Samantha Gash started out on a fairly conventional path for many high achieving 20-somethings – law school and onto a potential lucrative position at a respective law firm, but Samantha longed for more.

Noticing how friends and colleagues seemed to have become trapped she sought a different path for herself than the one she was on and discovered ultra-running.

She ultimately became the youngest runner at the time to finish a grand slam of the racing the planet four deserts race series by running all four 250km events in the same year including races across the Atacama, Gobi and Sahara deserts along with a course on Antarctica.

Her journey was documented along with the story of several others on this quest in documentary on the race series called Desert Runners.

Today she is continuing to run ultras while balancing a career and has a new challenge that beckons – 32 consecutive days of 80km ultra marathons for charitable cause in South Africa.

In this episode Samantha shares her epic journey along with practical advice including:

• 
  
• An example of the Tortoise and the Hare – going out slow in ultras resulting in finishing towards the top
  
• The importance of relying on others to help you through new distances or challenges
  
• How to cope with being uncomfortable while running
  
• The fine line of when to continue vs. drop out of an event
  
• Mental characteristics and tactics of those that are able to finish grueling endurance events
  
• Developing a strategy for taking on an event you haven’t done before – ultra or otherwise
  
• More support for the power of consistency
  
• Her tested strategy for preventing blisters under the harshest conditions on earth that you can use in your next race
  

Suffer from blisters? Hear our best tips for preventing them.

Desert Runners Movie – Watch the Movie

SamanthaGash.com – Samantha’s Website

FreedomRunners.org – Support Samantha’s Quest Across South Africa for Charity

Support Coach Matt – Contribute to Inner City Running Programs

Swiftwick Socks – Runner Academy recommended socks for preventing blisters