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

The Breezy Trailhead: Ultra Running Through Injury and Recovery

·47 min·3 clips

John says the Barkley Fall Classic is not running, but climbing and sliding through Frozen Head State Park.

1. The Hobby Jogger Podcast episode centers on ultra runner John Calabrese, known as “The Breezy Trailhead,” and his return from injury toward longer races. 2. Hosts Casey Koza and Rob Myers frame John as an experienced trail and ultra runner, and John explains why his race history matters to his recovery. 3. The episode asks what it takes to keep running 100-milers when knee problems, hip problems, and pneumonia interrupt training. 4. John says Burning River 100 was rough because the weather was “evil,” the course is not flat, and many runners DNF’d at 50 miles. 5. He says this year’s Burning River effort ended at 50 miles, but he still sees it as a stepping stone toward more 100s later in the year. 6. John connects his race difficulty to hip issues that kept him swimming instead of running for parts of the season. 7. He says a six-mile recovery run in April ended with something “buckled,” and he could not run for about a month. 8. Physical therapy then pushed him toward exercises he had neglected, including planks, pushups, curl ups, stretching, lifting, and swimming. 9. John says he can usually handle the 50-mile mark now, but he needs more training to go farther. 10. The conversation also covers the Sri Chinmoy 24-hour race in New York, where John says knee problems started and worsened through the rest of 2024. 11. He describes that race as a test of whether he could eventually handle the much longer version, but he decided to put that idea on hold after the result. 12. John says many of his race entries come from browsing UltraSignup and signing up for races that fit his calendar. 13. He mentions an upcoming Export 100 Trail Run in Pennsylvania and says he knows another runner there from Manitou’s Revenge, Eastern States, and Canal 100 miler. 14. John says the Barkley Fall Classic at Frozen Head State Park is not really a running race, but something closer to climbing, sliding, and survival on steep terrain. 15. He says the course uses confidence markers and tape, and that runners who miss cutoffs can settle for a marathon instead of the quoted 50K. 16. John says he has done the Barkley Fall Classic five times, volunteered once, and once got the marathon because he was not fully prepared. 17. He also describes Laz as helpful and calm when he pulled out the map and explained the course at packet pickup. 18. The tone is conversational, self-aware, and full of running-shop talk, with Casey and Rob matching John’s humor about swimming, beer, and being a “weirdo” on trails. 19. Trail runners interested in ultra recovery, Barkley culture, and obscure races. 20. Pure road-race time-trial listeners who want only split talk.

As heard by us

A grounded ultra-running chat about injury, recovery, race stories, and shoe talk.

With John Calabrese on the Hobby Jogger podcast, this episode follows an ultra runner moving through the rough patch after Running River 100. It stays close to injury, recovery, race stories, and shoe talk with Casey Koza and Rob Myers, and that mix keeps it grounded in everyday…

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Why you'd press play

Ultra talk for the runner who is stuck between a setback and the next start line.

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