Running with her dad and husband by her side, Madison Ortega is ready for the magic of Sky Island and West Texas.

In this episode, Madison Ortega describes her mentality coming into her second trail race. Fitting that it is another West Texas race, as she did the 20k at the Big Bend Ultra earlier this year. Trading frigid temperatures for the blazing sun, Madison discusses her training post-injury, the importance of nutrition and hydration, and how she feels running the race alongside her dad and husband.

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The heart of the athlete shines with Javian Quinones, a faithful devotee to the endurance chase. Quinones, who is rehabbing and rebuilding from his third knee surgery, has chased endurance on two wheels and two feet.

A seeker of the ultra distance, Quinones has big goals and bigger miles. We chat about what brought him into running and how that evolved to cycling, the importance of optimism when dealing with injury, and what it means to chase the miles.

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Santiago Ortega is eyeing the finish line on his first 50k and preparing to fill that experience with joy.

In this episode, hear how Santiago is mentally preparing for the effort, what fuel sources he plans to utilize–including the underrated (gluten-free) peanut butter and jelly sandwich—and how a trip to Mexico City earlier this year is affecting his mindset going into the race.

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Hey everybody!

I’m happy to introduce this project: Strides’ pre-race coverage of the Sky Island trail race.

The race, one of West Texas’ finest, is in its ninth year. Boasting views of Fort Davis, the McDonald Observatories, and the skies of Texas, the race is much-loved — and it's calling the name of some badass runners.

For this coverage, I sat down with nine runners from San Antonio who are running the 25k and 50k races. While Borderlands’ Western States interviews inspired this, this was also a chance to live vicariously through the endurance chase.

I would love to run this race at some point. I will run this race at some point.

Each of the interviews followed the same formula, but each person also brought their own character into the mix. There are some familiar faces and some new ones in these episodes, and I have even gotten to share a few miles with several of them over the past few weeks.

From now up to race day, you will hear from these runners:

• Santiago Ortega - 50k
• Madison Ortega - 25k
• Will Rocha - 25k
• Joe Sierra - 50k
• Roy Gallegos - 50k
• Cale Williams - 25k
• Courtney Rouse - 25k
• Julia Hargesheimer - 50k
• Juan Pina - 50k

Consider following them on Instagram. Stoked to see them finish, and eager to have them all back on to debrief.

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There is an air of calm and creativity to Shaun Jones’ view on running, much of which is often evoked through the camera lens of his phone.

Influenced by his interests in street photography, Jones sometimes dedicates runs to finding striking images, all while covering miles on the trails or parts of the San Antonio River Walk from the steps of his front door.

In this conversation, we discuss how photography plays into Jones' running, building up his mileage for races, and running as exploration.

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Roy Gallegos is inspiring, both for his view on running and his commitment to bettering the craft.

When not doubling the Babcock power lines on the weekend or battling hill repeats, Gallegos uplifts his small business and spends his life as a husband and a father.

We cover running as a spiritual practice, how Gallegos discovered brands such as Satisfy and Alex Zono, and what his race plans look like for the rest of the year.

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Edgar Navarrete brings a special kind of humility and warmth to his story, one of resiliency and centered in the history of two places.

In this episode, Edgar and I discuss how his immigration story has impacted his running journey, the importance of movement in that journey, and what coveted race he is eyeing for his 100K debut.

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Howdy, everyone. Back from a brief hiatus, but ready to get back on track. Let’s hop in.

This week, we had Amy Hermes of In The Loop Run Crew on to discuss her journey into running and how she started the group. We also touched on their recent flagship race: the Y’all Means All 5K Pride race.

Registration for next year's Y'all Means All race is open

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