorney.  He currently works part-time, of-counsel to a local law firm where he practices estate planning.  Previous to taking a break from the full-time practice of law to focus on competitive running, Mike was a federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office. Are you interested in being a guest on Mountain Tactical? Email Rob at [email protected]