Aug 21, 2026 · 1 hr 11 min · 13 segments
We are joined by Bryan Botma, a former basketball player turned runner who is preparing for his 11th New York City Marathon and recently finished his first 100-miler at the Tahoe Rim Trail Endurance…
Bryan BotmaGuestJeff WinchesterHostSteve EpifanoHost[upbeat music] You are listening to the Blueprint to Ultra podcast with your hosts, Steve Epifano and Jeff Winchester.
We are both ultra-running coaches, and between us, we have completed distances from 50K all the way up to 200-plus miles.
This show will help you put together the pieces of the ultra-running puzzle through interviews of guests who've experienced both successes and also failures in our sport.
Whether it is training, nutrition, gear, or mindset, you are gonna hear conversations that will help you personally to put together your own blueprint for running ultras.
We know that, as running coaches, one of the most common questions we are asked by those wanting to run ultras or get better at them is, "What does it take?" This show will help you answer that question.
But perhaps the better question is, do you know you have what it takes? Because we believe you do.
Welcome back to the Blueprint to Ultra podcast with your hosts, Steve Epifano and Jeff Winchester.
Our goal with this podcast is to help you put together your own plan for your next ultra.
We do this by interviewing a variety of guests that range from back of the pack to elite runners that share their own experiences for us all to learn from.
In fact, he was a basketball player whose path changed because of a college injury.
That unexpected setback led him to the track team, where his world consisted of races 800 meters and shorter, which, sad, does not sound fun at all.
Fast-forward a few years, and curiosity led him into triathlons, then marathons, and then ultras.
And then this year, he checked off one of endurance's biggest milestones, completing his first 100-miler.
He's about to run the New York City Marathon for the 11th time, a race that's been a backdrop for unforgettable memories that I hope we will get into.
I've also had the pleasure of knowing him for a few years since moving to the West Coast.
He was one of the first runners to reach out to me in San Clemente, and I got to go out and get some miles together, and he-
... would run on the street, and I would be on the curb, and he still would be taller than I would.
Um, he's introduced me to Wahoo Running, the great online community there, and I even got to room with him, uh, one of his 11 New York City marathons, and he let me tag along so I didn't get lost on the New York City subway.
Running simply gives him the opportunity to choose to do hard things, so then when life inevitably becomes hard, he's already built the resilience to face it.
Today, we'll talk about discipline, family, finding beauty through running, surviving the inevitible-- inevitable bonk, and why sometimes-
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[upbeat music] You are listening to the Blueprint to Ultra podcast with your hosts, Steve Epifano and Jeff Winchester.
We are both ultra-running coaches, and between us, we have completed distances from 50K all the way up to 200-plus miles.
This show will help you put together the pieces of the ultra-running puzzle through interviews of guests who've experienced both successes and also failures in our sport.
Whether it is training, nutrition, gear, or mindset, you are gonna hear conversations that will help you personally to put together your own blueprint for running ultras.
We know that, as running coaches, one of the most common questions we are asked by those wanting to run ultras or get better at them is, "What does it take?" This show will help you answer that question.
But perhaps the better question is, do you know you have what it takes? Because we believe you do.
Welcome back to the Blueprint to Ultra podcast with your hosts, Steve Epifano and Jeff Winchester.
Our goal with this podcast is to help you put together your own plan for your next ultra.
We do this by interviewing a variety of guests that range from back of the pack to elite runners that share their own experiences for us all to learn from.
In fact, he was a basketball player whose path changed because of a college injury.
That unexpected setback led him to the track team, where his world consisted of races 800 meters and shorter, which, sad, does not sound fun at all.
Fast-forward a few years, and curiosity led him into triathlons, then marathons, and then ultras.
And then this year, he checked off one of endurance's biggest milestones, completing his first 100-miler.
He's about to run the New York City Marathon for the 11th time, a race that's been a backdrop for unforgettable memories that I hope we will get into.
I've also had the pleasure of knowing him for a few years since moving to the West Coast.
He was one of the first runners to reach out to me in San Clemente, and I got to go out and get some miles together, and he-
... would run on the street, and I would be on the curb, and he still would be taller than I would.
Um, he's introduced me to Wahoo Running, the great online community there, and I even got to room with him, uh, one of his 11 New York City marathons, and he let me tag along so I didn't get lost on the New York City subway.
Running simply gives him the opportunity to choose to do hard things, so then when life inevitably becomes hard, he's already built the resilience to face it.
Today, we'll talk about discipline, family, finding beauty through running, surviving the inevitible-- inevitable bonk, and why sometimes-
