Human Performance Outliers Podcast with Zach Bitter

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
Episode Sponsors:
LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)
deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)
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

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. 
Episode Sponsors:
LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)
deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)
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

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
Episode Sponsors:
LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)
deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)
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
 
Sponsors:
LMNT: https://drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)
deltaG: https://deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)

Support HPO: 
Website: https://zachbitter.com/hpo 
Patreon: https://patreon.com/HPOpodcast 
Coaching: https://zachbitter.com/coaching 
Zach's Newsletter: https://substack.com/@zachbitter

Mark Dowdle arrives 15 minutes before the start of Last Soul Ultra, but still wins with nearly 400 miles. Should we have more unsupported ultra running events? Badwater 135 lack of streaming and interesting shoe policy. Jeff Garmire joins me to discuss and share his upcoming documentary.
Jeff Garmire: freeoutside.com | IG: @thefreeoutside | YT: @Freeoutside
Episode Sponsors:
LMNT: drinkLMNT.com/HPO (free sample pack with purchase)
deltaG: deltagketones.com Code: BITTER20 (20% Off)
Kila Insoles: kilarun.com Code: BITTER ($50 Off)
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