Ginny Smith never planned to be a race director. When Rock Creek's owners asked her in Chattanooga, her answer was simple: "No. I just run." A decade later, she's the woman behind Bad Beard Events — and in this episode of the Dirt and Vert podcast, with David Compton & Mike Taylor filling in for Matt, she tells the whole story: how she inherited some of the oldest trail races in the Southeast, and why she's now handing them to Aravaipa Running without letting go of what made them matter.

Ginny walks through the wild ownership saga of the Rock Creek race series — from the original owners to Camping World nearly shutting it all down, to her cousin Ted of Gearhead Outfitters stepping in to save it. She explains how a beard logo on the River Gorge race became Bad Beard Events (yes, the irony of a woman running a company with an aggressive beard logo was the point), and what it takes to keep races like Stump Jump — one of the oldest trail races in the country at 27 years — alive across two mountains with no cell service and supplies hauled in by ATV.

This is also a masterclass in what race directing actually costs. Ginny talks about running every department of a business by herself, marking the Signal Mountain loop seven times in two days because people kept tearing the flagging down, serving on the SORBA, Trust for Public Land, and Tennessee River Gorge Trust boards, and the fear every race director knows: that one runner's first race experience depends entirely on you. Then she takes the hardest listener question head-on — "Are you a sellout?" — and explains why trusting Jamil Coury and Aravaipa, keeping the races local, keeping prices the same, and staying through 2027 isn't walking away. It's making sure the races outlive her.

Whether you're into ultramarathon training, dreaming of directing your own trail race, or you just love the grassroots side of this sport, this conversation is about the people who build the start lines the rest of us get to stand on — and why the finish line hug matters more than the finish time.

Sarah June didn't grow up a runner. She grew up a gymnast — until doctors thought she'd broken her back and the pain took the fun out of it. After college, she traded cigarettes and late nights for running shoes: every time she craved a smoke, she went for a run instead. Her first goal was a two-mile loop around a lake in Rochester, Minnesota. It took months. Then she accidentally signed up for a trail 5K, placed second without knowing races had places, and got hooked.

In this episode of the Dirt and Vert podcast, David and Matt dig into Sarah's evolution from reluctant runner to ultramarathon coach, strength coach, and FKT holder. She opens up about the races that broke her — a Black Canyon 100K DNF in a snowstorm at 47 miles, freezing in 30-degree wind while her watch auto-paused because she was moving too slow to register, and a Mogollon Monster 100 DNF at mile 70 after sitting in an aid station for two and a half hours, out of sodium, spiraling mentally until she called her husband and told him she was broken.

But this isn't a sob story. It's a masterclass in the endurance athlete mindset. Sarah talks about the race she's proudest of — Saddles 100, where she pulled herself out of mental lows, battled heat exhaustion, and walked the final ten miles to the finish — and her life-changing 247-mile Maricopa Loop FKT, completed in 84 hours and 17 minutes with an umbrella in 95-degree heat and a crew that never left her side. She breaks down the unsexy details that decide 100-mile races: ultra running nutrition, remembering your sodium capsules, changing your shoes before your feet turn into sausages, lining up pacers early, and why crewing an ultra well matters as much as training for one.

Whether you're deep into ultramarathon training, chasing your first FKT, or just trying to understand why anyone runs 100 miles through the mountains, Sarah's story is proof that the outcome you want isn't always the experience you need — and that the experience is what makes you dangerous next time.

In this episode of the Dirt & Vert Podcast, David, Matt, & Mary are joined by our good friend, fellow race director, and the creative force behind Yeti Trail Runners, Jason Green.

With the first-ever joint ECA and Yeti event—the Smoky Mountain 24 Hour Challenge—just around the corner, we sit down to talk about how a shared love for the Appalachian spirit and Dolly Parton sparked the creation of this massive new race.

The core of this episode is a complete masterclass in ultra crewing. Drawing from decades of combined experience as both runners and race directors, we break down exactly what not to do when crewing a 100-miler. We talk about the dangers of overloading a fatigued runner with choices, the importance of preloading GPS maps, and why giving your runner too much empathy at mile 80 can end their race. We also dive into the emotional side of the sport, sharing our personal "whys," how hitting rock bottom led us to the trails, and why the ultra community's relentless support is the ultimate antidote to a disconnected world.