Sally Hed Dahlquist talks with the unstoppable Christy Larson, a runner, outdoor lover, wife, and woman who fought her way back to herself after alcohol had taken over her health, confidence, and sense of identity.

Christy shares the honest turning point that changed everything: her husband finding hidden bottles throughout the house and telling her the truth she did not want to hear... that alcohol was killing her. After ER visits, high blood pressure scares, a pulmonary embolism, weight gain, secrecy, and fear, Christy made the choice to stop drinking and begin rebuilding her life one day at a time.

Now more than three years sober, Christy has reclaimed her energy, confidence, love of running, and joy in being outdoors. Her story is a reminder that recovery is not about becoming someone new. Sometimes, it is about fighting your way back to the person you were all along.

In This Episode, You’ll Hear:

• How Christy recognized that alcohol had changed her mentally, physically, and emotionally
• The painful but powerful moment that pushed her toward sobriety
• Why honesty, support, and daily choices became essential to her recovery
• How running helped Christy reconnect with strength, confidence, and possibility
• What she learned from completing her first marathon, even when it did not go as planned
• Why she now looks forward instead of backward

Key Takeaways:

• Recovery starts with honesty, even when the truth is hard to face.
• A strong support system can help you keep choosing yourself when things get difficult.
• Progress does not have to happen overnight to be real.
• Running can become more than exercise. It can become proof that you are still capable.

Medical Disclaimer:

This episode is for personal storytelling and general informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Alcohol withdrawal can be dangerous, and anyone struggling with alcohol use, substance use, mental health concerns, chest pain, blood pressure issues, pulmonary embolism symptoms, or any other health concern should consult a qualified medical professional.

If you or a loved one are struggling with alcohol or substance use, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) can help. Call their hotline at: 1-800-662-4357

Support the Mission:

Unstoppable: Stories That Move is a podcast with a purpose: to raise $1 million for medical research to help fund cures for cancer and other diseases. With NIH budgets being cut, your support matters more than ever.

Donate today at unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com
or mail a check to:
PO Box 12, Afton, MN 55001, USA

In this solo edition of Sally’s Hotline, host Sally Hed Dahlquist explores one of the most difficult decisions athletes face: knowing when to stop.

After completing 181 marathons, and recording five DNFs (Did Not Finish), Sally shares the story of her most recent marathon withdrawal at Wisconsin’s Pine Line Marathon and explains how she recognized the difference between normal fatigue, mental discouragement, and signs that her body genuinely needed rest.

This episode is about perseverance, self-awareness, and learning that sometimes stopping is not failure... it’s wisdom.

In this episode:

• Sally’s firsthand account of quitting a marathon at mile 16.5
• The physical and emotional warning signs that should never be ignored
• How to tell the difference between discomfort, exhaustion, injury, and illness
• A practical checklist for deciding whether to continue or stop
• Six simple ways to reset your body and mindset mid-race
• The story of Christy, a struggling first-time marathoner who found the strength to finish
• Why helping another runner helped Sally regain confidence herself

Sally’s Six-Step Mid-Race Reset

When things begin falling apart during a race, Sally recommends:

1. Walk briefly and allow your body to recover
2. Correct your posture and stand upright
3. Take several deep breaths to reset your breathing
4. Honestly assess your symptoms and energy levels
5. Adjust clothing or cooling strategies for comfort
6. Seek encouragement, support, or a pep talk

These small adjustments can completely change the trajectory of a difficult race.

This episode is dedicated to Christy, a first-time marathoner Sally met during the Eau Claire Marathon who was ready to quit at mile 17.5. With a little guidance, encouragement, and determination, Christy found the strength to continue and finish her race.

Important Disclaimer

This podcast episode reflects Sally’s personal experiences as an endurance athlete and is intended for informational and motivational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified medical professional regarding injuries, illness, chest pain, dizziness, or any health concerns before, during, or after athletic activity.

Support the Mission

Unstoppable: Stories That Move is raising funds for medical research focused on cancer and other diseases.

To support the mission or donate:
unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com

In this edition of Sally's Hotline, we hear from the unstoppable Gregory David, photographer, filmmaker, skydiver, skier, and a man who has had to start over in life more times than most of us can imagine. From breaking his back in a parachute accident, to immigrating to the United States from South Africa, to rebuilding after personal loss, Gregory knows firsthand what it means to fall, literally and figuratively, and choose to get back up anyway.

Rather than offering easy answers, Gregory speaks from deep experience about what actually gets you through the hardest seasons of life: discipline, belief, mental rehearsal, and the willingness to stay focused on your goal even when progress feels invisible.

This short but powerful tip episode is a reminder that the beginning is always the hardest part, and that if you can imagine something clearly enough, you are already closer to doing it than you think.

In This Episode, You'll Hear:

• Why the beginning of any hard thing is always the most difficult
• How progress becomes exponential once you push through the early resistance
• The difference between hope and belief
• How Gregory and his skydiving team learned to do things that had never been done before, one pattern at a time
• Why mental rehearsal is just as important as physical training

Key Takeaways:

• Don't give up just because it starts hard. Everything does.
• Believe you have the capacity to improve.
• Discipline and focus compound over time. Progress that feels slow is still progress.

If you want to hear Gregory's full story including skydiving championships, filming Hollywood movies in apartheid-era South Africa, refusing spinal surgery against doctor's orders, and his philosophy on consciousness and inner change, listen to Episode 43 of Unstoppable: Stories That Move.

Support the Mission:

Unstoppable: Stories That Move is a podcast with a purpose to raise $1 million for medical research to help fund cures for cancer and other diseases. With NIH budgets being cut, your support matters more than ever.

Donate today at unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com or mail a check to: PO Box 12, Afton, MN 55001, USA

What do skydiving championships, apartheid-era South Africa, film sets, a near-fatal parachute accident, and quantum consciousness have in common? They're all chapters in the extraordinary life of today's guest.

Sally Hed Dahlquist sits down with Gregory David, a 73 year-old South African-born filmmaker, skydiver, adventurer, and deep thinker who has rebuilt his life more times than most people dare to dream. From jumping out of planes clinging to cameras, to walking away from spinal surgery against doctor's orders and recovering anyway Gregory has lived by one rule: don't let anyone else decide what's possible for you.

Now a US citizen living in Minnesota, Greg brings a rare combination of lived history, hard-won wisdom, and philosophical depth to this conversation.

In this conversation, Gregory shares what has shaped him:

• A childhood in apartheid South Africa that taught him to question authority early
• A skydiving career that took him to world championships and nearly killed him
• A film career that spanned continents, eras, and technologies
• The courage to leave everything behind and start over in America with $6,000 and a family
• A philosophy of resilience, neutrality, and inner change that he's still working on every day

Listener Takeaways

• Resilience isn't a personality trait you're born with, it's a philosophy you build through experience and self-awareness.
• Refusing to accept someone else's verdict on what your body, your career, or your life can do is sometimes the bravest thing you can do.
• Between stimulus and reaction lies opportunity. Don't give that up.
• You can only change the world by changing yourself. That's harder than it sounds... and more powerful than it seems.

Mentioned in This Episode

• The Wild Geese (1978) with Gregory's aerial footage
• Harrington rod spinal surgery, and why Gregory declined it
• Apartheid South Africa
• Random-access editing and the laser disc editing era
• Walt Disney's film school (CalArts) in Los Angeles
• Transcendental meditation
• The concept of timeline jumping and non-linear time

Support the Mission

Unstoppable: Stories That Move is a podcast with a purpose to raise $1 million for medical research to help fund cures for cancer and other diseases. With NIH budgets being cut, your support matters more than ever.

Donate today at unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com or mail a check to: PO Box 12, Afton, MN 55001, USA

What happens when four unstoppable runners who all crossed the finish line at the Tokyo Marathon get together to talk about it?

Sally Hed Dahlquist hosts a special roundtable with three of her favorite returning guests, Christelle Douillet, Rhea Deroian, and Tom Pedersen, to recap the Tokyo Marathon and share everything they loved (and learned) about traveling in Japan. Between them, they bring decades of running experience, dozens of world majors, and one very memorable hotel booking mistake.

Whether you're dreaming of running Tokyo, planning a trip to Japan, or just love hearing from people who live life to the fullest, this episode is pure joy from start to finish.

In this conversation, the group covers it all:

• What makes Tokyo unlike any other World Marathon Major
• Navigating Japan as a foreigner... and why it was easier than expected
• The culture of quiet respect that made every moment feel special
• Shrines, temples, ryokans, onsen, and tatami mats (post-marathon)
• And why all four of them want to go back as soon as possible

What You'll Hear in This Episode

• Christelle's recap: Tokyo marathon, then the Nagoya Women's Marathon one week later, then a 100-miler back home
• The out-and-back course: why runners who dreaded it ended up loving it
• Elites, shrines, a portable festival shrine being carried through the streets, and spotting the Tokyo Tower mid-race
• The bathroom situation: portapotties that were anywhere from 100 meters to 1.1K off course
• Sally's emergency depends-in-the-waistband strategy (and the park bathroom that saved the day)
• How Tokyo learned from last year's water shortage
• The finish line experience: bath salts, face wipes, and volunteers with encouraging messages taped to their gloves
• The Abbott six-star tent and what it felt like to finally collect that medal after years of chasing majors
• Christelle's onsen experience and why after two minutes, it felt completely natural
• Rhea and Sally both booking tatami mat rooms
• The World Friendship Center in Hiroshima
• Meeting atomic bomb survivors and the powerful reminder of why nuclear weapons must never be used again

Listener Takeaways

• Don't let the language barrier stop you. Google Translate and kind locals will get you everywhere.
• Tokyo Marathon is worth it: the organization, the volunteers, and the culture make it one of the best race experiences in the world.
• Travel changes you. Seeing history from another perspective makes you a more understanding human.
• The quiet respect of Japanese culture is contagious. Let it rub off on you.
• Book a bed the night after your marathon. Learn from Rhea.

Mentioned in This Episode

• Tokyo Marathon (2026)
• Nagoya Women's Marathon
• Abbott World Marathon Majors Six Star Program
• Marathon Tours & Travel
• London Marathon 2025
• Fushimi Inari Shrine, Kyoto
• Miyajima Island and the floating torii gate, Hiroshima
• World Friendship Center, Hiroshima
• Ryokan traditional Japanese hotels and tatami mat rooms
• Onsen (Japanese hot spring baths)
• Pocari Sweat: the Japanese sports drink on course ("better than Gatorade")
• Episodes 5 & 16 — Christelle's full story
• Episodes 30 & 31 — Rhea's full story
• Episodes 36 & 37 — Tom's full story

Support the Mission

Unstoppable: Stories That Move is a podcast with a purpose to raise $1 million for medical research to help fund cures for cancer and other diseases. With NIH budgets being cut, your support matters more than ever.

Donate today at unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com

In this installment of Sally's Hotline, we get a powerful tip from the Unstoppable Mike Ware, a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot, cancer survivor, and flight instructor, about the one choice that determines everything else: which door you open.

Mike shares his simple but profound framework for navigating life's hardest moments. We all have one key, he says, and two doors, one marked life, one marked death. Free will means we get to choose which one we put that key into. And his message is clear: choose life, every single time.

This episode is a quiet but powerful reminder that happiness isn't something that happens to you. It starts in your thinking and moves into your actions, and the decision to pursue it is always yours to make.

In This Episode, You'll Hear

• Why happiness is a decision, not a circumstance
• How your thinking directly produces your physical reactions, and why that matters
• Mike's one-key, two-doors framework for navigating free will
• Why choosing life isn't just about survival, it's about eternity
• What it looks like to have experienced both heaven on earth and something beyond it

Key Takeaways

• You determine your own happiness. It begins with what you put in your head.
• Free will is a gift, and it comes with real consequences depending on how you use it.
• When quitting, giving up, or giving in feels easiest, remember: you have one key. Use it on the right door.
• Belief matters. In yourself, in the future, and in something bigger than this moment.
• Choose wisely.

About Mike Ware Mike Ware is a Vietnam veteran who served as a helicopter pilot during the Tet Offensive, flew classified missions into Cambodia and Laos, and went on to a career in life flight operations before becoming a flight instructor. A survivor of war, cancer, and his own darkest moments, Mike is now writing his memoir, Blades of War, to share what he lived through, and why he's still here.

Resources Mentioned

• Blades of War by Mike Ware (forthcoming)
• Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988, then press 1

If This Episode Gave You a Boost:

• Share it with someone who needs a reminder that they still have a key
• Subscribe to Unstoppable: Stories That Move
• Leave a review to help more people find these stories

And If You Want to Make an Impact: This podcast exists to raise $1 million for medical research. Your donation helps fund real labs doing real work that saves lives.

Donate today at unstoppablestoriesthatmove.com

What does it take to survive a war, come home to a country that doesn't want you, and still choose to live?

Host Sally Hed Dahlquist sits down with Mike Ware, a Vietnam veteran, helicopter pilot, life flight pilot, flight instructor, and living proof that surviving isn't just about making it out alive, it's about finding a reason to stay.

Mike flew combat missions during the war in Vietnam, transported Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol soldiers into Cambodia and Laos on classified missions his country couldn't officially claim, and came home to a nation that met him with hostility instead of gratitude. Decades later, he's still flying, still teaching, and finally telling his story in his forthcoming memoir, Blades of War.

In this conversation, Mike shares what has kept him going:

• Finding faith at the moment he needed it most
• Returning to Vietnam decades later and seeing it with new eyes
• Sharing his story so other veterans know they are not alone

This episode is a reminder that surviving isn't the finish line, it's just the beginning of figuring out why you're still here.

What You'll Hear in This Episode

• How a recruiter's pitch changed the entire course of Mike's life
• Flying combat missions with just a few hundred hours of flight time
• Rope rescues, night flying, rats, snakes, and a homemade shower built from an Agent Orange drum
• The Miracle Mission: a rescue flight that should have killed everyone on board
• Two decades of trying to be "normal" and what finally broke through
• The moment Mike was holding a gun and heard a voice that stopped him
• Why he went back to Vietnam and what he found there
• Life flight flying, Angel Flights, and becoming one of the oldest flight instructors in the US

Listener Takeaways If you're moved by Mike's story, here are your reminders:

• Survival guilt is real, and so is help. About 20 veterans die by suicide every day. If you're struggling, reach out. You have more to share than you know.
• Going back can heal you. Mike returned to Vietnam and found a thriving, industrious, joyful people. Sometimes the place that hurt you most can also set you free.
• Write it down. Mike's logbook, stained and terrifying, became the foundation of a memoir and a decade of healing.
• Find your people. Faith, a supportive spouse, and the right community made the difference between Mike's two doors.
• It's never too late to share your story. Mike is in his 70s, still flying, still teaching, and only now putting his story into the world.

Mentioned in This Episode

• 101st Airborne Division, "The Kingsmen"
• The Miracle Mission, helicopter tail number 16227, now at Camp Ripley, Minnesota
• Blades of War by Mike Ware (forthcoming)
• Life flight / air medical transport programs
• Angel Flight, free air transportation for medical patients
• VA.gov, mental health resources for veterans
• American Association of Suicidology, suicidology.org
• Veterans Crisis Line: Call 988, then press 1

Support the Mission If Mike's story reminded you that there is always another door, please share it with a veteran who needs to hear it.

We're raising $1 million for medical research, and every dollar from listeners like you makes a real difference.

Learn more + donate at UnstoppableStoriesThatMove.com

She came back. And she finished all seven.

Sally Hed Dahlquist catches up with the unstoppable Tracy Cohen Roth, the teaching veteran, 140+ marathon finisher, and woman who just ran seven marathons on seven continents in seven days. First featured on Episode 22 in December 2025, Tracy returns to share the full story of what actually happened out there: the illness, the heat, the cold, the blisters, the NASA doctors, and the finish line in Miami where she had absolutely nothing left... and crossed it anyway.

Tracy didn't just complete the World Marathon Challenge. She raised thousands of dollars in grassroots donations to get there, and came home to teach.

In this conversation, Tracy shares what it really took:

• Battling a GI illness through four of the seven marathons with nowhere to stop
• Running in 107-degree heat in Australia and 40-degree rain in Spain
• Getting pulled aside by NASA doctors who almost didn't let her run in Madrid
• How Liquid IV saved her race
• Crossing the finish line in Miami in Antarctica gear with her husband waiting

What You'll Hear in This Episode

• The full 7-7-7 route: Antarctica, Cape Town, Perth, Dubai, Madrid, Forza Brazil, Miami
• What 168 hours looks like when 112 of them are spent in the air
• The GI nightmare that started in South Africa and followed Tracy through four continents
• NASA doctors, dehydration, and the Liquid IV that put color back in Tracy's face
• How Tracy trained: 20 miles a day for seven days straight over Christmas break
• The packing system: one bag per continent, stacked inside a single suitcase
• What it felt like to crawl across that last finish line with nothing left in the tank
• Coming home with swollen feet
• A recovery trip to Norway with her son filled with northern lights, reindeer sleds, and the world's northernmost McDonald's
• What she'd tell anyone who has ever said "I've always wanted to do that"

Listener Takeaways

Tracy's story is a masterclass in commitment and resilience. Here are your reminders:

• No regrets. If you've always wanted to do something, stop waiting and make it happen.
• You don't have to feel ready, you just have to show up and keep moving.
• Community carries you.
• Your body can do more than your brain thinks it can, especially when quitting isn't an option.

Mentioned in This Episode

• World Marathon Challenge (7 marathons, 7 continents, 7 days)
• Episode 22: Tracy's first appearance on Unstoppable: Stories That Move
• Liquid IV electrolyte powder (available at Costco)
• Salt electrolyte candies for heat racing

Support the Mission

If Tracy's story fired you up, please share this episode and consider supporting the bigger mission.

We're raising $1 million for medical research, and every dollar from listeners like you truly makes a difference.

Learn more + donate at UnstoppableStoriesThatMove.com