i just have loved actually i've loved taking my kids out with their field trips every year i forget what year um their elementary school takes them out there but i have really fond memories of taking my kids out with their schools um to see the great salt lake to learn about the ecosystem there all the ecosystems there and um It's just so big and vast, and it's just like such a cool local piece of this land and this geography.

My name is Caleb Olson.

I'm just here to support the cause.

Generally, I'm not with any specific organization.

I was actually just out the other day, this past weekend, doing the Antelope Island 50K, and you used to be able to look out and see the water all around the island, and it made sense that it was called an island, and now it doesn't even look like an island.

It's clearly very low water.

I

mean,

Um, I know you had-- you've had a-- it's been a tumultuous season, but, I mean, I guess for you, have you been-- Like, was it a-- What is it? Was it a satisfactory enough build to have, like, enough confidence to do this?

Uh, yeah, I mean, I didn't really have-- I didn't know where I was at in terms of, like, my fitness and with how training had been going.

I was confident that I could have a good day.

Like, I was confident I'd be top 10 if I was going for that.

But I wasn't really sure if I, like, had what it take to be competing for the win or exactly w-how I should be thinking about my expectations for this.

And I think that, I mean, this is, like, really my only race of the year pretty much, and I don't think I would purposely choose to do that in the future.

I-- That puts a lot of weight and pressure on one performance.

What, what comes to mind first?

Like, what did, what did you get out of the GPT experience that you think is essential for UTMB this year?

Super different than Western.

Like, Western, you basically start in the morning, and you finish in the evening before it gets dark if you're going fast.

And so I hadn't had that experience of, like, really racing through a night.

I guess I'd done Transgrancanaria, which starts at midnight, but that still isn't, like, racing through an entire night.

Um, GPT definitely was racing through an entire night, which is part of why I picked it.

I wanna practice with that.

What was your reaction, though? Like, what were your takeaways? What did it do for you?

Go ahead.

I have kind of a question off of that, but I'm curious.

Like, we've, we've won Western States, and for some reason, that makes people look at us like we're some sort of authority, and, like, it gives us this platform, even though, like, we're athletes who don't necessarily really know anything or, like [laughs] have, like, perfect views or...

I, I don't know.

I just feel like we get this authority that we don't necessarily deserve, and I don't really know how to use.

And I'm curious from your guys' perspectives, do you feel like just because you have a good race result or a, a good career, you now have this obligation to, like, take these public stances for things that you believe in and, like, uh, how do you balance that? I don't know.

That's been kind of tricky and weird for me.

In fact, we kinda talked about this yesterday, and you said you didn't expect to win last year, and that it- maybe that's an indication that you don't have to believe it to achieve it.

Like going from this sort of like solid athlete, building your, uh, experience and um you know notoriety within the sport both nationally and internationally but then emerging as this sort of global superstar now after your big win at western states what is what's how's it been sort of dealing with that that big change this year

um it's been cool it's been weird but like in a good way but it's funny because like not that much has really changed with like who I am or what I'm doing.

It's more just like, I happen to have good days at really it was trans grand Canaria and Western States.

I feel like that combo kind of like put me on another level, at least in people's perceptions.

And, um, you know, like in a way that's kind of just luck like that that could have easily gone a different way if I just not had quite as good of days those days and um I don't know it's weird because now I get people like coming up to me and introducing themselves and saying hi and that never happened before but it's fun like they're all good changes but I do think now maybe there's uh, some additional pressure that I put on myself.

Like once you, once you kind of taste that sweet victory, once you want it again, and it's hard to, I think as athletes, we're just always chasing like the next high and the next best thing.

And it's hard to top a Western States victory, but like, that's what it's going to take now to feel like I'm, uh, I don't know, still fully, uh, getting the most out of myself or living the sport life to its fullest, I guess.

suffering dnfs in her case utmb in your case western states how did how'd you uh you know put the pieces back together or you know get back on the horse afterwards