The Hobby Jogger Podcast · Hosted by: WeeViews & Branch Sauce

E47 | Recapping the Laurel Highlands Ultra with Nikki and Wil

·38 min·2 clips

Laurel Highlands has 2,500 feet of climbing in the first 8 miles and almost no smooth trail.

1. The Hobby Jogger Podcast episode recaps the Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail Ultra with Nikki Niemeyer and Will Walmsley. 2. Casey Koza and Rob Myers host Nikki Niemeyer and Will Walmsley, who both raced Laurel Highlands and describe different parts of the course. 3. The episode answers what Laurel Highlands does to runners when 70 miles, 11,000 feet of gain, and slick rocks all show up together. 4. Will says Laurel Highlands starts in Ohio Pile, finishes near Johnstown, and has a first 11 miles that front-load the hardest climbing. 5. Nikki says the gate-to-8 section felt like a climb-heavy test, but she expected the later miles from 11 to 19 to be more runnable. 6. Rob explains the relay structure with three runners split at mile 11, mile 19, and the final stretch to about mile 31. 7. The group describes the course as rocky, overgrown, and rarely smooth enough to relax into a stride. 8. Both runners say the overnight rain left the trail wet and greasy, which made the rocks more difficult. 9. Nikki says her threshold pace felt like a hike once the humidity hit after mile 11. 10. Will says he started cramping less than five miles into the race and never fully recovered. 11. Nikki says she sat at mile 19 for about 20 minutes before a volunteer mentioned the Seven Springs view. 12. Will says he was not letting Nikki drop at mile 26 because he did not want the extra back-road shuffle to the finish. 13. The crew talk about aid stations, including Trail Sisters volunteers, Pedialyte packets, root beer, and bacon at mile 46. 14. Will says he carried sodium citrate, liquid calories, and extra bottles, then still struggled to keep up with hydration. 15. Nikki says Uncrustables and bananas worked better for her than gels during the race. 16. Will says he wants redemption because he went into the race already dehydrated from a rough week at work. 17. The tone is conversational, local, and practical, with race-recap pacing and frequent back-and-forth between the hosts and guests. 18. The format mixes course breakdown, pacing discussion, fueling details, and crew-side commentary from Casey and Rob. 19. Trail runners comparing gear, heat, and rugged-course strategy will like this. 20. Listeners wanting polished race storytelling without trail-race specifics may skip it.

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The Hobby Jogger Podcast