Ultrarunner Tim Tollefson on Mental Health, Redefining Success as a Man, & Eating Disorder Recovery

Tim Tollefson is a professional ultrarunner, community builder, and role model of mental health and eating disorder recovery. Tim has chased finish lines all over the world, notching third place at UTMB, a top-5 at Western States, and wins including Javelina Jundred, Lavaredo 120K, Canyons 50K, Ultra-Trail Australia, and more. But he crossed perhaps his greatest starting line of all time when in 2022 he opened up publicly about his journey with eating disorder recovery and mental health in a manner that was deeply genuine and very unique for a man in his position. His impact had ripple effects way beyond the sport of running.Since then, Tim has also built a community nexus through his races Mammoth Trailfest and The Mammoth 200. I linked up with Tim in spring of 2025 for a gondola gab at Mammoth Mountain. Personally, his story and his effervescence has had a tremendous impact on my life and my own mental health journey. Our conversation went far beyond eating disorder recovery. I was grateful for the opportunity to go deep on mental health, the ongoing practice of recovery, masculinity, and his appreciation of community within his personal growth. —Sidenote: You may be able to tell in the intro & outro that I originally planned to publish this episode at the first launch of the podcast. But it felt best to leave it till now to finish up Mental Health Awareness Month. I am delighted to finally share it with you. —This episode is brought to you by I Give A F*ck About Mental Health. For 20% off, use code POD20 at checkout: https://drew-petersen.com/shop—Listen / watch / subscribe:YouTubeSpotifyApple Podcasts—Follow Tim on Instagram: instagram.com/timtollefson Mammoth Trail Fest: mammothtrailfest.comThe Mammoth 200: themammoth200.com —Follow me/the show on Instagram: instagram.com/drewpeterski Sign up for my Substack/the podcast newsletter: substack.com/@drewpetersen —Score discounts and connect with all of the podcast’s sponsors any time at https://drew-petersen.com/podcast.