Rob King grew up in Ohio and now is traveling around the country and world. He took a break from running after school, but is now racing back onto the scene at a blistering pace. He recent ran Tunnel Hill 100 miler in 12 hours and 19 minutes! He will be one of the elite runners at Black Canyon 100k this coming weekend.

He grew up in Washington Court House, Ohio, but joined us from the state of Washington for this episode.

Follow Rob on Instagram: @RobKingRuns

In this special episode we sit down with four incredible explorers of Columbus, Doug Owsley, Catherine Salin Derrow, Dave Parsons, and Ken Varian, to talk about their journeys running (almost) every street in Columbus using the CityStrides app.

Over the past few years Doug, Catherine, and Dave have each completed 100% of the streets in Columbus all meticulously tracked through CityStrides. Ken Varian is hot on their heels to claim that same achievement!

Follow our guests on Instagram:

📸 Doug Owsley

📸 Catherine Salin Derrow

📸 Dave Parsons

📸 Ken Varian

In this episode, I sit down with Mark Dowdle; an ultrarunner whose journey through extreme endurance, self-discovery, and unconventional racing will challenge everything you think you know about grit and resilience.

Mark has pushed his body and mind into places most of us only imagine: from Calendar Club challenges where he ran every day as many miles as the date on the calendar to deep, multi-day backyard ultras that test the limits of sleep, strategy, and sheer will.

🏃‍♂️ What We Covered

-How Mark discovered his love for ultra distance running and what continues to drive him beyond traditional racing.

-The Calendar Club 365 challenge, where he matched daily mileage to the calendar date: an epic test of consistency and heart.

-Backyard ultras & last-person-standing races — the brutal mental game, fueling strategies, sleep decisions, and living in the loop with little more than resolve between laps.

-Lessons in mental toughness: Mark opens up about the inner work that endurance running demands, from self-doubt to self-trust.

-Training philosophies and how consistent effort, even on the hard days, compounds into extraordinary outcomes.

-Follow Mark on Instagram to keep up with his runs, insights, and adventures: https://www.instagram.com/mark.dowdle/