Iestyn Lewis

#35 HUMILITY IN ULTRA ENDURANCE
WITH IESTYN LEWIS

“When I look at a race entry form I struggle not to enter the longest.”

Iestyn Lewis has been a wonderful friend of mine over the past 10 years and has stood by me through some really great moments on the trails but also some really tough moments in life.

What I really wanted to bring across in this podcast is the absolute joy Iestyn has for running and you can feel this through the way he talks about his experiences in ultra running, and in particular, as the only Australian to finish the Dragon’s back Ultra in the UK - A multi-day race with extremely high drop out rates.

“…I don’t think I’ve even been prepared to make single minded sacrifices to get faster… the amount of training to knock off a few seconds… seemed like a big lore of diminishing returns for me…but I always loved the mountains.. and when I got scared of climbing… I drifted back into running…instead of training harder to go faster, I figured it was easier to go longer.”

“The reason I enter (ultra endurance) events is because I’m lazy…”

I am fascinated by Iestyn’s consideration of himself as a ‘lazy’ runner despite balancing his life as an athlete, a dad for two gorgeous daughters, and a hyperbaric & emergency specialist here in Hobart. He is also a mentor for emergency physicians in the Netherlands.

“Why do I run? I love the movement of it… the freedom of it.”

Lazy is not the word I would use to describe this genuine, hard-working and compassionate man who continues to inspire me with his accomplishments. Not to mention his humility!

I found this conversation incredibly insightful and learnt more about my friend than I expected.

MAIN POINTS

Decision making during races
Functioning in a ‘noisy world’
How training changes when you have responsibilities to others, work and yourself
Iestyn’s experience with the Dragon Back’s Ultra, Cape Wrath Ultra and the Overland Track Ultra.
Advice for multi-day races