E53: Matt Taylor & Bobby Johnson Talk Suwannee 230 & AL650

[upbeat music] This is the Dabbling in Paddling podcast.

I'm your host, Chris Thomas, and my goal is to inspire others and help to grow the sport of ultramarathon, endurance, and adventure paddling through storytelling and the celebration of athletes.

We'll talk about topics from ultramarathon racing to epic paddling adventures and everything in between.

But I think my brother Bradley says it best.

Lots of deep conversations about life and love, and life experiences, and why doing such a difficult event like this can make you a better person.

Yeah.

And why seeking out challenges in life is one of the core experiences of being a human being.

Right.

Lots of Lebowski quotes too.

[laughs]

That, in addition to many other comedies.

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Taylor and Bobby Johnson, two elite ultramarathon paddlers out of Alabama and Florida respectively, who have won back-to-back Suwannee 230 titles in '24 and '25, as well as the 2025 Alabama 650 as a team.

We cover so much in this episode, from learning from failure, the Texas Water Safari, broken boats that bring a team together better than Flex Tape, stomach issues and ultimatums, rescuing cats during the Suwannee 230, the Alabama 650, getting stuck on the same dock two years in a row due to storms, and paddling to win, but more importantly, to have a great time in the process.

There's so much more to this episode, but I'll let you hear it from Matt and Bobby themselves on this 53rd episode of the Dabbling in Paddling podcast.

[upbeat music] This is the Dabbling in Paddling podcast.

I'm your host, Chris Thomas, and my goal is to inspire others and help to grow the sport of ultramarathon, endurance, and adventure paddling through storytelling and the celebration of athletes.

We'll talk about topics from ultramarathon racing to epic paddling adventures and everything in between.

But I think my brother Bradley says it best.

Lots of deep conversations about life and love, and life experiences, and why doing such a difficult event like this can make you a better person.

Yeah.

And why seeking out challenges in life is one of the core experiences of being a human being.

Right.

Lots of Lebowski quotes too.

[laughs]

That, in addition to many other comedies.

In this episode, I sit down with Matt Taylor and Bobby Johnson, two elite ultramarathon paddlers out of Alabama and Florida respectively, who have won back-to-back Suwannee 230 titles in '24 and '25, as well as the 2025 Alabama 650 as a team.

We cover so much in this episode, from learning from failure, the Texas Water Safari, broken boats that bring a team together better than Flex Tape, stomach issues and ultimatums, rescuing cats during the Suwannee 230, the Alabama 650, getting stuck on the same dock two years in a row due to storms, and paddling to win, but more importantly, to have a great time in the process.

There's so much more to this episode, but I'll let you hear it from Matt and Bobby themselves on this 53rd episode of the Dabbling in Paddling podcast.