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David Roche

@mountainroche

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Coach 🦖 Leadville 100 course record holder 🧡 Check out the Some Work All Play podcast!

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15:12:30 🧡

11 days ago, there was zero chance I was going to race Leadville. I was still processing my very public failure at Western States. I just wasn’t ready.

@drmeganroche disagreed. She told me that I was not only ready to race…I was ready to chase history again. As soon as she convinced me to go from a “hard no” to a “soft maybe,” she said that she couldn’t sleep from excitement.

How cool is that? She believed in me so much that it impacted her REM cycles. That was the push I needed to go for it. Leadville 2025 was just going to be about sharing as much love as I possibly could, while also totally obliterating myself.

I didn’t make a spreadsheet. I just shared last year’s, and said to add 30-60 minutes. I genuinely didn’t think a record was remotely possible.

Love goes a long way. Megan paced me the last 23 miles, my partner in obliteration. As we flowed at mile 95, I got emotional. “You saw this is me when I couldn’t see it in myself.” She responded, “I’m so proud of you” for the 800th time. Implied: TAKE A GEL AND GO FASTER.

@run.doctor paced the 15 miles before that, fresh off his course record at the Ouray 100. I don’t have any videos of us kissing, but I promise that I wanted to when he dumped ice water on my head at mile 70.

Mom, Dad, Leo, and Ollie rounded out the crew, bringing the belief, yogurt pouches, and trucks. Ollie’s middle name is “Hope” after Hope Pass, the crux of the race.

Leadville magic is real. I’m not sure where this came from. But then I think back to mile 57, descending off of Hope Pass. Hundreds of racers stopped on the out-and-back course… and they said they loved me. I screamed it back:

I LOVE YOU ❤️ Thank you, for everything.

P.S. Failure is cool 😎 by @mountainroche

Run some strides, eat some burgers, keep it joyful, and be the best MFing human in the world. It’s just what @jesstonn does.

2nd at the New York City Marathon. Not surprising, but also WTF 😂

📸 @marathon.handbook by @mountainroche

I feel like we’ve known a secret that the world is finally starting to understand. @rachaelrudel WINS the Dash to the Finish 5k 🔥🦖 Still unsponsored. Still working full time. Always the kindest and most caring person.

Maybe I should tell you what that secret is? I’m not sure. You kinda have to see it for yourself. All I will say is this: we are not talking about a few wins, but something that might change the future of running.

Also, I need to learn to play it cool 😂 I lost most of my voice from this scream. “THIS IS THE MOMENT?” More like “this is the moment” I scare a police horse and get trampled in Central Park. by @mountainroche

There’s nothing more motivating than seeing athletes bring the best out of each other on every interval by laughing so hard in every recovery 🙏

Flowing in the fog with @taylerwithlime (multiple-time national champ), @valerieconstien (Olympian making a guest-star appearance), @abby_nichols131 (All-American beast), and @rachaelrudel (the breakout star of 2026). They were having SO MUCH FUN. This is what it’s all about! by @mountainroche

FASTED RUNS ARE BAD. DO NOT RUN WITHOUT ANY FUEL 🙏

I didn’t always say that. Oops. I’m sorry!

Welcome to the Doofus List. Our new video “Ways That I’ve Been Wrong” is a bit embarrassing, but I think it’s an important intellectual exercise for everyone to do sometimes. Maybe don’t do it in public. Well, it’s already published, so no going back now.

Training theory is always changing. 10 years from now, the cutting edge will be in a totally different place.

Implied in that: you’re going to be wrong now, in ways big and small. That’s liberating, I think! I hope! I tell myself to sleep at night!

The previous 2 training videos have gotten a few hundred thousand views, which is so surprising and cool. Check out the series if you’re into this sort of thing! Or just check out this one if you think I’m wrong, since it will be validating for you.

THANK YOU ALL 🧡 by @mountainroche

Trails 🤝 roads! 4:15 min/mile pace on the home-stretch looking effortless 🔥

Trail superstar @cadecmichael leading the interval while cracking stellar jokes, 2:09 marathoner @cls1423 effortlessly floating, future ultra GOAT @hanstroyer feeling too young and too fit, rising star Finn bringing it home 🦖

These are the times. It’s so exciting to think about where they are heading. As Alexi Pappas says, “heading to the moon not now but soon.” I can’t wait for the world to see what’s ahead for them.

Workout: 5 x (2 x 600) with 200 recovery between intervals and 600 between sets, with intervals progressing from threshold toward 10k effort, and the last 200 of each set faster. Charlie added a bonus set and fast 200s, with Hans, Cade, and Finn adding 2 steady miles around 5:20 min/mile to work on the lactate shuttle 🙏 by @mountainroche

I actually have a punch-card so that the next one comes with free chips and a fountain drink 🙏 by @mountainroche

Generally, this is how the email finds me (I’m the one on the right) 🙏 by @mountainroche

WOW. @rachaelrudel wins the @bos10kforwomen 10k in 31:12 🤯🦖 It’s one of the fastest times in a road race in American history, and a $10,000 payday!

Rachael is unsponsored, working a busy job, and training lower mileage. We are witnessing the rise of a legend. And oh yeah—she’s one of the most uplifting humans in the world too.

Talk about a breakout year:
-top American ever at Bolder Boulder 10k
-top American ever at BAA 10k
-US 20k champion
-and now this, with some big things coming soon 👀

This video is actually from her 20k national championship last month, but how wild is that speed?! Rachael’s story is so inspiring, and it’s just getting started 🙏 by @mountainroche

Overnight successes are always many years in the making.

@rachaelrudel and @a_vestri were stacking some fun bricks today. I can’t wait for the world to see what they’re building! 🔥🦖🦖 by @mountainroche

1st, 3rd, and 4th at the US 10k Champs for Emily @ventersemily Allie @allie_ostrander & Amanda @a_vestri 🥹🦖🦖🦖

Emily ran 31:09, a mind-blowing championship record and one of the fastest road 10ks ever by an American. And the Twin Cities course had big hills! And wind! WTF?! Nothing about this is surprising though. I feel like I’ve had a secret for the last 2 months about what Emily could do. As scary as it is… this isn’t the half of it.

Allie came back from her incredible World Champs performance for a bronze medal here! She closed the race with a 63 second 400m, 2:13 800m, and 4:44 mile. Allie is like the shark in Jaws. She is unreal 🤯

Amanda is in the thick of marathon training and is ready to do some unthinkable things on the world stage in 4 weeks. 4th at the US 10k in the midst of huge mileage without any specific work?! Watch the F out in NYC. I’d bet everything on her future.

But the most fun thing about being in Minnesota was seeing how much Emily, Allie, and Amanda lifted up all of the other athletes. I can’t wait to bring Leo and Ollie to these races soon, so they can see how it’s possible to go for it while also being such forces for good (and maybe they can get in on the selfies in the drug testing tent with @icarriecox).

@drmeganroche not only watched the kids while I was gone, she ROAD-TRIPPED with them! Megan is a superhero, and I booked her a 90-minute superhero massage for Monday (this is how I tell her. Megan, it’s at 3:30 and I hope you don’t have any calls planned).

US women are rolling deep heading toward the 2028 Olympic cycle. Get your popcorn popping 🍿 by @mountainroche

Last week, we released a video called “How To Improve Fatigue Resistance” where I try to describe everything we know, summarizing it into 10 tips. I assumed the video would eat crap, and I didn’t promote it anywhere. Full disclosure: when I got the draft, I only got through 5 minutes because I was so bored by myself.

You can probably guess where this is going… Instead of eating crap, the video has done bigger numbers than anything we’ve released other than the couple big race documentaries. And it might do better than those over time based on the current trajectory!

It’s a good lesson that sometimes when you just do stuff authentically for its own sake, sometimes it strikes a chord in the most surprising way. Check it out if you’re interested!

Thank you all for your love and support, even for walking videos with a side of research theory 🙏❤️ by @mountainroche