The Steep Stuff Podcast
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The Steep Stuff Podcast
#126 - Tyler McCandless
The race began before the gun—shoulder to shoulder, 12 rows deep, with a call-up protocol that flipped expectations and turned the opening meters into a high-stakes fight for position. From a fast frontage road into stairs and tight singletrack, Tyler McCandless had to manage chaos without panic: protect effort, find clean lines, and pass only when it counted. What followed was a masterclass in patience and presence—steady gains through the forest, a fierce late surge on a 30% wall to the summit, and a finish that helped Team USA lock down bronze at the World Mountain Running Championships in Confranc.
We get into the texture of Worlds that you can’t see on a results sheet: the camaraderie of sharing meals with athletes you’d never usually race alongside, the electricity of cheering other disciplines all week, and the way team identity changes how you suffer. Tyler breaks down the travel and course recon with Joe Gray, the jet lag fix that worked, and the quiet confidence that came from previewing key sections. We also revisit Broken Arrow VK—how a last-minute course change erased the runnable grind he wanted, why he still qualified under pressure, and what it feels like to crest steep singletrack with David Sinclair closing fast.
There’s gear talk too—Nike’s radical cooling long sleeve, why it’s more than a fashion statement, and how innovation is finally meeting trail reality. Then we look ahead: a winter marathon bid to punch a fifth Olympic Trials ticket (sub-2:16), plus a summer slate that fits Tyler’s engine—Sierre-Zinal, Pikes Peak Ascent, and select Golden Trail races. And we make the case for a dedicated U.S. uphill series to cultivate specialists, build team culture, and grow the fan base with short, watchable vertical races.
If you enjoy stories of resilience, smart racing on steep ground, and the power of team over self, you’ll want to queue this one up. Hit follow, share it with a trail friend, and leave a quick review—what part of Tyler’s strategy would you try on your next climb?
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Follow the Steep Stuff Podcast on IG - @steepstuff_pod
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Welcome back to the Steep Stuff Podcast. I'm your host, James Lauriello. Today I'm so excited to bring you guys an episode with Tyler McCannless. Just back from competing at the World Mountain Running Championship in Con Frank Pinheiros. Tyler was a competitor in the uphill category. He actually helped his team, he was a scoring member for the U.S. men's team, where Tyler helped the team achieve a bronze medal overall, as well as Tyler competed himself to a 26 place finish in that race. Really exciting to get to talk to Tyler and kind of debrief the race in its entirety. Lot of differences between a normal competition and a race like this, where it's just this race seemed a lot more chaotic and just a lot more going on. Lots of bottlenecks and hard opportunities to pass, and Tyler found himself kind of in a lot of adversity early on in the race and kind of you know kind of debriefed that and uh how he was able to work his way back up into the mix and become a scoring member for the US men's team. Um lots of good stuff there. We also got into some debrief of Broken Arrow where Tyler earned his spot on the US men's team. We talked about how that race unfolded, being shortened from a VK down to um about half the distance, and what that was like on race day when things had changed and he was able to kind of adjust and earn his spot. Um lots of good stuff there. Yeah, Tyler's an amazing human. Um we also talk about another Olympic qualifier that he's gonna chase for 2026, which is uh exciting as well. So without further ado, I hope you guys enjoy this one. Tyler's story is an amazing one. Uh, I think he brings a lot of a really good perspective about what it's like to go compete um over in worlds, especially from someone that's only represented the stars and stripes once, um, just the differences in a world versus other races where you can compete um for the US. And um, yeah, just what it's like. So lots of good perspective there, and I'm genuinely appreciative for Tyler's time. So without further ado, I hope you enjoy this one. Tyler McCannless. Tyler McCannlist, welcome back to this Deep Stuff Podcast. How's it going, man?
SPEAKER_01:Uh it's going really well. It's great to be back on, James. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, no, I'm I'm so excited. We we kind of had preliminary planned this. I screwed up our scheduling, so this kind of worked out significantly. Uh I I almost like the format of this better that we're getting to chat and catch up post-worlds, which is uh obviously you just returned from Con Frank uh competing on the vertical team, or I should I say uphill. I think it's probably the better way to say it. Um, dude, first reactions after the race. Like, how are you feeling? And and what what's the emotional level like?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I I was nervous being away from the family for like 10 days, but you know, everything was great at home. And coming back, I've I've never been so inspired by being a part of a team and running and competing for something that's way more than you know a personal glory or personal goal. It was such and you knew it was going to be a team atmosphere, but coming back, I'm just uh extraordinarily inspired to continue to compete as well as I can on the trails and hopefully make the team in two years for South Africa and Cape Town, um, because it was that incredible of a experience.
SPEAKER_00:Wow. So it it's interesting to me. I I don't talk to too many folks that have had bad experiences at at these events. Like everyone, it seems like like Jeff Colt was a great example because he came back from worlds, I think I can't remember if it was, I think it was Chiang Mai, and was like the stoke was so high, he was recruiting people to go out and try out for these uh, you know, these teams and and you know, really get people behind worlds. What is it about it that makes it so special? Is it the representation of the stars and stripes? Is it is the team aspect of it? Because I know you know we're all kind of old, like it you it's not often anymore we can be on a team, right? Like, what is it that's so special about like the World Mountain Running Championship?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I and I was in a very fortunate position with the vertical. You race first, right? And then I have three days of cheering on my teammates in the short trail, the long trail, the classic, the U20. Meanwhile, you're like having meals with everyone and getting to know them. And like I would never have been at the same race as Jim Walmsley, for example. Yet we're at the Mountain Classic out on the course, both of us with our phones watching the live stream, talking about it, getting excited for like how the US team is doing and ready to cheer for them when they come through the next time. It's just like you don't have those experiences in a race, any race you like sign up and go to. So there's just something special around worlds where like you are all rallying together. And again, I was very lucky to compete in the first event and then being able to be like more relaxed to come, you know, cheer everyone on. But like everyone came out for the mountain classic on the last day and the U20, and the representation you had across the team was just incredible. And you know, it gets you back to like competing in college, and you're at a track meet, and the four by four is the last event, and everyone's coming there and like cheering on you know the team to like earn as many points for a conference, um, conference positioning. So, like, I think everyone's stoke is really high because you leave on that note of like everyone rallies together, you've all competed hard, and honestly, across all the race disciplines, we like competed really well as a team. Like we did. It was really impressive. So it was also like just a like America's very good at trail running, and we just demonstrated that. So, yeah, I think all of those together just made it a super exciting um finish to the event.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. I love it. All right, let's talk, let's talk about the race, let's talk about the venue as well and travel. Like, how hard was it to get out there? Was it smooth? I know for some, like you're, for instance, like your team member Christian had like a really rough day trying to get out there. Um, how was it for you uh as far as flights and everything? And how far ahead of time did you did you arrive?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I uh um was on a flight that left on a Friday, got there Saturday. We were pretty much on time, a half an hour delayed, something like that. I rented a car and Joe Gray was on the same flight. So then we hopped in the car and we drove literally three and a half hours straight to the start of the course, and we ran the uphill course. It was supposed to rain hard the next day on Sunday. So we were like, well, let's see the course before it rains. So, you know, him and I got there Saturday at like 6 p.m. and we ran the course on the way down. It got really dark, ended up getting out my phone at night and like trying to navigate the final few miles downhill. Joe fell a couple times. It was an experience to say the least. Um, but being able to see the whole course on Saturday before I competed on the next Thursday was really great. And then, you know, jet lag is real going across to Europe. So like I'd wake up in the middle of the night, like wide awake at 2:30 in the morning or so. But after a few days, you kind of got into the rhythm. So like I felt well rested and really good by racing on Thursday. So yeah, I got to see the full course once, got to see it the start and a few miles of it again, two more times. So I felt like pretty prepared for what I knew the course was gonna be like. Um, and yeah, the travel otherwise was pretty smooth for getting there. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_00:How was it was it difficult? Like, I feel like if I was out there tapering and like getting ready for a race like this, I would wanna. It's almost like hard to not go run all the trails and see all the mountains and like kind of do all the stuff. Was that like a hard pull for you, or was it I'm locked in, the team is locked in, like we're just getting ready for game day?
SPEAKER_01:Um, that's a good question. I think the hardest pull was Christian text me, he's like, hey, let's do a workout, like tune up. I'm just gonna do some three minute reps. I'm like, oh, perfect. This is on Monday before the race on Thursday. Um, and then of course, like we ran the first two reps like way too fast. And I was like, all right, I gotta pull back. Like I am racing in like you know, 72 hours or whatever it was at that point. Um, but I think like I was pretty locked into I need to race this course really well, and then I'll have time being able to see the other courses and experience other trails and run other things after that. So yeah, I didn't have too much of a pull to the trail. I did have the pull to running too fast in my final workout, but fair enough.
SPEAKER_00:How was uh how was the venue like situationally? Um, like room like being you know, getting set up with roommates and um the sleep situation and the food situation, like how was it for you guys?
SPEAKER_01:It was really good. The the downside was you know, I definitely wanted to get out there early to preview the course, and then the team housing started the day before the uphill competition. So, you know, we on our own to figure it out. So I moved from an Airbnb to a hotel to a different hotel, you know, in like the first four days of being there. So it was a lot of bouncing around. But then the team hotel was terrific, they had all the meals for us. Um, and it was pretty cool because it was like cafeteria type setting, and there was a bunch of different countries with um each country's like name on the different table. So it's like fun that you were kind of like getting to know some of the other countries or at least around them and seeing their vibes um as well. And then there was a shuttle that took folks from we stayed in the town of Hakka to Confranc. Um, I was fortunate to have the rental car, so it was like really simple to drive like 20 minutes to get to Confranc. Confranc's a really small town. Um, I stayed in there for the first few days to like run the course and be in there, and it was like just a couple of restaurants, like not really a full grocery store. You know, it's a very small setting, but it was really easy to hit the trails. It was pretty beautiful venue, like mountains on all sides. Um, so uh yeah, logistics are pretty simple.
SPEAKER_00:Very cool. Let's get into the team dynamic. Uh, obviously, this isn't the first time you and Christian, as well as you and Joe, like you and Joe, for the most part, have been competitors for a really long time. Like it's been a few years now. And then on top of that, you've also been teammates. What was this dynamic like? I know Joe likes to, at least I've known Joe for previous years to always been a big game planner, kind of plan stuff ahead of time. Was that the same vibes this time or or was it different?
SPEAKER_01:Um, you know, Cam Smith is probably one of like the most social and organized folks. So like he certainly rallied us to get together in the summer, and um, we hosted like seven, seven or eight folks in Bunavista for a weekend and it got to run the trails. So one of the things that was really nice, more than just the vertical team, but across the US team, like I already knew Mason Coppy pretty well and Taylor Stack and Cam. So there was already some level of like a friendship and all of us being excited to compete together. And then, as you said, like Joe and I have competed against each other for you know more than a decade in various race disciplines. So we knew each other really well, and that was like easy to travel together to um get to the course and run together. And then I've raced Christian a bunch, and um, he was my roommate in in Con Frank. So it was just it was pretty simple to always have um teammates around. And we we didn't really talk strategically as like a group before of us of like how we were gonna like specifically race it. Um, but we all knew we were just shooting, we were all very fit and ready and excited to try to compete at the front. Um yeah.
SPEAKER_00:I love it. I can't say enough good things about Cam. Love Cam. He's uh he's an amazing human. Um on the topic of Cam and on the topic of the Buena Vista camp that you guys did, can you talk a little bit about that and like the experience and just how fun it was to get to meet everybody and spend time with everyone? And I because I feel like those types of things maybe had been missing from teams in previous years, and I think it's really important to the culture of a team for winning medals and and just the cohesiveness.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, I was talking with Paul Kirsch and Tom Hooper um after the event, and one of their observations was this team gelled together quicker than some of the other teams. And I do think us getting us together for a weekend of just running and catching up and drinking coffee together before running, like all of that like really helped because we were we were maybe way more cohesive, and it was easier to be like um sharing rides to places and going to preview the course together in Con Frank. And um, it really you just felt like more like a team going to there instead of like learning who your team is once you're there. So I do think that that made a big difference. And you know, we were we rolled really deep on that one specific training run in Buna Vista when like Noah Williams showed up, and there was a few other good runners and Adrian, and like we had like 12 of the best runners in the US all like doing a four plus hour run and trying to bag two 14ers. It was um it was pretty epic. So yeah, I think that that added a lot to the dynamic and being a part of a team before like we were all together um in Con Frank. That's so cool.
SPEAKER_00:And I like I said, it it just plays so much to the cohesiveness and probably contributed in a lot of ways. I mean, obviously, there's so much talent on these teams now. The American teams like we sent a squad this year, uh deep on every roster. But at the same time, I think the cohesiveness of everyone knowing each other, fighting for one another, and wanting to, you know, perform well on race day, not just for you know their country, but also more so just for their team to score. I think that made that made a you makes a huge difference. So very cool. Um let's let's talk about the race. I want to pivot a little bit into the race itself, and I want to open the door for you to kind of talk about how it unfolded, everything from the warm-up to the start, nerves. Give me give me the whole play-by-play.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so the race started, all the other races started and finished by the train station in Confranc. Our race started, it was about two kilometers outside of town. Um, and it was kind of like a almost like a frontage road in front of like a small hotel, quickly became a gravel road, and then you hit the trail, probably about 600 meters of running before that. So for warm-up, we um got a ride from team staff, went to the train station, we warmed up. It was flat there, access to bathroom, really simple. Hopped in the car, got there like 35-ish minutes before the start. Before um we had to go through will call that gave us a little more time to jog around. Then about 20 minutes out, we all have to get like our uniforms checked at the same times. We were required to carry an emergency rain jacket with us. So we had to like show that to the team staff as well. Um and yeah, then we got through the the will call. We're in track, you call it like the paddock area. So, like kind of the fenced-off area where all the athletes are. You could jog around a little bit, it was a pretty tight spot. Um, we were told that they would only have one athlete per country at the start line. My background, I interpreted that as like cross-country style, where like you would have one athlete and then line up in a row behind them. In reality, the race picked six or eight athletes that they were gonna like call up to the front. So, like Christian Allen was called up, I think uh Patrick or Philemon. There was a few athletes, Remy, of course, was called up to the start. And then it was just a free-for-all of like who lined up behind. So I didn't have that expectation that it was gonna be like people lining up to get a good position at the start line 15 to 20 minutes before the race start. So, like I got there about 12 minutes before, and I was like 12 rows deep of people, and Europeans just like get really close. Like, there was like no like wiggle room to kind of just like work my way up. I've run Olympic trials marathons, New York City marathons, Chicago. I've always been on like the first or second row, like it's never like hard to get up, and this was like impossible to get a good starting position. So the race, when it started, it's like a little bit of luck of like how fast the people right in front of you also go out. And I just got stuck in the back. And it was then me like swimming upstream, trying to pass people while running under five minute pace, going up this slope. I like my watch was bumped, so it stopped. So then I didn't have like a knowledge of like where I was at in the race because I didn't notice that until I was like almost a mile into the race. So anyway, it's like it gets pretty narrow, and then you make a sharp left-hand turn up these stairs, and it becomes single track, and it just packed up to the point that in the beginning I was like walking up the hill, and there's like a distinct point in the race where I was like, my heart rate's not even high. I like can't go faster. You couldn't go around because it was like in the trees at that point, too. So there's not really like room to move around the single track if somebody's slower in front of you, and then it's just like a line of people because there's a hundred and sixty-ish competitors, and everyone's kind of packed up at that point. So I was unfortunately like pretty far back, and it was one of those points where you're like, Can I salvage this race? Like, is this race like so far in front of me now that I'm like in a tough spot? And then about a mile in, I caught Joe, and Joe was clearly just not having a great day. And it was like, all right, so from a team perspective, there's two of us here we're like in the back half of the race. This is probably not boding well for our team position. But you know, I just like kept keeping on and being present and just trying to move past anyone I could whenever I could. And by the time we got to about two and a half miles, it starts to open up a little bit more. You get out of the trees, you're able to have like some more areas that you can pass on. The single track there was really narrow. So it wasn't like a single track that you could still get around people. You had to go off the single track really to pass. So, like at that point, you could do that more freely. And the people that went out hard were starting to fade. So then it was easier to get around. And I just kept moving and it just kept moving and passing people. And I had um a really good last mile and a half where I was charging up through the field. You get to the 600 meters to go, and the it's a 30% grade, and it's really steep. And the crowds there, you go from the trees where there's like nobody to all of a sudden there being like a ton of people that took the chairlift up that are there cheering. And I'm still like moving through, passing some people. It was still like a pretty large number of people in the general um area I was. I get to the top, and me and a Spanish guy were like fighting to get to the right position. I get around him and I see like two people that I'm like, no way can I catch him. But I start just sprinting and I close the gap and I pass both of them like right before the finish. So it's like really rewarding that I, you know, I don't know if I've had a race ever start so bad. And like I in hindsight, I could have got a better position at the start. And I I didn't do that. I didn't, I wasn't aware that I should have like got to the start line 20 minutes and just waited. Um, and that would have helped me more than like doing a few more strides. Um, so hindsight 2020, learned quite a bit there. But like to continue just keeping on and just to keep believing, and then to dig to pass those couple of people, finish. You know, I find Christian here he that he had a great run and was fourth. I find um Cam, here he was 11th, find out I was 26th, and we're like on Nancy Hobbes' phone, just like finding the results and trying to add up the team. And we like thought we were silver for a little bit, and then realized Switzerland had silver and we were bronze. But it was like an incredibly rewarding experience where 30 minutes before I was like, this team is having a really terrible day. To this team just earned a medal at the World Championships. It was a pretty remarkable, um, remarkable experience.
SPEAKER_00:Cathartic. I think cathartic too, because you start. How were the nerves essentially when you realized you were that far back? Were you was it frustration? Like, were you trying to keep your cool and maintain your positivity? Because I feel like if for a competitor, like I would be very frustrated. And it's like, how do you keep those feelings in check and just do everything you possibly can to keep the, you know, keep calm and still move your way up? Like, how are you able to like kind of like pull yourself back together on that?
SPEAKER_01:I think I did a good job of just being where my feet were and like just focusing on like immediately, like, how do I get around the guy in front of me? How do I get around the next guy in front of him? Thinking about like, oh, if there was a straightaway coming up, I would like quickly think, okay, I could surge around this left side and get around two guys. Like, and I think by just like focusing on the very simple, like, what's the most immediate next thing I can do to move up in the field? I didn't have like an overwhelming sense of frustration because I wasn't planning or thinking ahead. The few times that like it came to me of like, oh, we're in a bad position as a team. I just like reoriented around like pass the next guy, keep moving forward. People will have probably gone out too hard, and like I didn't go out too hard. So, you know, I think if you look on on Strava, the last like mile and a half, I was a second faster than Christian Allen. Yeah, he beat me by like three minutes. So, like there was a big gap there. And I think that just representative of like you can make it up, right? Like it took a while before I was able to get in position. And I don't think if I would have been on the start line, I would have been fifth place. Like, I don't think I like ended up losing that much because I just stayed present and didn't get frustrated by it and start like thinking about how the end result was gonna be. I crossed the finish line and I didn't know if I was 12th or 42nd. Like I had like no idea, right? I'm like, Jason, can you help me out? The Jason um who was on the team staff, like, can you help me out? And like, where did I finish? And he's like, I'm trying to pull up results. So that was a unique um experience. But that like gets down to like not caring as much about your specific place and end result. And I just knew like I battled through what I could to do the best to help support the team as well as I could, and that is a really amazing experience that goes beyond like a specific place.
SPEAKER_00:That's amazing. And it's interesting too. I I can ask you this because I've seen videos, I've never raced in Europe. It's on the it's on the list. And I I mean, from a race where it's super tight like that, especially where it looked like there was a lot of bottleneck um when it transitioned onto the single track and going up, it seems like guys are throwing elbows, you gotta like not like in a in a like not purposely, but it just seems like it's chaos, like uh in in a more agre aggressive, if you will. How are you able to avoid that and just kind of move your way like through some of these people? Because I know people don't like to be passed. Like that's and this is the highest stakes in a race if there are, you know, if there are stakes.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, uh it kind of happens so fast that it like I didn't have time to like feel anxious about it. It just like was chaos, and you just like made it through the chaos to the other side where you were then in a a line on the single track. So yeah, it was a very interesting you know, race perspective. And then you could see people who who got freaked out by it. There was specific, no, specifically two Uganda guys who came absolutely flying by me, like halfway through the race. And it was like, whoa, where were they before? How are they moving so fast? And then one guy pulls up, grabs a side, and starts walking, and the other one slows down drastically. So, like, I think that was a case where they probably got a little overanxious about not being in a good spot and then tried too hard to make it up and then faded. When I I think I had just like a good mindset of like, I'm just gonna focus on passing the next person in front of me and the next person, and not trying to do anything too drastic to make up for that chaos that truly was uh a half mile into the race.
SPEAKER_00:It's crazy. Was there any takeaways like as a not just as a competitor, but as someone that knows the sport, like Remy doing as advertised, Patrick, you know, being not the world champion this year, being you know, right off. Um, anything that like stuck out to you as takeaways from this specific competition after the fact? Obviously, you're in it, so you see things play out. Was there anybody like that just amazed you or like under like did what you thought was gonna happen? I don't know. It's kind of a weird question. It's just that as an athlete in the sport and as a fan, it's you know, these are also interesting things.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, you know, I I think it just really good examples are how Christian raced and how Cam raced. Like Cam didn't get at the start line. He he did a very nice job of moving up through the field earlier and better than I did. And then he ran just bloody tough the whole time, you know, and he he took 11th in the world because he came in really fit. He was a gamer, he was like spot on ready. You know, Christian really believed he could try to win a world championship and raced to try to win a world championship. Um, and it's fun to see where like confidence meets opportunity and it comes through. And I was just thrilled for those guys on like having the race that they were capable of on that day. Um, and I think you could kind of see that across all the competitions of like people that came in that were like game on and ready and believed and did something special. You know, uh Anna Gibson, of course, being a great example of that, getting third, Lauren Gregory and how she ran the Mountain Classic and like was closing down and chasing down people at the end and ran, I think her last kilometer faster than most of the guys did. Like I think those were some of the examples that like really stood out. And it's more of that combination of racing and mindset um that I think I I learned quite a bit from. So cool.
SPEAKER_00:Let's uh let's talk about like when you guys realized that you had medaled, like when you realized that it was gonna be be a thing. What was the feeling like standing on that stage, getting the medal, you know, standing in the stars and stripes, everybody, you know, you're getting cheered on, you're getting to talk with other athletes, um, you know, from other countries. Like, what was what was that feeling like?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I think it's helpful to to know when we finish, we're at the top of the mountain, and you can take the cherry lift down, and Christian's like, oh, I'm gonna run down to try to get some miles. You want to join? So I'm like, all right, I'll, you know, I'll join. You know, I don't have my cell phone, like my cell phone's back at the the bag before uh the start of the race. So like I have to run and get back to Cahn Frank to I could like look at my phone to see the results, all of that. So like we thought we had like a silver medal at that point, and I was still like, race results are never like immediate and accurate, like things always change, and I'm like, somebody's bib probably didn't work. Like, you never know. Um, plus, we didn't like have actual team scores, we were just trying to like do the math of like the flags we saw of the people in the top 30 that we thought would um be tough teams. So we start running down, and I'm thinking this is like a three or four mile run down the mountain on a forest service road, and it ended up being a 10 mile run to get back to Campbreak. I had like four sips of a coke at the top, and then like after running the race and ran 10 miles back down, I was like so toasted by the end. And then we got down and we heard um that we were bronze, and the results were looking more like finalized and official, but the award ceremony wasn't until 7 p.m. So, like, honestly, I like called my wife Kristen and like talked to her when she was awake. And I'm still like nervous of like, are these results gonna come in and like France had an actual guy in tent that wasn't recorded and like we dropped down to fourth or something? So it didn't really feel real until we got to the award ceremony. The officials put us on um some stadium bleachers. Until we were brought up on stage. And they did a great job of like having a real medal presentation ceremony on a stage, music, jamming, getting the crowd into it. It was a pretty like large crowd for an award ceremony. And yeah, it was just like it was a really amazing experience. To be honest, my my high school didn't win any team competitions. At Penn State, we were good. We like made NCAs in cross-country, but we never won like a conference title or like podiumed. So I think this is like the first time I've been on a podium as part of a team. And that happens at the age of 38 at the World Championships in trail running. So it was like it was a pretty surreal experience. I think Cam made the comment of like, the podium isn't meant for people like us. Of just like, you know, we're always like in the audience looking at the folks going up on stage. So yeah, it was a really special thing. And then Anna got her um bronze medal individually. Then like we took photos, and it was just like really cool to have starting the competition with that as a team getting a a medal. It was uh yeah, it was a bit surreal. It was cool.
SPEAKER_00:So cool. So you've been on a lot of podiums, man. You've done a lot of amazing things in your career. Where does where does this one rank for you? Like, is it is it different? Is it better? Is it worse? Like, where does it kind of fall on the the ranking for you?
SPEAKER_01:You know, I I thought I've thought deeply on that as well. And it was a a challenging summer with like health stuff in the family, work challenges, training challenges. It just like to persevere through all of that, to have the support from family and friends. My wife threw me like a good luck in Spain surprise party where like 30 of my friends that showed up that I hadn't even seen some of them in a couple years. Uh it was like the amount of support before, during, and after was just so special. And then to come away with the team medal and to do it where like I had to really dig and again like persevere through like beginning mistakes in that race and then come back. Um, it was so rewarding and more rewarding than most, if not all, of like an individual race result that turned out really well. So, you know, it's definitely on my podium of my running career in terms of experiences. Um, and yeah, I'm just very thankful for everyone. Immense amount of gratitude for everyone that's helped and supported and encouraged um along the way. So cool, man.
SPEAKER_00:Beautiful answer. Did you get one of those cool Nike shirts, the the flowy ones? I shouldn't say they're cool, they're kind of weird. But like, did you did you did you bring home one of those?
SPEAKER_01:The radical cooling technology, yes, I do have one of those. Um yeah, pretty amazing.
SPEAKER_00:Um what's your like initial reactions on one of those things?
SPEAKER_01:You know, uh it is a big shout out to to Nike and supporting innovation. And not that Nike hasn't innovated in the past, of course they have, but like they're really putting more emphasis into the trail and ultra-running community and innovating in apparel and in shoes. And I think that's just gonna raise the bar for everyone. Um, they work like incredibly well, not like a warned in a hot um environment, but like everyone loved them that raced in them, and it's it's a pretty amazing thing. As a scientist myself, it's like they they made a long sleeve shirt that acts to cool you more than like a super lightweight singlet does. Like it's a pretty neat spot to be in the sport to like see those things coming, and I think it's only gonna um continue to bring more people into trail and ultra running, and yeah, thankful for their support of the team. It's really cool.
SPEAKER_00:I mean, and it's a fashion statement. Like, I should have asked you to wear it for the podcast. Those things are dope. Uh Mikelito, I think Mikelito posted a picture with him and Noah and Tom, or maybe Tom posted it. I was like, like, what an odd shirt. But like, less it man, if it works and it's innovative, by all means, I think it's kind of neat.
SPEAKER_01:It it stands out, it brings some attention, that's for sure. That's right. That's right.
SPEAKER_00:What's uh the reaction after the fact? Are you gonna take some downtime? Are you training for like are you gonna start a new block for something next? Or what's uh you know, what's next for you?
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, so excitingly, the Olympic Marathon trials uh qualification window opened on September 1st. So it's open for two and a half years, so there's like a long time. But this would be my fifth Olympic marathon trials if I qualified. So I'm gonna pick a winter marathon, have you know road season, focus on running sub 216 in the marathon, making a fifth. I don't know how many people have ever made five consecutive Olympic marathon trials. So that that is a big goal. And then I'm I'm more excited than ever to really rip it on the trails again next year. I'd like to try a few more competitive races. Like I think Sears and all fits my uh fitness and capabilities really well, starting with basically like a double VK and then a a little bit more of like a road race-esque feel. Like I feel like I could perform well there. So that's in August of next year. Um, we'll see if there's like a NACAC team or any other teams to make um for the US. I would definitely be very interested in that. Of course, it not being a world's year. Um, don't know if I'll dabble in like a 50K or try something longer, but I definitely want to explore and run some more trail races. So the earlier I can try to get that Olympic marathon trials qualifier, the earlier I get back to racing on the trails again. Um so excited for a road season, but also like really excited for what next summer on the trails could bring.
SPEAKER_00:Oh, I love it, man. I love for what's possibly hit, especially seeing you at series and all, just because your marathoning background and just everything you've done on the roads, like I feel like such a good intersection with your uphilling ability, that would be really cool. And then, yeah, there's a lot of good like golden trail stuff I could see you doing that I think would be a really good fit, not just series and all. So yeah, I'll definitely uh we'll well we'll definitely talk before then. So I do I do want to travel a little bit back in time because we didn't get a chance to talk after Broken Arrow where you got fourth at the VK. Um, I just want to get like just an initial reaction and talk a little bit about maybe just rehash that race as well. Um, just to for the proverbializing on the cake. I that was a very difficult race, like especially the fact that they changed the course. There was a lot of like hecticness around it. Um obviously it wasn't a full 3,000-foot course. How did that play out for you? Like what obviously that was that was a tough race.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, uh what was interesting about that was this is another one where it's like, all right, I gotta get out and see the course. I had never done the broken arrow ascent before. So I was like, I need to see this. If I'm gonna try to make a team, it's like really important to understand the course. So we got out there on a let's see, there I think the race was on a Friday. I got out there on like a Monday night, so I could see it on Tuesday. I ran most of the course. I saved the final bit. Um, that wasn't as important, but I got to see like three-fourths of the course of what I thought was the course. And then I was like, I love this. Like the section, there's like a longer section, it's probably like a mile, mile and a half. That's more of like a steep service road that like is my jam. It's like what I just love. It's like grinding as hard as I can uphill on runnable terrain. And then they're like, oh, the weather's bad. We're gonna shift the course and move it. So basically, like just the ski slope that I ran was the same as what um I ended up running in the race. So it was a little like, all right, day before, I have a whole new course to do, I don't have time to preview it, and I'm just gonna, you know, compete the the best I can on a shortened course as well. I think it was like 1800 feet again instead of like 3,000 feet. So I'm like, all right, it's gonna go out really fast, and then you're gonna have to like battle through. And um the final bit was on more single track. So I kind of knew the the start would be like a lot of chaos, a lot of people going fast, but it's a steep enough slope that I felt like things would work its way out, and they pretty much did. By the time we got to the dirt road, which was about like less than half a mile rather than like a mile and a half of kind of where I like really loved the course, I was in like 10th to 12th place. But ironically enough, it was like Cam Smith, Joe, and I like packed up. Um, and folks like uh Killian went out too hard, um, Andy was up there, and we kind of just like moved up through the pack. And by the time we got to the single track with about a mile to go, it was the four positions of Christian, then Joe, and then Cam and I. And um I kind of just stayed pretty much in that fourth position. Cam and I traded going back and forth a couple of times. Um, at mile, I'd say with like two minutes left of running, I was in fourth and I had seen a jersey behind me that was like a darker jersey. And the whole time I thought it was Killian because he was the last person I passed before we got to the single track. And it turned out it was like David Sinclair. Yeah, I know.
SPEAKER_00:It's the worst that's the worst person you went breathing down your neck.
SPEAKER_01:I'm like, oh goodness, like the US spot is not locked up, right? So, like, then it got a little bit more stressful until like finally crossing the finish line in fourth and knowing I had a spot on the team locked up. So, yeah, that was a very interesting race, I think, in hindsight. Um I don't know if I I would have loved to see the course beforehand. And a lot of those guys have run at Broken Arrow before and knew that trail because it used to be part of the 23k course, and I was just blind to what was coming up ahead, and there was some like technical ridgeline type stuff, and the steepness changed a few times. It would have been really helpful to see it. Um, I think I would have I would have enjoyed the longer course and a little I know the top of that gets um pretty technical, uh, but like I really would have enjoyed the original Broken Arrow course. So you know maybe I'll have to go back this year even if it's not a next year, even though it's not a qualifying and see what I can really rip on it. But yeah, it was a really great day because the four of us were we thought we were hopefuls to make the team, and then we ended up making the team and then competing with all the others. So it's um yeah, it was a special day that day as well. So cool, man.
SPEAKER_00:So cool. Yeah, I and it's funny you brought up David Sinclair because I was gonna mention that I'm like, that's the last person I would want breathing down like on my back, especially given the season he had too. Like, man, that's it's so cool too. Like, dude, like you beat Killian in a race. That's that's pretty neat. Like, I don't know, like that's that's something I would think about that be like, well, it's something you don't do every day. So pretty neat.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, I wish he would have had a better second half though. Like he like he really, he really faded. But yeah, the other thing that you don't realize in other races, like if it was a flat road race, I would have thought I had a big gap on David Sinclair. But when you're going up like a really steep slope, like lengthwise, you're not that far apart, right? You're just like not moving as fast. So like it's also like pretty terrifying when you're like going super slow up this steep mountain, and like somebody's like pretty close behind you, and it's you can't gauge is that like five seconds or 25 seconds of a gap. So yeah, that's um it gets you a little anxious towards the top there.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, dude, racing is so much fun. I love the sport. It's that stuff is so nuts. Um, it it's gonna be interesting. I don't know what's gonna happen next year, but we'll see what the US Mountain Running Championship turns out to be. I would guess it's gonna be, I mean, it could be broken arrow. I know they try and stay away from altitude races on off years, but then again, it was Snowbird uh two years ago, was it? Yeah, two years ago in 24. Well, technically a year ago. But yeah, maybe we'll see what happens. I mean, maybe it'll be another Cirque series race, maybe it'll be broken arrow or something next year. So it the uh the sky's the limit. It's gonna be fun. I can't believe we're already talking about we're in September, October, and we're already talking about next summer already.
SPEAKER_01:So well, the one one thing um I I talked with a few folks like uh Hillary and Alan and I had a long discussion of this. Is we have a vertical discipline at the World Championships, yet we don't have a vertical like series of competitions in the US. And I would love if Cirque Series and others would put together some VK style races. It doesn't have to be exactly you know a kilometer of incline, but like let's get some more uphill only races and get people excited about this as like a discipline for that you can compete at the world championships at because it is really fun and it's an amazing test of fitness. Um, so yeah, we need to have a a US series and a US championship as well for the uphill. Uh that would be really great.
SPEAKER_00:I think you would catch on too. I mean, you could do it at ski resorts more or less. You just have to find the ones that have somewhere between two and three K of vertical, and you know, they could take the ski lift down, if anything. So I I think you would actually catch on with the fan base. Like you see broken arrow, you see the rut. I mean, the rut really, you know, goes hard on theirs. Broken arrow, it always sells out. Um, yeah, I think it would be super popular if you could if we could figure out some sort of series. Dude, I've looked into it. It it can be done. It's just a matter of, I don't know, if Julian has the infrastructure to be able to pull that off and like make it like tangible. So it would be cool. I'd also like to see them do a schemo one too, like a schemo series that's like a mountain classic schemo series in the winter to kind of complement what they do in the um, you know, in the summer. So yeah, there's a lot of opportunity, man. There's I I think people think that like, oh, with UTMB and all that, it's uh there's more, I guess you could say monopolization in the sport, but I think that's the opposite. There's so much more to do uh with more vertical stuff. So yeah, I'd love to see it. We gotta recruit, we gotta get you doing Pike's Peak. I think you would do amazing in the ascent. I think next year we need to need to make that happen.
SPEAKER_01:The Pikes Peak Ascent, I think Zeros and all are the two races that I'm like, those are the kind of like they should be must-dos on my schedule for next year without having a world championship sets like you know at the same time. It's a perfect year to do both.
SPEAKER_00:Yes. All right. Well, I'm gonna hold you to the Pikes Peak stuff. I'll be reaching out to recruit you for that.
SPEAKER_01:Love it.
SPEAKER_00:Uh all right, Tyler. Well, listen, man. I thank you so much for coming on and and having a candid conversation about your experience. Uh, I cannot wait uh to talk again. And um, dude, wishing you the best of luck in your build for uh the marathon. And uh yeah, I'd love to see you chasing big goals, and I can't wait to see what's next. Appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01:Thank you, James. Great to chat with you about worlds.
SPEAKER_00:Yeah, man. What'd you guys think? Oh man, what a powerful episode. I want to thank Tyler so much for coming on the podcast and kind of debriefing his um just his experience, you know, the human experience going over to compete at worlds for your country and what that's like and you know, and and just you know how you how you deal with that. You know, it's not easy, um, especially, you know, being a professional at what he does. Like Tyler is uh you know a data scientist, he's a director of data science for a huge company. Um, you know, he's a PhD, he's a husband, he's a father. The dude is a lot of things. So uh to be exceptional at many things, I I just find that um, yeah, it's Tyler's a special human. So I want to thank him so much for coming on the podcast and uh wish him in the best as he you know goes after another Olympic qualifier, which is gonna be pretty cool. Uh guys, the best way you can support Tyler is to give him a follow on Instagram. Uh he's a great follow. You can find him at track track tie. That's T-R-A-C-K-T-Y. Pretty simple, pretty straightforward. Uh, you can also just type in Tyler McCannless and you'll find his handle there and you can give him a follow. Uh lots of good stuff, lots of good interviews. Um, yeah, like I said, super appreciative of Tyler. Uh guys, if you enjoyed this episode, amongst others, uh, the best way you can support the podcast is to give us a five-star rating interview on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you consume podcasts. That would mean the world to me. Uh, I can continue to tell these stories of these amazing athletes. Um, you can also support us by supporting our brand partner, Ultimate Direction. Uh UD just dropped a brand new race vest six liter and an ultra vest 12 liter in some beautifully aesthetic colorways. They also have a pull quiver, which is pretty dope. Um, and you could support them by going on ultimatedirection.com if you are interested in anything or want to go to checkout. Get yourself uh the code Steep Stuff Pod. That's gonna get you 25% off your cart. Again, that's Steep Stuff Pod, one word, 25% off your cart, uh, whatever you guys choose. And uh yeah, get yourselves hooked up, all kinds of good stuff there, especially as the weather starts to shift. We're getting more into uh autumn winter here in Colorado. Um, you know, things are starting to cool down a bit. Uh, you're definitely gonna want to get some additional gear for longer, colder days out. Get yourself a nice pack, get yourself a belt, uh, get yourself the good stuff. So thank you guys, appreciate it.
