The Human Potential Running Series Podcast · John Lacroix

HPRS Podcast - Episode 76: Izzy Davis, On Grief and Gratitude

·1 hr 29 min·5 clips

Izzy ties her first 100 miles to grief after her partner Willie died of sudden cardiac arrest.

John starts the episode with a warm January greeting and calls it the first episode of 2026. He thanks listeners for lending him their ears and gets back into the rhythm of the show. He points people to humanpotentialrunning.com. He explains that the HPRS year is a little different now and reminds listeners that the next weekend is January 24th and 25th. He says the final Franklin Mountains Trail Runs in El Paso is coming up, and he notes that this is the 11th annual running of the event. He traces part of the race's history, explaining that he picked it up from Trail Racing Over Texas at the end of 2021 when the former owner was getting ready to retire from trail running and sold some of his races and the trot business to Calum Neff. The conversation then moves into Izzy Davis and settles into a detailed look at a route in Idaho that clearly matters to him. John and Izzy talk about the trail near Blossom and Pear Lakes, the western end along the Montana and Idaho border, and the way the route climbs toward Glidden Pass. Izzy describes how beautiful and remote that country is, even though it is also close to home. He talks about spending a lot of time there in winter for avalanche center work and using those observations to stay connected to the place. The route becomes more than a map line. It becomes a home course, or at least the closest thing to one. John asks about the self-supported FKT, and Izzy says the number is just under 18 hours. John treats that as a real mark and the kind of thing that can become a goal for next year. The episode circles back to the old ultrarunning habit of picking a route because it looks good on a map and then going out to run it. By the end, the talk lands on race memory, local knowledge, practical trail talk, and a blunt hope that more folks get to do that too, while also hoping the government can get its act together so Izzy gets paid.

As heard by us

A grounded trail-running conversation that works best when route detail and place take the lead.

Episode 76 moves in HPRS's familiar lane, beginning with a race recap before opening out into trail running more broadly. John LaCroix keeps it grounded as the talk moves through remote terrain, avalanche work, and the pull of a place close to home that still feels worth chasing…

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Why you'd press play

For a trail talk that stays close to the mountains without getting polished.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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