Today I’m sharing my conversation with the mountain runner, Rickey Gates.

Rickey isn't just your typical long distance runner. He's a profoundly creative and expressive person whose athletic prowess is just the surface of his multifaceted identity. He earned his reputation within the competitive mountain running circuit and he grew in popularity in step with the growth of the sport as a whole. After a decade as a Salomon athlete competing at the biggest races around the world, he slowly transitioned into more creative projects and became known as a conceptual runner.

These creative projects include “Transamericana,” a documentary film about his run across America with just a 12 pound bag and a budget of $1,000 a month—which he also documented through his book, Cross Country: A 3,700 Mile Run to Explore Unseen America; And Every Single Street, a project where he documented his journey of running all 1,300 miles of roads in the city of San Francisco over 45 days. These projects, along with several other short films can be seen on his website, www.rickeygates.com.

In this episode, we discuss his origins as a runner growing up in Aspen, Colorado, his rapid ascent in the world of mountain running, his creative projects, his transition to parenthood, and everything in between.

Yet, why run so far and document these stories? As Rickey says, “The 2500-year-old legend of Pheidippides tells us about a common Athenian soldier who ran from the fennel fields of Marathon to the Acropolis in Athens to announce victory over the Persians. Upon arrival he delivered his message, only to perish from exhaustion moments later. And perhaps, that is why. Because the runner is a messenger and his suffering must be witnessed.”

Cover Photo by Dylan Harris Courtesy Janji