"Comfort is a disease..." 5 years ago, Tony Gillham, my guest today, had a dream. It took 2 trainers, endless training miles, countless hours, the support of family and friends and ultimately 5 arduous days and nights crossing over 250 miles in the AZ desert, but in May 2025, Tony made his dream a reality. To help tell the story, we are also joined by one of his crew and pacers (and a pretty awesome podcast host himself), Mr. Ben Mead. This is a tale not to be missed! I do apologize for the audio quality at times, but for goodness sake, Tony was calling in from an oil rig, somewhere off the coast of Alaska. Get ready for an absolutely epic episode, as we hear the story of how Tony arrived at and ultimately conquered one of the most premiere long trail races in the world...the Cocodona 250.

Tony's podcast episode on Ben Mead's Chasing Cutoffs: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6qOM4TL4zNNydreJy5bqLg

Ben Mead's 2024 Cocodona 250 podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/6gV6At4mg3SuivT3idkucK

or

https://open.spotify.com/episode/5MvIk9e2YcIUP5zYkYF6ya

The Cocodona 250 by Aravaipa Running: https://www.aravaiparunning.com/cocodona2/

Joey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Run_Joey_Run

Running Behind on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/running.behind_pod

Joey's Strava Profile: https://www.strava.com/athletes/111237895

Chasing Cutoffs w/Ben Mead (Go listen! It's awesome!):

https://creators.spotify.com/pod/show/chasingcutoffs

Artwork by Ed Linder