Human Performance Outliers Podcast with Zach Bitter

Phil Gore holds the World Best mark for the Backyard format, completing 119 "yards" for a total of 495.83miles. He recently completed a personal project, called Project 168, where he aimed to see if he would be able to last 168 yards (700 miles). He ended up tapping out at 152 yards (633.75 miles). We discussed this project, what the limiters were, how they have created a longer recovery, and what direction the Backyard Ultra World is going, and how his event raised nearly $300,000 for Telethon, a Western Australian appeal that supports sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged kids and their families. You can contribute here: philgore.com.au
Phil: philgore.com.au | IG: @phil.gore.ultrarunner
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Brian Reynolds is a Brooks-sponsored double below-knee amputee runner who, in 2026, became the first athlete in that category to finish the Leadville Trail 100 — on his fourth try, in 28 hours 55 minutes. He lost both legs at age four to meningococcemia, a rare bacterial infection with grim survival odds. For years he hid the amputation and stayed off the trails. A Grand Canyon hike cracked that open. He went from powerlifting to a 2:58 marathon, multiple classification records from 5K to the marathon, and Team USA para-athletics.
Brian: IG: @brianreynoldsrunner
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Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter

Phil Gore holds the World Best Backyard record with 119 yards (495.87 miles). In an effort to see what he could actually do, he set up a project targeting yards/hours. Meg Eckert may be the most underrated ultramarathon athlete in the game right now. She is currently on pace to break her own women's 6-day World Record, and also the outright American Record. Finally, I touch on some thoughts around the UTMB events. 
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Podcast Details:
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HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo 
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Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter

Thomas Nobbs is a professional marathon athlete with a 2:09 PR, and endurance coach. His progression to 2:09 speaks for itself, and his public strava profile shows how he has balanced lots of low intensity running and key quality sessions. Thomas is currently training for the Chicago Marathon, where he plans to once again improve his marathon PR. 
Thomas: teamrunrun.com/coach/tom-nobbs | IG: @nobbs.not.knobs | Strava: Thomas Nobbs
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Podcast Details:
Support HPO: zachbitter.com/hposponsors
HPO Website: zachbitter.com/hpo 
Zach's Coaching: zachbitter.com/coaching
Zach's Journal: substack.com/@zachbitter
Find Zach: zachbitter.com | IG: @zachbitter | X: @zbitter | FB: Zach Bitter | Strava: Zach Bitter

Dr. Trent Stellingwerff joined the show to discuss the topic of relative energy deficiency syndrome (REDs) in endurance athletes, and body competition management. Trent includes working with the Women's Health, Sport & Performance Institute (WHSP) in Boston Trent is the Chief Performance Officer (CPO) at the Canadian Sports Institute. Trent has developed many national and international collaborations in various applied research projects in the fields of nutrition and physiology, and been a part of 8 IOC position statements. Trent joined the show to discuss the topic of relative energy deficiency syndrome in endurance athletes, and body competition management in athletics.
Trent: whspinstitute.org & csipacific.ca/team-members/trent-stellingwerff | X: @TStellingwerff
 
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Support HPO: 
Website: https://zachbitter.com/hpo 
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