Hometown Hero Outdoors

Running the Distance: Pete Ripmaster - Championing Mental Health through Running

• Hometown Hero Outdoors • Season 2 • Episode 6

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Get ready for the extraordinary journey of Pete Ripmaster, a regular man turned ultra-marathon champ through the transformative power of running and outdoor therapy. Pete completed the grueling 1000-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational 1000, winning it in 2018. His tale doesn't stop at the finish line. Pete's running adventure has led him to inspirational public speaking and a mission to accomplish an audacious new feat - to be the first person to run 100-mile races in every state!

Rippmaster's conversation is a testament to human resilience and the healing power of nature. Brace yourself for intimate accounts of his solitary journey, threading through the Alaskan wilderness, pushing his physical limits, and finding joy in unexpected places. More than a champion runner, Pete is a champion for mental health. Living through depression, he found solace in the outdoors and mindfulness, ultimately turning his battle into a platform for mental health advocacy, especially crucial in the pandemic-induced mental health crisis.

Pete's story is a beacon for anyone looking for motivation in the darkest corners. His life-altering experiences on the Iditarod 1000 and beyond are an encouraging call to confront challenges with grit and grace. From an outdoor enthusiast to a budding runner or anyone wrestling with mental health issues, Pete's story is a shining example of the triumph of the human spirit over adversity. Join us as we plunge into Pete's running adventures, mental health advocacy, and his ambitious dream to conquer the 100-mile races across the United States.

Host: Chris Tetrault
Co-host: Phil Ewert
Guest: Pete Ripmaster

www.peteripmaster.com

#peteripmaster
#hometownherooutdoors
#ultrarunning
#ultramarathon
#running
#mentalhealth
#outdoortherapy

Produced by Phil Ewert Productions

Theme Music: Hero's Journey
Joel Loopez Tunepocket.com
Licensed by: Phil Ewert Productions

hometownherooutdoors.org

Speaker 1:

We'll return to the podcast in a moment, but first we want to thank Tito's Handmade Vodka for supporting our podcast, founded in Texas in 1997.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the hometown of Tito Outdoors podcast and un-aged Tito's Vodka is your home, here's to you.

Speaker 1:

You could drink it straight. Look for Tito's Handmade Vodka anywhere alcohol is sold, or go to TitosVodkacom for merchandise. Now back to our podcast.

Speaker 2:

Hey everyone, welcome back. It's another Wednesday here at Hometown. Here Outdoors, we have take number two going on with Pete Rippmaster here. We had a little glitch that happened in the last recording here, so we're kind of starting from the top again, but that's OK. So Pete Rippmaster came to us through our friend, phil Eward, who is our content director when it comes to our podcast and videos. He is newer to us when it comes to the volunteering side of the world. He has helped in the past. That is Phil I'm speaking about, but Pete actually is an individual that we met through Phil, so I'm going to get into it here with Pete's bio, since this is our second stab at it. Sorry, pete, I know don't punch me, so I know you're the only one now.

Speaker 2:

Pete has always considered himself an athlete, competing at an elite level in football and other sports throughout school, but it wasn't until much later in life that he discovered running. When his mom passed away, pete honored her legacy by running 50 marathons across 50 states and raising over 60,000 for cancer research in the process. This experience fueled his hunger to accomplish even more and served as a springboard for his cause-driven running journey. After having overcome numerous setbacks and challenges, pete became the 2018 champion of the Ditterad Trail Invitational 1000, a grueling 1,000 mile foot race through the harsh winter conditions of the Alaskan wilderness. Now Pete shares his unbelievable story of persistence and change with audiences across the country. With his mountaintop moments are worth celebrating.

Speaker 2:

Pete never shies away from talking about the valleys of his life too. Through his struggles with depression, pete has become a passionate advocate for mental health and the practice of mindfulness. He believes everyone deserves to live a life of hope. So, pete, thank you for being here. We really appreciate you coming on to the podcast to talk about your stories, the things that you've done on the outdoors, how it's helped you mentally. That's a huge thing with us here at HHO is connecting to the outdoors, understanding the things that it can do for you and be able to relax. So thank you, pete.

Speaker 3:

Oh yeah, absolutely.

Speaker 2:

Thanks for having me, chris and Phil, for sure I'm happy to be here, thank you, yeah, and then we have Phil Phil, like I said, he's been with us for a little while. It goes back to 2008 when he was my supervisor from my previous law enforcement agency. But he has been helping HHO since we've started but officially came on as a volunteer as our staff, as a content director for our podcast, in videos, as well as through his own personal company with Phil Eward Production. You guys will probably recognize him from the other voiceovers that he does for us for the podcast as well as videos. But, phil, thank you, want to introduce yourself and talk about how you've made this connection here today with Pete?

Speaker 1:

Yeah, thanks, Chris. Glad to be here on the Hometown Hero Outdoors podcast in a participation role, not just as the editor and producer. As Chris mentioned, I am the voice at the beginning and the end of the podcast as well, as you'll hear me narrate many of the Hometown Hero Outdoors videos that have been on YouTube or that are on Facebook and other social media sites that we put out on. My relationship with Pete actually started when I was auditioning to read his autobiography and his publishing company chose me and I was able to, and had the pleasure to, read his autobiography and narrate it, and it got put up on Audible, and after that I reached out to Pete directly through social media and we've had a little back and forth relationship since and I got to know each other a little bit.

Speaker 1:

I have a little bit of an unfair advantage here because obviously I read your autobiography multiple times and so I know your whole story, and so I'll probably allude to some things that many others may not know. It's great to have this face-to-face with you. One of the things we really want to talk about the reason that we're having you on is your outdoor experiences and the outdoor therapy that you realize through your ultra running and some of your other experiences. As you can imagine our audience, what we do with Hometown Hero Outdoors is outdoor therapy and, for veterans, law enforcement first responders, and so we just thought it would be a great match to have you on and talk about maybe some of the mental issues that you've wrestled through and how outdoor therapy helped you.

Speaker 3:

That's fantastic, it's a great segue and I think it's. I'm honored to talk about this and I like talk, like you alluded to Chris and say my biography. You know I really don't enjoy only talking about the things I've accomplished in the places I've been. I really like also talking about the mental aspect of things, tough things that have happened to me in life, some darkness, you know, rather than just bringing light to the glorious things you know and that sort of thing. So, yeah, I'm excited to be here and to have this conversation with both of you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, fantastic, you know, and, like you just said, though, is not everything is sun, strand and rainbows, and it comes to everyday life. You know there's there's hurdles that come in between there, and how you navigate those is incredibly important, you know, and I think that your experience throughout your life and what you've navigated is pretty cool for people to hear. I mean, you've had some pretty awesome accomplishments, but people don't see the hard work and the things that led up to there, or the downfalls as well. But it's a very called humility right. Humility is a good place and a good attribute to have is to understand and recognize the things they need to build upon and how to do different. So I think it's pretty awesome that you have humility and the ability to move forward on these things, but certainly excited to have you here and talk about your experiences and I know Phil has a boatload of questions, considering he knows you inside and out.

Speaker 1:

So let's send it. Well, first of all, I'm just noticing that I feel like I should be wearing a hat backwards or something, because I'm a number here, yeah, you didn't get the memo?

Speaker 2:

I didn't.

Speaker 1:

Maybe next time. So so, pete, for our listening audience, if you could just give a real quick recap of what got you into running and ultra running and you know maybe even how you got into running your first marathon, and if you could bring that up to when you started or when you got invited to the ITI the I did a race, yes yes, absolutely.

Speaker 3:

I'd love to share that. I will. I will start by saying that I definitely have not been a runner my whole life. I guess my dad ran when I was younger, a lot actually nothing competitively, no races or anything. He just ran to stay in shape and you know, and to build some friendships with friends and that sort of thing. So I saw it kind of you know from an early age that you know it definitely was something that helped my dad and some of his struggles. So, but I definitely was not interested in running from a young age. I was a football, baseball, basketball, tennis, lacrosse, you know anything with the ball, anything where you could tackle somebody. That's where you find me growing up. You know I played competitively and and and love sports, but didn't see and didn't see any reason to just go jog or run for just alone without chasing something or somebody. And so I would have never imagined in a million years that I would be in this position where I've done the things that I have in the running, the running game. But that the story there's kind of a fun and I'll make it real quick, but there's a fun story about the first marathon.

Speaker 3:

So I lost my mom to cancer in 2000. And that was a really tough time for me, but I had promised her while she was passing away that I would do something in her honor to raise money for breast cancer research. It was very important for me to kind of get back and fight for mom while she wasn't going to be here anymore. And so and it took me a long time after she passed away to kind of land on my feet I went through some really tough times after losing her and but I ultimately remembered the promise I had made to her and I consider myself a man of my word. And so the story goes that I was back in Michigan for, I think, christmas or something, and there was a family friend of ours. They had a party and there's a group of men that were standing very close to me and they were all talking about their marathons and their triathlons that they've run and what they're training for now. And you know I remember just kind of listening. You know I was sitting on the couch and they were behind me and they didn't even know I was listening. But I was just listening to all these guys kind of use all the lingo about all these races and all these runs and the PRs and all these words, I had no idea what they meant and and I remember kind of walking away and thinking to myself you know I could do that. You know I mean like I knew what kind of athletes they were. They were good athletes, but I considered myself a good athlete too and you know, it's like I'd like to try that sometime.

Speaker 3:

So I just kind of put the thought in the back of my mind, went about my life.

Speaker 3:

And then, you know the story goes that one time in live in Asheville, north Carolina, and my grandmother and my sister, sarah and Molly, came to visit me and my wife and my daughters, and the story goes that I dropped my grandmother and sister off at the airport in Asheville it was sometime around 11 in the morning and I turned to my wife and I just said, chris and I'm, by the way, I'm going to run a marathon today, and it was the most out of blue statement that you'll ever encounter in your life. And my wife was like what the hell are you talking about? You know where is this coming from? And I was like, well, it's something I've been kind of thinking through for a while. I haven't mentioned it, but in my mind I've been going over it for a while. So I want you to drop me off on the Blue Ridge Parkway and I'm going to run 13.1 miles up this mountain and turn around and come 13.1 miles down. I did that. It took, I think, four, half or five hours, and with no training Zero.

Speaker 3:

I mean, I had Nike shoes, cotton socks, cargo shorts, cotton box, cotton boxers, cotton t-shirt, camo hat and no, no, no, no, nothing. I didn't know anything about running. I just went in and thought I could do it and I did and I remember I was laying on the ground and my body was just so darn mad at me because it had no idea, Like out of being dormant for all these years, you just go and run a marathon and your body's like fighting to figure out what the hell is going on. And I turned to my wife and I was in pretty bad shape but I was like I love this, I love this. I found an avenue, you know, and that that turned into running.

Speaker 3:

I decided I was going to run 50 marathons and 50 states to raise a bunch of money for breast cancer research, which was the promise to mom. And then, towards the end of that, I started running longer races. It became 50 mile races, 100 mile races, 200 mile races and then, finally, ultimately, I invited to run the Iditarod trail race, the Iditarod trail invitational, the ITI, which is a is is. I would be so bold to say it's the toughest race in the world. There's a lot of races that will say that that's running the Iditarod on your own, two feet, without dogs, in the middle of winter through the wilderness. There's nothing that touches it. I just refused to really even listen to anything else. And so it's one thing opened up a door and I've been in that room ever since and and it's brought a lifetime of adventure and and a lot of fun and a lot of tough times as well.

Speaker 1:

That's outstanding. So, just as an aside, a thought I had when I was listening to all this running have you tracked all the miles that you've run?

Speaker 3:

No, I'm not much of a techie guy. I mean I would say it's. It's without a doubt, it's 10s and 10s and 10s and 10s. I don't think I'm probably at 100,000 miles. I doubt I'm halfway to that, but I don't. You know, I I I tell people often running is important to me and we'll, as we talk more, you'll see that that running is important. But it's not my life, you know it's. It's something I do that brings me a lot of joy, but it's one thing I do that brings me a lot of joy. I I live a very diverse life. I have a lot of different hobbies and interests and I kind of get off on that. So you know running is great. You know I'll set my watch and see how many miles I run, but I'm not looking at weekly mileage or comparing it to last year or even keeping tabs on what a year may bring. I just kind of take the adventures as they come. I love that Good for you that's.

Speaker 2:

That's wild, though, so Obviously you don't run for a living. So what do you do on your day to day? You know, when it comes to bringing an income or other hobbies that you might have.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, so I do. I do a good amount of public speaking the that that has really taken off since the I did rod races and the stories that came from the I did rod races. I love public speaking. I jump at opportunities to come and share my story with groups and schools, and you know all different types of places. Not I do like corporate events, but I also like speaking at different schools and different places of business, and you know I keep an open mind to to where I go, but that I do that quite often.

Speaker 3:

I train quite a bit. I'm a stay at home dad quite a bit, so I do a lot for my two daughters, I spend a lot of time with them, and so I think if you look at my life, it's not like Pete is this, he does this for you know I love that. I do a little bit of this and a little bit of that and it keeps things fresh for me. And and in my family situation, my wife works full time and does great and supports you know a lot of the shenanigans that I get into and so we figured out a good life that works for us and you know it's, it's colorful and but yet it's not. It's not a or B, you know, it's just kind of it's wide open and I'm very open to experiences and to to meeting people and seeing new places and that sort of thing.

Speaker 1:

I love it. I love that. I let you describe yourself as a stay at home dad. I wasn't able to do that. I know Chris is not able to do that either with his kids, so I think that's outstanding.

Speaker 2:

Good for you. Yeah, that's been phenomenal.

Speaker 3:

It's been. It's been an absolute treat, you know, especially now that they're getting a little bit, they're getting towards teenage years where they kind of want to have their freedom. And you know I had, I had a lot, of, a lot of awesome moments, you know, picking them up in the pickup line and taking them to sports and getting their meals and stuff ready, and so it's been. It's been. It's been fun, worth every second.

Speaker 1:

So we can't just gloss over the.

Speaker 3:

Iditarod 1000.

Speaker 1:

So, for those who are listening, most people probably hear the Iditarod and they think sled dog race. That's what I thought the first time I heard it right? So just to set the stage, you are out there doing a very similar if not the same, but very similar trail as a sled dog racers take their, their, their sleds on. So you're doing it by yourself, with a sled of your own gear strapped around your waist, for 1000 miles over all terrain.

Speaker 3:

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, in the middle, in the middle of winter. You know, I mean, you got to throw that in there. You know, people, people hear the race that that I've done and and they'll say, well, it's got to be in summer, huh. And I'm like, no, it's we go. We go a week before the dogs annually. And so you know, if you do the 1000 mile race, you get passed by all the dog teams on the trail. You know, and as you're just plodding along with your trekking poles and with your 4050 pound sled that you're hauling behind you, it's mayhem, it's madness, it's, it's, it's, it's the craziest race there is. And I, I, I adored it and I got everything from it. I gave my heart and soul to that trail. But I got so much more from that trail than than I would ever imagined when I started doing that race. I did that race five years in a row, so I didn't always do that. There's a. There's a 350 mile short course, sure.

Speaker 2:

I was 50 feet of short, exactly.

Speaker 3:

But there's a 350 mile race that you know you have to do your first year and and and for a lot they can't finish that or don't finish that and so but for those that that finish the 350 and kind of want to keep progressing in the sport, then you can try the 1000 mile race to know just like the, just like the mushers and the dogs do.

Speaker 3:

And so you know, I would say 99% of the trail is exactly the same. There's a there's a couple different starting points, where the dogs start and where we start on a different lake and then it just connects and that you know the 99% is exactly as the dogs run. So it's, it's, it's the coolest race. And I have to say for your listeners, like you know, if you're, if you're into the outdoors and into competitive things and think you know things are cool of people you know doing things that are borderline impossible or border borderline stupid, follow the idea of trail, invitational, it is, it is such a fun thing to follow and these days the athletes wear trackers so you can follow them the whole way and kind of see how they're, how they're doing, where they're going, and it's it's, it's an unreal race and very well run and and I don't have enough good things to say about it you know it's, it's been an awesome part of my life.

Speaker 2:

Well, most of our listeners are military veterans or first responders, so we are very accustomed to doing stupid stuff.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2:

We'll say that, absolutely, it's intense, though I mean so, like what? What brought you to the moment where you're like, yeah, I'm going to do this. And then, after you figure that out, what did you do to prepare yourself?

Speaker 1:

We'll return to the podcast in a moment, but first we want to thank Tito's handmade vodka for supporting our podcast. Founded in Texas in 1997, Tito's is distilled six times and unaged Tito's vodka is so smooth you could drink it straight. Look for Tito's handmade vodka anywhere alcohol is sold or go to Tito's vodkacom for merchandise. Now back to our podcast.

Speaker 3:

Well, I'm glad you asked that because I want to say that when I was a little boy, when I was in fifth grade, I read a story about Balto and I was very much from the generation of.

Speaker 3:

I read a lot of Jack London stories and a lot of like outdoor survival, klondike era, cowboys, indians, like I was very, very into that. Louis Lamour, all these awesome, all these Western stories. So like from a young age I had a heart for things that like that happened a hundred years ago. You know, like I was very much and I still am to this day very much more, probably have much more in common with a lot of people's grandparents than I do my contemporaries. You know, I'm just like a, I'm a throwback, adventure, throwback person, but but so I, when I was in fifth grade, I read that story about Balto and I was like you know the idea of my gosh that's left the. It sounded to me like it was the biggest adventure in my country that we you know the USA, where I was born, and I was like I want to do that at some point. So so I always kind of imagine doing it with a dog team, so much so that I moved up to. A lot of people don't know this and I didn't speak about it too much in the book, phil, but I have moved up to Alaska after losing my mom and ran sled dogs for for a couple of winters and I worked for, I did a rod mushers and and and just found it to be something that, although it was awesome, it was way too many moving parts for someone like me. We had 250 dogs in the dog lot that I was looking after in the backyard of this person's house, and so you know just just the sheer work of taking care of these animals. They all have their own issues ones in heat, one's trying to get to the one in heat, one's fighting the other to get there. First, I mean, it was just one's got a foot ointment that needs to be put on and I was just like for a simple person like me, it was like this is too much and and unfortunately I I kind of gave up my.

Speaker 3:

I did a dream and moved back to the lower 48, thinking, damn, you know that dream, since I've been in fifth grade, is not going to happen. And then you know, and then I started running. Then I started ultra running. I'm reading the ultra running magazine one day and I read an article about this race called the. I did a trail invitational and it's this human powered race on the.

Speaker 3:

I did a trail that you haul a sled and you run it, and I was like this was made for me, like they're, like you know, and I pretty much wrote a letter and passion letter to the race director and said pretty much that, like I need to run this race I don't know what else to say I have to come do this. This was made for me. Here's my experience. They pretty much laughed at my experience because it was a bunch of city marathons and things and I thought I was so awesome because I've run 50 marathons and 50 states, and they pretty much got laughed at they're like you don't think that because you ran these little cute marathons in your cities, that you're ready to come up to Alaska and and run the. I did a lot and I was like, yeah, you know, I think I am, and I got the opportunity and and and took full advantage of the opportunity, but I got. I got last place my first year.

Speaker 3:

So you know it's and what you finish but finish the 350 miles and 10, 10 plus days, and made every rookie mistake you could dream of and, and, but made it. You know, was pretty, pretty gritty effort, to say the least. And then, and then kind of cleaned up the effort and then attempted the thousand a couple times and and failed proudly. And then finally put it all together in 2018 and won the, the race to know him.

Speaker 1:

So so you talked about it. When you did the 350, it took you 10 plus days. How many days did it take you to do the 1000 miles?

Speaker 3:

It took 26 days, 13 hours and 44 minutes, so it came to about 38 miles a day for 26 and a half days straight, without arrest day, to accomplish my, my dream for sure.

Speaker 1:

So that's a lot of time with yourself. Yes, it is. Talk to me about what went on inside your brain as you got up every day. You had to be completely, just sore, and what propelled you to get up the next day and crawl out of your tent or your snowbank or wherever you were and go. I'm going to go after it for another 38 miles today. Or did you have to fight yourself sometimes All?

Speaker 3:

all the time, all every day, every hour. Probably. You know it was looking back on it as much as I can. It was. You know. I have to say this I found out during my last year on the. I did a road trail in 2018. I found mindfulness. I'll just say, I'll just put it, put it bluntly I, I.

Speaker 3:

What I realized about 800 miles into the race in 2018 was I had lived my entire life and either depression, beating myself up about old mistakes or things I wish I would have done differently, opportunities I wish I would have taken advantage of, things I wish I wouldn't have said are done, and either I lived in depression or anxiety about, well, I'm here, but I want to get here and once I get there, then I will become who I am and then I will have arrived, but never at all being present with myself and my emotions in the moment, you know, and never, never being mindful in the slightest bit. And I had worked with a psychologist for many years. He would always allude to the fact that that's how my life is it's either one extreme or the other and there's not much in the middle, and I wouldn't even know what he was alluding to. And then, 800 miles into this race, I was just like sitting there, almost like a I call it a spiritual epiphany, that like, okay, I've lived my life in depression or anxiety, riddled in depression and anxiety up until this point in my life, and finally enough, things clicked about. My Christian faith, along with spiritual teachers and things like this, all just kind of came together in a point when I realized like, wow, man, you have never really just been in a situation just to be in that situation. You've always been had this busy mind trying to go backwards or forwards, and it changed. It changed everything.

Speaker 3:

So I think all of those tens of thousands of miles of running has been intensive self therapy, and I will. I like there might be some that don't see it that way. It doesn't bother me at all. I know what I'm doing, why I've done it, and I especially know it now. It was chasing peace, it was chasing the present moment, it was chasing finally loving myself and and it warts and all you know just being comfortable with who I was, like giving myself some grace. And so it was. It's, as you can see, it was, yes, I won the race and it was great. I still hang my head on that race. I think I always will, but it meant more to me than that, and that was never. My goal was to win, it was always to finish. That was and I think I think that might be why I won, because it was never on my mind until very late in the game of that last year.

Speaker 2:

It was awesome, mm. Hmm, it was great.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, 100%. It was me finding out my inner workings and me becoming comfortable with grief and trauma that I've dealt with in my my life and and be, and becoming Comfortable with who I was it without trying so hard, you know, to to fit into certain groups or or to like certain people or have them even like me, and you know it. Just it gave me. It gave me a I myself. I myself needed the wilderness. I needed that amount of space to go delve so deep into my own self that that's why I was doing that race, that's why I got up each morning, that's why I, you know, was sore and and sad and sick and missed my kids and was chafing and had diarrhea and jardia and, you know, open sores and you know I mean it was just, it was, it was all in man I needed, ultimately, I needed to find this out about myself. I needed to get to that place and it took me thousands and thousands of reflective solo miles to do it.

Speaker 1:

So, would you say then, sense that spiritual moment that you experienced out on the trail after 800 miles. Can you say that now, this many years later, that stuck with you?

Speaker 3:

Absolutely. You know I will. I will freely say it's not like. It's not like when I found that out, that I Changed and I was a different person. Here's the way I can it, here's the way I can explain it best is, I still deal with depression.

Speaker 3:

I think you could talk to my children or my wife and they would tell you without a doubt, pete still struggles with depression, not a ton of anxiety, but depression for sure. What happens is I have these kind of what I call like somewhat like mindful roadblocks that I have in my mind now, where when I find myself kind of going down those roads, I Really try and center myself, even with a simple act of just deep breathing or just taking some time to be quiet and Kind of like get center myself and get back. And so it's like, whereas before it just unraveled the next thing out, all these things were, you know, beating me up and I was just taking the grief and all this thing, all these things on. Now those things start and I give them the, you know, I give them the reverence that they deserve. You know, I still have those emotions, but I don't chase the, you know, I don't chase the negativity as I used to. You know, I'll just be like okay, pete, you know what's happening, bring it back, you're okay. Do some breathing, go on a walk, go outside, go sit at a stream, you know, and so it's.

Speaker 3:

It's intensive man it's, and that's why I'm very honored to be on your show, because you don't shy away from that, especially with people that have military backgrounds and probably more trauma than I do. You know and have seen things that I could. Only you know that I, that would be nightmares for me, and now they have to, you know, be in pickup line. Like you know, there's a lot of grief and trauma that we deal with and we all deal with it different ways. I like to be an advocate for the outdoors and for mindfulness, but it's because of a lot of tough things that have led me to that. To that some somewhat peace, I would say. You know.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean it's, it's and can't ever take away from any one's experiences. Yes, there's people who might be exposed to Some more situations that most would not, but at the same time, everyone has their own experience. Yeah, nobody can take that away from you. Yeah, and how you deal with it is important and I think that when we talked about the humility a minute ago, I don't think it's just humility, it's just. I think it's accepting the things that you have been through and what you're gonna do to get Through them are significant.

Speaker 2:

You know, and you found your niche is you found these things that you need to chase to get over these mountains? You know, and we talked to you know, you saying here your mountaintop moments. Yeah, I mean their mountaintop moments, for sure, but just because you had those mountaintop moments doesn't mean that you still don't have issues that you try to Combat. You know things to move through and work through, which is fine. It's just how you react to those and how you move forward and build and grow and finding out what those things that did work and what didn't work, moving forward. So chasing that carrot is achievable.

Speaker 3:

I I think for anybody. You know, I and I hope for anybody, because I know that there's a lot of people struggling, especially With all this COVID Nonsense that we've been dealing with. For you know, it was funny because for years and years and years before COVID, anytime I'd get a chance to do public speaking or anytime I'd get a chance to talk to groups and things like that, I would always be like look, there is mental health issues in this country and they are swept under the rug. Everyone wants to talk about the happy things and everyone wants to take Instagram pictures like everything is freaking wonderful and I'm sitting here going. I know that it's not like.

Speaker 3:

You know, I've talked to a lot of those people that you see as people that live these Fantastic lives, and they've been some of the most sad people I've ever met in my life, and so, but that's that's the one thing about COVID that I think has been a blessing is that you know mental health is now it's, it's undeniable.

Speaker 3:

You can't you can't even go a day without hearing about it these days.

Speaker 3:

You know, and and as it should be, because you know, for so long in this country, it was like you just got to keep going and you got to be better and you got a. You know you got to make more and you got. And it was just this cycle and people get lost in it and they feel this hollowness and you know, all of a sudden now, now it's okay to admit that you're struggling, whereas you know, I think a few years prior, you know it was a sign of weakness. If you get on social media and say that you're, you know, having a rough day, it's like what's wrong with this person. Now it's like now we're all on the same page. Like mental health is a huge issue in this country and I'm glad COVID came around because it brought light to it and I think we're able to express it now and I'm being asked more questions about it now and I'm proud that I've been an advocate for a long time about it, but I'm super happy that we're speaking about it more now.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I mean definitely the. The biggest thing that came to the forefront throughout COVID was the isolation piece, you know, and that's one of the worst things that can happen with someone with mental health issues of self isolation and, like we talked about before the podcast to, you know, is what are the? There's always a place and a time for therapists and psychologists, you know, a couch having those conversations and exploring it up, stuff, but there's also a place, you know, to get out of that house and move around, and you know, covid definitely showed that moving and getting out is good, but it also, like you said, though, does help normalize the conversation of mental health and asking for help. You know, and one of the biggest things that we talked about at HHO is, you know, it's okay to not be okay, just don't stay there. Get out of that rut, move on. That's the story.

Speaker 3:

Or let some people help you. I mean, you know that. You know, I mean, like sometimes it's a gift to let others help you. I had to learn that. You know, um, so it's been, it's been fantastic. I've had some unbelievable mentors and psychologists in my life and, uh, you know, I've just been very open to the fact that I don't have all the answers on there. You know, I don't think those people do either. You know, I think there's a giant mystery in life that will never change. I'll always feel that way. But some of these people are trained to help in these situations. You know it's like let them, let them help you.

Speaker 3:

You know there's people out there and I know that it's tough for something like. I mean, for instance, we have a, we have a really bad homeless population in ashville and I hear I say I, you know everyone should just go to. I understand that some people don't have the means or some people don't have the opportunities to get help, and hopefully that can change over time. I think people are seeing more of the mental health aspect with issues like that. But you know, it's just like if you do have the means, I mean that's the best investment in yours and yourself to have someone listen to you, and you know you explain your thoughts and reasoning and and it's been it's been wonderful, it's.

Speaker 3:

It's helped me so much, and I'd like to think that I've helped others in that way as well. You know that's how it works, you know it's. It's not like I've arrived, I know I have the answers and you know I'm going to help these minions. You know, you know it's, it's, it's. We're all inspired in different ways, and inspiration has passed along in different avenues and Through different people, and so I'm just happy to be an advocate for mental health, for sure.

Speaker 2:

I appreciate that. You know it's. It's the biggest hurdle that we are encountering today's day and age when it comes to A lot of different avenues. Just not in, not just not in the world of military service members, veterans and first responders. It's prevalent across the US and the world. So I think it's awesome that you're an advocate and you speak about your own experiences and the things that you've done to overcome them. So I really appreciate that. But I do know that we were coming up on 40 minutes here For our second round, so I've had you for an hour. I do gotta ask you yeah, I think this would be phenomenal. Is there any chance we could have you back for a second episode? Oh, yeah, let's do that. Yeah, I think it'd be really cool to dig into the nitty gritty of that. It around like the day in, day out things like I would love to do that.

Speaker 3:

I'd come in 100%. We haven't even spoken about the project I'm working on now. I mean, it's been five years since the I did a rod and I've I have not sat around knitting at my house the whole time, you know I'm, I am, I, I'm a busy be and.

Speaker 1:

You can knit.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, yeah, yeah, but yeah, no, that sounds fantastic. I come in, I'm just on that project real quick.

Speaker 2:

let's give a little easier and we'll talk about that more in the next episode to. But I think it'd be great for us to have a follow up, a little cliffhanger for everyone. That's, talk about the project that you got. Listeners know that. You know we'll have a follow up episode and we'll talk about some other projects you have going on in the nitty gritty right the day in, day out. Idea to rod. Because that's just, I think you got so much depth there. I don't think we can you're probably sit here and talk for three hours 100% we're not.

Speaker 1:

Joe Rogan yet, so we don't have three hours.

Speaker 3:

No, yeah, you said, I like that, I like that that's a good, that's a good word right there. You know, I'll make this as quick as I can.

Speaker 3:

Right, take your time I told you, I ran 50 marathons and 50 states and fundraise for breast cancer research and and that took about five years. Then I then I got into the, I did rod, and I did that for five years and then I ended up winning the race and I was back in ashful and I was sitting there thinking to myself, well, and I think I would have my 47 now I was maybe 41, 42 when I finished the. I did rod, which is, you know, getting some gray hair, but certainly not specially in the endurance realm, you know, you're, you still got a lot of years in front of you and I saw I was kind of got home and I kind of had this weird time, like what, like. Well, what do I do now? You know, I've run a marathon, all the states, I want this Tough alter race and and what's next? You know, I still, I still am searching, as you guys know. You know I still am out there wanting to, you know, find, find myself deeper.

Speaker 3:

And so I did a little research and I found that there was 1500 people in the United States that have run a marathon in all 50 states, which I was, again, probably one of. But I looked into it more and I thought well, how many have run 100 mile run in all 50 states? And from all the research I did, the answer I got was zero. There was nobody that has ever run 100 mile run in all 50 states.

Speaker 3:

So I thought there it is, that's the new project, and so I I'm big into ornithology and I love studying owls, and I had a snowy owl experience on the. I did a trail one year and I really turned me on to this realm, and so I I decided to fundraise for our research institute and try to become the first person to run 50 100 mile runs and 50 states, and so I just finished one in New Mexico a couple weeks ago, which was brutal and and that was state 25. So I'm halfway through the project at this point and and there are some very colorful stories that we can share when we do our second episode. As far as some of the shenanigans and the all run hundreds project, great and it's, you know, it's it's giving me a lot of purpose and it's it's it's a fantastic new project for me.

Speaker 3:

Hey run the Minnesota one. Yet, yeah, I did, I ran that. Have you ever heard of the arrowhead 135? I ran that I ran the arrowhead 135 in international falls.

Speaker 1:

Pretty up there.

Speaker 3:

It is beautiful and frigidly cold that this race happens in the middle of winter. The ice box of the country, you know, always like the coldest place in the country is usually international falls in the lower 48. And I did my. I did my race there and had a wonderful time. Ken's the race director up there. He's incredible and had a great time with my Minnesota friends up there. So I ran the Twin Cities marathon with my marathons project and then I ran the arrowhead in my 100s project. So Minnesota is checked in both fronts. But I definitely will be up there to visit before this project's done because, like I said, a lot of my friends are from Minnesota and a lot of my favorite people are from up that way. So it's beautiful country and I love it up there.

Speaker 1:

Well, we look forward to hearing more about that as well as, obviously, like Chris said, we want to dive into the ins and outs of the Iditarod race a little war, because I think I think our listeners would be very interested. Even though that's not your meat and potatoes anymore, I think that's it's a big part of your story and I think it would be very inspiring for people. Especially, I'd like to dig in more With you about the demons you faced on the trail and how we came that with the outdoor therapy.

Speaker 3:

You got it. I mean, like I said, it signed me up, we'll make it, we'll make a date and I'm pretty military time, so I'll be there, I'll be ready to go and and I've had a great time talking with you all and thank you for this opportunity and I look forward to. You know I'm long-winded, I'm. You know, that's just how I'm wired. So you know I just it takes me a little while to get to my my point sometimes, but I I like kind of bringing some backstory in and working that way, and so I really had a good time talking with you guys and look forward to doing it again very soon.

Speaker 1:

How can our listeners find you? Yeah they can't.

Speaker 3:

I'm I'm tough to find. I'm a, I'm a recluse, I'm with.

Speaker 2:

We found you finally.

Speaker 3:

No, I, I do social media a little bit. I have kind of a love hate relationship with social media. I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn. I'm just under Pete ripmaster. I have a website, pete ripmastercom. That's where people can, you know, find out about speaking engagements or getting touch with me if they want me to come speak and and inspire a group or school or anything like that. And so, uh, yeah, I look for you know, and again, I, I talked to quite a few people that way. You know, people reach out and and I enjoy meeting people and from diverse backgrounds, and so it's been, it's led to a fun life and that's how people can get in touch with me. Or come, come visit Asheville and say hey, and you know, I'll take you out on a training run or, you know, take your golfing.

Speaker 1:

And I just want to remind all of our listeners again that Pete does have his autobiography out. It's available on anywhere books are sold as well as on audible. It's called the long way home. How I won the 1,000 mile I did a ride foot race with persistence, patience and passion.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, pete, really appreciate you and, and I will mention you, have a pretty awesome name man, it's ripmaster was.

Speaker 3:

It's a Dutch name. People are like, is that your real name? Like, yeah, that's my real name, it was. It's ripmaster. It was a Dutch name. It was rip meester, which meant ship builder, and once we got over to the states that got turned into ripmaster and there's a few of us scattered around the country and that's pretty cool. I take a lot of pride in that name and yeah yeah, I mean everywhere I go.

Speaker 3:

You know, if the first time anyone sees a license or a credit card or something, ripmaster, you know You'd probably be an awesome surfer. You know, like that, you're like yeah, I've heard it all, so yeah, right fun. It's fun for sure.

Speaker 2:

Well again, thank you very much, sir, really appreciate you and I look forward to our next episode where we can talk more about mental health. And you know the personal struggles and I did a rod and fire listeners again. Pete had won the. We did a rod Trailing rotational 1,000 mile foot race across Alaska. Just a little preview to that. He lost 36 pounds 36 pounds on the truck foot from 26 days, 13 hours and 44 minutes, like he alluded to earlier. So I look forward to that episode. We'll talk more about your other issue with your owl Deeper dive, little deeper dive, it's deeper dive.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, let's do that, let's do that. I mean I look forward to it. You guys did a great job. Thanks for having me and I appreciate y'all. Yes, thanks for our listeners.

Speaker 2:

Make sure that you look up Pete here and Do a little research on his background. But if you're finding yourself in a place where you need some additional assistance mental health wise with HHO, you can always reach out to us. We have our field staff. A lot of them are trained in our applied suicide Intervention skills training. So they are here for you in time of Neat or crisis and we we are happy to help you. So please reach out to us in those times. But also, if you can't get a hold of us or you need something immediate too, you can call or text 988 Made it simpler 988. So please reach out. For our listeners. Again, thank you for tuning in and thank you for listening to peter master bill. Thank you for the connection. I really appreciate you guys. But For the listeners, we will see you next wednesday on the hometown hero outdoors podcast, thank you. Thank you for listening to the hometown hero outdoors podcast.

Speaker 1:

For more information, visit our website at hometownherooutdoorsorg.

People on this episode

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Christopher Tetrault

Host
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Phil Ewert

Producer