This episode is from the vault, originally recorded in 2022!

Ricky Haro was born and raised in Montana. He hated running as a kid, it wasn’t until his Sophomore year that the cross-country coach worked with him to complete his first mile and tried to convince him to be part of the track team. Ricky moved to Arizona in 1994 and joined the cross-country team. Coach Mark Hudson, who is still a great friend and mentor showed Ricky so much about outdoor recreation. Ricky qualified for Nationals but suffered a quad injury and was on crutches for months. Eventually he dropped out of college and joined the military. Ricky became a SERE specialist in the Air Force (Survival Evasion, Resistance, and Escape specialist). The Air Force’s experts in all things related to someone being separated from support and in need of rescue, they train all aircrew personnel on how to handle themselves if they are caught up in hostile territory. This is where Ricky learned about endurance, grit and the will to survive. From 2005-2011 Ricky did not run a single day due to IT band syndrome and core imbalances. In 2012 Ricky decided to dedicate an entire year to running and see what happened. Ricky continued running and completed the Rome marathon; Magredi Mountain Trail 100; Blue Ridge Marathon; Marathon Des Sables; placed 5th in the Mogollon 100 just to name a few. In 2016 Ricky did the Badwater 146 solo while pushing a baby jogger of supplies. Currently Ricky gets high praises for being an amazing crew leader; serves on the Board of Band of Runners; Race Director for Kaniksu Ultras and overseas many adventures with his company, Rare Earth Adventures.

Have you ever heard so many good things about someone then meet them and they lived up to all those wonderful words? Yep, that is Ricky. This guy is a running, crewing bad ass in the ultra-world. We caught up with Ricky on a break from his Across the Years multi-day running event. Ricky shared some amazing crewing stories and how to excel at crewing. I personally used all his advice the following weekend and everything went great. We also talked about his Badwater 146 experiences. Ricky is a race director and owns an adventure company. We could have listened to his adventure stories for hours. Ricky also shares with us personal stories about his childhood and one of the most significant people in his life, his Grandfather. There is something for everyone in this podcast so sit back and enjoy.

IG - rareearthrunner

www.rareearthadventures.com